Mike's Bike Blog

I was recently (1/07-1/11) in Sequim WA, over Christmas my father passed away so I was there for the memorial and burial. The service was on Friday and before I get into the biking portion one thing on the service... It was an overcast day with some off and on showers in Sequim. When we got to the cemetery and started it was overcast still but not raining. Midway through to the west the clouds parted a little and the sun shown through down on us. It's not like the whole area was sunny, it was like it was a beam of light directed down upon us. Then as we ended the service and got into the cars the small opening in the sky closed back up and the sun was hidden once again. When we got back to my mom's house we stood around asking each other if they saw what had just happened just to make sure we weren't dreaming. It couldn't have been scripted any better in a Robert Redford movie. It was very surreal.

On Saturday my brother Mark picked me up from my mom's place and took me back to his in Chimacum for some mountain biking. He has a cabin on 5 acres that is completely off the grid. He gets power from a generator and solar panels. Just down from his property is Gibbs Lake that has miles of single track mountain bike trails. We only scratched the surface of the trails there in our hour and forty minute trek of 5.77 miles. I would say the trails we rode were of intermediate technically. There were a lot of roots and logs that got us to dismount and walk over. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that it had rained the day before so the ground was still damp thus making the exposed roots slick. In the short distance we rode we climbed 2103 feet.

The next morning I got up early and drove over to his place so we could hit the trails at the crack of dawn. This time we headed out to explore the logging roads that meander around his property and the lake. This is more my speed of mountain biking, nothing technical just miles of logging roads. Plus the terrain was better suited for the bike I was riding. We spent 2 hours exploring the logging trails netting 10.76 miles and 2077 feet of climbing. As I was riding this day I thought how fun it would be to be on a cross bike riding the logging roads. The terrain was perfect for a cross bike.

After the ride Mark whipped us up a raw recovery smoothie. He mixed up some cilantro, spinach, and some other greens into his veggiemixer into the best recovery drinks I've ever had.

If you're ever around the Olympic Peninsula area (Sequim, Port Angeles or Port Townsend) I highly recommend the Gibbs Lake area for mountain biking. In fact you can probably drive up to Mark's for directions and an after ride smoothie. He also has plans to add cabins so let me know he might be taking reservations!

Riding with my big brother was great fun and it rekindled a little fire in me to do more mountain biking. I love riding around in the backcountry exploring new trails and taking pictures.  Although I only had the iPhone with me for pictures.

Saturday's Route
Sunday's Route
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