BLANCHARD MOUNTAIN BIKING

Please enjoy this video in which John Clark and Mike McQuaide mountain bike the myriad trails on Blanchard Mountain, just south of Bellingham. Vid starts out with spectacular vista from atop Oyster Dome which itself is atop the Bat Caves. (Song is "Is There a Ghost?" by Band of Horses.)

Lots of fun, especially on Max's Shortcut, and much challeng in the way of roots and rocks. Probably smart we rode it when it was relatively dry. Spent a fair amount of time off our bikes hiking when we couldn't ride the crazy-steep pitches to the two spectacular overlooks. (The one above the Bat Caves is perhaps the more impressive with views far into the San Juan Islands and across to the Olympics.)

Video ends with a message to the Titanium Cowboy (Scott Young) who, we learned yesterday, has a broken hand from that fall he took about a month ago. Ugh.

Good luck Sunday to all Ride/Run 542 (Mount Baker Hill Climb) participants!

METHOW MOUNTAIN BIKING

The boy Baker and I headed east earlier this week--Winthrop, to be exact. Mountain biking and camping were on the agenda and well ... after that three-hour drive and then pedaling our bikes around for a few hours, then trying to figure out to microwave our dinner at our campsite, we figured one out of two ain't bad. So we stayed at a motel, the Winthrop Inn. (Truth be told, the dad finds camping to be a bit of a hassle 'lest there're others around to help take care of those hassles. Plus, he'd much rather sleep in a bed.)

On the way over we stopped at the Washington Pass Overlook. That's Liberty Bell. I've climbed South Early Winter Spire, the farthest nubbin there on the left, which I never cease to tell people in the hopes that they'll be impressed. (If you've climbed it, you know that you approach it from the other side where it's not nearly so burly.)

Monday afternoon, we mountain biked from the Chickadee Trailhead up by Sun Mountain Lodge where all the rich folks get to stay. We also had the unique opportunity to find out just what you do when the derailleur snaps off the nine-year-old's bike. You ... anyone? ... that's right, you carry the bike yourself and have your son ride yours. (That's Bake riding me K2 Lithium.)

Day two, after dropping Bake's bike at Methow Cycle and Sport, we headed east, up over Loup Loup Pass to Omak because there's a skateboard park there. Kinda. Pretty run down. Pretty depressing. Pretty much wanted to get the heck out of Omak almost as soon as we got there. But hey, it killed a few hours and Loup Loup is definitely something I shall return and ride someday. Perhaps soon. (The Methow's Fall Bike Festival www.mvsta.com/summer/bikefest.html?)

Back at our Methow motel, Bake swam ... ... then we picked up his bike--now with a new derailleur--and headed back up to Chickadee. Pedaled 'round Beaver Pond then climbed to Sun Mountain Lodge from where we enjoyed a screamin' descent back down. The boy's new derailleur worked like a charm.

Back to B'ham this afternoon. A great trip!