Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Weekend at Wenatchee



Finally got out of the city and explored some trail riding in the Wenatchee National Forest. There are literally hundreds of miles of trails in the area. I went with my nephew and brother-in-law to the Nason Ridge Trail. It is considered a medium difficult 18.0 mile round trip, with 4500 feet of elevation to climb on your way up to the ridge - where you enjoy spectaular views of the valley and mountains beyond. Next weekend I am returning to the area, but this time to ride highway 2 from the top of Steven's Pass down to Leavenworth.



The descent was fabulous, but after nearly dislocating my shoulder on the way down, I am beginning to contemplate the need for a ride with suspension. Any recommendations? Oh, and the beer of the weekend? It is not a dark, but it is quite a fine brew.




On another note - the Seattle cross season begins in a couple of weeks http://www.seattlecyclocross.com/ I hope to get out and watch, but also ride under the FGBC banner. The only thing that sucks is that the races are all on Sunday mornings, which doesn't jive with the pastoral gig very well. Peace to all you good people.


2 comments:

The Dark Lord said...

Yes and yes.

halloewen said...

great to see the reports from out west, looks like us flat-landers have something to be envious about.

having gone over to 29er-ville i would suggest something in that spectrum. you are the right size for this type of bike. about which bike to recommend, it depends on your price range. for under 2000 i like the raleigh XXIX+G and the bianchi (which looks like it is coming out with at geared rita in 2008). these bikes come with the reba shock which is a better quality shock (you almost always get what you pay for). another option is to look at the redline series (mono 9)to see what they have coming out and buying an after market shock (guessing around 1700). there are some good bikes around $1000 such as the marin (seen on the twentynine inches blogsite). again, it all depends on what you want to spend - used is always another way to go - ask your local bike dealers.