Mountain Biking - Anyone from Pacific Northwest?

sorry, I'm sure the "where are you from" question gets asked a bazillion times, but I'm looking for good places to ride, mainly in WA but also OR and British Columbia, and possibly folks to ride with... :p
I'm not really into extreme stuff, freestyle or whatever (saw NSX6 recently, I'd love to try that stuff but I just know I'd kill myself).
I like good technical single track and non-technical scenic rides.
Cheers,
Tim

NAAAAA. No wussy N. West riders here;)

Actually there are a lot of them lucky folks who live near and around the North Shore. Aslo, if you live near the Northern part of WA. you could stop by KONA and speak with them.

Slainte:beer:

Yep...I live in Whistler...is that pnw enough :D...

Spokane, here. Only get over your way a couple of times a year to visit family. Welcome. GO COUGS!

Vancouver, BC. still gotta drive a bit to get to the good stuff..

White Salmon, Washington, small town if you blink you miss it... but it has its advantages: huge sports town (mountain biking and windsurfing/kite boarding).:D :D

Originally posted by Mashimaro
Vancouver, BC. still gotta drive a bit to get to the good stuff..

Jeez..how long does it take to get to the shore :D

Originally posted by dirtbikedude
NAAAAA. No wussy N. West riders here;)
Slainte:beer:

I just caught that statement :D...haha

White Salmon, Washington, small town if you blink you miss it... but it has its advantages: huge sports town (mountain biking and windsurfing/kite boarding).

hey, you forgot kayaking, snowboarding and climbing... ok, you have to go ALL the way to Mt Hood for the boarding and climbing... 10-20 miles, the horror!

that's a pretty cool place to live - i dreamed of living in Hood River a lot... but unfortunately not much in my line of work (software development)

Yeah Hood River is even better than White Salmon with gorge games (Hood River's version of the eco-challenge kinda). Theres a LOT of things to do in the gorge...not to brag or anything.:D

Originally posted by Maelstrom
Jeez..how long does it take to get to the shore :D

hahahaha, not too long. i'm talking about Whistler and Squamish and other places (Alice Lake is nice too). North Shore is just over the 2nd Narrows for me..so about a 20 minute drive (but a killer hill climb to get to the good trails!).

Originally posted by Mashimaro
hahahaha, not too long. i'm talking about Whistler and Squamish and other places (Alice Lake is nice too). North Shore is just over the 2nd Narrows for me..so about a 20 minute drive (but a killer hill climb to get to the good trails!).

Burnaby area or poco. Either way ya I love Whistler and will be riding in Squamish this year fairly often. I hope to hit the shore a few times too. I may even give Nelson a shot if I can rent a really burly dually. :)

Yep, we live in cycling paradise. Anybody doing the Round and Round (http://www.roundandround.com/) events (the Gorge Games included)? First one this Sunday.

I just caught that statement ...haha

Your getting slow in your old age Mael:p


:beer: :beer:

Originally posted by dirtbikedude
Your getting slow in your old age Mael:p


:beer: :beer:

Yes I am...either that or I read the posts at work too much and never check them throroughly :)

i am from portland and i hear the mountain biking at certain parts of forest park is great.

Originally posted by Rotifer
Anybody doing the Round and Round (http://www.roundandround.com/) events (the Gorge Games included)? First one this Sunday.

Never heard of it.

They organize what is (I believe) the largest area mountain bike series - in addition to the Gorge Games, the NORBA National at Schweitzer and various other events.

Really? Is it held in Hood River?

Doesn't look like it, just the Gorge Games this year. I did the xc race at the games several years ago - brutal course.

Well, the Gorge Games are held in Hood River. That xc race that you participated in is that like a normal trail that we can ride on anytime or is it something that was only made for the games.

It's a normal trail. I don't know what it is called but I believe it starts in Post Canyon.

Never heard of Post Canyon I'll have to check it out.

I'm sure local shops would know where the races have been. There were some terrific views of the Gorge from the top.

in i think 1999 i did some Gorge Games stuff... the trail run which was an awesome course with tons of vertical

and the MTB XC race... man i can't remmeber exactly i think it was part of the "Seven Streams" trail with some crossover into Post Canyon (my memopry might be bad here) that starts right southwest of Hood River... but i think the names are all jumbled... and i think there are new trails since then

then i did the XTerra offroad Triathlon in 1999 (i had my only severe crash a few months before the race pre-riding the mountain bike course - but then recovered and did the race!). i think the trail is called the "Mission Trail" although i think part of it was private so not always open. it starts southeast of Hood River with a huge climb with a special name ..."climb of mercy" "hill of despair" forgot what it is...

yeah, any of the bike shops should know... there's also "Hood River Single Track Anthology" which is old now - i think from 1997, but it is full of awesome singletrack in the area - i've ridden most of the stuff in the book.

are they still having the Gorge Games? i thought it got cancelled or something b/c of funding problems from a big sponsor? or maybe i'm thinking of something else?

Not since I've been here and known about it (about 2 years now). I know that 2 years ago they were giving Subarus away, and this last year they had concept Ford cars to look at :mad:.

I noticed that the Gorge Games disappeared from the Round & Round web site after a recent overhaul. I don't recall the year I competed but there was plenty of vertical. We started on a paved road that quickly transitioned to gravel, then turned left off the road and climbed to the top of a ridge. Sara Ballantyne (http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/inductees.cfm?page=99&mID=76) was one of the pros I recognized, so, yeah, it was quite a while ago.

hey cool, so this round and round thing is a race then? how does one enter?

Here's a link to the WIM series site - they have registration info and a schedule.
http://www.roundandround.com/WIM/wim_series.htm

The following link is to their kick-off event party/ride/race in Spokane this weekend. There will be a will be a few people that frequent this board there, including myself.
http://www.roundandround.com/Blazing/blazing_saddles.htm

Bit of a drive from Seattle, but, what the heck.

That kick-off sounds like a lot of fun. I'd like to go but it is like 6 hours to Spokane and the weatherman says it's going to dump on the pass this weekend. :(
Maybe I'll enter for the seattle race. I've never raced before so it will be a new experience!

You'd enjoy it, races are fun. Bike people are the best.