The Oregonian Adventure continues...

Portlandia style!

(Like you can really "close" a beach, thankfully I'm a risk taker)

So after checking out the coast up north and seeing Seattle for a day or two, our Nationwide trailer hauling excursion posted up in Portland, OR. Now I've been to this city a couple times, and it's always been rad as hell, so it was an obvious stop for this road trip. We spent about three weeks in the Land of Hipsters drinking cheap beer riding from dive bar to dive bar, and I dug it.

(If you're going to live in a trailer, you need to be a little trashy from time to time)

(Steve Buscemi street art)

(Maybe I'd post more if this asshole would let me concentrate on my work)

(Just beautiful, I imagine the feeling I get from staring at this much Chris King goodness is similar to when a lady goes to "Jared")

Posting a post I never finished posting 6 years ago. Just a bunch of old photos whilst living temporarily in Portland.

Oregon ain't going nowhere

So I know everyone's been on the edge of their seats after that race result cliff hanger I left you all with, and for that I apologize, but everyone needs a little suspense in their life so here ya go. After weeks of training, tuning my ride so it will perform perfectly even under the most strenuous of race conditions, learning every inch of the 16 mile course turn by turn, the big day arrived.

And I came in dead last.

Not last in my division, or age group, or gender, but last overall. On that day particular day, I was the slowest person down that hill. It wasn't even close, that bad. Now I could go into detail about the two different flat tires, the chain getting stuck, and my rear shifter cable snapping so I was left with only the hardest gear, but fuck that. I lost, oh well.

So since racing might not be my forte, I chose the follow up my poor performance with an activity I excel at regularly, drinking free fine craft beer in large quantities, and drink I did.

(I may have walked off that mountain last, but I sure as hell wasn't going to do it sober.)

(Back to lazy farm life, more my pace)

(Tomatoes)

(Nothing like a cheap beer after shredding some dirt. Took the hard tail out to "The Lair" at Phil's Complex. Definitely worth checking out.)

(The long line of radishes)

(Potato picking time. Like millions of them, all under the ground, needing to come up so they can live out their destiny of being bake, mashed, fried or scalloped before ending up my belly. Luckily, with my Irish heritage, picking potatoes came as naturally as drinking Guinness and being burnt by the sun.)

(Teamwork!)

So we stayed on the farm for another week, but winter was coming, crops were harvested, and I wanted to ride other rad parts in the Pacific Radical NorthWest. We headed for a short coastal adventure, followed but a city slickin', beer drinking, party time in Portland.

(Race ready fat bike, Ti frame, carbon fork, Hellz Yeah)

(After busting my ass working 5 hour days on the farm, some solid beach time was necessary.)

(Cannon Beach, OR)

(Now this spot was up in Washington in a small town called Forks. Apparently there was a book written that took place in this town about a bunch of Vampires and Werwolves fighting over some mediocre looking girl that frowns too often. The book's on my nightstand but I just haven't had a chance to read it…)

(Yeah, I took this bad ass shot with an iPhone 4s while holding a beer in my free hand. Talented.)

After a little relaxing, and getting lost in the woods, seeing a bear and then a bunch of moose all while the sun was going down with no cell phone reception, but still making it back to camp alive, we headed to Seattle.)

(Seattle summed up in 1 picture.)

(In case you haven't noticed, I worked on a farm for three weeks so now I'm super into food shots…)

(And flowers)

(Art)

(Those poor shellfish never stood a chance.)

Ok, I know, enough with the hippy nature shit and lets get back to the typical level of raditude all my "many" readers are accustomed to. Well here's something for ya- Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park in Seattle. Its a small, free town MTB park with lines for everybody. The place has a few solid cross country loops great for the newbie as well as massive, sketchy, awesome, death defying stunt obstacles. Hellz to the Yeaaaahhhh.

(My travel partner in crime rocking some trails.)

(If this Radical Radish is going to get his "Extreme" on, you can bet he's going to be anything but "Cautious".)

(Super blurry pic, my B, but ya get the idea. Tons of sweet wooden drops and jumps to huck off of.)

(I shall leave you all with a sweet pic of my rear end foot-planting to fakie in the fine city of Portland.)

So after beaching it, drinking coffee in Seattle, watching dudes buck fish at each other and seeing tons of "indie" bands play at every bar we walked into, we posted up in Portland. I'll save that adventure for another day, since I'm assuming my audience has a limited attention span.

Keep it Rad.

Bend it like...

Don't say it, don't say it...

Beckham!!!!

(Goddammit)

So after making my thumb look like my wiener  hanging out of my pants with some of the most scenic landscapes this country has to offer as the back drop, we continued west. 

(We're in Mormon country, act appropriately)

We had to stop back by the Bay to register our "Love Tub" and party with friends, so we took to the coast. 

(Roadside camping in Big Sur. Notice the blown out tire, turns out trailer tires rated for 55 mph means you shouldn't drive faster than 55 mph, who knew?)

(Casita Styling by the Pacific)

(You can't just swing through Santa Cruz in September and not shred some "hero dirt, pretty sure there's laws against it. There's also laws against riding illegal trails but clearly this Radish picks and chooses where and when to abide by The Man's rules. What can I say, I'm a rebel, sometimes.)

(Picked up a few more bikes. Just like drunk girls at a party and dollar bill$ in my wallet, the more the merrier.)

After the Bay Area pit stop, we were back on the road, our next destination? WWOOFing on a farm in Bend, OR. What's WWOOFing you ask? Well I'll tell ya. It stands for World Wide Oppertunites  on Organic Farms. Basically, you work a few hours everyday in return for a free place to camp and all the veggies you can harvest, plus some fresh meat (i.e. bacon!)

http://www.wwoof.net/

(Every route we take is the scenic route)

(Hehe)

(The Farm!)

(My mornings)

Oregon is rad, that's will be come more obvious as we continue on our quest. While roaming around some BLM land on my Black Market Roam I stumbled upon the Deschutes River. 

(Upon this epic discovery, I immediately took an unflattering selfie. I'm sure Lewis and Clark would have done the same if the technology was available)

(Found this mint bike sculptor while riding at Phil's Complex in Bend)

So Oregon rains way more than California. After slipping and sloshing through mud for about ten miles  in 40 degree weather I was in need of a beer and a burrito. Longboard Louie's has got'em both. 

(Epic skinny wheeled gravel grinding too)

Did I mention this Radish is now an Enduro Racing Radish? Yup, I signed up to destroy all the competition for the legendary Ashland Super D. 

(Pre 16 mile downhill shuttle run)

(Pedaling uphill is for suckers)

(Sick trails and worn grips)

(Race practice)

("I asked for a 13 but he drew a 31")

(Post shuttle run, we crushed it)

So this Oregonian Adventure is simply too rad for one post, also I'm trying to (and failing miserably at) posting more often, so I'll finish this tale later. Stay tuned to see just how hard I crushed it at the Ashland Super D and be prepared for some next level traveling rawness.

-The Rad Roaming Radish