The best mountain biking trip ever

This past Sunday I headed over to White River near Rainier with some kick-ass mountain biking guys to do some camping and epic riding. I had more fun than I've ever had on a bike!

We started Sunday with a brutal 6-mile or so climb up to Palisades and Noble Knob, threw in a long hike-a-bike in the snow, and then got to experience some fun, fast singletrack on the descent. At one point we were forced to take a mechanical break as Dan found his pedals at 3 and 5. Ooops! It took some magic to get the crank off and fixed, but we were underway again shortly. (Picture of guilty crank at right...)

The guys I rode with were unbelievably fast, so I was definitely outmatched all weekend, but it was fun as hell. I hiked a few of the the more technical sections of trail, especially a rocky, tight switchback section after some stairs. Those of you familiar with the trail probably know where I'm talking about.

The fog and clouds obscured our views but definitely didn't take anything away from the awesome ride. We were out there pretty much all day Sunday and I didn't do the best job of nutrition, so I bonked hard about an hour or so before the end. Somehow I managed to rally and make it, but barely. I crashed over during the last quarter mile and nearly couldn't get up I was so tired! I haven't been that wiped out in a long, long time. What a killer workout! We hit the Naches Tavern for some much needed fueling and beer and then set up camp near Skookum Flats.

Monday we hit the trail again and did a 7-mile climb up to Suntop. My legs were pretty unhappy the first mile, but it's amazing how the body finally settles into a rhythm and resigns itself to hurting for the next few hours. Then it's not so bad! Unlike Sunday, we had an absolute blue bird day, the temps were warm, and the views were incredible!

We stopped a while for lunch at the Suntop Lookout, but shortly after heading out my knee started giving me some trouble on the climbs. I called it a day rather than risk pushing it too far, and rode back down to camp to sit in the sun.

Dan went on to finish the ride and do Skookum as well. I've never done that much mountain biking, so I was happy to have made it that far! I think Skookum might have been a bit technical for my ability anyhow, so I felt good knowing Dan could haul ass through and not be hung up waiting. Sitting in the sun was heaven, especially after all that awesome riding.

Again, we topped off the day with a visit to the Naches for food and beer. Cheers to an awesome weekend! And thanks to Dan and Milos for being great riding buddies! You guys rock!