The reality is some people don't care progress their skills beyond riding green trails, and if that's the kind of rider you are, then the North Shore is a very hard place to identify as a "mountain biker". It's nearly impossible to link up a ride here that doesn't require intermediate-or-better technical riding skills.
There are plenty of places one could live – such as the east side of the Cascades in Washington where your story takes place, or central Oregon, or BC's Okanagan – where miles upon miles of flowy, fun, non-technical singletrack exist and can provide a continuous riding experience for riders who want to get out in the woods on a bike and ride something other than a gravel path, rail trail, or forest service road... where a bike with a rigid fork is an acceptable starting point.
Nov. 8, 2017, 10:55 a.m. - Morgan Taylor
The reality is some people don't care progress their skills beyond riding green trails, and if that's the kind of rider you are, then the North Shore is a very hard place to identify as a "mountain biker". It's nearly impossible to link up a ride here that doesn't require intermediate-or-better technical riding skills. There are plenty of places one could live – such as the east side of the Cascades in Washington where your story takes place, or central Oregon, or BC's Okanagan – where miles upon miles of flowy, fun, non-technical singletrack exist and can provide a continuous riding experience for riders who want to get out in the woods on a bike and ride something other than a gravel path, rail trail, or forest service road... where a bike with a rigid fork is an acceptable starting point.