Mountain biking men's club

Greg (and Schrader) came to dinner on Saturday, and I sent him home with a disk of photos from past mountain biking trips (Moab, Hood River, Tee Lake, Bend). I made a copy for Bernie, too... He's putting together photos for the upcoming 20th anniversary of the first men's trip—the start of it all. The day trips to ride trails in the area gradually grew into weekend getaways, usually crashing at friend's houses or cabins. Any place with great mountain biking trails was a potential target, and they tried them all: Manastash Ridge, Tahuya Forest, Lake Wenatchee, and Crow Creek were favorites. Eventually, each year's ride list expanded to include places like Hood River, Moab, Lake Tahoe, Bend, Whistler B.C., and Park City, Utah.

I was pleased to be included as an honorary men's club member, and happily went along on a lot of their trips. There's nothing quite like being the only female in the company of a bunch of friendly, rowdy mountain bikers, both on the trails and afterwards. And I rode in some amazing places:  Moab and Mt. Bachelor near Bend are probably my favorites. But other than talking about where we rode, my lips are sealed… no details will every be provided outside the magic circle of the men's club. It was the condition of membership (they all know I keep a journal), and I will always honor it.

It was fun to sort through photos and pick out those that best illustrated these happy years of biking. The group went to a lot of scenic places, and a lot of pictures were taken. But my favorites are those of groups of riders in those scenic spots year after year, showing how everyone (and their bikes) changed through the years. They went from simple inexpensive hardtail bikes to sophisticated full suspension bikes, from basic pedals to toe straps to clipless pedals, from basketball shorts to padded Lycra shorts to baggy padded shorts, from water bottles to Camelbacks. And as much as the bikes and gear changed over the years, the riders changed the most. They went from shaggy hair to shaved heads, full heads of hair to bald heads, dark hair to gray hair.