So two weeks ago I had the grand idea to ride all the important trails at Raging River. In a day of course because why not, I probably had the fitness. Previous to this, my longest ride had been just barely over 5000’ but 7000’ shouldn’t be that bad. I was just adding No Service, Physical Therapy, upper ET, and lower Ferdinand the Bull. So maybe more like an extra 2.5k but why not.
I left seattle at 07:15 and was at exit 27 by 07:45. I pulled in next to a lady I knew from outdoors for all, exchanged plans, and after some valve core troubles, was off by 08:30. I made good progress up the road feeling good. After stashing a bottle at the road turnoff by poppin’ tops, I grinded it out to the top of No Service and arrived at 10:15. I was feeling great and enthused for the long day ahead of me.
There had been recent rain so No Service was super fun. It was a little slick in spots and at one point, I crashed on my side but it was painless. From here I vowed to take it easy on the trails. It would suck if I had to bail the ride if I crashed badly on the second to last run. I started the climb up Return Policy and was still feeling awesome. After a short break in the middle, I hit the top at 11:30.
CC downhill ran great. 2000’ of descent will always be brutal yet fun. Like No Service, it was slick but manageable, and I always got a shower when I brushed against branches. The climb up raging tiger was much longer than I remembered but I got to the road at 12:30 and took a break while replacing my water bottle with a full one. 30 minutes of steep suffering up the fire road section of RR2, I was at the top of Reverance at 13:00.
Reverence was easier than the last time I’d rode it. By now, my legs were feeling it but I was still able to keep a reasonable speed. The flow section in the middle felt amazing and while I still made a few mistakes, I survived it unscathed. This was the climb where I finally felt it badly. I stopped 3 times on the way up to the fire-road and it was 14:45 when I made it to the top of PT. Here I took a break and saw the lady from ODFA. She was coming back from No Service and I envied how she just had to do poppin tops and she’d be back at the Car.
PT was super easy and at 15:15 I was again at the bottom. Now all I had left was ET. The techy climb up Pacific Climbing Trail was brutal with my shot legs but by 15:45, I was at the top. With legs of jello, I couldn’t pedal much on the descent, but made it down the flow section, where I traversed over to lower Ferdinand and had a great time on the easy Tech. From the bottom of Ferdinand, I climbed back out and was power-napping on the bench above poppin tops at 16:15.
Realizing I still had to do ED.
Poppin tops is a great trail but not this time. Upper was admittedly fun but from there, I just wanted to be done. Luckily, it’s all downhill from there and after some sitting on the saddle for lower Poppin tops, I pulled into the lot at 16:30, just as the post-work riders were arriving. It was a mega-fulfilling day and a reminder that big MTB days are possible.
But... maybe I'll reserve type-2 fun for climbing and let biking just be a chill thing.
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