Pacific Northwest - For those moving to or planning to ride in Spokane

If you can have both a road and mt bike DO IT!!, both types of ridng here are GREAT. I don't do much mtn as I can't walk very well or very far anymore but, I do know you can ride, usually in a few minutes, to good to excellent mtn riding trails IN town or just out of it, from almost anyhere.
The road riding is excellent if not awesome, from very hilly, (there are many climbs that are measured in miles, some need 2 figures), to very flat and you can find rollers that go for tens of miles, and more, of a type that are found no where else on Earth. You can find many very different types of scenery near here, from desert to heavily forested mtns., and from farmlands to Basalt cliffs. I've been riding seriously for over 30 years and still occasionally find a new road. The number "loops" Ive done over the years from 15 or 20 miles to over 130 miles could easily run into 3 figures. (Metsker county maps are a very good friend) There are many very good reasons why we've had 2 Olympic Trials here, and several national championships.
If you want and old fart to show you some spots, contact me

Ride Smart

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pm'd ?????

Private-messaged. At the top right, you'll see a link for private messages:

Steer clear of Spokane; the riding here sucks! There are not networks of trails in any direction of the compass both inside and just a few minutes outside the city limits. There are not two distinct NORBA-quality downhill courses and dirt-jumping areas on public park property that can be ridden any day of the year without access/land use issues. The winters are way too harsh - - especially for people from California; and there are not miles of low-traffic country roads just outside town that roadies would enjoy. If you are looking to come here from out of state, best keep pedal to the metal until you hit Montana.






:D

Spokane is neither better nor worse then many other urban cities but to someone in LA it could be nirvana with its rivers, pines, camas, and "gulp"... Mt.Spokane. It is a place where you can launch into some truly spectacular riding in Idaho and NE Washington [Sandpoint or Preist Lake for example]. To those of us who have lived here for awhile the traffic and cycling awareness seems to suck but if you are in LA you have a lot of great riding available but you always have more traffic and more people to deal with. The nearest bike trail is 1 mile from my front door, the nearest mtn. bike trails a few more. I can be at a ski area in 15 minutes, these benefits in my mind offset the negatives.