The Backs

Bikepacking the Oregon Outback in 2014 set me off in a whole new direction as a cyclist. This little blog gained a lot of attention and even influenced some to do the ride the following year.  The former is great but the latter is my mission - helping motivate people to ride, to do any ride at all, feels very important to me.

When some friends asked how challenging the Oregon Outback is (kinda hard but not soul crushing) and if it was something they could do (hell yes!), I decided to create a team. In 2015, "my" nine riders joined me at the start, and every single one of them finished. Since then, I’ve put together some other bikepacking adventures and it's been fun to include "back" in the name, which is meant as a tip of the cap to the original.

In 2016 I took a break from the "Backs" to compete in the Steens Mazama 1000. I suppose that race counts as bikepacking but it felt harder because it was so dang long.

In 2017, a group of us rode the Out-n-Back, a six day trek starting in Klamath Falls, tracing the route of the original Oregon Outback and u-turning near Fort Rock to ride south back to Klamath Falls.

In 2018, we rode a fictional route called the NorthBack, a 500 mile mixed-terrain loop from Bend to the Crooked River, Prineville, the Ochocos, Mitchell, Condon, Cottonwood Canyon, Grass Valley, Maupin, Madras, Lake Billy Chinook and Sisters. The list of town names might imply a civilized trip, but much of it felt remote.

For 2019, we put together a mini-tour and called it the Baby Back. Nine riders, some from other "Backs", some experienced, some on their first bikepacking trip, set out on Saturday morning from the Cup and Bar café on MLK, which is a deluxe spot to meet due to its central location and indoor bike parking.  We headed up to Washington Park, and soon found ourselves in a rainy portion of the western suburbs, picking up our 10th and final rider for the weekend.

The rain and the traffic picked up right around the same time. We kept riding anyway. Finally to Gales Creek, I ignored intuition and passed a diner with a large "milkshakes" sign on my way to another store a couple miles down.  The second store had apparently been closed for a couple of years so I turned back and arrived at the first diner just as two other riders were getting their milkshakes delivered.  After the break, we went back out to find the rain had dried up.  A few miles later, I heard dogs barking so I thought we were in Timber, but not quite! Some more climbing took us to an innocent-looking street sign with some discreet yellow zip ties poking through the base.  These were Randonneur markings, I was sure of it, so I added my own pink zip tie to the mix and carried on.

The cabin in Timber made the whole ride worthwhile. Tired riders congregated on the couch. It was a cozy getaway complete with a kitchen, woodburning stove and laundry.  The next morning our enjoyment came to a quick halt as we headed up a steep little climb on a nice quiet gravel road.  Once again, I ignored the intuition beckoning me onto a paved downhill slope to second breakfast in Vernonia. Instead, I joined the group and we all rode up, up and more up onto gravel that ascended into single track, with lots of stunning and well-earned vistas. We made it to Vernonia barely in time for a late lunch. Our planned bonus miles to Yankton pie were a joke now.  In a handy twist of fate, we did yank a pie plate from Cosmo’s wheel before leaving lunch for Pittsburg gravel.

We made it to Camp Wilkerson and enjoyed the luxury of a large group site with leantos and picnic tables and a fire pit.  After a fun and restful evening, we were all charged up and ready for our day three.  We decided to nix the somewhat dull planned route, which would've taken us to North Plains and back through the suburbs.  Instead we headed down Camp Nine Road, which is a new favorite, to the Crown Zellerbach Trail.  We quickly passed through Scappoose, then headed west into the Dutch Mountain Canyon to climb Otto Miller Road and Dixie Mountain Road and finally regrouped at Skyline Tavern for a well-deserved beer and dinner.

Some of us had done one or all of the Backs, some were new to the posse, and some were new to bikepacking.  By the end, we were all fast friends.  Some shed tears, justifying the name of our tour, all laughed, and all had a fantastic time!

Just for kicks, here are my three bikepacking (or loaded touring) rigs, each in their native environment.