Central Oregon

[smurfalicious]

Hey ladies?

I was wondering if anyone out here is from the Central Oregon area? I need someone to ride with! I've been riding with my insignificant other, but sometimes guys can just suck the fun out of anything! Especially if there's more than one of them.

I got really upset with him the other day when he felt the need to point out how I suck at hills, oh but uh, yeah I'm good on the flats. Great, so is a 4 year old on a trike! I know he means well, but damn it stung. So much so that I ended up crying on our next ride. Mainly because my confidence was so shaken by what he had said, and because it was my first time on an off camber trail, that happened to be rocky, and happened to dump into a part of the river where my friend's olympic swimmer brother drowned! I have a MAJOR fear of falling into water. Eventually I got my confidence back and had a blast, but yeah, not as fun as it should be.

So what I need is a chica who wouldn't mind mentoring a mtn bike girly. I just wanna have fun, and learn as much as I can and stay reasonably safe. I don't mind throwing my bike in the car and exploring, I mean hey it doesn't get much more beautiful than here in the high desert. Anyway, I live in Redmond, so if you're close drop me a line.

Heck, I'd even take you up on a road ride if you have an old road bike laying around I can tool around on. I need to get one soon anyway for training.

love and cookies
-smurf

[Irulan]

I''m not in your area but I do visit once in a while. Best thing is inquire locally and in Bend about clubs that do beginners' rides, or women's rides. It's a great way to get out with folks of your own level, and to get away from the "SO as teacher" dynamic.

There's a women's clinic in Hood River maybe next week, Gabrielle can give you details.

Irulan

EDIT:{google> Bend Oregon Bike Clubs}
Central Oregon Trail Assn.

bikecentral.org
looks like a great way to meet like minded and ability riders.

[smurfalicious]

Hey, thanks I'll have to get some info for the Hellsburrito women's clinic. I'll do my damndest to get some time off, but I'd need to know in a like now kind of way when it is. Ugh, callcenter life, oh wait, what life?

I've kinda cruised the CO bike websites, but there's such an obnoxious tragically hip/ pretentious yuppy thing around here. One bike shop straight up scoffed at me because I didn't want a "high end" bike. Serves them, I ended up with an $1100 dollar bike, which is that stores lowest price range. Bah!

I definately do have some issues riding with my hunny. It's cool though, we're still learning about each other. My fear of falling in to water makes no sense seeing as how he knows I've been hunting for somewhere local to lap swim! He just doesn't understand that girls don't respond to the tough love crap that his expert class son does. I've explained this to him, and that if he expects me to help recruit and train women for the high school mtn bike team he best not pull crap like that with *my* girls. Girls shut down when treated like that.

It just kinda sucked because the rule has always been that he won't take me down anything I can't do. Then we get through this super rocky crud and I'm bawling because I paniced and nearly put myself in the river. He says, "Well, I kinda expected you to walk that." Thanks, tell me that before I feel like a failure for doing so.

*sigh* I'm always super nice to people when I take them horseback riding. I wouldn't take them on my idea of fun which is weaving between trees barely wide enough for you and horse at a dead run. Wait, everything I like on horses is a dead run. Damn, I will put up with a lot from greenhorns.

love and cookies
-smurf
"green as frogs"

[Irulan]

Originally posted by smurfalicious
Hey, thanks I'll have to get some info for the Hellsburrito women's clinic.

hopefully that's comimg up today

I've kinda cruised the CO bike websites, but there's such an obnoxious tragically hip/ pretentious yuppy thing around here. One bike shop straight up scoffed at me because I didn't want a "high end" bike. Serves them, I ended up with an $1100 dollar bike, which is that stores lowest price range. Bah!

F*** 'em, ask 'em if they'd rather you ride a Costco Magma. Life's what' you make of it. the folks I know who like to do trail work are pretty unpretentious and see the big picture. I mean, not everyone is a testosterone poisoned poser. There may some nice people out there who just want to ride. Look for club sponsored beginner's rides, or women's rides, or join and start them up yourself.

Me- how I met most of my gal-crew was just talking to everyone, I mean everyone about how I liked to ride. Evnetually, with some fits and starts, I'v got a core group of about 6 women to draw from. We dont' really have any mtb clubs in my area or I'd do what I suggest to you

I definately do have some issues riding with my hunny. It's cool though, we're still learning about each other. My fear of falling in to water makes no sense seeing as how he knows I've been hunting for somewhere local to lap swim! He just doesn't understand that girls don't respond to the tough love crap that his expert class son does. I've explained this to him, and that if he expects me to help recruit and train women for the high school mtn bike team he best not pull crap like that with *my* girls. Girls shut down when treated like that.

I have ground rules with my hubby. Like
"you will not give me ANY tips on this ride unless I ask for them". "you will wait at all junctions" "I don't have to ride anything I don't feel comfortable riding and you are not going to comment on it" etc.

It just kinda sucked because the rule has always been that he won't take me down anything I can't do. Then we get through this super rocky crud and I'm bawling because I paniced and nearly put myself in the river. He says, "Well, I kinda expected you to walk that." Thanks, tell me that before I feel like a failure for doing so.

Who put him in charge? You pick the route for a change, and lay the ground rules. I realize I don't know you, and that the "riding with spouse who is better than you" syndrome is really tough to deal with. I found that laying ground rules with mine really helped when I was a beginner. I quit riding with him for about two years because it was so hard to deal with for me. My solution was to work to find other women to ride with, and to take women's skills clinics.


~irulan

[gabrielle]

Originally posted by smurfalicious
Hey, thanks I'll have to get some info for the Hellsburrito women's clinic. I'll do my damndest to get some time off, but I'd need to know in a like now kind of way when it is. Ugh, callcenter life, oh wait, what life?

Hellsburrito? I think that's Hillsboro, innit?

Clinic Info:
Ladies' Intermediate Mountain Bike Clinic

WITH: World Mountain Bike Champion and Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Cindy Devine

WHEN: Sunday Aug 22, 2004, 9 am- noon

WHERE: Post Canyon Trailhead Parking, Hood River, OR

WHAT: Learn to “clean” more of 7 Streams loop and some of Family Man

HOW MUCH: $20

If you're interested, email me at gab AT gorge DOT net & I'll put you in touch with the registration people. (I'm a bit paranoid about posting other people's info to web forums.)

7 Streams is the main XC ride in Post Canyon. If you've never ridden Post Canyon, it's kind of interesting - there are a lot of small technical parts, narrow bridges to cross, etc. Sections of the trail are about maybe 3 feet wide max, right next to a stream bed. It's dry right now, so you won't drown if you do fall in, but the stream bed is very rocky. Family Man is an area up top with lots of easier bridges, a-frames, teeter-totters, etc.

I'm not sure how much of the focus of the clinic is going to be overall skills vs skills needed to deal with specific Post Canyon stuff. That would be a good question for you to ask the registration peole. Be warned: it is <B>really</B> freakin' dusty here right now. A lot of sections of trail have this nasty top layer of teeny little dirt balls, like ball bearings.

Originally posted by smurfalicious

It just kinda sucked because the rule has always been that he won't take me down anything I can't do. Then we get through this super rocky crud and I'm bawling because I paniced and nearly put myself in the river. He says, "Well, I kinda expected you to walk that." Thanks, tell me that before I feel like a failure for doing so.

Ooops, you hit one of my hot buttons & now you get to hear about it. I no longer put up with this behavior from riding partners, be they potential lovers or no. (The taking you down something you don't want to ride, not the crying part. ) BTDT. You said "It's cool though, we're still learning about each other. " If you have told him something and he is not respecting your wishes, that is probably not going to change and is likely to bleed over into other areas of your relationship. BTDT as well.

More JMO: You definitely need to find people more your speed to ride with & I mean both physical & psychological speed. Have patience, it took me about a year to get a decent group together. And you never know who is going to be a good riding partner - my best riding buddy is somebody I met in my belly dance class - so talk to everyone. At least, everyone that's not a pretentious yuppy. (We have them here too, I think they're everywhere now. )

HTH
gabrielle

[smurfalicious]

Originally posted by Irulan
[B]hopefully that's comimg up today

F*** 'em, ask 'em if they'd rather you ride a Costco Magma. Life's what' you make of it. the folks I know who like to do trail work are pretty unpretentious and see the big picture. I mean, not everyone is a testosterone poisoned poser. There may some nice people out there who just want to ride. Look for club sponsored beginner's rides, or women's rides, or join and start them up yourself.

Yeah man! I gots this pimp Costco full suspension bike and I paid like, $75 for it. You paid $2600!? Man, you got ripped and mine looks cooler. *giggle* Aye, put the shiny paint on the cheap bikes... Yeah, I actually saw some guy who was sponsored by the shop that dissed me at a race and I wanted to sock him for sport. We've got a prevelant issue with trendy idiots. All the moved from CA and trying to "outdoorsy" ya know. Like the sparklingly clean Audi I saw the the other day with an equally sparkly Santa Cruz Blur you just know was a status symbol of sorts.

Me- how I met most of my gal-crew was just talking to everyone, I mean everyone about how I liked to ride. Evnetually, with some fits and starts, I'v got a core group of about 6 women to draw from. We dont' really have any mtb clubs in my area or I'd do what I suggest to you

Yeah, guess that's gonna have to be the goal. The horse thing is soooo much easier because it's full of cool laidback chics who just wanna ride. Oh sure, there are snobs everywhere, but finding mellow horse chics sure seems easier than mellow MTB chicks. Mainly because horses are mostly a chick thing, and because it's been my life for 14 years!!!

I have ground rules with my hubby. Like
"you will not give me ANY tips on this ride unless I ask for them". "you will wait at all junctions" "I don't have to ride anything I don't feel comfortable riding and you are not going to comment on it" etc.

Man, I thought we did too but apparently that all went to crap. Perhaps I ought to kindly remind him of those. He caught himself on one of them, he blew right past an intersection but fortunately it was pretty obvious where to go.

Who put him in charge? You pick the route for a change, and lay the ground rules. I realize I don't know you, and that the "riding with spouse who is better than you" syndrome is really tough to deal with. I found that laying ground rules with mine really helped when I was a beginner. I quit riding with him for about two years because it was so hard to deal with for me. My solution was to work to find other women to ride with, and to take women's skills clinics.

I have no idea, he put himself there. He's a sagitarius. *smirk* I do think he has a lot more faith in my than I do myself, but sometimes he gets to being such a jerk! Or a whiner! We went to the Badlands once and I swear it was like one big tantrum. I was peeved because this was somewhere special to me. I think dry canyons with pictographs in them and rare nesting pairs of raptors is pretty neato! *laughs* I mean, it's annoying because I can be the same way, nothing is fun/cool/pretty/entertaining/challenging unless it was my idea.

Bah, I need a girly pal to ride with. Someone who will let me set the pace, let me go in front, and not blaze ahead because we're done inspecting the strangebikenoise (TM) I know! Someone even more clueless than I am!!!

love and cookies
-smurf

[smurfalicious]

Originally posted by gabrielle
[B]Hellsburrito? I think that's Hillsboro, innit?

No, I'm 100% certain it's hellsburrito. I grew up in Portland and that's kind of how I've always know it. Kind of appropriate too.

Clinic Info:
Ladies' Intermediate Mountain Bike Clinic

Hmmm, intermediate? I don't wanna get down on myself, but that might just be a big dissapointment. I'll think about it. I work 4 10 hour shifts now, so a day off eats the vacation time like crazy!!

Ooops, you hit one of my hot buttons & now you get to hear about it. I no longer put up with this behavior from riding partners, be they potential lovers or no. (The taking you down something you don't want to ride, not the crying part. ) BTDT. You said "It's cool though, we're still learning about each other. " If you have told him something and he is not respecting your wishes, that is probably not going to change and is likely to bleed over into other areas of your relationship. BTDT as well.

I know, I know. I told him the other day that he has been being a pr*ck lately. Perhaps I should elaborate on that? We'll see, I've got 17 miles of singletrack to explore in Sisters tomorrow. If I like it, I'll take him with on Thursday. The glory being that it's gonna be my ride. There are sooo many forest service roads going the wrong way he'll either have to constantly wait for me, or suck it up and follow! Or I won't tell him about the nearly lethal set of whoops on the trail home. Nawh, I'll just talk to him, he has mentioned before that he forgets what it's like to be where I am, and as such he needs the occasional reminding. Wish me luck!

love and cookies
-smurf

[Irulan]

All the moved from CA and trying to "outdoorsy" ya know. Like the
sparklingly clean Audi I saw the the other day with an equally sparkly Santa
Cruz Blur you just know was a status symbol of sorts.

Smurfalicious, I moved up to the PNW from CA 14 years ago, and keep my $3K
bike (puchased used) relatively clean on either a usually washed 2001(purchased used) or 95 vehicle (purchased used) .

I am fully aware of the
socio-economical situation and boom cycle in Central OR at the moment with
all the social and economic divisions, growth problems, traffic and more.

I got slammed for being from CA back then, and all I can say, is don't lump
everyone into one box. We groveled to my inlaws for help w/ a down payment
on a rundown shack in a bad neighborhood ( think guns and motorcycles) down in CA, and lived paycheck to paycheck. We came up here for
a lot of reasons including quality of life adn outdoors opportunities, and had to take out a mortgage like everyone else, for an average priced home in an average neighborhood. I made a point of
adjusting my attitude to what existed in the community. The
branch office my husband opened for his employer created 10 above minimum wage and professional level jobs in our community.
We are not refugees from the silicon valley, we are not dotcom millionaires,
just a couple of regular folks whose parents happened to choose CA before we were born to raise their families.

Sure, there are "ugly" people everywhere... zooming around in fancy cars, disregard for the community as it exists now, building big ugly fences and
monster homes, and always in a hurry, unable to leave their big city ways
behind, and unwilling to intergrate into the community as it exists.

Us and Them is a tricky place to be; you may have to move someday
and be on the other side.

regards,

Irulan

[pedalfaster]

Irulan,

As usual I am amazed and humbled by your wisdom.

This: [/B][/QUOTE]

"you will not give me ANY tips on this ride unless I ask for them". "you will wait at all junctions" "I don't have to ride anything I don't feel comfortable riding and you are not going to comment on it" etc.

belongs on the General board and on your Mountain-biking Tips page as well. It might do the most good, though, if it were to be published in Bicycling, Mountain Bike and Men's Health instead!

Also, perhaps too deep for this board (?) but thanks for posting:

Originally posted by Irulan

Sure, there are "ugly" people everywhere... zooming around in fancy cars, disregard for the community as it exists now, building big ugly fences and
monster homes, and always in a hurry, unable to leave their big city ways
behind, and unwilling to intergrate into the community as it exists.

Us and Them is a tricky place to be; you may have to move someday
and be on the other side.

I, too, am a native-Californian who left. When asked "Why did you LEAVE (San Diego)?" My snarky response is "To get away from all of the 'Californians' ".

I had a MIL who once apologized for ALL of the rude New Jersey-ites ...and she is still one of the sweetest, most polite, civilized people I know...and a native of her state!

My point? There are also GOOD people everywhere. Embrace the good apples and spit the bad ones out!

I know this was not the point of this thread. It just touched a nerve.

I'm also Native American and my anima is the lizard. Lizard is conservative (not politcally...but with resources) and agile. Lizards ADAPT to their surroundings. My life-goal, as a lizard, is to adapt and to integrate, wherever life leads me. I try not to be tied down to old ways of thinking. Revel in and enjoy new people, places, and experiences.

Oh and ride. Lots.

[smurfalicious]

Oh don't get me wrong, I know there are people who worked their tails off for what they have, or came here hoping for something better, but those ones are few and far between around here. My problem is with the people who are doing absolutely null to contribute to our local economy and run around town like they own the place. Oh, wait, they nearly do. Like, take for example how this town will never truly have public transportation because he who has the gold makes the rules, and he who has the gold drives a Lexus and has a heated driveway and lives on a road you can gaurenteed will be plowed at the slightest sign of snow.

I used to work at a dude string at a resort and there was a young girl I knew who by all appearances was pretty spoiled, but the girl worked hard, and appreciated all she had. Her family was loaded, but they would never elude to that. Those aren't the people that bother me. The ones who bother me are ones who flaunt it, and treat everyone else, especially those in the service industry, like complete and total crap. And yeah, there are a lot of yuppy posuers. Want proof? Go to any cattle work event around here and look at all the idiots who can't ride on five figure horses with 100,000 dollar rigs in the parking lot there are. Bah, I'm way to happy to be grousing right now, nothings gonna change. I just pray the evil subdivision doesn't swallow my little dump too soon.

love and cookies
-smurf

[Bike2Work4Me]

I got the chance to visit Bend this past weekend with a couple of friends. They all went paddling while my husband and I got out on our mountain bikes. After 1500 miles on my road bike this year it was a nice change to get on the mountain bike. I forgot how much fun it can be! We rode some singletrack up in the Elk Lake area. What a blast! You're lucky to have that kind of riding right in your back yard! We were looking forward to riding Sunday but the weather didn't cooperate. Guess this just means we'll have to visit again sometime soon.

[BendRider]

Hi, Smurf: I just registered today so I'm new to this site. If you are looking for a MTB riding partner in this area, I'm game. I live in Bend and there are lots of trails here I have not ridden yet...several others I have. The rides I like best are one way, but I have found that I cannot drive two vehicles at once (to leave one at the end). If you'd like to meet somewhere to see if you are even interested, that's okay with me. I work in Redmond Mon thru Thu.

I don't go REAL fast through the trees as I'm not into pain and no longer think I'm indestructible. The only bummer is...our summer is almost over and there are a few trails that will soon be unridable.

Let me know if you are interested in exploring some new trails and I can show you some of the ones I've already taken.

By the way...I have two horses for sale if you really are into those. I'm replacing them with a cyclocross

Deb