I will be flying out to Seattle on Monday for a conference and have added on an extra week so that I can check out the area and hopefully get some good training rides in.

I was hoping to possibly gain some local knowledge on the best places to ride and if there are people free who want to show me what is on offer that would be great.

cheers

Not in Seattle – little bit further North and East (Calgary) but you might be a tad early for mountain biking to be honest. There’s still plenty of snow in the hills and I’m not hanging up my skis for at least another month.

Mount Baker is still claiming a close to 5m snowpack which might make for some nice skiing…. just a thought

snowboarding will have to be the plan B

I think some of the lower elevated forest areas are reasonably clear

Not lived out there for a few years, but Seattle shouldn’t have snow at this time of year. There’s loads of good riding around, depends what you’re looking for. I5 colonnade is good for a laugh too.

I live in Seattle. Perhaps if you describe what kind of trails you like to ride – I used to live in Edinburgh if you want to give some comparisons.

A lot of the snow cover has gone, but some of high mountain riding (6000ft) is obviously out. I don’t really know that many good cross country rides unfortunately. A lot of the best trails here are to a varying degree hush hush as they are technically illegal. The best bet is going to bike shops and asking around. In terms of Internet research have a look at the Evergreen Alliance website and also the Galbraith mountain trails near Bellingham.

Will you be bringing a bike? Will you have a car?

I’m not sure how around I will be in terms of a tour guide though due to work commitments.

I live in Seattle. Perhaps if you describe what kind of trails you like to ride – I used to live in Edinburgh if you want to give some comparisons.

A lot of the snow cover has gone, but some of high mountain riding (6000ft) is obviously out. I don’t really know that many good cross country rides unfortunately as I tend to ride mainly DH or jumps. A lot of the best trails here are to a varying degree hush hush as they are technically illegal, which is why even though it has a great reputation it is hard to find some info. The best bet is going to bike shops and asking around. In terms of Internet research have a look at the Evergreen Alliance website and also the Galbraith mountain trails near Bellingham.

Will you be bringing a bike? Will you have a car? When are you here?

I’m not sure how around I will be in terms of a tour guide though due to work commitments.

We have family there, I’d recommend Galbraith, and there is a place near Seattle that is quite jumpy but hs. Some ace little trails but maybe monkey boy can remind me of the name. It has some xc trails around the outside loop and free ride trails on the inside (with a great range of levels). I guess there is the stuff under the i90 as well in Seattle itself!

nice,
yeah I’m attempting to get in touch with people through the evergreen alliance. Ive spotted a couple of races on their calendar that I plan on entering.

I’ll be taking my anthem x XC bike over and plan on hiring a car.

I mainly race 12/24 hour races, so am hoping to get some long hours in the saddle hopefully not just round a jump track!

I live in sheffield and ride in the peak district most days, so am happy with rocky tech as well as wooded trail centres.

The place Neil was mentioning is called Duthie. It is awesome for jumps, but in my opinion the the XC isn’t great – they seem to have focused more on trying to cram as much mileage in a small space rather than flowy trails.

Unfortunately I don’t ride much XC stuff, but if you are entering some races then I’m sure you’ll meet people. This is kind of how it works here and then you start to find the hiddden stuff.

Other places to look for are Tiger mountain if it is open (chance of seeing bears and cougars) and Tokul.

Good bike shops in Seattle: Big Tree or GHY. Greggs is ok, more like Edinburgh Bike Coop tho, actually they have a XC race team I think, so perhaps worth chatting to them.

I’m not sure when or how long you are here. But Canada is very close.

The North shore is awesome – not all DH stuff at all. Then there is Squamish and the XC trails at Whistler which are really good – Comfortably Numb is excellent.

Check out Tiger Mountain State Park, about 45min from downtown and you kind of pass Duthie Hill on the way. Classic PNW riding with fire road climbs and ripping fast technical descending. A couple laps there will definitely earn you a couple Dick’s hamburgers. The really good high stuff doesn’t open up until July or later.

Im going to be trying to cram as much as i can between 6th-14th april after my conference..

cheers for the responses guys slowly starting to come up with a plan

Then there is Squamish and the XC trails at Whistler which are really good – Comfortably Numb is excellent.

Whistler under snow.. Squamish is wide open.. 20degC forecast this weekend 🙂

Bike magazine did their 2011 bible in Washington… might be worth a read as they generally talk about the places they rode.
Bible 2011

Just to say about Tiger mountain – it doesn’t officially open till April 15th, but this can depend on weather.

thanks BearBack I’ll check that out.
20Degrees! practically tropical!

monkeyboy- looks like i’ll just miss that one then..