Ladies Annual Mountain Bike Trip – Bellingham and Squamish

Vacations are AWESOME.

Trips with your MOUNTAIN BIKE and GIRLFRIENDS

are amazing and unforgettable.

This year I was lucky enough to partake in a ladies annual mountain bike trip in Bellingham, WA and Squamish, BC. This group is an ever evolving collection of rad ladies initially from Arizona.  Most of us used to ride and race together, but many of us have since moved and now we are all spread out all over the country.  We all have those friends who make sure we all stay connected. Our connection is strong.  The bond we all have is the love of mountain biking.  Travel, exploration, a great sense of humor as well as good food and drink is imperative for a successful ladies trip.

Last year the ladies ventured to Oakridge, Oregon and previous trips have gone to Nevada and Utah.  About 6 months ago a chain of emails started floating around about a riding trip to the Pacific Northwest.  Karen, one of the ladies group planners just moved from Seattle to Bellingham via Scottsdale and wanted to host a ladies gathering at her new house on the edge of some of the best riding in the region – Galbraith Mtn. in Bellingham, WA.

Let the Planning Begin:

Once I saw the email chain with plans starting, my mind immediately started to think about how we could work in a couple of days riding in Squamish, BC just hours away.  A couple of us on the trip are Canadian, and we would be there around the time of Canada’s 150th Birthday! BONUS!

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There we about 9 of us ladies who met up in Bellingham for riding in Galbraith, Chuckanut as well as some water shenanigans states side.  Some flew with bikes, others rented on the way. Crossing the border into Canada went smoothly and no one forgot their passports (thanks in part to many email reminders from Karen that always ended with “and DON’T FORGET YOUR PASSPORTS!”)  We arranged a pimped out house rental near all of the riding in Squamish, which had an amazing view.

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There was plenty of sweat, but really no tears or blood to speak of in Squamish.  Remarkably the only casualty was a dropper seat post, that was not a good traveller.  We came away with a new friend (Jeff) who we met on the trail (who was a boy!) He led us to one of our collective favourite trails in Squamish (Credit Line) as well as a great swimming hole to cool off in.  He also participated in our Canadian flag tributes trailside. We got in some great riding including Half Nelson, Rupert and the new and awfully impressive use of terrain and craftsmanship on Leave of Absence. The damp, rainy and gnarly conditions that usually plague this region were absent from our couple of days visit.  We really could not have asked for better weather or more primo riding – Thanks, Squamish!

With the excitement of Canada behind us, we were onto Bellingham.  What a great town, pretty much everything you would want in a riding destination.  Great trails, beautiful scenery, an incredible craft beer scene and water everywhere.  Home base was Karen’s place and her husband, Casey and dog, Boots were more than accommodating.

We got to experience Galbraith right from Karen’s door with trails like “Unemployment Line”, “Three Pigs” and “Mullet” there was plenty of hooting and hollering.  There was one crash that was pretty scary, but all in all a great couple of days on the bikes.  There was a trip out to Chuckanut and an awesome rider and now friend, Kathy, co-owner of Fanatik Bike Co. showed us a great time!  Our last afternoon included a float/drag by canoe with some re-hydrating beverages on Lake Whatcom, followed by an amazing meal and open-pit fire in the back yard and maybe a little too much tequila, I can’t really remember.

It was sad to disband and call the trip done, but all good things must come to an end.  Another successful adventure in the books.  This one will be hard to forget for sure.  Thanks to all of the ladies who made the trip special this year.

Now onto the planning for next year!  Who has suggestions?  Any great destination trips for a gaggle of women to adventure to, what about some lesser known trail systems wanting to be explored?  We are open to suggestions![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]