Larry Hughes Sets New Oregon Outback FKT

The Oregon Outback route has been inspiring a number of riders recently, including those chasing fastest known times (FKT). It’s considered one of the best routes in the state, following a 364-mile route from Klamath Falls in the south north along mostly unpaved roads to the confluence of the Deschutes and Columbia Rivers, just east of Hood River.

Jan Heine of Rene Herse Cycles set a FKT on the route in 2021 with a time of 26 hours and 13 minutes (1d:2h:13m), taking more than an hour off the previous record. Next was Abdullah Mustafa, who cut another hour off of Jan’s time earlier this summer. Then, last month, Larry Hughes set a new time of 25 hours and 4 minutes, which is a grand total of five minutes faster than Abdullah’s time. Larry shared the news of his ride, and after confirming his achievement, we asked Larry to put together a recap of his ride and a breakdown of his bike and gear. Dig into everything below.

Larry Hughes’ Oregon Outback FKT

Words and photos by Larry Hughes

A good friend of mine, Trevor, moved to Portland in 2019. Shortly after, he started talking to me about coming out, visiting, and giving the Oregon Outback FKT a go. COVID derailed plans for multiple years, but I could finally put together a trip out to visit him and work in a run at the Outback. As time was limited, I didn’t have the opportunity to pre-ride any of the route. I had to rely on YouTube videos, other people’s posts online, Google maps, and Google street view for all my research.

I set the start time at 7 a.m. and had planned stops in Silver Lake (120 miles), Prineville (227 miles), and Ashwood (270 miles). I carried all the nutrition I would need from the start so I would only need to get water at the three locations, which would limit time off the bike. I had the route loaded in my Garmin, and I kept the navigation screen up for the entire ride. Overall, that worked well, just a couple of small missteps while on the OC&E as there are a couple of bits that are difficult to quickly identify.

The initial entry onto the OC&E was a bit confusing. After passing the concrete barricades, I had to find my way to the start of the OC&E. That bit of trail was not well defined. On the OC&E, I encountered three different groups of cattle. I chose the strategy of riding straight at them and not slowing. Fortunately, they all scattered before I got to them. I found two locked man gates, but the farm gate was unlocked. One irrigation system in front of the gate sprayed me while going through and created a massive mud pit I had to ride through after passing the gate. Some bits were very overgrown, and it was a little tough to see the trail. While riding through tall weeds, some got wrapped in the cassette, and I had to stop to remove them as the chain would skip. In the first 120 miles, I debated if I had gone too deep in keeping the bike moving. There was still a long way to go, and I could feel the efforts. I reminded myself that the conditions would change, and I could recover. Finally, I arrived in Silver Lake, the only stop in daylight. I stopped at the Mercantile for four liters of water, pulled nutrition from the seat pack, and refilled the jersey pockets before rolling out of town.

Silver Lake to Prineville brought its own challenges. Strong cross winds made the initial bit out of town slow going, but the red sauce in the Deschutes National Forest was the toughest. Not as much from the soft surface that I read about, but more from the massive washboard bits I didn’t. The washboard sections were two inches tall and would take the bike from 18 mph to 4 mph in an instant. This section required constant focus to pick a line that was packed while also trying to avoid the washboard as much as possible. It is a beautiful section of the trail, but I did not enjoy it at all. The icing on the cake was the three miles of freshly graded gravel prior to getting into Prineville.

I stopped at the 7-Eleven in Prineville to get four more liters of water, pull out the remaining nutrition from the seat pack and put the vest in the bungies on the saddle pack for quick access later. The steady climb heading out of town was tough with stiff legs and the weight of all the water. The climb was slow but on paved road. The descent was somewhat sketchy gravel. I opted to take it a little slow to stay safe and protect the bike. Only one of the water crossings had water on it, and I could quickly determine it was rideable. I stopped in Ashwood for my final stop before the finish to top off the bottles at the old post office fridge. Dropped a $20 in the pay box and was rolling again. Antelope came and went in the early morning hours. If you haven’t watched the Netflix series “Wild Wild Country,” it’s worth a watch to learn some history about this town.

I stopped in Shaniko to put the vest on, and unfortunately, it had fallen off in the night. That made for a cold 60-ish miles to the end. Overall, the profile from Shaniko is downhill, but there are a lot of punchy climbs. I conserved energy on the descents and then powered up and over the climbs to keep rolling as fast as possible. A great horned owl flew with me for a bit on the final descent toward the Columbia River. I reached the finish point with an elapsed time of 25 hours and 4 minutes, a new FKT.

Bike, Gear, and Set-Up

I am not an ambassador for any product. Everything I use has been selected because I like it, have used it, have confidence in it, and my local bike shop Roll helped me to get it.

• Bike: Cannondale SuperSix Evo SE
• Aero Bar: Control Tech Sirocco Stem mount
• Components: SRAM AXS Rival groupset with three exceptions. Cassette was SRAM Force (weight down), RR derailleur pulleys swapped to SRAM Force (bearings rather than bushings), and RH crank is Red Power. I would have also switched the LH but the Ai offset made for an exclusive spindle length so I call it my Redval crank. (weight savings and to get power meter).
• Wheels: LightBicycle with Industry9 hubs and Sapim spokes
• Tires: Challenge Strada Biancha 700 x 45mm (@28psi)
• Nutrition/Hydration: 20x Spring Energy Wolfpack (350cal/pack), 10x Maurten drink mix 320 (320cal/pack). 2x one-liter Zefal Magnum water bottles on the bike (each with water and Maurten). USWE 2liter hydration pack (carried Garmin InReach in pocket). Start with Maurten and transitioned to water only from Silver Lake.
• Lights: 2x Specialized Flux 1250 headlights, Cateye flashing taillight.
• Battery pack: Garmin charge power pack and INUI portable 10000mAh pack
• Clothing: Arm warmers, Leg warmers, vest, packable jacket, midweight gloves, lightweight gloves, toe covers, base layer, standard jersey and bibs.
• Bike Gear: EVOC top tube bag (headlights, INUI charge pack, $80 (in $20 bills), credit card, liquid wax. EVOC saddle pack (10x Spring Energy, 6x Maurten mix, Multi-tool, mini pump, 2 latex tubes, tire boots, tube patches, tire darts, all clothing not actively being worn.)

Further Reading

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