Tacoma Hosts A New Mountain Bike Park

I said it years ago : Washington is becoming a new mountain biking mecca in US !

With Stevens Pass mountain bike park, Duthie Hill in Issaquah, and thousand of miles of well maintained trails around the state, Washington easily competes with such famous mountain bike places like Whistler, Utah, and Colorado.

And now a new mountain bike park in Tacoma has become a great addition of places to ride around the state. It's nice to finally have an area in the South Sound we can rally around.

Swan Creek Park is a 290 acre greenspace nestled on the boundary between East Tacoma and Pierce County with a salmon bearing stream, wooded canyon, upland forest, paved and natural trails, a new community garden, and new mountain bike trails.

The park is popular for bird watching, hiking, walking, picnicking and other recreational uses, and is also used for driver training by public safety and utility departments. And now it's the home of Tacoma's first trail system for mountain bikes!

Developed and operated in partnership with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, the newly completed Phase 1 includes an easy perimeter trail, advanced trails and a technical skill building zone. There is something there for everybody from little kids to full-grown rippers.

May be because it's a new park, and not many features have been built yet, I felt the park was more suitable for novice to intermediate riders like me. I especially liked "Hustle & Flow" - a 1.75 mi cross country loop that circumnavigates the ~50 acre Douglas Fir Forest. Designed to be similar to Bootcamp at Duthie Hill -- smooth and flowy with lots of rollers and banked turns, max sustained climbs and descents, optional features. Skill level: Green (entry) level and kid/family-friendly but fun to rip for all ages and skill levels. Some more difficult options.

Since the park is relatively new, the skill building features only include : skinny practice zone, drop zone and pump track on the north side of the park.

But if all goes well at Swan Creek, Metro Parks and Evergreen hope they can soon start building more trails in the forest.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/03/23/3111832/local-mountain-bikers-blaze-their.html#storylink=cpy

In my opinion, Washington is one of the best places to be a mountain biker in the continental United States ! From freshwater lakes to towering peaks and green valleys, Washington's landscape is as exciting as it is diverse.

 Below, check out Mountain Bike! Washington (America by Mountain Bike) the guidebook that will introduce you to the thrill of exploring Washington's wilderness while you experience its most unforgettable rides.

Seattle Is My Home ! 13 Amazing Pictures Of Seattle

Since I came to the United States in 1999, I've lived and traveled a lot around our beautiful country. But I haven't seen as much beauty, scenery, contrast, diversity as in Washington state, and in my opinion, Seattle is ( OK, one of ) the most beautiful cities in US !

Here are 13 amazing pictures that represent the spirit and beauty of our beloved city ! Also, check out the video at the bottom why so many people call Seattle their home...

Back To Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park

Wow !  It's been almost 2 years since my last visit to Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park. I almost forgot how much fun it was riding at the park.

Still being a complete beginner, the only trail that I could safely enjoy was a 1.5 mile XC ( cross country ) Boot Camp trail. Relatively flat with no significant climbs, and just a couple tight climbing turns, the trail is ideal for novice riders.

But after a few runs I got bored, and tried to challenge myself on an intermediate trail called Moving On. That's when I realized that even my new K2 Base Sport full suspension bike  was not going to compensate my lack of confidence and skills  to tackle terrain beyond green runs.

In the center clearing at Duthie, I scanned the news board for beginner classes. As I mentioned before, Evergreen Mountain Biking Alliance offers classes for riders of all levels, from beginners to more advanced.

Introduction To Freeride teaches you all about  the freeriding basics. You'll learn to maintain good body position while conquering wheel lifts, obstacles, step-downs and drops.

To learn more about Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance and what they do to help make Washington State an amazing place to mountain bike, check out the video below:

Surfing Freighter Waves In Seattle

I love surfing. But sometimes, 2.5- 3 hour drive from Seattle to the coast makes it hard ( if not impossible ) to catch a wave.  Even if you make it to the coast, there is no guarantee you'll have a stoked surf session. Like any surf, the Olympic Peninsula  can be flat, blown out or too big which is a bummer after a long drive. When ocean waves are a distant dream, some surfers will go to great lengths to improvise worthy rides.

I've already posted about tanker surfing in Texas.

Here in Washington, a small but dedicated group of die-hard surfers/paddlers started surfing freighter and tug waves on stand up paddleboards ( SUP ) on the Salish Sea in the Shilshole Bay.

The Salish Sea is an overlay which includes and unites the established and familiar names of the various water and land bodies (the Strait of Georgia, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, Gulf Islands, San Juan Islands, etc.). The Salish Sea is connected to the Pacific Ocean primarily via the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The shorelines along both the Canadian and US side of the Strait have been popular surfing spots for years. But not many surfers know that you can catch  decent size waves right here in  Seattle !

Unlike regular surfing or SUP surfing, freighter wave surfing requires a lot of planning, and extensive knowledge of local beaches, wind, tides, and marine charts to determine where the main flow of shipping is.

Waves can be created by everything from small power craft, yachts, the occasional tugboat and even container ships.  But it's the tugboats and freighters that put out primo waves. They ride deep in the water, and have massive twin engines that each put out 2,500 horsepower. All of that combines to make nice, big waves of about 4 or 6 feet.

With the right combination of a proper tide, weather conditions, and certain fast moving boats freighter/tug surfing on Puget Sound makes it all worthwhile. The waves are just as clean and well formed as the best coastal surfing spots, and freighters can, at low tides, offer up to 6' faces and very long rides !

Catching freighter/tug boat waves is a pretty good alternative to a long trek to the ocean.  If you're tired of those long day trips to Westport or Neah Bay, give paddle-surfing a try !

If you are interested in trying out freighter/tug surfing, subscribe to our email or join our Facebook page for upcoming classes !

ExtraHyperActive At The Monster Energy AMA Supercross 2014

 

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, returned to Seattle’s CenturyLink Field last Saturday night.

HyperActiveX had a great pleasure to be invited by Toyota to attend that event, and to meet the team's riders Phillip Nicoletti and Vince Friese at the Pit Party.

Toyota has served as an official partner of Monster Energy Supercross for nine seasons. The platform provided by Monster Energy Supercross with its on-track branding and one-of-a-kind Pit Party provides an ideal avenue for Toyota to reach its consumers and potential buyers. As the Official Vehicle of Monster Energy Supercross, the Tundra has been a focal point for Toyota at the races, providing interactive demos for attendees inside the Pit Party and offering fun, competitive contests on the stadium floor for select lucky fans both in advance and during each race.

I got to talk to Phil and Vince about their hopes and expectations, as well as the distractions and nerves that come with racing in a big stadium. I also learned about how they got started riding, and got a few tips on how to get my son involved in motorcycle racing.

That was first time attending a motocross racing event, and I had no idea how popular MX was in Washington ! It might not be the most popular sport, but it sure is the most exciting !

Biking And Sightseeing Along The Burke-Gilman Trail In Seattle.

I don't consider myself to be a "cyclist".  I don't owe a team jersey, shave my legs, or ride a 5K bike. I am, what they call, a "bike enthusiast ", a " recreational cyclist ".  For me, biking is not about getting a great work out, being eco-conscious or saving a bunch of money on gas ( well, all that too ). For me biking is a new , great , inexpensive way of traveling , sightseeing and a chance to experience the area I'm visiting at a leisure pace.

As of 2013, for the sixth year in a row, Washington is considered to be the most bike-friendly state in US ( by the League of American Bicyclists ). And why not ? With its numerous bike paths, and designated bike trails, Washington is a great place to explore by bike.

Take , for an example, Burke-Gilman Trail. Almost every WA state tourist's guide book, local biking/outdoors book and magazine has mentioned this bike trail. But not many of those publications mentioned what that trail really represented.

Called "a major transportation corridor ",  the trail is also a major sightseeing route that gives an opportunity to see some of Seattle most iconic sights.

The trail begins in Ballard and follows along the Lake Washington Ship Canal and north along Lake Washington. Along the way it passes numerous points of interest, neighborhoods , local landmarks and offers a variety of other outdoors activities along the way.

Start your trip at The Hiram Chittenden Locks ( Ballard Locks ), where you can roam around Botanical Garden, then cross over the locks and spillway dam to the fish ladder and viewing windows, and before you go home, you can stop by the visitor center and browse through the gift shop. Biking around the historic Scandinavian community of Ballard transports you to another time.

Then head east to Fremont. Sometimes referred to as "The People's Republic of Fremont," "The Center of the Universe" and at one time a "center of the counterculture", Fremont is famous for such cultural landmarks as Statue of Lenin, the Fremont Troll, the outdoor sculpture "Waiting for the Interurban " and an old rocket fuselage. A growing number of technology companies have a presence in Fremont, including Adobe Systems, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Getty Images, Google, and others. Fremont for cyclist ( especially naked cyclists ) is home to Fremont Solstice Parade.

Next stop -Gas Works Park. The strangest park in Seattle, and may rank among the strangest in the world, the old gasification plant has been reconditioned, painted, and incorporated into a children "play barn" structure. The park offers a panoramic view of the Seattle skyline, Lake Union and snowcapped mountains. It also a very popular put in spot for kayakers. Gas Works Park has been a setting for films, such as "Singles" and " 10 Things I Hate About You" and also on the travel-based television reality show "The Amazing Race".

 Don't just bike by the University of Washington campus. The bridge connecting the BGT with the Husky Stadium, gives you a great chance to padle around the stadium on the campus of the University of Washington. Located directly behind Husky Stadium on Union Bay and the Montlake Cut , The Center for Water Sports offers canoe and rowboat rentals for general public.

Further along the BGT passes a few local beaches -Matthews Beach , Cedar Park, Lake Forest Park.

In one of my posts, I've already wrote about the Magnuson Park, the Mountaineers' new headquarters and a place to learn climbing, backpacking, sailing, and kayaking.

Jump off your bike and straight into seaplane cockpit in Kenmore Air Harbor. Whether your destination is Sun Juan Islands, Olympic Peninsula or just a flight-seeing excursion over Seattle, it will be an experience you'll treasure for a lifetime.

At Blyth Park in Bothell the trail becomes the Sammamish River Trail and continues for 10 miles (16 km) to Marymoor Park, Redmond, on Lake Sammamish. But I'll cover that in my upcoming posts.

Simple Fly Fishing With Tenkara Rod

Simple Fly Fishing: Techniques for Tenkara and Rod and Reel

Remember those good ol' days when you were a child ? Life was simple. Our needs were simple. If we wanted to go fishing, we'd whittle a tree branch, attach some line, dig up a worm, and catch some dinner!

Modern-day fly fishing, like much in life, has become exceedingly complex, with high-tech gear, a confusing array of flies and terminal tackle, accompanied by high-priced fishing guides.

Yvon Chouinard, a noted fly fisherman, climber, surfer, environmentalist, and the founder of Patagonia teamed up with Craig Mathews and Craig Mathews to spread the word of the minimalist tenkara setup — telescoping rod, fixed line, no reel — and its message of simplicity that resonates to other sports, too.

Recently, I had a great opportunity to attend a fly fishing clinic organized by Patagonia Seattle and Emerald Water Anglers to learn more about the book and the Tenkara rod.

It's been awhile since I got to try fly fishing last summer in CleElum, WA. Even though I learned the basics, got hands on experience in fly casting, and even (almost) caught a fish (!), I still left puzzled with a  lot of questions about this new (to me) outdoor activity.

Before attending the clinic, I really hoped it would make it easier for me to break into this captivating sport. Instead, I realized that simplicity was not always ... simple.

Not a surprise that it was my first time learning about tenkara rod. From what I was told, just (about) five years ago virtually no one had heard the word tenkara. Now, 5 years after the method was introduced outside of Japan it has become a part of the fly-fishing vocabulary.

Tenkara is the simple Japanese method of fly-fishing where only a rod, line and fly are used. The main difference of tenkara rod is that it doesn't have a reel. Originally the rod was simply a bamboo/cane rod, which was cut and treated. Because of its light weight, Japanese anglers were able to use very long bamboo rods and reach as far as needed without the need to develop reels for the short rods developed in the west.

During clinic, we a had a chance to use and compare both tenkara rods, and traditional western ones. Since this blog is not about fly fishing, I won't focus on the details, differences, advantages/disadvantages of western rods vs. tenkara rods. Before the clinic I thought I'd just learn about a new fly fishing rod, instead I learned about a whole new fishing method ! From what I see,

the biggest thing tenkara brings to the table is a different mindset, a different way of thinking about fly-fishing.

As they say : "Like anything simple, it can be easy to do, yet challenging to master". I would like to believe that fishing with tenkara is as simple as I was told, but there is much more to the sport of fly fishing than just the gear. The best way of learning something is by doing it.

Hope I will have more opportunities to get out and learn about fly fishing so I can make it even simpler for folks who are still confused and intimidated by the complexity, elitism, and expense of the sport.