rbwen Posted May 29, 2008 Posted May 29, 2008 The wife and are headed to the Methow sans child for our anniversary and we're bringing our bikes. Anyone got a favorite intermediate ride in the valley? Thanks! rbwen Quote
Hugh Conway Posted May 29, 2008 Posted May 29, 2008 You only rank an intermediate ride for your wife? I'm sorry for her. Quote
olyclimber Posted May 29, 2008 Posted May 29, 2008 looking forward to a decent reply...there has got to be some good riding up there! Quote
olyclimber Posted May 29, 2008 Posted May 29, 2008 probably not much help, but there is a methow valley mtb guide http://www.trails.com/activity.asp?area=13120 Quote
PLC Posted May 29, 2008 Posted May 29, 2008 There's an article in the Seattle Times today, that might be of use... I spend a couple weekends a year biking in the Methow, and I'd say if you haven't been there before, start at Sun Mountain. Quote
Stefan Posted May 29, 2008 Posted May 29, 2008 I believe the west fork Methow river trail is intermediate. I have biked it and I liked it. Quote
ken4ord Posted June 2, 2008 Posted June 2, 2008 You should try looking at MTBR trail forum, there is generally quite a few good rides in Washington listed on it. Quote
Fairweather Posted June 2, 2008 Posted June 2, 2008 Cutthroat Pass is a stiff climb, but is probably still buried under snow. Not really in the Methow though. If you're not going until July you might be ok. Quote
max Posted June 2, 2008 Posted June 2, 2008 When you say intermediate, that could mean alot of things (aerobic/vs technical, differnt levels of "intermediate") Knowing some rides in the Wenatchee area to compare against would be good. Sun mountain: my opinion is skip it. It's pretty much like the sage hills, but easier, more people, and it's at sun mountain (Blech!) I guess if thata the technical level you're looking for, its a good choice because there are so many options and variety. Pipe stone canyon: ok, this is on adirt rod but the scenery is way better than sun mountain. SE of town near NCSB Cedar Creek: About a 8 mile ride up a trail to a pass (I know, it's pretty vague..) Great long desccent that won't smoke the brakes. Approximately three miles west of mazama on the south side of the road. Very good. West Fork Methow trail: I rode this back in 97 (?) and it was great! I know the FS doesn't advertise it as a bkie trail, but I thikn it's technically ok to ride bikes there, and this could have changed. Worth a call to the RS. a little rocky is spots, but a fun, long gradual downhill. It meets up with the PCT, so you have to stop after aroudn 6-8 mile. but good still. A short (2 miles) hike would get you up to a great view of slate and the area. Post a report when you get back. It's always good to hear about new stuff. Quote
rbwen Posted June 3, 2008 Author Posted June 3, 2008 I guess intermediate means that it's me and my wife, not me and my biking buddies. We don't want a bike path on the side of an easy-flowing canal or a rail-to-trail, but something with some modest altitude/aerobic with a nice view in the neighborhood of 6-8 miles. Quote
max Posted June 3, 2008 Posted June 3, 2008 Yeah, I get an idea of what you're looking for. Another option I've heard of is a local company offers shuttle up to harts pass. Great views. It's not too far of a ride over the other side to the abandoned mining site called... dang. But a nice ride would be shuttle up, ride the bike down into the mining site, back up, then check out slate peak (if you haven't been there you have to) then coast back to the cars at Mazama. I think the key to this sort of trip (at least the best luck I've had MTB with my sweetheart) is having a wide variety of difficulties THEY can choose from. On the super easy end of the spectrum is riding up the last bits of the Chewuck. Park somewhere near the three or four campgrounds in the 25 mile range. Great campsites to escape some of the east-side style heat! It's about 5-8 miles to the trailhead from there (depending on where you camp/park) and you ride throug some of the Thirtymile fire area, past the memorial. It's an amazing canyon with some touching history. Read up on the Thirtymile fire first. Like I said, super easy (paved raod alot of the way) but still very scenic and quiet. Hope you have fun, I'm jealous. ps: Check out this page: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/oka/recreation/trails.shtml they have a key telling what trails allow bikes. Quote
rbwen Posted June 3, 2008 Author Posted June 3, 2008 Thanks Max. You've been more than helpful. I'll be sure to post where we go and which rides we ride. I think we'll avoid the shuttle, we're more about earning our turns, but I'll be sure to check out that page and the mtbr page. I was riding in Roslyn and Salmon La Sac today and we got rebuffed by two feet of snow at about 3,000 feet! Quote
DirtyHarry Posted June 3, 2008 Posted June 3, 2008 I like riding up at Sun Mountain. But I'm a country club - style mountain biker. A good ride is to jump on the community trail near the long straight stretch on Wolf Creek Road then ride the trail all the way up to Sun Mountain Lodge, where you sit at the deck at the bar and have an ale or a nice chardonay and some snacks. Then you can either continue up to Mt. Thompson via the Chikadee TH. Then you have a nice long downhill, stopping of course at Lake Patterson to go swimming. Quote
olyclimber Posted June 4, 2008 Posted June 4, 2008 I like riding up at Sun Mountain. But I'm a country club - style mountain biker. A good ride is to jump on the community trail near the long straight stretch on Wolf Creek Road then ride the trail all the way up to Sun Mountain Lodge, where you sit at the deck at the bar and have an ale or a nice chardonay and some snacks. Then you can either continue up to Mt. Thompson via the Chikadee TH. Then you have a nice long downhill, stopping of course at Lake Patterson to go swimming. you also might want to add get a swedish massage, a facial, and having your nails done. also the cheese must match the wine, or i'm not going to bother saddling up. Quote
archenemy Posted June 4, 2008 Posted June 4, 2008 And we don't want to miss seeing you in biker pants with a cute little damp chamois tucked in the crotch Quote
olyclimber Posted June 4, 2008 Posted June 4, 2008 a dried up chamois is the leading cause of impotence. Quote
rbwen Posted June 24, 2008 Author Posted June 24, 2008 We're back and here's a short TR for those who are interested. The weather was beautiful and we rolled in for an evening ride at Pipestone Canyon. Got lost because the lake signs seemed to have disappeared but finally just parked the bus and started riding. Voila! We found the like and a nice single track heading up to the northeast. It was getting late and we had already put on a few road miles so we turned back just before it descended the other side of the saddle. Saw some good wildlife. Spent the night at Pine Near (did you catch that? I didn't until the AM) RV Park right near downtown. No complaints, except for the Hummer that was bumping it's stereo while they dropped off their Waverunner. Then proceeded to squeal away with girls hanging out of the sunroof. I didn't know whether to get mad or join them. Next day we went to the local bike shop and got some good beta on some rides. We decided on Sun Mt. and were pleasantly surprised. I thought it was going to be just a trip around the ski hills but apparently the ski trails and the biking trails are separate. We did the Black Bear trail, which took about an hour and was intermediate. It didn't have too much climbing and not too much downhill, just sorta circumnavigated Sun Mt. A great warm up and we ended it with a trip along the lake. Next we headed up Rader Creek, to Lower Inside Passage, to Pete's Dragon. This was the climbing I had been hoping for. They had a race last weekend and you could tell the trails had been used a lot. We climbed all the way to the top of Pete's Dragon, which was a pretty robust hour of climbing, then headed down the other side of the pass for about 200 yards. We took a left on an unmarked trail and climbed again for another 1/2 mile and then had a pretty nice decent to Upper Inside Passage, then back to Lower Inside Passage, to Rader, to Magpie, to the van. About 3 hours and maybe 15-18 miles all told. Very fun! PM if you want more beta. rbwen Quote
olyclimber Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 Fun! I drove back through teh Meth this weekend after a family reunion...the place seems ideal for riding a mountain bike. Quote
NTM Posted June 25, 2008 Posted June 25, 2008 sounds pretty close to the race course from the indie series 2 weekends ago: http://www.indieseries.com/map_methowcourse.jpg Quote
Tokogirl Posted June 25, 2008 Posted June 25, 2008 Two rides: Most of the trails at Sun Mountain (good variety and beginner to advanced beginner, though Black Bear is a bit steeper). You can put together some great loops. Then Buck Mountain is a classic in the Advanced Beginner/Intermediate range with great views and lots of fun trail that were revamped a few years ago. Chat with Joe Brown - owner Methow Cylce and Sport in Winthrop. (509) 996-3645 Quote
rbwen Posted June 25, 2008 Author Posted June 25, 2008 We did talk with a guy (the owner?) at Methow Bike and he pointed out these two trails to us and also said they were from the race last weekend. We could tell we were on the race course by the Gu packets scattered along the trail...tsk...tsk. Quote
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