It’s that time of year, time for the last mountain bike ride of the season. Not only the last ride of the season, but the last ride on our favorite trails, which are now burned. The future is looking more uncertain every day and I ain’t getting any younger, so it might be the last time for everything.
We’ve come all the way to the end of the road as well as the end of the riding season and head into the Cascade Mountains to ride some of the best mountain bike trails anywhere one last time.
The forest here is very dense. There has not been a significant fire here for some time so if a fire starts here, it’s really going to burn.
We were at the end of the line. No cell phone or internet coverage. All there was to do was ride. Knowing we were running out of time and the trails being in perfect condition made that very easy to do.
The long summer days are gone, replaced by the shorter days of autumn. It takes a while for the sun to rise above the tall trees of the Cascade Mountains.
The riding here is a mix of nice singletrack, full-on downhill and dirt roads.
The sun lower in the early fall sky creates a light show as the sunlight passes through the trees. You have to keep your eye on the trail.
The next morning, another dirt road ride to the trailhead.
The road ride is a good way to get loosened up because once you get to the trailhead, it’s all mint singletrack.
The trails were starting to show some soft spots and dust by the time we left, but for nearly two weeks, they were in perfect condition. I only ran into a couple other riders the entire time.
I was the last mountain bike rider to ride on trails that are now burned to the ground. What they will look like next year and for the next century will not be a pretty sight. At least I was able to do as much riding as possible. It proves yet again, don’t wait to do the things you want to do because they might not be there tomorrow.