Dirty Freehub

What’s the very best way to celebrate a birthday? Duh! A birthday ride … 62 years for Gravel Girl today. Cranking the Path of Totality on a toasty day. Fun, fun …

Horn of the Metolius: No fire damage!

If Horn of the Metolius has been on your central Oregon wish list, check out Susan Kolb’s recent ride report:

“Conditions were excellent! Trails were riding fabulously. Descents were fun and fast with gorgeous, sweeping views. We were treated to bright, colorful early autumn foliage.”

53 miles | 4,600 feet of climbing

Climb toward views of Mount Jefferson, explore the shores of Lake Billy Chinook, and follow the beautiful Metolius River through a rugged, remote landscape. This is a full day of adventure!

Bring your adventurous spirit—and expect to work for those views. Susan reports about a mile of legitimate hike-a-bike and plenty of chunky rocks along the river. She rode 45mm knobby tires, but welcomed the idea of bigger tires and suspension!

“Thank you Dirty Freehub for all of your incredible stewardship, per usual!” —Susan Kolb

Our Dirty Roads Crew puts in the hours to keep this special route rideable. Your support helps make days like Susan’s possible.

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https://dirtyfreehub.org/routes/oregon/horn-metolius/

Check out our new mapping features, that lets you see all the routes from our map. And how they overlay. Just another improvement that we are making so you can find the best route for you! You can zoom in, zoom out and click on the route to head straight to the Ride Guide.

Happy route shopping!

Here's the link to Arizona: https://dirtyfreehub.org/gravel-search/?center=Arizona

Please fill out our yearly survey! Here’s the link: https://forms.gle/LnVsJUunfRXBVLn3A

Community Ride: Path of Totality. Monday, Oct 5th. Come celebrate Gravel GIrl's birthday, have a fun ride, and enjoy the awesome fall weather. Route includes plenty of water-hugging miles along Lake Simtustus, farm roads, and one heck of a beautiful locals-only road that takes you from Lake Simtutus to Madras. The ride is 44 miles with 3,100 feet of climbing. The pace will be around 12 mph because this has more pavement than our usually gig. Ride off the front if you feel like going faster.

See you at 10:00 am start. Here are all the details including how to register:

Community Ride: Path of Totality (Madras) - Dirty Freehub Let's head to north of Madras to ride the Path of Totality which has a whole lot of waterfront riding along Lake Simtustus plus a tour of Madras. Just a

Cheddarhead is quite the adventure, the **sans singletrack** option starts an hour west of Portland. You ride to Tillamook and back, for a total of 91 miles and 8,200 feet, with an ice cream in the middle. This version skips the Wilson River Trail and turns the adventure into more of a traditional gravel ride through the Coast Range.

Glen Scruggs recently rode this version over two days and gave it a strong endorsement.

Glen split the route at Tillamook, where Day 1 delivered expansive views, a waterfall, beautiful pasturelands—and perhaps the greatest possible ending to a gravel ride: **“Rolled right up to an outdoor ice cream cafe at the Tillamook Creamery and grabbed a chocolate hazelnut ice cream cone.”** 🍦

Day 2 brought miles of peaceful riding along Jordan Creek and the North Fork of the Trask River. Glen rode 45 mm tires and found them plenty for most of the route. Best of all? **“The route is very quiet. It was pleasant to listen to the North Fork of the Trask River and all the birds.”**

There are still some spicy bits, including steep climbing, loose rock and active logging areas, so check current access before you go. But if you want the big CheddarHead adventure without the technical singletrack, Glen sums it up perfectly:

**“If you’re looking to roll more quickly, like a more typical gravel ride, Cheddarhead sans singletrack is an enjoyable solid two days on your bike!”**

See the Notes and Options section of the Ride Guide for this version. https://dirtyfreehub.org/routes/oregon/cheddarhead/

Put Rajneeshee on your fall gravel list.

Wild. Rugged. Remote. And according to Rebecca, “This ride gets all around thumbs up!”

The Rajneeshee route starts in tiny Antelope, Oregon, and packs a whole lot into 65 miles and 7,000 feet of climbing—big high-desert views, quiet roads, stream crossings, a glimpse of the John Day River, the historic Donnybrook Schoolhouse, and a ride through the former Rajneeshpuram compound. It’s about 60% gravel and 40% pavement, with the route rated Very Demanding.

Rebecca’s recent ride report with her photos reminds us why we want to ride this: “The ride was so beautiful!” She spotted mule deer, antelope, mountain bluebirds, egrets, hawks and wild turkeys, and loved the mix of terrain. “The gravel climbing was a great challenge without being too difficult. The paved descent into what was once the Rajneesh Compound was fast and fun!”

And Antelope itself is becoming a pretty cool gravel basecamp. Rebecca gives a shout-out to the locals who have created a bike-friendly camp with A-frame cabins, camping, showers and even a dark-sky library with telescopes. The Antelope Market next door is also open. The route starts in Antelope.

A few tips from Rebecca: expect to get your feet wet at the water crossings, watch for puncture vine, and bring plenty of food and water. She rode tubeless 50 mm tires and reports, “Traffic was minimal.”

PS. You can create a 52 miles / 5800 feet of gain version of the route. See our Notes section in the Ride Guide.

Thanks Rebecca Lampman for your photos and route review. Here's the Ride Guide: https://dirtyfreehub.org/routes/oregon/rajneeshee/

Thinking about late fall? Head to Tucson—and include our J-Bob route in your plans. 41 miles with 2,000 feet of climbing.

Jonathan Strang rode J-Bob this week and said “This is a great route. Great fun and great scenery.” He also reports that 96 Ranch Road is currently “in great shape. No washboard. All smooth, recently graded.”

But monsoon season has added some spice. Jonathan encountered deep sand, eroded washes and rugged descents where choosing your line carefully is important. He rode a hardtail with 2.4" tires and 100 mm of front suspension and said that setup was “perfect for me with current conditions.” He warns to keep your speed under control on the eroded descents, where some wash crossings have become significantly deeper.

Here's the Ride Guide: https://dirtyfreehub.org/routes/arizona/j-bob/

Join us Thursday, Oct 1st at 10:00 am near Bend, Oregon for a group ride from Tumalo Reservoir to Sisters and back. The route? Coffee Run which is 31 miles and 1,200 feet of gain. See the link below for al the details. Going to be another beautiful day .... (tick, tock ... these days aren't going to last much longer.).

Community Ride: Coffee Run - Dirty Freehub Chit, chat. This ride is perfect for a group ride. Let's kick off October with a celebration gravel ride from Tumalo Resevoir to Sisters and back. The

Join us Saturday, Oct 3rd at 8:00 am to ride Little Brother which takes off outside of Brothers, OR. (East of Bend.). Ride leader is Jenn Edwards. Find all the info about this Community ride on the Dirty Freehub events page. (31 miles and 1,200 feet of climbing.)

Community Ride: Little Brother - Dirty Freehub Rolling gravel, high-desert views, and a backroad adventure along the edge of the Maury Mountains We’re heading out near Brothers, Oregon for Little