Even after a two-month West Coast bike tour from Mexico to Canada, Ben Donnelly was bug-eyed when he got a look at Seattle’s I-5 Colonnade, billed as the world’s first urban mountain bike park of its type.
“This is nothing but awesome, really cool,” said the 24-year-old rider from Asheville, N.C., the mountain playground of the southern Appalachians. “The Pacific Northwest knows how to build mountain bike trails. And I thought Asheville was a mountain bike mecca.”
Bicycles are an undeniable part of the California lifestyle, whether it’s taking a leisurely ride along a beachfront path, huffing up a mountain like Lance Armstrong is on your tail or even dodging a crazed bike messenger downtown. For all the bike buffs out there, gear up, grab your helmet and make your way over to these five places … Details Â