Forums » The Trailhead » Farewell

  1. Farewell

    Hi,

    Any chance we could leverage the downhill steepness of Farewell to make a great, fast downhill run (with berms, more width, a few jumps)?

    most of the time, it seems blown out, dangerous, and generally not so fun, even for hikers.

    Posted By:
    steve
    Posted
    7/15/2008 13:52

  2. re: Farewell

    Farewell gets blown out because it's on a southern exposure with sandy, dry soil that doesn't compact very well at all. The uphill side of the trail is continually sliding down onto the compacted tread, adding to the problem. To me that makes it unsuitable for putting a lot of work into making it into a fast downhill. It just won't hold together.

    Dangerous? It always seems challenging and fun to me, but then I don't try to ride it as a fast downhill.

    We've put a lot of work into improving Farewell over the last couple years, and I think it's riding better than ever. We've greatly improved the sight-lines by cutting back the brush, and tried to fix areas where the trail was in danger of sliding down the hill. Lot's more work to be done, of course, but it'll have to wait until Fall when there's some moisture in the soil.

    If you are interested in helping with maintenance on Farewell, please let me know.

    Dave

    Posted By:
    dcaplan
    Posted
    7/16/2008 9:51

  3. re: Farewell

    farewell has some of the loosest, jumbly riding anywhere in Central Oregon. But that is what makes it great. Trying to ride fast on Farewell is a study on nimble bike handling, there are plenty of places around here to point it and haul major booty.
    Farewell awards the patient rider who can find precision while surrounded by chaos.
    Wow, that sounds like a bunch of Zen master BS, but hey, it works.

    Posted By:
    Strykeforce
    Posted
    7/23/2008 12:33

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