When Erik and I committed to riding the Oregon Outback, we didn’t want to absolutely kill ourselves, but we wanted it to be tough. On paper, 360 miles is totally doable in three days without crushing your spirit. Hell, I think we could have done it in two and we still would have been ok but that’s not the point.

I had a responsibility. One that I take seriously and that’s documenting this trip. Granted, most of the time, I didn’t want to stop to shoot a photo, or hop off my bike, I just wanted to keep going…

This was the hardest ride I’ve done and not because it’s the longest, or the dirtiest. It was difficult because I had to keep forcing myself to document the journey, when all I wanted to do was put my head down, eat a scoop of Nutella and keep pushing forward.

Day three was the most difficult. The night before, I had awkwardly slept on my knee and when I awoke in the morning, my leg was alseep. Not knowing, I stepped out of the hammock and twisted it until I felt a pop. 80 miles later and it was on fire. I had to lower my saddle considerably and stand for just about every climb.

Still, as I’m typing this, my leg is elevated and being iced down.

As cyclists, we’re stubborn, goal-driven fools. Whether our goal is to just finish the fucking ride, or to work ourselves into fitness, we, or at least I, get tunnel-vision.

It just so happens that the last day’s tunnel vision was clouded by relentless headwinds, rolling hills and snakes. A lot of snakes. Erik even bunnyhopped one on his bike. When we rolled into the Deschutes State Rec area, we were both pretty beaten up. But hey, we did it… and I highly suggest you do it next year! Same time, same place, Klamath Falls, Oregon on Memorial Day Weekend.

Read up more in the Gallery captions.

Here’s our route and the full breakdown. 368 miles, over 15,000′ elevation with 28 moving hours and 60 hours total.