Visiting Oregon’s Painted Hills With All-City’s Gorilla Monsoon

November 3, 2021 by All-City Team

Last modified: November 4, 2021

Take a Little Vacation with the Gorilla Monsoon

Back in early June, Sponsored Rider Kae-Lin Wang put her Gorilla Monsoon, which she has named Chad, through its paces in Oregon’s Painted Hills. We sent a crew out there to join her, including Portland-based photographer Gritchelle Fallesgon, Seattle-based cyclist Alix Walper, and All-City Art Director Mike Jandora. They had a good time and snagged some pics, so if you’re looking for a vicarious vacation, here’s a recap from Mike:

White Sprinter van parked on side of gravel desert road with photographer crouching, looking through camera on tripod
Photo credit: Mike

The Painted Hills are under the Bureau of Land Management. That means you can pretty much camp and hike wherever you want, no permits, just good times. If you’re driving, the roads can get sketchy and you’re gonna want a car with good ground clearance. Also, a 12-passenger sprinter van can be hard to turn around out there, but the sleeping accommodations are choice.

Mike wearing sunglasses, dark jacket, and jeans standing in front on Sprinter van eating snack on desert road
Photo credit: Wang

The days were hot and the nights were cold — as expected when you’re in a desert climate and spending time at elevation. We did our whole shoot in one day, sunup to sundown. Some of us neglected sunscreen and paid for it, and we all survived on snacks and granola bars. We ate a whole box of them that day — it got to the point where eating more granola bars would have offered diminishing returns.

Collage: desert foothills and valley on sunny day, pointing on map location
Photo credit: Mike

We saw two wild donkeys, also known as burros or Shrek’s best friend. They were just out walkin’, being donkeys. Saw a couple hawks. A bunch of cattle grazing, standing in the road and refusing to move. Baby cows everywhere.

Three cows with red ear tags grazing next to barbed wire fence on hillside
Photo credit: Mike

Alix fell in a river while attempting to ride across. Her first attempt went fine, but she found a large rock in her path on the return trip and splashed down. To be fair, though, she told us when she got there that she falls off her bike from time to time, so she was true to her word on that part. After treating a banged-up knee and drying out her clothes on the front of the van, she ate a couple snacks and got back to shooting.

Alix pushing Gorilla Monsoon through desert stream crossing, all wet after falling in
Photo credit: Gritchelle

Collage: Alix soaking wet from stream crossing fall, sitting, applies band-aid to knee, sighs looking at knee
Photo credit: Gritchelle

Gritchelle’s a total pro, too. Awesome photographer. She gave great direction and noticed when the models were feeling hangry. She helped style some of the softgoods we brought along, making sure they were tucked nice and the sleeves were looking good. (Side note: Have you seen the Night Claw collection yet? Bottom line, Gritchelle’s super fun to be around.

Collage: Gritchelle standing on top of Sprinter van, parked on desert road, with camera, view of river, desert foothills
Photo credit: Wang

Photo credit: Wang

Mike also gave Wang and Alix a free rock-skipping demonstration. If you want some tips from a guy with a solid 8-12 skip average, you don’t want the flattest rock you can find. You actually want one with more of a shallow bowl shape. Those softer edges keep the rock from cutting right into the water on contact. And if you can find something round with a bit of a flat edge on one side, that’s a nice place to rest your finger for better grip and control. Give it a good flick and get it spinning as fast as you can. Sidearm is the way to go.

Alix and Wang standing on river shore, Gorilla Monsoon bikes laying with gear and helmets
Photo credit: Gritchelle

As for the bikes, they handled the terrain fantastically. Wang rolled some rockier sections that she might not have attempted without her cheer section, and she did a great job getting outside her comfort zone. She tackled the GDMBR shortly after the shoot, which is badass all around.

Close up of Wang riding Gorilla Monsoon with frame bags and front rack on rocky desert road, focus on bike
Photo credit: Gritchelle

Photo credit: Gritchelle

All in all, we can definitely recommend hitting up the Painted Hills sometime. Hike around, take a Gorilla Monsoon bikecamping, do a sub-24 on dirt or worse. Holler at your local AC dealer if you need a bike to get the job done.

Photo credit: Wang