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Check Ride - Palouse to Cascades Trail

Field trip: Basic Bikepacking Course

Check Ride - Palouse to Cascades Trail

Shakedown Ride for the Basic Bikepacking Course.

Contacts

Rachel Agent
Rachel Agent
Primary Leader
  • Easy, Bikepacking Gravel I
  • Easy
  • Mileage: 12.0 mi
  • Elevation Gain: 800 ft

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Meeting Place is Cedar Falls Trailhead near Rattlesnake Lake. Check-in time is 9:00 a.m. with bikes loaded with gear and ready to roll. Instructors should arrive by 8:30 a.m.

A Discovery Pass is required.

This is a required one-day field trip to do a shakedown of your bikepacking gear (bags and all overnight gear), test ride your loaded bike and gauge your current fitness riding a loaded bike.  Total mileage  planned is about 12 miles round trip.

At check-in, please be ready to ride and have your bike loaded with your gear as if you were going on an overnight trip. You will be assigned to an instructor who will review your setup, answer questions, and offer assistance. Instructors will be there to help and provide advice, but it is up to the students to bring the necessary gear and bike attachments.

After everyone has checked in, we will have a trailhead meeting and answer additional questions. We will then ride a few miles along the trail to a nice open area known as Ragnar where we will practice setting up camp and using our camping gear  -- and check that you indeed did pack all the basics you might need for an actual overnight trip.  Instructors will  be available for questions to help as needed. After we eat lunch, we will repack our bikes and ride three more miles up the gravel trail before turning around to ride back to the trailhead parking lot. 

The primary objectives are as follows:

  • Practice fitting gear and contents on the bike.
  • Learn how the bike handles with overnight gear loaded.
  • Evaluate the gear and mounting mechanisms and how they performs while riding the bike.
  • Gain an idea how long it takes to pack and unpack gear.
  • Gain experience setting up and breaking down camp.
  • Gauge fitness.
  • Gain skills riding in a group and riding etiquette.
  • Share gear ideas and gain feedback from others .

You can check the weather forecast at https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=47.435&lon=-121.7686

Route/Place

Palouse to Cascades Trail


  • Green Trails Rattlesnake Mtn No. 205S
    Green Trails Snoqualmie Pass Gateway No. 207S
    Green Trails Mount Si NRCA No. 206S
  • See full route/place details.
Roster
Required Equipment

Required Equipment

Your bike and all overnight bikepacking gear.

Be prepared to ride by the check-in time. As you will learn, packing usually takes longer than anticipated. If possible, have your bike bags pre-loaded with gear and ready to install onto the bike when you arrive in the parking lot. After you check in at the parking lot, you will be directed to an instructor who will do a pre-ride check and offer tips for efficient and safe packing.

Trip Reports