Weekend 5: I hit the hill on my Fat Tire (FINALLY!)

I came to Washington with my jetta packed with clothes, outdoor gear, and bikes. I was able to put the the clothes to good use over the first weeks, and the outdoor gear came in handy on my Cowcreek Meadows excursion. Unfortunately, I only used 50% of my bikes for more than my first month. The bike community here is HUGE but seemingly only made up of Roadies. I signed up on the University of Washington Huskies cycling listserve to get ride updates and meet the people, but I immediately found out that the cycling team is more "clicky" than graduating class of Northside High in the year 2000. Instead of breaking into the "cool" circles, I decided to just kick back, ride my own rides, and I ended up riding with the Cascade Bike Club, the largest bike club in the United States, on a regular basis. All the while, my Fisher 29er was sitting downstairs deeply missing Pandapas and Carvins Cove.

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The Husky listserve proved helpful though. Saturday 7/21 I got a message from from a guy named Jared who was looking for someone interested in getting out of the rain and hitting the mountain for a big day.

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Hallelujah.

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I hit him up via email, and we ended up setting the trip up that evening. We decided on a 17-18 miler in Roslyn, WA.

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Side Note: Roslyn is where the filmed one of the greatest shows of all time next to Friends, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, and Ghost Writer... Northern Exposure (a show that was supposed to take place in Alaska). Nope, not Alaska. Roslyn.

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We met up on Sunday morning around 7. Jared is, oddly enough, a mini version of Jay Sperry, a great friend of mine from Massachusetts that I met at Raytheon. The resemblance? Uncanny.

Wicked fit, very smart, and incredibly enthusiastic about the outdoors, I knew I had an immediate buddy for the remainder of the summer.

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We made the hour and half ride over the mountains and out of the rain (The previous 7 days were setting records for summer rainfall). We were greeted upon entering the rainshadow by partially clouded skies, warm temperatures, 10 miles of timber road, and 2 miles of single track. This took us to the top of Jolly Mountain.

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We can only guess that it was given the name "Jolly" because it laughs at all those who attempt to reach is summit with a bicycle. Asside from not being able to see the peak for the first 10 miles of relentless climbing, you finish the ride on the 2 miles of double black single track. I would say we walked 75% of the final 2 miles, as the trail looked like Snake Root (a black trail out at Pandapas) hopped up on a Meth/Crack hybrid.

Though the day started partially clouded, by the time we summited it was looking pretty gray.
I believe I was climbing here two weeks later in the Enchantment Lake region.

Me at the top. SOOO Happy.

Peaks Plateaued by clouds.

Jared at the top.

The trip down, though faster than the way up, was the least fun downhill I have ever embarked on. The first two miles were sweet, as it was just extremely steep track going down what we had previously pushed the bikes up. This beautiful track turned down the south side of the mountain and started ripping through land that had been stripped of trees. Well, with no trees, and little undergrown, all the nice hard soil was washed away, and all that was left was acres of gravel, softball size stones, quarter boulders, and bushes covering your path both in front of you and under you. I rode the majority of the way with one foot unclipped in case I needed to bail.

We did make it down safely and in one piece, and immediately we began planning our next trip. Jared expressed that Bend Oregon had some classic, epic rides there that he wanted to hit. We are currently planning three days of hardpack XC riding for Labor Day weekend.