Not too many posts about bike riding lately, not because we are not riding, we’re just not talking about it that much. Some people ride one day a week for a couple hours and spend the next six days posting about it on Strava, Garmin Connect, Facebook and anyplace else that’s available. We try to ride every day we can and post photos and videos when we get a chance; riding is the most important thing, talking about it is second by a long shot. This time of year, we get a chance to go for long rides because of the long summer days here in the PacNW. It’s hot, sometimes we don’t take the camera gear because we’d rather haul around a little extra water. While the trails and scenery here are still excellent, it’s not nearly as photogenic as it is in the fall and spring; the brown and dry look lasts all summer.
We still take the cameras out once and a while, so here’s a typical summer mountain bike ride. We try to get out there as early as possible, it’s been really hot so we prefer to ride during the coolest part of the day; the early mornings. So we get up early, chow down a bowl of oatmeal and cup of tea while watching the Tour de France on the internet(no TV here), head out through the pear orchard and head for the trailhead.
There’s a pretty decent trail about four miles from where I live, only problem is that it’s four miles up a pretty steep hill. Most people drive up to the trailhead, I don’t blame them, but I’m here to ride my bike, not drive ten miles to ride seven miles on the bike. Also, biking is a great thing; it’s a social deal, you can ride with a few friends and spend a great day on the trail, it’s an “environmental experience”, you can experience the outdoors while moving quietly and not super quickly on the trails and for some people, it’s their health insurance. I ride because I want to stay healthy, if I can have a little fun along the way, I’m good with that. So, we ride to the ride; yep, we are going up this hill.
This particular trail is on private property owned by a timber company so we can’t put a map and/or directions on the internet. Pretty easy to find if you ask around. Only gets crowded on summer weekends. This section of trail traverses land that where the trees were cut a few years ago. You might be able to tell that trees take a long time to grow back. The grasses and underbrush are very dry for this early in the summer. Fire danger is a real concern; the company that owns this property will close it when the fire danger is too high, it’s going to be closed early this year.
It’s much cooler in the forest. Riding out of the sun and into the woods is like walking into an air conditioned room. Animals hide out here as well. Today I saw two very large coyotes, bigger than most German Shepards, about fifty feet away, looking at me as I rode through the trees. Animals are afraid of hunters and they can hear vehicles coming, but I think they are somewhat curious of mountain bikers. A biker’s silhouette looks more like a deer than a hunter on foot and we move quietly. Most of the time the animals will give a biker an extra second or two before they run off, they want to look at us as much as we want to look at them.
I ride this trail all the time, all year long; it never gets old. Every day is different, there’s always something to see.
As mentioned earlier, the threat of wildfires this year is going to be a real concern. I would get out there and ride every chance you get, no telling how long that opportunity is going to be there.