Overlapping with the time spent with Kyle, I met a really great guy, Tim D. This eventually got me involved with a project shooting tabletop product shots for the trail-building tool company, TrailBoss USA. These lightweight trailbuilding tools collapse into sections and slip into a backpack. Their major market is the mountain bike trail building community.
washington
After hanging around in Bellingham for a bit, we made a new friend, Kyle R. He was ‘stuck’ in Bellingham dealing with the second half of a car repair that was first begun up in Prince George, BC.
(I say, ‘stuck’, but after about 10 days with us, Kyle was spouting ideas like, “Bellingham actually wouldn’t be a bad place to live!”)
We spent about 10 days hanging out, bike riding, kayaking, hiking and getting to know each other.
Kyle has been out on the road since January and he’s aiming for a year. He’s hit virtually all the National Parks and wilderness areas. On previous jaunts he has hit Labrador, Alaska and some of the more far-flung spots. We had a lot to talk about and it was a great time. Eventually we got called away to meet some friends in BC and Kyle drifted towards the Montana high country near Glacier. We’re hoping that our plan to meet up again down south this winter works out.
The kayaks were rentals from the amazing Community Boating Center. Did you know that Bellingham is the best town for kayaking in the USA? The ocean is so warm here.
Knob Gobbler trail / Sumas Mountain photo courtesy Holly M
I broke my blogging streak. It (shamefully), has been about a month since my last confession.
I’ll be doing some catch-up postings to let you know what’s been going on.
Short-version: British Columbia.
But I broke something else too. Here’s a quickie post about my…well…post?
elevation plot: go up, then down
This has to be one of my current favorite trails. It’s the hardest easiest ride. The longest, shortest, most complicated basic ride ever.
I went for a rip on the North American Enduro Tour / Cascadia Dirt Cup course over in the Chuckanuts, on the south edge of town.
Bellingham could be called the Loam Factory. The trails on Chuckanut Mountain weave through an old growth forest that provides that abundance of soft, PNW dirt. When the trails get steeper they snake around some crazy sandstone ridges that brake up the flow and add a technical aspect to some of the harder sections. The course is on the longer side for a single day race, we’ll keep the specific layout under wraps until closer to race day, but expect a 26-28mi course with 4000+ feet of climbing.
Back in Bellingham WA. We spent about a month here last year dealing with a bike-replacement which involved a complete warranty and rebuild on my old ride. It was a good place to have such a big problem. It’s a great feeling to be back. It’s like coming home. But it’s cold, rainy and fall…already! Trees are turning and leaves falling.
Lucy and I have spent a couple of weeks in the Spokane area over the past couple of years. It was kind of a shock to realize how much I feel at home being back here, it’s such a great city.