Following is a report on my first experience using a BOB Yak Plus trailer on a bike-camping trip. It's also a report on winter bike-camping on Oregon's Deschutes River Trail. I bought the trailer for my wife for Christmas because she said she'll need it to carry all her books when she enters medical school this fall. Of course I might use it once in a while too ;-) I know what you're thinking, and no it's not like when Homer bought Marge a bowling ball for her birthday. Really. She is going to use it. Seriously. The Test Anyway, while reading (!) the manual that came with the trailer, I noticed the following sentence: "The Yak Plus trailer is VERY [emphasis theirs] off-road capable". Hmmm. I'd thought of using it for road touring, but OFF-road? Possibilities started streaming into my mind. I've been anxious to actually check out BOB's off-road capabilities for weeks, and last weekend I finally got the chance. I didn't want to do anything too technical in case BOB couldn't handle it, and I didn't want to do anything too hilly pulling this much weight. The Deschutes River Trail sounded like the perfect test. And I've bike-camped there before, just with panniers instead of a trailer. The Trail Those of you who live in the Pacific NW may be familar with this rail-trail (the downstream one, not the one near Sunriver). It starts in Deschutes State Park at the confluence of the Deschutes and Columbia Rivers, and heads upriver for about 20 miles. This is east of the Cascade mountains so it's semidesert. The vegetation is mostly sagebrush and bunchgrasses, with plenty of wildflowers (lupine, balsamroot, etc.) in the spring. The canyon averages about 1000 feet deep and is absolutely stunning, with steep rimrocked walls, and a big rushing river providing great relief against the parched surroundings. The canyon bottom is low elevation (around 500 feet, I think) -- although there is significant snowfall several times each winter, it's clear most of the time. Summer temperatures exceed 90 on most days, and 100 a lot of the time, while winter nights usually dip well below freezing, and sometimes below zero. Like most trails of this type, it's pretty flat, with the only real "hills" found at a stretch where you have to go downhill and back up to go around a washed-out trestle. It's mostly gravel and not terribly technical, though there are rockier and sandier patches along the way. I had just ridden it the previous weekend without the trailer when it was dry, but it rained a bit Friday, so the trail had lots of muddy patches when I arrived on Saturday. Starting out After the 100-mile drive from Portland and filling out the $5 overnight parking permit for the car (no other trail registration needed) I started packing the trailer and was soon ready to go. Solo tent, winter sleeping bag, plenty of warm clothes (it IS winter), the usual bike tools & supplies, the 10 essentials, lots of solid food (I usually skip the camp stove and dehydrated food if I'm only out 1 night), water filter. The gear weighed in at 30-35 pounds back home, plus the trailer at 15 pounds or so, and everything fit in BOB's dry bag. Nice to be riding along a river - no need to carry numerous liters of water. OK, dressed for this breezy upper-40s afternoon, and ready to go. Minor climb out of the parking lot but geez, but feels like more than it is thanks to the extra weight. Lots more traction, though: I can't quite stand in the saddle going uphill on gravel, but almost. The hill is more work than normal, but once on the flat I barely know the trailer's there. Nice. Handling and acceleration are sluggish, but on a gravel trail the rolling resistance is barely noticeable. And fully-loaded BOB makes a nice pleasing rumble as he barrels along! All right, riding a bit conservatively because I'm not sure of handling. There are lots of mudholes, but I just keep pedaling and the Hutchinson Alligators blast right through, with BOB willingly charging along behind. I could go pretty fast in this tailwind but mostly keep it to 10-12 mph. By the "hill" at Mile 3 I'm feeling a little more confident and let the speed creep up to 20 on the smoother part of the decline. Whee! Probably could hit 30 with all that weight, but I'd probably fishtail out of control anyway. OK, grinding up the other side. Down into the 24:26 and briefly the 24:30 going back up. Just Riding Along Break time at the first old abandoned rail car at Mile 6. Wow, this is working pretty well, and I've been making decent time. Wonder how far I'll decide to go before camping. Well, back on the bike. A few hundred yards down the trail, riding along the edge of a mudhole, I slip sideways into the hole at 8-10 mph and lose control. I don't completely wipe out, but skid sideways and stop abruptly. A split-second later, WHUMMMP! Uh-oh ... BOB has jackknifed. This is probably not good. OK, checking for damage ... aw shit, BOB is only connected to one side of the bike now. Cotter pin on the left side is bent way out of whack, and one of the aluminum "sleeves" the pin goes into has been ripped open. Disaster? I bend the cotter pin back into shape, and lo and behold it looks like it will stay in. A little duct tape to shim up the enlarged gap between the pin and the QR, and we're back in business. But I don't think I'll ride too much further with BOB, just in case he has trouble making it back. I head for the boater/hiker/biker campground just past the second old railcar at Mile 8. Nice riverside spot, clean modern outhouse. A quarter-million people raft this river every summer and in August these campgrounds are party central. But on this February weekend it's just BOB and me. More to Explore I leave BOB in the campground, and I ride out past dilapidated Harris Ranch, past the last visible MTB tracks left by anyone else, out to mile 17, where I decide to turn around so I can make it back just before dark. Supposedly the trail is rideable to mile 20 or so, but the park ranger says he's never heard of anyone going the last 3 miles. In the last streth there are a couple of major washouts where the trail crosses side canyons. Very rideable, which I know from experience. Two years ago I tried to come in from the other end of the trail at Macks Canyon. More hiking than biking. Big piles of rock to hike around, and big washouts to climb through. I turned around after about a mile and a half. But now that I've done all but about 4 miles of this trail, I know I must return and finish the whole thing. The ultimate epic here would be to do the whole 23-mile trail on my cyclocross bike (easier to carry it those last 3 miles anyway). Then switch to the road tires I've stashed at Sherars Falls and ride up out the side canyon on SR 216, which looks to be one of the most spectacular bike climbs on the planet. Once up on the plateau, back through Grass Valley and Moro, down through Fulton Canyon to the Columbia and the state park. Haven't added it up, but I think it's a total of 80-100 miles of trail and road. An epic in every sense of the word. One of these days .... NOTE: Later in 2002 I did this very trip: see the ride report here: http://www.wriconsult.com/bike/02deschutes2.html. A Night in the Canyon Anyway, back to the campground. Camping with BOB was great. It only got down to 40 degrees (nice, since the following night it hit 18 degrees). The canyon glowed in the nearly-full moon, which also sparkled off the rushing Deschutes. Competing rail lines were completed the same year on each side of the river back in the 19th century --- the railroad on the west side of the canyon is still in use, and sees two or three trains a night. It's kind of thrilling to hear the train rumble in in the middle of the night, its headlight lighting up the canyon, the roar and squeals of the train eventually filling the canyon with sound, and then gradually disappearing off into the opposite distance.... Strong headwind the next day, keeping things to 8 mph or so. BOB made it out unevenfully. Should be fine on pavement for now, but I need to replace his fork before I take him off-road again. And I'll take it easier on him next time. Bottom Line I wouldn't agree with BOB's designers that this trailer is "VERY off-road capable". I'd stay away from highly technical or hilly terrain with it, because it can be pretty easily damaged if you wipe out. But I would definitely say that BOB is quite "off-pavement capable". Perfect for bike camping on longer rail-trails or on forest or fire roads. Return to top of page | Home

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