gravel ride — Feels on Wheels Blog

Canyon Creek Loop Fail

My partner and I have a bad track record of trying to hike or ride in the mountains too early. We’re both from warmer places (California & Georgia) so, even after 8 years of living here we both get a little confused. Last year we tried to backpack around Mount Baker in early July and were thwarted by thick snow cover, this time we tried to bike around the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in late May and also ran into a lot of snow. I was trying to come up with a fun and simple backcountry route for an upcoming Friends on Bikes campout and this was not the one.

BikesRoxanne RoblesMay 24, 2023gravel, gravel ride, gravel grinder, bike trip, bikes, bike tour, bikepacking, camping, bike campingComment

Friends on Bikes Goes to Cowlitz County

Friends on Bikes began as a way to foster community with trans, women, intersex and gender nonconforming BIPOC, and it is so fitting that our sibling chapter in Portland reached out to do a joint ride! It was a short and sweet trip — in and out in a weekend, no gear packing, just car camping and a sweet day ride.

BikesRoxanne RoblesJune 28, 2022gravel, gravel grinder, gravel ride, camping, bike trip, bikesComment

Fire & Ice Cave Loop

I was looking for an medium-intensity backcountry route for the fall and I found the Fire and Ice Cave Loop by Molly Sugar. It seemed to have the sweet spot of being close-ish to home, having lots of camping options, and not being super punchy.

Odyssey of the VOG Southern Tier

My friend Katie is a very intrepid cyclist and most of the cool stuff I do can be attributed to how cool she is, especially since she’s so much faster than I am. She invited me to ride the Red Meadow Pass Loop in Montana in July with some other bike friends from the Pacific Northwest.

BikesRoxanne RoblesJuly 29, 2021bikepacking, gravel, gravel grinder, gravel ride, backcountry, bike camping, bike tripComment

Gravel Around Puget Sound

I got into riding gravel/unpaved trails and roads a few years ago and I gotta say, it’s pretty great! I am lucky to live in Seattle which is surrounded by lots of forests with publicly accessible logging roads and unpaved trails on old rail lines. Here is an non-comprehensive list of some gravel routes I have enjoyed in Western Washington!

Bikes, GuidesRoxanne RoblesJuly 9, 2021bikes, gravel, gravel grinder, gravel rideComment

The Capitol State Forest!

I was first made aware of the Capitol Forest, located on the west side of Olympia on lands historically stewarded by the Coast Salish peoples of the Squaxin, Nisqually, and Cowlitz, because of the Evergreen Gravel Grinder.

BikesRoxanne RoblesJanuary 5, 2021gravel, gravel ride, group ride, evergreen gravel grinder, gravel grinder, capitol state forest, olympiaComment