Team MotionBased

Bend's Big Fat Tour is loosely organized as the end of season mountain bike finale - this three day extravaganza features a 100-miler from Newberry Crater / Paulina Lake to Sisters on day one, a 50-mile tour of the best Phils / Skyliner / Metolius-Windigo trails a little closer to home followed by lots of Deschutes Beer and a fabulous catered dinner party. The final day is more of a hangover cure and a quick 25 miles near Suttle Lake and Cache Mountain up on Santiam Pass. My teammate and buddy, Jon Finnoff, and I - both on Bend Elite MTB, decided to tackle the full 3-day EPIC and shoot for the elusive and highly coveted "No Whiners" patch that was presented only to those finishing all three days.  Luckily the weather behaved nicely on the first two days and we were treated to stunning trail, beautiful mountain views and some incredible "hidden" gems of singletrack tucked between the crater in Newberry Volcanic Monument and the small town of Sisters.  Many of the local restaurants including Great Harvest Breads, Nancy P's and Merenda took part in keeping the aide stations well stocked and our waists comfortablely bulging.  Sure do like riding in the "off season".  Jon and I pedaled through Day 1 and 2 with smiles on our faces and the miles ticking off on the Garmin 305. Day 3 proved to be a bit more challenging than anticipated.  The autumn weather decided to do its required flip and we were treated to 30mph gusting wind, 40 deg drizzle when we started from the Corbett Sno-Park lot, 15 miles west of Sisters up Santiam Pass.  Guess starting in a Sno-Park should have been fair warning.  The entire day turned into a series of wiping glasses, surfing the pumice (all that's left from a massive forest fire) and grunting up the wet sandy climbs. Overall, good times for sure and by golly we got our "No Whiners" patch.  Fortunately its nothing to the great memories, long singletrack miles and yummy aide station treats! Check out my Garmin 305 ride profiles: Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 and come ride the Big Fat Tour!