I went down to Hood River to do a little riding and shoot the the third race in the Fluidride Cup series.

On Saturday we went out and rode some of amazing singletrack that circles Mt. Hood. The weather was beautiful and the trails were in pristine condition. I have yet to find another place with XC trails that are as good as those outside Hood River. The climbs are perfectly graded to keep you legs screaming, while not so steep that you can’t turn your crank over and are forced to hike-a-bike. Finally after cresting the climb, you are treated to 5 minutes of pure bliss. The sweeping curves on the descent are wide enough to ride wide open and there isn’t a death cookie to be seen.

On race day, the weather took a turn for the worse and by lunch it was pouring rain. I was forced to shoot in the trees to stay somewhat sheltered, but it was really dark and balancing the strobes with the ambient was challenging. In any case, it was a great race. You can check out the result on Skibowl’s website.

Anyone that grew up near dirt roads has a little rally driver in them. Or in my case, it was snowy roads.

Every time it snowed, the drive to school was that much more fun. The funny part about it was that my first car, a ’83 Volvo 240 Turbo stationwagon, only had one wheel drive. I’m not kidding–only the left, rear wheel had power go to it. I’m not sure it this was some type of cruel Swedish joke or if it had something to do with being rear ended at 40 mph. 1WD “allowed” it to spin really well to the right, but not to the left! This car also had no windshield defroster, so I had to drive with my windows down…in Montana…in the winter. This actually didn’t bother me, since you were fine as long as you bundled up before you left and you ALWAYS bundle up when the high is 0. This attitude changed one night when a snowplow passed me… After I spit out a couple ice chunks, I discovered about a foot of snow on my lap. But, I didn’t stop! I drove that snowbank all the way home.

Anyway, I found myself down in Hood River for the Oregon Trail Rally last weekend. And while I have slide my car though a turns out on a few Montana farm roads, these guys do it at 60 mph with a 500 cliff on one slide and a really hard tree on the other.