Sunday I was anticipating puttering around the place doing mundane crap as the weather was supposed to be raining all day. When I drug my carcass out of bed I was surprised that it was not raining. Presto-change-o, mountain biking instead!
I'd heard about nearby Key Pen 360 Park and there'd been much trail work done there. Sunday seemed the perfect day to check it out. I already had the Surly Moonlander in the vehicle from Thanksgiving. So, it was the ride du jour.
360 park is approximately 12 miles from where I live. After grabbing breakfast at Whiskey Gulch I made my way to the parking area.
360 Park has one big gravel road loop. Spurring off are some multi-use trails. The multi-use trails are great for beginner mountain bikers. Or a dude, or chick, can pick one and ride it as a warm up. It is my understanding the mountain bike only trails have been added recently.
The gravel road is the red dotted line, the multi-use trails are the yellow dots, and the mountain bike only are the blue dots. Click the picture for a bigger image. To give you a size perspective, it is just over one mile from the parking area to where the mountain bike only trails begin.
After riding a few of the yellow dot trails I pointed the bike toward the mountain bike only. The trails are a nice mix of downhill sections, climbs, obstacles such as ramp drops, log pile roll overs, and skinnies. Some of the downhill corners are very nicely banked. Overall the trail had very good flow.
The bad news - the mountain bike only trails are not that long. The good news - they're building more! I ran into the dude heading up the building effort and had a good conversation regarding the trails there, building trails in general, and fat bikes.
If your from here or near here, these trails are well worth the trip. Once more trails are built, word will get out and it will draw riders from farther away. I certainly like the fact that within 15 minutes of leaving my place I can be on there trails. As I'd mentioned, the trails are pretty new. Though in very good shape now, they'll be even better once they've been more "ridden in" (hint, hint).
I can't think of a better way to spend Thanksgiving than being outside, in the woods, and on a bike. I ventured north of here a bit past Poulsbo and sort of toward Kingston to North Kitsap Heritage Park. The park has some nice, though easy non-technical, multi-use trails.
Clicking on the pictures makes them bigger, by the way.
I began my ride at the number 1 on the map. That's where a parking lot is.
With my floor pump out of commission I took a bike that had (more than) adequate tire pressure. In this case it was the Surly Moonlander.
If you go back to the map for a minute you'll notice every trail junction is numbered. At each trail junction there is a post with placards and numbers on them. The numbers on the posts correspond with the numbers on the map. The number on the post shown below is almost completely blocked by the bike seat.
With my new handy-dandy tripod thing, I can take pictures of - - - - - - - me!
I explored many of the trails. One of which was a gravel road leading to a gate (which was closed) with led to a paved road which led to the sign in the picture below which is at Kingston Road which is a very short distance from a house I seriously considering buying. Sweet!
When I needed a break I made my way back to the car for Thanksgiving dinner comprised of a Clif Bar, coconut Chai tea, and Hammer Gel for dessert! Oh, don't cry for me, Argentina. Several people invited me to their places for Thanksgiving. "You shouldn't be alone for Thanksgiving!" was the usual. Screw that! The weather was outstanding as was the biking. I chose wisely.
I did see a few signs like this. Judging by the trails, few, if any, vehicles this sign targets were ever on the trails.
Judging from the picture below, this park is haunted by formless ghosts. I have no idea what made that white form in front of the camera. Weird. No ghosts tried to knock me off my bike and take it for a spin.
The trail beginning at the "Trail Not Maintained" sign seemed to be the opposite of "not maintained." Though I found a few of these trails, they are not on the map. However, they were fun to ride.
What's a trailhead without a kiosk? If you'll notice on the right side of the kiosk at about the middle brochure thing, there are some walking sticks with leather cords at the top hanging from a hook on the side of the kiosk. Forgot your walking stick? No worries! They're here to borrow!
It was a wonderful Thanksgiving. One of the things I'm thankful for is the large number of very nice trails to ride on. It was a nice outing on a great day.
A post or two ago I'd mentioned I'm hunting for a house. I'm happy to report I'm closing in on my elusive quarry. I might have something substantial to report on this front soon-ish.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have a four-day weekend. What to do?
The weather is holding nicely. With some days off I'm likely going to do some biking and some hiking. Co-workers have expressed interest in some mountain biking over this time off period. Final plans will be made soon. I'm hoping to have a post or two with some meat in the form of pictures to sling out there.
Other than that, not much to report. Though I am in the market for some snowshoes.....
