I have a Sentinel demo booked for this weekend from Transition in Bellingham and am trying to decide on a good test loop. I have ridden Galbraith and Chuckanut before, and both areas have mostly trails that are fast and open compared to what we have on the Shore. I have no doubt that the Sentinel would excel on those trails. But I want to know if it would be a good bike for around here.
What are some good Bellingham trails that emulate the awkward, tight, steep nature of the Shore?
I haven't ridden Galbraith all that much but from what I recall, most of the trails are flow and the closest to tech would be Irish Death
IMO, you won't find 'steep' in Galbraith.
There are a couple of relatively tight trails (mostly because of over-grown vegetation) such as OLY but theyre not technical.
I demo'd a Sentinel at Galbraith a couple of weeks ago but it's way too capable a bike for the trails there. I'm sure the guys at the factory will be able to suggest some options though.
PS: when I dropped the bike off, they supplied a nice cold post ride beer ;-)
(I should point out that it snowed heavily on the day I rode so it was mostly a waste of time. Also, there had been quite a few new forestry operations and some new trails added since the previous time I was there which caused me to get a little lost)
Have you ridden Hush Hush on northern Chuckanut? It's probably the most Shore-like tech for a "public" trail in Bellingham. Sort of between 7th and Leppard maybe? It'll be a snotty angry rooty challenge right now.
I'd park at Arroya Park/North Chuckanut, go up to Interurban, along to Lost Lake North, grind up to Hemlock, then Hemlock to Raptor Ridge connector, left on Raptor to the lookout, then back down Raptor to Lost Lake, then along Madrone Crest to Hush Hush and back down.
Not a bad test-ride route with some grunty non-technical climbing, rocky flow, then trialsy don't dab tech. The northern end of the Chuckanut ridge trail also has a couple nice little rocky stretches (all too short as a percentage of the total trail, sadly)
I haven't ridden Galbraith since before Christmas, so I haven't seen the results of the recent logging of the north end first hand. From what I've heard, I'm not in a hurry to go check it out.
Tiger Mtn is a popular spot , it,s a couple hrs further south
Posted by: JBV
where do the Transition guys really push their Patrol's and Sentinel's? sounds like the local riding to their HQ (while very very good) is not the ideal terrain for these 2 bikes. further afield in Washington? i'm woefully ignorant of greater Washington riding areas outside of Bham.
The unpublished/published trail ratio around Bellingham is at least the same as, if not higher than N/W Van.
Posted by: WeTYC...
Have you ridden Hush Hush on northern Chuckanut? It's probably the most Shore-like tech for a "public" trail in Bellingham. Sort of between 7th and Leppard maybe? It'll be a snotty angry rooty challenge right now.
I'd park at Arroya Park/North Chuckanut, go up to Interurban, along to Lost Lake North, grind up to Hemlock, then Hemlock to Raptor Ridge connector, left on Raptor to the lookout, then back down Raptor to Lost Lake, then along Madrone Crest to Hush Hush and back down.
Not a bad test-ride route with some grunty non-technical climbing, rocky flow, then trialsy don't dab tech. The northern end of the Chuckanut ridge trail also has a couple nice little rocky stretches (all too short as a percentage of the total trail, sadly)
I haven't ridden Galbraith since before Christmas, so I haven't seen the results of the recent logging of the north end first hand. From what I've heard, I'm not in a hurry to go check it out.
Thanks, good suggestion. I did Hush Hush at the end of a long ride and didn’t really have the energy to fully enjoy it, but it might be good with more gas in the tank. Double Black / Double Down was a highlight last so I’d probably try to work that into the ride as well.
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