This isn't an MTB ride, but a road loop that
circles all of the primary hills the epic rides go over. That's Blanchard and
Chuckanut right above as viewed from ground level right by the hang-glider landing zones.
As you know by now we always start at Whatcom
Falls Park. From there head straight out towards Lake Whatcom on Lakeway until you
run into Lake Whatcom Boulevard. Follow Lake Whatcom Boulevard south to Sudden
Valley. Now we take Cain Lake Road out to Alger.
From Alger go to Colony Road and follow
that to the end. It runs into Chuckanut Drive. Now take a right on Chuckanut
Drive and head North to Fairhaven.
Chuckanut Drive is one of the most scenic
rides/ drives on the West Coast. You wind in and around the base of Chuckanut and
Blanchard Mountains and pass by Larabee State Park. Almost the entire time a sweet
view of the San Juan Islands is in your face.
Continue straight to Bellingham.
Eventually Chuckanut Drive turns into State Street. Next find Lakeway and return to
Whatcom Falls Park.
It's nice to get a full ground level view of
the hills we love to ride. I don't have a road bike but run this loop on my mountain
bikes. I call this the Big Heart loop because if you look at the loop from an arial
perspective, it looks like a big old heart.
The view above is looking at ground level
in-between Alger and I-5 looking towards Lookout and Galbraith. The tallest point,
the Lookout towers are the bump almost directly in the middle of the image above.
