Crunching my way up the final incline to the stunning view atop Cinder Hill the gravity of my situation literally became obvious.
My Golden Lab Summer and I kicked off our vacation with a beautiful ride to this viewpoint in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument not far from Bend, Oregon.
This is where Summer became part of our family back in 2021. We picked her up at eight weeks and planned to spend the next four camping. When the engine blew on the Santa Fe after two weeks our plans were cut short.
So, too, have some plans this year been derailed. Plans to ride to places like Cinder Hill on my beloved Ibis Mojo have been severed.
On my last lead-up ride back home I hammered up a twisty-turny technical section and heard a loud SNAP!!
Sure hope that was a branch I said out loud to Summer. Alas, no such luck.
My carbon fiber frame snapped at the rear dropout.
What followed was an hour and 45 minute hike out. I’ve been told the frame is not repairable, so my vacation ride is my $150 craigslist buy, my ‘96 Cannondale US Olympic mountain bike.
I love this bike, but as we made our ascent, oh, how I miss my Ibis — it’s feather light frame and favorable for an old man gearing. Gravity is working against me, John Mayer sings in my head.
At the top I played Funeral for a Friend as Elton John and I celebrated 5 killer years with my Mojo.
Our hike out provided a New Orleans style funeral march, my Mojo’s wake.
This week’s question: What’s the longest hike out you’ve had to make and what was the cause?
Here in the Northeast we don’t have the wide open spaces as those out west but sometimes the mosquitos make any bail out hike seem like a multi-day death march. It was one of those high skeeter index days that I double flatted in the woods nearby with only one spare tube onboard. (“Serious” racers don’t carry any extra grams!) That walk out was the longest hour of my cycling life!
I had a stick tear off my rear derailleur about a mile from the trailhead. Fortunately, there were some downhills I could sit and coast for, so I only had to push my gravel bike about half a mile total.