We recently explored the Leavenworth area, home of the Wenatchee National Forest and environs — and subject of the new land-use mtb movie, “Pedal Driven” — and found all but one epic ride still socked in. Not that heavy rain and chilly overcast weather would have been conducive to all-day back-country trekking anyway…


Fortunately the cross-country race loop at Freund Canyon was open and dry. We had a great time doing it backwards, forwards and upside down, running into trail brushers and a family from Duvall in the process. We loved the kid with the 29er doing wheelies all over the clearing at the top.

Although it’s difficult to pick up on the video, there are lots of moderate jumps on the way down that make for a rollicking time. You can ride up either side of the canyon but our preference is to do a counter-clockwise configuration because of a long fire-road connector (a lot of hard-earned elevation to lose in the opposite direction).

There always seem to be other riders and hikers on the trail, it’s close to town, and most importantly it’s open when the big rides aren’t. We’ll hope for clearing asap in the Mad Lake-Klone Peak region, but till then Freund Canyon (and Mission Ridge/Devils Gulch to the east) will have to suffice.

Thanks to Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Preston and NW Timber are slated to be linked for a giant singletrack loop on Tiger that will really rock n roll. For now they’re connected by a dull fire road, but still represent the most challenging singletrack in the Seattle area.

We happened to be running the GoPro Hero HD helmet cam when another rider came to a 3-foot ledge drop midway down. Whoa! Classic endo! You can find it at the 1:12 mark. Enjoy!

Armed with a GoPro Hero HD helmet cam, we decided to document our travels aboard our long-travel trail bike, the Pivot Firebird. We hit Ashland OR (to our minds one of the most underrated mtb destinations), San Luis Obispo CA, the San Francisco Bay Peninsula, Santa Cruz and Aptos and finally Fairfax — the birthplace of mountain biking — in the heart of Marin County.

Because our favorite Northwest high country rides are still impossibly snowed in — closing in on mid-July no less! — we wish we were still south, riding our hearts and minds out. Instead we’re sitting at our desk, blogging away as Phil and Bob and the 2011 Tour de France drone on in the background.

So here’s to memories of rides recently past. Enjoy!

Ashland SuperD (partial). We rode part of the race course and had a blast.

Alpine Road, Palo Alto. Trail-blazed as an off-road cycling romp by the legendary Jobst Brandt before mountain bikes even existed, Alpine remains a fun jaunt downward.

Mount Madonna, San Luis Obispo. Praise the Lord! even though the “Madonna” has nothing to do with the Bible.

Mount Madonna Lemon Grove Loop, San Luis Obispo. A quick ride from town that you can extend into a two-hour workout.

Wilder Ranch State Park, Santa Cruz. Classic singletrack with the best sight lines you’ll find on two wheels.

Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, Aptos. Where some of the best slopestyle riders in the world hang out, and you can see why.

Camp Tamarancho, Fairfax, Marin County. Mountain biking got its start nearby, and Tamarancho is the must-ride not only for locals but mtbers the world over.

You gotta love it.

Our 2011 West Coast mountain biking tour concluded with a romp through the familiar groves and switchbacks of Tamarancho, always a joy, always a place where you run into lots of other mountain bikers from all over the San Francisco Bay Area, and the world.

There’s a campaign to formalize Fairfax’s reputation as mtb’s birthplace with a mosaic in the center of town. According to the Marin Independent Journal: “The chamber is teaming with Quntilia Nylin, ceramic artist and creator of the history obelisk in San Anselmo, to create a ceramic tile installation in downtown Fairfax.” We will miss the fundraiser but wish the locals well.

For classic singletrack, the locals go to Wilder Ranch State Park and tear it up. Here’s a sampling — be sure to check out the sight lines here. They’re unrivaled, and most of the time you’re flying downward!

That all changed today — America’s Independence Day, appropriately enough — when the 27-year-old sprint specialist bested the field in the Tour’s third stage, a flat 198-kilometer run from Olonne Sur Mer to Redon.

Farrar has played second fiddle in sprints to Mark the Mouth Cavendish, the Manx Missile. He’s had some tough luck against Cav along the way as well. But today his Garmin-Cervelo mates positioned Tyler perfectly, and it was Cavendish who had to bang his bars in frustration as his HTC leadout train fell apart in the closing seconds.

Farrar is a real gentleman and credit to the sport. His win could help draw mainstream Americans back to the Tour in the absence this year of legendary Lance Armstrong. In any case, it is a well-deserved triumph for a guy who has waited a long time and worked tirelessly to improve — all the unlikely way from quiet Columbia River roots.

If you feel more ambitious and want to circumnavigate the mountain on mostly singletrack, you can peel off Lemon Grove Loop and ride across cow pastures to a gnarly rocky climb up the backside of Mt. Madonna. This ride is better done coming down off the top of the mountain (clockwise), but either way it’s a total hoot!

Here’s a preview of what awaits you on the Lemon Grove Loop itself.

But for a quick ride from town itself, you can’t beat Mount Madonna. Named not (as many assume) for biblical reference but rather after a prominent real-estate developer, Alex Madonna, the mound looming over SLO is a tantalizing network built around a fire-road climb to the top.

Here’s BikeIntelligencer’s video take on the Mount Madonna downhill.