A few weeks back, some of us went on a tour of "The Ham" with Kathy from Fanatik Bike.  With Galbraith Mountain practically in their back yard and with Lake Padden and Chuckanut Mountain also not so far away, they were able to show us how to connect all 3 areas within minimal road riding.  Of the 32 miles or so, there were maybe 3 or 4 miles on the road, some double track, but some really great, rooty, rocky, technical single track.

Yesterday's ride started with three Sturdy Bitch Racing team members, myself, Angela and Kathy M.  Kathy S  from Fanatik Bike came out to meet us and make sure we were able to track our previous route back out to Lake Padden.  We headed up the Ridge Trail - out across Rock & Roll / Moletrap and onto the road.  We hit the Bunny Trail and made our way out to one of the kiosks on the Padden side.  For details on the ride - check Angela's blog.  She took turn by turn notes and is going to make sure that, if you're interested, you can find the route too.

After we rode through the Padden parking lot and entered the Lake Padden area, we hooked to the Mount Padden Pedal XC course about mid-way up the climb.  We connected and went left up the XC course and followed the trail up to the top of the fun switchbacks and downhill drops.  We followed the XC course all the way down to the lake, then followed the double track out along Padden Lake down to the dock.  We turned left at the dock and followed the double track out to the gate, then followed the road down under the freeway into the Bellingham/Fairhaven area. 

After a quick snack at the AM/PM we jumped on the Interurban Trail and followed it to Chuckanut Drive.  Here's where we had to make some choices. Our ride a few weeks back involved climbing the single track up Hemlock and N Lost Lake to the top of Chuckanut.  With the heavy rains, Kathy had said it was going to be pretty muddy and nasty and suggested we take Cleator Road up.  So, we ended up going NW on the Interurban Trail out a few miles on the double track and found Cleator Road.  Cleator is a reasonably graded fire road the leads up a single track trail that climbs out another half mile to mile up to the top of Chuckanut.    The road is only a 30-45 minute climb - maybe slightly longer than Tiger. 

From the top of Chuckanut there was a view of Mount Baker - still snow covered of course.  We added a layer, had a quick snack, took a few pics and pepared for the descent.  The descent down the first section of Chuckanut is technical, rocky and rooty with some steep switchbacks.  The next sections are extremely rooty with beautiful moss-covered old growth trees.  The descent down Chuckanut rivals Pallisades though a bit shorter. 

Once we descended, we back tracked back out and climbed up the Mount Padden XC course, left 2/3 the way up the climb and out to the parking lot, then crossed the street and back up the road to Galbraith.  Time was getting short and we decided to road climb up to SST and descend from there.    All in it was around 32 miles and 4300' of elevation though Kathy's Garmin said just under 5,000'.  I think I like her numbers better! 

Definitely want to go back up and do this again, it's a great training ride for the BC Bike Race, being able to connect multiple areas makes it interesting and the descents down Chuckanut are great to remind us that the BC Bike Race ain't no XC course. 

See below for some details on stats and don't forget to check Angela's Blog when she gets it up dated, she'll do the "Turn by Turn".  For maps - of Galbraith and Padden check here.  Highly recommend supporting the WHIMPS efforts - they do tons of trail building to keep Galbraith the northwest mecca of mountain biking.  For a map of Chuckanut - check here:  http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/parks/trails/chuckanut_trails_map.jsp.

In the meantime - GET OUT THERE AND RIDE!