Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

North Umpqua Trail, Oregon

July 25, 2004

Over a year ago I read about the North Umpqua Trail in Oregon and I've been trying to get someone to ride it with me ever since. This amazing IMBA Epic Trail is 79 miles long but it is broken into segments ranging in length from about 3.5 - 16 miles. UncleMTB (Tim) wanted to join me so our plan was to meet Saturday, stay overnight in Roseburg, and ride Sunday. Since it was going to be a point to point ride we needed two vehicles. 

A few weeks ago I saw my Physical Therapist sister, who also has knee problems, and she suggested I might be able to get by with just some joint support rather than the big dorky looking braces I normally wear. On Thursday I found some three inch wide "tennis elbow" bands which looked promising. Although I'm allergic to neoprene, they only contained 25% neoprene, so I figured I'd give them a try. I wore them all day Thursday and Friday and they felt great, giving me excellent support with no pressure on the patella. However, when I woke up Saturday morning it looked like someone had dipped a paintbrush in poison oak extract and painted a three inch wide swath around each leg just below the patella. I had a continuous band of itchy and burning blisters encircling both legs. But I'd waited a year to do this ride so I figured perhaps I could try riding without knee braces. 

Tim met me at the Motel 6 in Roseburg Saturday night. When we tried to leave in the morning his truck wouldn't start. After quite a bit of fiddling around it was determined that both the alternator and battery were dead. He left his jumper cables in his other vehicle, but fortunately he had parked on a small hill so we roll started the truck. When we stopped for breakfast he parked on another hill, and after eating, we roll started it again and headed for the trail. I chose a route 36.2 miles long because that was 2 miles longer than I'd ever ridden. We somehow went quite a bit past the first vehicle drop off point so we had to backtrack to find a place to leave my truck. After dropping off my truck we drove about 40 miles to the far eastern start of the North Umpqua, the Lemolo section. We found a hill to park Tim's truck on so we could roll start it when we returned.

Once I saw the start of the Lemolo section I realized I had to wear my knee braces so I put them on over the blisters. However, adrenalin and probably the fact that I need 100% of my attention focused on my biking caused me to forget about the blisters for most of the ride. The first half hour of nearly every ride is very difficult for me until the knees warm up and I get my "sea legs". This section was uphill from the start and consequently it felt fairly difficult. So I began to think perhaps taking the fireroad detour around Dread and Terror wasn't such a bad idea. However, once I warmed up and got my first fall out of the way while walking a steep sandy section, I started to feel pretty good. I was not too thrilled at the prospect of driving 1,000 miles to ride 13 miles of fireroad. Fortunately, however, Tim wasn't paying attention when we crossed the fireroad and he unknowingly continued up Dread and Terror for a few miles. After we did the biggest climb and descent on the entire trail I broke the news to him that we were well into Dread and Terror and I had no intention of climbing back up that hill. Just then two hikers came by and they confirmed my observation that we were indeed on Dread and Terror.

Looking back I think the mountain man was just trying to keep us off his trail. There was neither dread nor terror on any part of the trail. Yes, the trail was quite narrow in parts, there were several hundred foot drop-offs and there was a lot of steep climbing. But it was no worse than several NorCal trails I'd ridden, most notably Downieville. And there wasn't a single technical section, even for me. It was only tough because of the many short steep climbs, which kill my knees. I don't think UncleMTB had to get off the bike the whole way. Although this section is difficult, virtually anybody I've ever ridden with could do it. With deep dark forests, cliffs covered with mosses and ferns, many waterfalls, beautiful views of the North Umpqua River, and very smooth singletrack, this section is spectacular. 

After Dread and Terror we did the 3.5 mile long Hot Springs segment which was rated "moderate".  But there was a terribly long and steep climb at the start and several steep descents on some very narrow trails with fairly big drop-offs. I'm afraid of heights so I never look down drop-offs. However, when you are going downhill you can't help but notice them. About halfway in the trail had some great smooth and fast sections. By the time we finished the Hot Springs section we had done about 23 miles. The next section, Deer Leap, was about 10 miles long, had lots of climbing and it was rated as difficult. I "sort of" wanted to do it but Tim wanted to make sure we got back to his truck and out of the area before dark since his truck lights weren't working due to the alternator problem. My legs were a bit Jell-O like at that point so I was happy to oblige. So we found a forest road that took us back to the paved road and we rode that back to my truck. 

After retrieving Tim's dying truck at the trailhead we made it down to Klamath Falls just before dark and spent the night. In the morning the truck was totally dead, it wouldn't even roll start. So Tim borrowed some jumper cables from a nearby gas station. It still wouldn't start so he suggested I rev my engine for a while to get his battery going. We tried that for quite a while to no avail. After about 20 minutes the guy came looking for his jumper cables. I looked up and they were burning! That was about it for me. Tim said he would call AAA so I said goodbye and left. In Stockton, about forty miles from home, while in lane four doing 75 mph, I blew my front outside tire. It took quite a while to get to the right shoulder and to find a place to pull off. Although I had never needed to change a tire in my entire life, I certainly knew how. However, I was not prepared for the experience of doing it along side a busy freeway in 100 degree heat so it took longer than I expected. Eventually I put on that teeny emergency tire and I limped home.

Was the ride worth all the driving and hassle? You bet! And I can't wait to go back. I bought a new Canon S410 for this trip but I didn't take many photos, it just takes up too much time, and the lighting was a problem anyway. Below are a few photos. A video will be forthcoming soon.

Click on an image to enlarge it

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