Colonnade Bike Park Grand Opening!

Last month a great new asset for mountain bikers was opened to the public!! Hopefully this park sets a precedent for the rest of the country.

This is from the BBTC website:

I-5 Colonnade is the first ever urban mountain bike skills park. It's part of a City of Seattle park, but was funded and constructed by the BBTC (Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club).

The Novice Area (Phase 1) is complete and offers a 1/2-mile tight'n'twisty Cross Country loop trail with several intermediate to advanced options.

It's a great place to work on key skills be sessioning:

• Ladder bridges, log rides and skinnies
• Tight switchbacks
• Steep rock chutes and technical rock rolls
• Teeter totters
• Rock step-ups
• A long ladder bridge roller coaster ride (be careful to keep your speed waaaay down... she bucks!)

Phase 2 is under construction and scheduled to be completed by Oct'08. Phase 2 will focus on more flowy advanced trails and offer features like jumps, berms, wall rides, progressive drops, rock chutes, skinnies, pump track, trials area, etc. and a couple of sessionable practice areas.

More info: Colonnade Project Page and Colonnade Phase 2 Page.

Mountain Biking on Mount St. Helens

The bike ride on Mount St. Helens was one ride i will never forget! An out 'n' back up Ape Canyon Trail onto the Plains of Abraham provides so much diversity and beauty that you don't even realize you just pedalled 24 miles.

Much of the initial climb is in lush forest with periodic views of the surrounding Northwest Volcanoes. As you climb higher, the open fields of pumice and forests of destruction open up to views of St. Helens. There's something mind-blowing about see the smoke come out of the crater - and knowing that 57 people were killed in 1980 when 1300 feet of the mountaintop exploded.

After exiting the the forest, the trail climbs up to the "Plains of Abraham," and cruises along the flank of the mountain.
Filled with pumice and volcanic rock, this area is a testament to its recent violent history. Yet, in the midst of it all, we saw small creeks and amazing displays of wildflowers. A herd of elk seemed to be enjoying the views from a ridge nearby.

After this amazing nature experience, we still had miles of excellent singletrack carve down! What a ride!