Klamath Falls, Oregon
May 12, 2025; 7:45am
I took a deep breath, smelled the air, and gasped for more.
This was not air I had inhaled before.
panick
I checked my map, and zoomed out of my dot.
Fuck. That’s a lot.
Earth, Wind and Force
Though much of it was flat and straight, it would be hard to describe the Outback as easy. I think a lot of this stems from how small the Outback makes you feel. It might be similar to how an ant might feel crossing your room as you slowly drip water on it, just letting up as it starts to stop.
One aspect of smallness is, of course, the landscape. The Outback’s terrain can be summarized as a high-altitude crossing of four great national forests, which themselves are separated by vast plains, wide steppes and arid, hilly grasslands. The plains and steppes are so incredible that prominent features will remain in view for entire days of riding. The Outback roughly traverses Oregon in a straight line, from south to north. By riding in almost a straight line, you truly feel like you are Crossing the Earth, not just riding your bike.
Let me attempt to explain what I mean by Earth Crossing with an example. In the section below, the Outback traverses the hip of the massive Newberry National Volcanic Monument via NF-18. In doing so, you rise from the plains and hop into Deschutes National Forest, a forest whose borders are defined by the rising volcano itself. With the massive crater to your left for almost a day of riding, you rise and then fall back out of the forest, into the plains. Plains then continue until you hit the next mountain set. It is extremely difficult to comprehend the scale of this volcano as you cross it – most probably don’t even notice it is there. I have included an image of what the top of the monument looks like, courtesy of the USFS. It almost looks fake.
Another feeling of smallness came from the raw force of nature I faced out there on the high desert. And yes, while this could refer to the hail, thunderstorms and snow I experienced during my trip, my main opponent was wind. Because the land is so flat and exposed, wind rips across the landscape and never lets up. Even in the forests, wind would tunnel through the tree-lined roads and hit you with no respite. For 7 of 8 total days on my tour, I fought a nearly constant head or cross wind. It got so bad in sections that I almost got blown off my bike on a descent.
There was one glorious moment, however, where the wind and I aligned. After fighting and fighting for days, I turned to move with the wind and immediately was shot over a massive hill. It was probably the most exhilarating 2.5mile stretch of this entire ride and I struggled to make the left turn at the end because of how fast I was going. The plains are an unforgiving landscape and if you just so happen to point yourself in the wrong direction, they will show you what they are made of.
The Outback ends near The Dalles on the Columbia River, which is still 140 miles from Portland. From Hood River, I chose to take Lolo Pass, part of the historic Oregon Trail, through Hood National Forest. Probably one of the most epic passes I have ever done, it’s a combination of dirt roads and windy one-lane mountain roads, made more fun by the pouring rain I had to ride through. It really felt like a taste of the PNW, and I was glad to be there.
Our Mother, The Mountain makes sense to me now.
Familiar Faces I Have Never Seen
Despite this tour being the most remote I have ever been with my bicycle, I connected with more homies on this trip than any in the past. I embarked on this journey alone, but because of them I never felt like I was out there by myself. Here’s a few of them:
Ian
I met Ian in Oakland Jack London Square as we waited for the Coast Starlight. He had a sweet Crust Wombat and I had my Fitz, so of course we started talking about bikes. He and his partner were headed back to PDX after their Bay Area vacation, so we agreed that if I made it to Portland we should hang out.
When I got to Portland a week later, he took me on a super fun rip through Forest Park. Check out his photos!
David, Simon, Miles
We ran into each other on the first day out on the OC&E trail, but really rode and camped together on the third day. Out on a family vacation, the trio were so fun to connect with. All three are engineers and seasoned outdoorsmen. I learned a lot from our conversations and they really made me feel like I was part of their family.
There was a section where the main road was closed due a prescribed burn, so we bushwhacked our way around. The left image shows the trio debating if we should hop a fence into private property to avoid the burn – you bet we did!
Shannon – Fly Shan, Fly!
I chased Shannon for almost two days through non-stop wind near the end of the Outback. After crossing Ochoco NF, whenever I arrived at a town and I mentioned where I had been and where I was going, someone would tell me “Oh yeah! There’s a gal ahead of you – she was here just yesterday.” After that I began to notice fresh tracks in the dirt roads.
I finally caught her at the end of the Outback and we rode together to Hood River where we had dinner with one of her friends. She’s pretty hard core! – her shoe broke out on tour so she had been duck-taping herself in before riding. And, even though we had just met, it felt like I was riding with an old friend.
I took a deep breath, smelled the air, and gasped for more.
This was air I had inhaled before.
B R E A T H E
I centered myself.
Respected where I was.
Respected where I had to go.
B R E A T H E
B R E A T H E
Returned to my skin,
it was time to begin.
Yelling at the Clouds 
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