Twice, in fact, mountain bikers have won the Tour. But you won’t find their names on the roll call of champions.

In 2006 Floyd Landis took the yellow jersey home but was subsequently disqualified for doping. By now you’d have to have spent the past two months in a diving bell not to know that Landis, who for years denied wrongdoing, has come clean and implicated a whole culture of deception in pro cycling.

The following year an mtber also came close, when Dane Michael Rasmussen had the title wrapped up but was forced off his Team Rabobank due to failure to report his whereabouts in training.

Given the allegations swirling around the sport today, you have to wonder if the Nos. 2 in both cases, Spaniards Oscar Pereiro and Alberto Contador, were any cleaner than the disqualified winners.

You don’t have to wonder about the mountain biking champion leading this year’s Tour, however. Aussie Evans, riding for Team BMC Racing, has made it clear from the start that he doesn’t dope. No one has ever questioned Evans on the point either — and his bad luck and perennial bridesmaid status (which may finally be changing, as he’s also the reigning World Champion road king) has never given reason to doubt him.

The other ex-mtb contender this year is Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, whom we’ve followed since his junior ranks due to his close proximity to our Seattle home base (Ryder grew up on Vancouver Island). Lanky and muscular, Hesjedal does not fit the rail-thin physical profile of a typical Tour winner. But he’s sitting at 6th and most Tour watchers give him at least a shot at a podium finish.

Cadel in yellow, Ryder No. 2? Unlikely. But their presence alone cements our longstanding observation that mountain bikers are better overall athletes than road racers. So far there’s never been a roadie who has transitioned from Grand Tour competition to world-class mountain biking, and that includes Lance. [Note: An exception to the rule comes to mind: Three-time national NORBA champion Jacquie Phelan. The parallels aren't as easy to draw on the women's side, but we have little doubt Jacquie — who beat the majority of male riders she raced against — would've rainbow-jerseyed in both disciplines had Tour and World Cup equivalents existed for women during her prime.]

In any case, it’s great that mountain biking fans have riders to root for in the Tour.

That distinctive Breezer look

Fisher, the klunker king who out of mountain biking’s core pioneers generated the most successful business enterprise, gained a boutique “Collection” but lost his brand ID at the hands of megacorporation Trek. Purchased by Trek in 1996, Fisher Bikes managed all the time since to retain its own line of mountain bikes, innovating further with the 29-inch models that Fisher invented and tirelessly promoted.

The Man then and now ...

All well and good. But we’ve seen this movie before, with Gary Klein (inventor of the fat-tubed aluminum frame who was once king of the boutique brands), with Greg LeMond (who wound up in a bitter lawsuit to obtain his brand back from Trek) and with Keith Bontrager (whose wit and wisdom sadly faded from the scene as his brand became diluted with decent but unremarkable components).

To say that Fisher can endure where these other icons eroded would be blind optimism at its finest. Whatever sense it makes for Trek fiscally, we cannot see how Gary can maintain an individual identity in the huge Trek gene pool.

No matter what happens, to us he will always be The Man. When we left road riding for mountain biking in the early 1990s, Fisher bikes were the bomb. You’d see one on the trails and the encounter would instantly turn to inspecting the frame and components and commenting on this and that, and what a cool guy Gary was. He’s still a cool guy, and we trust that if the implementation strays from the vision in this deal, he’ll land on his feet for the betterment of us all. We can’t say we’d mind seeing him break off and start another something on his own.

Then there’s Gary’s early counterpart, Joe Breeze, who’s a much bigger name than the outfit that bought his brand in 2009 — Advanced Sports Inc. (ASI). And getting bigger: He officially announced his first new mountain bikes in more than a decade.

If there’s one word that sums up Joe’s reputation, it’s “class.” Or classic. His early mountain bikes are works of art that you can still find occasionally on the trails around Mill Valley and NorCal.

A long time ago in cycling years, Breeze abandoned mountain bikes to focus on commuter bikes, leaving his legions of fans scratching their heads while knowing Joe never made a foolish move in his life. As it turned out, Breeze correctly prophesied the decade of cycling as a transportation pursuit, evinced by healthy growth in bike commuting in metro areas.

So it comes as another out-of–the-blue surprise that Breeze is getting back into the mountain bike business. He announced three new models based on his uniquely strong and innovative tubing and design. Carrying the distinctive “Breezer” logo, they’re light, they’re bulletproof, and they carry the Breeze cachet all the way to the podium. The Thunder Elite with a fairly straightforward XT build clocks in at just over 20 pounds before even being weenied out. These things should fly.

We wish both these guys the best and will watch for their respective steeds out on the trail.

Women of Dirt rider Leana Gerrard smiles through the mud at Duthie Hill Park Grand Opening.

The 120-acre Duthie Hill Park has more than five miles of trails comprising everything from beginners’ “boot camp” routes and features to full-on jumps, catwalks, drops and stunts of mini–Whistler proportions. About 300 riders, officials and mtbers were on hand to hear speakers praise the partnership between the county and Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance that got the park to happen starting in 2004.

Engraved tiles helped raise funds for Duthie.

Despite its mud-splattered inauguration, Duthie Hill stayed in better than might be expected shape as riders of every size and skill toured the trails — a testament to trail construction, routing and drainage. A few days of warmer and drier weather will restore them back to primo tackiness.

King County Executive Dow Constantine cuts the ribbon.

There’s more to come, with a Phase 2 about to kick in, but for now Duthie Hill stands as a model of public-private cooperation in the ongoing efforts to increase mountain bike access to public lands.

*[We're hedging a bit here because Colonnade also is referred to as a mountain bike park, but is actually more of a stunt park.]

Clogged derailleur notwithstanding, the Firebird performed

Rains have abated at last and a touch of spring seems to be in the air, albeit on the cool side. (Allergies are acting up.)

At Arastradero, which I use as a benchmark indicator, it is still sloppy in parts. The ground is just too saturated on certain switchbacks and shaded sections. It sucks…figuratively and, in the case of a rear wheel trying to ride through, literally.

Even the fully exposed northern section of the park has “issues.”

Hello mudder, hello fodder...

I will say this: The Pivot Firebird is a mudder! I rode through some mucky sections in low gear that felt like climbing Alpe d’Huez, just churning to stay upright. But the Bird did not flinch or waver. The Nevis held their own as well — surprisingly, since they’re not known as a mud tire.

Before you flame, I was riding only open trails, and the damage was from horses, not mtbs.

Closed to all users! Except heron and coyotes

I did see a couple of huge majestic heron, quite unwary, meandering about the open fields. And a coyote sauntered past, barely giving me a glance. The sun was out, it was quiet and calm, and despite the mud it was a great riding day.

Weekend outlook is for more sun!

That said, I’m staying on pavement for another couple of days at least. Sunshine is supposed to hit full bore by weekend and we’ll give it another go then. Stay tuned!

This wasn’t supposed to happen. The logging was not supposed to start till after Oct. 15, the beginning of the trail’s seasonal closure (till April 15). But with the economy improving and price of lumber expected to rise, the timber folks wanted to roll early, so we’re shut down six weeks too soon.

Bummer.

On the bright side, the hope is that the early start will mean an early end, and NWTT will reopen on schedule April 15th. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

A more pressing concern is that the logging will just seriously trash the trail for years to come. We reported earlier how crews installed a culvert emptying right onto the trail. With acres of logging consuming the trail over this winter, we have little hope that the NWTT we’ve grown to know and love will survive in anything close to its former self.

It needs to be reasserted that yes, we understand, Tiger Mountain is a “working forest,” raising funds for the state’s schoolchildren. That part we don’t mind.

But with miles of trails unavailable to mountain bikers on Tiger, we renew our plea for authorities — when closing one trail to bikes — to open another.

Last week’s closure marks the fourth year in a row that a section of Tiger trail open to mountain bikers has been shut down, with no counterbalancing trail opened up.

Opening Tiger Mountain Trail, a barely used southern exposure hiking trail that is hands down more suitable to biking than hiking, would give mountain bikers a nice alternative while a significant chunk of biking trail is closed.

Bike Intelligencer also resoundingly supports efforts to build new bike trails on Tiger. We dream of the day when you can ride a full singletrack loop without ever touching fire road.

For more background, see the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance chronology.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-XAEr6Dxlo]

Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance members gather at Duthie HIll clearing

The good, the bad and the better all got plenty of air time last night at perhaps the biggest communal gathering ever of the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance at Duthie Hill, which by the way is coming along nicely as a miniature Whistler mountain bike park in the Issaquah highlands.

Upwards of 100 folks turned out to ride the loops, the logs and the structures, then talk about where Evergreen is headed as an organization. Aiming for greater professionalism and an advocacy seat at the table of recreational parks, forest and urban planning in the Puget Sound region, Evergreen found itself being second-guessed by longtime members used to a less formalized and more social agenda. Yesterday’s “Town Hall” was an attempt to clear the air a bit and set goals for the alliance’s future direction.

After opening remarks by Jon Kennedy, program and communications director, and Jennifer Lesher, president, the gathering broke “World Cafe” style into groups of seven to 10 persons for discussion. Each group had a leader with a broadsheet to document what the alliance is doing right, what it’s doing wrong, and how it could improve.

Jon Kennedy and Jennifer Lesher welcoming everyone

Although barbecues wafted tantalizing scents across the park clearing, no eating was allowed until the rap sessions closed some 30 to 45 minutes later.

My group, which included a former board member and some well-known veterans from Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club days (the Alliance’s previous name), came up with a host of talking points, including the under I-5 Colonnade skillz park, the save-Kettle Crest movement, communication gaps, fiduciary question-marks, fundraising opportunities, volunteerism and Jon Kennedy’s broken chain. Yes, it’s true. Kennedy snapped his big-hit bike’s chain right before he was headed for a monster huck off one of the new structures…but that’s another story (he did get it fixed in time to throw down some cool moves on the freeride section, see video. Note: Jon, who’s pretty stylin’ on the extreme stuff, later did the full run, I just didn’t catch it on the iPhone. Further note: Click here to see full-screen of video).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFOcbSpdrak]

Basically our group put in a pitch for more balance. There’s a sense the Alliance may be weighted toward in-close, bike park style development at the expense of wilderness and high-country access (Justin’s presentation referenced below may help mitigate this one). There’s a sense established members avoid posting on the ride calendar (“maybe rides have gotten too popular,” one of our group said), and that newcomers or slower riders feel somewhat intimidated to sign up for rides that are posted. There’s also the feeling volunteers could be used far better, and that mechanisms need to be set up for better use of members’ talents and interests.

On the kudos side, the Alliance’s reputation-building, media visibility, agency outreach and Web site got props for making a mark in the region (some people felt the Web site could be more welcoming to newcomers).

We were supposed to re-gather in plenary to go over the main themes, but it was getting dark and people’s stomachs were growling and if the leadership had made us talk any more another theme would have arisen along the lines of cannibalism, so we’ll have to wait for further reports back.

Kennedy did circulate a detailed action plan for the Alliance, outlining advocacy, planning and fundraising goals. And Justin Vander Pol added an inspiring update on the South Fork Snoqualmie project above I-90 that will create classic high-country singletrack with spectacular panoramic views an hour’s drive from Seattle. Work has commenced on the project, which has funding and agency commitment for completion.

All this, and the food was a cut above as well (thanks to whoever thought to bring veggie burgers for us non-carnivores). More to come, but for now the word is to get on out to Duthie and see what’s transpiring at the hands of Mike Westra and the gang.

Trifecta: Sunshine, Tiger and Trails

You won’t see Tiger’s trails like this for a long time. They’re in primo condition, better than they will be two weeks from now. How can I say that so assuredly? Because if it rains, they’ll be wet. If it doesn’t rain, they’ll be on their way to getting pitted out from constant use.

There’s a trickle of water in three places, the usual creeklets, on Preston Railroad Grade. Apart from that, everything is bone dry. We’ve had a marvelous run of weather that has put the trails into a tacky rippable state you have to go back three or four years to duplicate.

The irony of course is that this time of year, most mountain bikers head for the high country. Whistler, NorthShore, interior B.C., Leavenworth, Winthrop and other points eastward. So Tiger gets its least seasonal use during the heart of the season.

Still, it remains my favorite ride in Seattle environs. Weekday evenings you can’t beat it, with the light staying longer this time of year. That’s why a number of us are working toward the day we can achieve wider access to Tiger trails.

Richard asks we help spread the word and nip this stinker in the bud. Here’s some key links.

Bicycle Colorado Action Alert

News story

Richard’s “slightly more incendiary take“

BikePortland reports on the Vancouver Columbian‘s editorial calling a bike license fee a “stinker.”

Seattle Times: Inspirational story about cyclist who came back from the near-dead. Now I want to check out his book:

“Nearly a decade of work went into compiling information for and writing “The Taneum and Manastash Trail Systems: Mountain Biking in Kittitas County, Washington,” a guidebook to area mountain biking trails. When he teamed up with Ben Sainsbury who created a Web site with three-dimensional maps of trails across the country – the result was one of the most comprehensive and ambitious projects of its kind.”

Mountain Bike Action has all the mountain-bike action from Downieville last weekend.

And have a great this weekend! Which can only mean one thing: Get out ‘n RIDE!!!