Disciples of Dirt

Get Your Motor Running!

Miles of New Singletrack Coming to Whypass

Disciples have their motor running, literally and figuratively. There's been a lot of good things happening in the Oregon mountain biking world in 2014 and the Disciples Of Dirt are right up there with the best of them leading the trail building renaissance going on! We were in a holding pattern out at Whypass and while the Trail Work Committee has always been hard at work laying out new lines, working with the BLM and going to countless meetings, walking the Whypass hills to find just the right layout for new trails and being good stewards by finding the best way to get off private timber lands … their work was not visible to the masses until now.

In October, DOD began to construct two completely new gravity trails in The Gift zone at Whypass. One is a more traditional downhill line with many technical challenges, spots for hidden speed so you can lose your buddies, and opportunities to show off for the camera. Fortune favors the bold is the theme and Ode to Joy is the name. It's nearly completely constructed and soon all it will need is time to heal and harden! The second gravity line is a modern jump trail with big berms, rollers, tables and great sight lines so the riding is fast, fun and will get the heart pounding!

Read More

New Skills = New Opportunities

IMBA Advanced Trail Building School Held at Whypass

Eager students — 37 in all — from several of Oregon's IMBA chapters and government agencies spent the weekend of October 18-19 at DOD's Whypass trail sysyem stepping up their trail building skills to the next level. As they received instruction from the IMBA Trail Solutions Crew on how to operate machines, build rock features, and construct berms, a new trail in the Whypass Gift Zone emerged, growing in length and character with every pass of the mini-excavator. Read more.

The weekend was a huge win for local mountain bikers and trail stewards. As our trail building skills increase we are better positioned to provide quality experiences for all skill levels and rider styles. That means whether you rock your lycra loud and proud, don moldy flannel, pay attention to your heart rate or track frequent flier miles you are bound to find more and better stuff to strava, gopro, shred or rip. New, old, slow or bold … we're making a spot for you!

New Partners, New Tools

Disciples of Dirt Receive $8,000 Grant from REI

It's never been DOD's style to swagger about, tooting our own horn and calling attention to ourselves. We are more comfortable just quietly working deep in the woods, taking care of business tending to our local trails. Nonetheless, a lot of folks have been paying attention to DOD lately ... noticing, appreciating, and respecting the hard work and professionalism of our board of directors and volunteers. Land managers like the US Forest Service and the BLM have already seen fit to enter into official agreements with our club, and now DOD has forged a partnership with national outdoor retailer REI to promote trail stewardship and advocacy in the Southern Willamette Valley. So we'd like to toot our horn about it!

To kick off this partnership, REI has awarded DOD grant money to the tune of $8,000! Some of these funds will be invested in a power wheelbarrow as well as a heavy duty brush cutter—equipment that will help DOD continue to improve, maintain and expand the singletrack options in our area. In addition DOD will work with REI to help promote mountain biking and introduce new and beginner riders to our sport. Thank you REI—this is definitely the beginning of a beautiful new friendship!

O'Leary, Olallie ... Oh, My!

Trailworkers Tune Up an IMBA Epic Trail

The Disciples of Dirt trailwork party at the Horse Creek Lodge on Memorial Day weekend was an amazingly fun and hugely productive event. In the continued reclamation of this IMBA Epic trail, 38 trail workers headed out on Saturday to buck trees, bench tread, bank turns, and brush back vegetation on the O’Leary Trail. On Sunday smaller crews spent the day on Castle Rock Trail brushing, benching, and buffing out that section of the loop. Over the course of the weekend our trail volunteers logged a whopping 350 hours of work!

This event was truly a community effort. The McKenzie Chamber, along with the folks at the Horse Creek Lodge, accommodated and fed everyone. Tyson Cross of the USFS McKenzie District came up with a detailed “battle plan” and organized the work crews. And volunteers from DOD and GOATS showed up in force to put their backs and strong arms into making this wild and beautiful trail system more accessible ... and even more fun to ride!

New Trails in the Works at Whypass

Members of DOD's Whypass Task Force have been extremely busy this spring. They have been tramping through the brush at the Carpenter Bypass Trail System scouting and flagging what will soon become some fun and flowy, brand new trail. These new lines still need to be approved by the BLM and their "ologists" but once DOD gets the green light to build, we will be able to add several more miles of sweet singletrack to our beloved network. In the works are two new lines in The Gift, a long meandering trail connecting The Pile to the Yellow Gate on the west side of the road, and at least three more trails that will create all kinds of loop options in the Fun Girl area. For the full scoop on these and other planned new lines, go to the DOD Trailwork Forum.