Another fantastic fall MTB ride with club members and friends! Brother Phil did a very nice job in providing an overview of our adventure so I've included it below. Very much look forward to our next trip together! Brent _______________________________________________________________________ Brent, Susie, Ron and PK braved a slightly less than perfect weather day on Mount Spokane on a very long ride, which some of us had rode last year. The good news? No rain, cool but not too cold temp’s and, my favorite… the course is roads and well established trials and no hyper-challenging single track. There are a few bushwhacking creek-crossing moments to get through to reach the continuing trail but they are “interesting” anyway. Heavy rains preceded the day but conditions were still good with a few mud puddles to wheelie through. The sandy soil drained well with great traction. We met at Bear Creek Lodge (Sam’s place) at 1000 and took off back down the state highway 3-miles to Elliot Road. Brent accurately described this stretch as the “coldest part of the whole ride.” We had layered up and put on our lightweight shells for the descent, which worked out fine. Elliot Road is perfect to start the ride since it is smooth and a steady modest grade to the top and then on to roads & trails. The big deal on this ride is its length with about 37.4 miles. Most of us would have been happy at 2/3 the distance but we couldn’t find a taxi or Huey chopper anywhere up there. Even so, we had a great day in a beautiful place with a final feeling of having made a big accomplishment. The tamarack trees were in full golden needle glory as were the birch & poplar leaves. The ride also has a rewarding finish to it. The route finishes along the Nordic ski trails arriving at Selkirk Lodge on Linder Ridge Road before a long downhill descent on Trail 120 back to Bear Creek Lodge Parking Lot. We finally got back to Bear Creek at 5:00PM, where Brent bought the first round of hard cider. We enjoyed a monster platter of Nachos and great conversation to round out the evening. Pooped, muddy, sticky & stinky, I got home at 7:30...and fell into bed, which wasn't too bad since I managed to not fall off the bike all day long. Everyone rode very well on this long, challenging ride. As still a newbie mountain biker, I appreciated the roads and trails aspect with no tough single track sections (although they are fun, too). Mount Spokane is never disappointing and, as Warren correctly notes, “It’s all up or down.” With the 37-mile distance and over 4300 feet of climbing, this is a tough one. A huge thanks to ride leader Brent, who does an incredible job of planning and preparing for the ride to include a bunch of emergency response stuff to better assure a safe ride. Brent, we all appreciate your leadership so much! I am sure someone will attach some photos. Looking forward to our next adventure with all of you, including our brethren & sistren who weren’t with us this time. By the way, Brent, Susie and Ron, a small army of gnomes are on their way to your house to: Wash that pile of muddy clothing, clean the mud off your bike & give it full tune-up as well as your shoes and, the best part, a one hour massage of your wasted body. You can’t imagine how good it feels to have fourteen gnomes jumping up & down on your back…Heavenly!