Trip Report

What?

Besides being the driving force behind the Shakedown ride for our Bikepacking course, Karen has been organising and leading day rides for the Mountaineers Bikepacking group: skill clinics as well as social/fitness outings. I signed up for her bikepacking trip along the Cedar River Trail Saturday July 19^th. After a couple cancelations, a select group consisting of Karen, Blake, Laura and moi met at the trailhead along the busy Maple Valley road near Highway 18. (Note – no restroom there, but there are a few gas stations and cafés not far along the drive to get there.) Perfect riding weather, with overcast skies and a bit of a chill in the air at the civilized 8:30am start.

Where?

The Cedar River Trail network presents an accessible challenge that never felt daunting but always delivered something new. Nice diversity of trails: wide easy gravel roads where we waved at joggers, dog walkers and families out enjoying the woods, a stretch of riding along an impressive pipeline, some paved street connectors, and sections that took us deeper into the woods, riding fun, easy, twisty single-tracks that generated grins, whoops & laughs. Pretty scenic too: nice forest, but we also swung by a couple pretty lakes. There were a few restroom stops opportunities along the way, and if need be, there were also refueling and watering opportunities.

Two Highlights (out of … lots!)

The, errrr, sweetest memory of the day came from a well-timed stop at a cozy little donut shop where we bought fresh tassssty treats, that we soon enjoyed at a picnic table by the water after a quick ride to the nearby Lake Wilderness. Karen sure knows how to organize a party, as we were greeted there by litterally thousands of her friends. She claimed that she had nothing to do with the The City of Maple Valley's KIDS' FESTIVAL going on there, but we all knew better.

 

The other not-so-sweet-but-oh-so-cool selective highlight was a ride through a Troll Forest! A short section of flat twisty trail with hundreds of wee gnomes and other forest dwellers scattered under bushes and tree stumps, on roots, branches… Quite a treat – i’ll go back there on foot so as to be able to better discover all the critters. (Heads-up: lots of kids and parental units hunting for gnomes along the trail, proceed with extra caution.)

Vibe

Fun social outing! It was nice to go at an easy pace on an easy trail, and get a chance to chit-chat with the other participants. With 25+ miles on the odometer and ~1200 feet of elevation gain at the end, we also got a nice workout – needed to burn out the donut-rocket fuel. The trails are totally approachable for all levels of riders: a couple sections call for some easy hike-a-bike, but the level is “Bikepacking Gravel II”, suitable for newer riders, but still offering fun challenges to keep one and all interested. Any gravel- or mountain-bike with beefy enough tires (Karen recommends 38-mm minimum) is suitable for the ride.

We rolled back to the starting point a bit past noon, nicely dusty, nicely tired, and thoroughly happy – a morning well spent. There were no mishaps, just grins and happy discoveries.

Conclusion

Thanks, Karen! Two thumbs up from the French Judge, this ride was a resounding success. Karen and Blake are still exploring the area and discovering new trails, and Laura lives close by and had some intriguing suggestions: I’m looking forward to more miles, more trails, more dust, more donuts, and more sMiles with them – y’all come join the fun, yes?

 

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