What's your Shark Tale?

I love reach the beach. Six of my friends and I ride it every year. We generally start form Grand Ronde because one of our friends has some medical issues, but this year she said she's feeling great and has been training for it, so she insisted we start in Amity. We are all very excited. I heard we'll get to eat more fruit this year which is perfect for this fruit-loving cyclist! As soon as I get a leg cramp, bananas. In fact, if I eat them in advance I don't get cramps.

I don't have a Shark Tale because this is my first year riding. I'm sure I'll have plenty after this because my buddies and I are riding that new long route outta Corvallis. We'll see.....

I thougt it was a great ride. Thanks for all the support. I'll be back next year. By my riding partner, with his sore legs and riding butt, he may have to take a shorter route next time.

I've ridden the Mt. Bike route from Grand Ronde off and on for a number of years. After not having ridden for two years (because of schedule conflicts), I did it again this year (2007) and was disappointed to find that the trend I had noticed last time...that Mt. bikers are becoming more and more second-or third-class citizens with respect to amenities and support...was continuing.

The first time I did the ride, years ago, there was a rest stop with food and water and a porta-potty, at the junction where the national forest road begins. In subsequent years there had been one at the bridge within the national forest. This year there was no rest stop until almost the end of the national forest road, and even that was just water and some fruit and cookies. No person was there. The only support person I saw in the national forest was one lone man who was stationed at an intersection to make sure we took the right road. He was very nice but didn't have any food, water, or supplies.

There was no sign of a support van during the national forest part of the ride. The website promised a hot lunch, but no lunch...hot or cold...was in sight for us mountain bikers.

I also noticed that there seemed to be many fewer mountain bikers than the last time I rode. Perhaps declining numbers of mountain bikers is the reason for the diminished support; however, we pay our fees just like the road bikers and we deserve the same support.

Conversely, maybe there are fewer mountain bikers because of the diminished support.

I have always done this ride alone and in the past have appreciated the feeling that if I got in trouble there would be someone to help. This year I didn't feel that way; there were long stretches where I didn't see another person and I was a bit nervous. I've never had any problems and I still didn't this year, but I would have to say that I would think twice about doing the ride again, for safety reasons.

Hi Sydney,

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. The mtb course has always been a more bare-bones ride since the level of support we provide on the road courses just is not possible on those trails. The hot lunch was at the finish line for three of our routes that did not pass through the Amity hot lunch stop at lunch time, and the mtb course was one of those routes. We added in some plentiful options and tons of variety at that finish line mean, so hopefully you found something hot and delicious to reward yourself after all that riding.

The medical and SAG support across all courses was extensive, and we had monitors on the mtb course. We look forward to seeing you out on one of the routes next year.

A group of friends and I ride the mountain course off and on and I thought it was great, really pristine back in there, a good riding challenge. I'm not much of an off-road rider so I think next year we're going back to Amity.