Charging the Oregon Coast

July 31, 2010

On Tuesday, The group headed to the bike shop and got fitted for helmets and bikes.  The ride on the first day was a great warm-up for things to come.  With a great breakfast in their stomach’s they hit the trail to the Yaquina Head lighthouse.  This lighthouse is a historic educational lighthouse that comes complete with a walk-through.  The kids got the chance to enter the lighthouse, and see where the keeper lived back when one was needed.  They even got to climb the stairs and learn about how the lights work.  They ate some lunch and headed back to the shop. “Piece of cake” and “bring it on” were some of the comments I heard about their bike that day. 

The biking ended early in the day, so they had the whole afternoon to hang out and goof around with new friends.  Their trip leader Matt brought a slack line, and it was the hit of the afternoon.  A slack line is essentially a low tight rope that you string between two trees.  The object is to walk on it for as long as you can.  It is extremely challenging, and as the kids found out, it is also extremely addicting.  Once you get on and try its very hard to walk away.  After some slack line, games, and dinner, the group had their second Group and then went to bed. 

Wednesday was their second day of biking, and proved to be a little bit more challenging.  This ride involved 14 miles of up and down single track mountain bike riding that tested and built each rider’s endurance and skill.  Single track refers to a trail that is only wide enough for one rider to go through at a time, meaning that they had to ride in a single file line. They came out of this day a little bit more tired, but extremely excited for Thursday’s ride.  That night, they built a fire and joked and laughed, and lets just say this group has a tremendous ability to pass gas (which always gets a good laugh).  This group is looking great, and they are ready for anything.

Thursday’s ride was the stuff of legend.  Basically, the trip gets driven up the side of a mountain, and dropped off 5 miles up.  They bike up another mile and then turn onto a trail that is a 6-mile downhill AWESOME-ATHON.  It is a long and challenging ride altogether, but it’s insanely fun, and everyone had a great time.   

Yesterday, they traveled to their new campsite and did a great day hike. After everyone got a chance to call home, they got to check out the sand dunes that they would be boarding on today. Today, Henry goes home for his hurt wrist from biking.  Everyone is bummed to see him go! We will miss you Henry!!  For now, the group presses on with their next activity sandboarding, and I’m sure they will have some awesome stories of speed and jumps.