[DaKahuna]

My company moved me to WA last year, and with the new job, and a newborn, I have been off the bike for many months now.
20 extra lbs worth of new desk job, and my first PNW winter, says I finally need to get off my butt and get riding!

I live in Spanaway, and work in Fife, but will do some driving to find good riding. And that's what it sounds like I will have to do from the little bit of research I've done....

So, I used to be an expert DH racer, until I broke my femur. That slowed me down a bit. But I also don't mind slogging my Bullit uphill for long stretches either. I have been reading about places like Colonnade, 38 (hey, my age next month!), Seatac, etc. Anyone willing to give me the lowdown on some places to ride that aren't too far away from me? Privately or publicly, I'll take what I can get!
You got big drops and gaps? It's just me, I won't bring a crowd, just my Karpiel....
You got a 3000 ft climb? I won't ask you to escort me, I probably couldn't keep up, but I'd try....

I built stuff in California that I saw destroyed, so I appreciate the protection that the good spots often get from locals. I will appreciate whatever info I can get from fellow monkeys, because nobody at the bike shops around me seems to have a clue about what I'm looking for. I had a heck of a time finding someone with a Chris King tool to work on my rear hub! So who knows how to work on a DH bike in Tacoma?

BTW, anyone who knows a Class A truck driver that might need a job, have them call me, that's my business. 253*926*3600, ask for Chip

 

[nwbansheescream]

theres performance bike ovder by the tacoma mall. they are a good shop do good work.

 

[bent^biker]

so basically dont listen to anything he said^^^^^

performance is a crappy walmart-like shop where your money will got straight to "the man". Try Fluidride in seattle if you want to meet some cool dudes and have the best mechanics work on your bike. They can also hook you up with some sweet ride spots. Check out www.trailheadrevolution.com for all of the good places to ride. I'd recommend going out to south seatac for a place to get used to the bike again and meet some local monkeys. its nothing insane, just some nice flowy jumps and such.

 

[DaKahuna]

Thanks everybody.
Um yeah, Performance doesn't know diddly about freeride or dh, and they were like "Oh, so a Chris King hub needs a special tool?"

Can someone clarify the fwy exits? Which freeways are we talking about here? 410? 18? 90?

I know about Fluidride, but it's nowhere near me that I could get to during the week. It would be a 100 mile round trip on the weekend to go there.

Are there any areas to do shuttles at?
I am also trying to get my 10 year old son into riding, but he doesn't want to do much uphill. Even if it's just a good fire road that we could do a long downhill on, he just wants to get used to his bike.

Thanks again for the replies, and if there's any good stuff to share that you prefer not to post, please pm me.

 

[joelsman]

try capitol forest, outside of oly.

 

[DesuL]

try capitol forest, outside of oly.

Yah Cap Forrest can be pretty fun. I had a blast there but it was a bit different then some of the other trails I have ridden. Watch out for the motorcycles and Atv's. I might be down that way in the next few weeks to do some shuttling.

Try to make it out to FluidRide Cup 4. Its a great time, lots of cool people, the trucks keep you from pushing up and worth checking out. Practice fri-sat and race on Sunday.

Your going to have to drive to get to good riding spots. Rumor has it Stevens Pass (about 2 hrs from tacoma) is making a lot of headway toward the lifts running during summertime.

 

[DaKahuna]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
I did get a couple of private invitations to go ride, and ended up riding with a fun crew down in the Olympia area on Sunday. Glad to have met them all.
Thanks for putting up with the new guy lagging behind you....
Boy am I embarrassingly out of shape!
I'll be back down there for sure....

I can tell that getting to know the area is probably best done by just going and checking out spots and talking with the people you meet.
But if anyone else doesn't mind a new guy tagging along, keep the pm's coming.
See you around!

 

[Singletrackone]

You should really check out skookum, suntop, and ranger creek, Get a copy of Kissing the trail and have fun. You might want to check out Deep Creek but there are still a few trees down. Your son should be able to do either Ranger or Palasades with a minimal amount of pedaling, just shuttle up 7174 and climb out there. My buddys kids do it all the time and they are only 9, and 11. Have fun

 

[DaKahuna]

WOW, thanks for the suggestion to go up 7174!
It didn't work out like I expected at all, but that was the fun part!
We didn't go very far up 7174 when we saw a turnout with a sign that wasn't for Ranger Creek, but said it was still x.xx mi away down the trail. I figured that couldn't be it, it didn't seem far enough up the raod to give a good ride, so we continued all the way up 7 miles to the top/end of the road at Corral Campground. We didn't find what we were looking for there either, with 4 trailheads and only one that allowed bikes, and asked several hikers about the supposed trail that we could ride back down to 410. Finally, one pair of hikers returning from Noble Knob trail said that they saw some MTB'ers take a left about 2 miles out the trail and one of them remembered seeing something about 410 on the sign at the junction.

So my 10 year old son and I started out Noble Knob trail, and discovered that the first 2 miles out to the turnoff had a fair amount of uphill to it. But the views last Friday of Rainier totally made it worth it!! The view was absolutely beautiful. Right after a steep uphill, where I had to push my boy's bike up for him, we found the turnoff that said "410.... 5 miles". So we took a break and dropped into the trail from what I am guessing was about 6500 ft elevation, looking forward to a 5 mile run down to the highway. Well, I had a blast, but my son had to walk a bunch of it because of the steepness and roots/rocks to navigate on his too-big-for-him adult bike, but he did great. 3 hours after my wife dropped us off, yes 3 hours, we finally made it back to 410, coming out at the something-Crystal resort about 3/4 mile away from 7174.

So, for my son's sake, how hard was that ride compared to the others already mentioned? He wants something a little easier to do several times before we go back to Noble. And were we supposed to hop out at the first trail sign we saw to get to Ranger Creek? Clarification on how to shuttle Ranger would be much appreciated.

 

[Borneo]

http://www.nwsource.com/outdoors/scr/of_detail.cfm?category=biking&rt=41218

Print out the map along with the rides for:
Skookum Flats
White River
Deep Creek
Palisades
and Sun Top

That will give you a good idea about what you are up against. All are right there a click or two away. Or, go to the local REI and pick up the Green Trails maps.

All, for the most part, way over your kid's head up that way though.

Check out the bbtc calendar for kid friendly rides or the trail wiki at www.bbtc.org. And, take him to Colonnade or SST for some practice.

South end stuff for the kid would be more like Lake Sawyer, Dash Point, South SeaTac, Banner Forest, Towers of Power(Tapeworm) etc...