Bike Festival at Port Gamble trails June 10-11

Airbag clinics are a new feature at this year’s Evergreen Mountain Bike Festival June 10-11.

“We’ve a got a local coach who’s got an airbag program where he brings in his jumps and airbags to land on,” said Patrick Walker, Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance director of development. “They’re very safe. It’s a great way to build your progression on jumping.”

For the second-straight year, the festival will be at the Ride Park at Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park.

The event will comprise of demonstrations, contests, clinics and group rides for those with a festival pass. The demos let you try some newer bikes from top brands. Folks can talk with builders of the trails and pick their brains on how they designed them.

There will also be about 40 vendors, live music, raffles, contests, food trucks and a beer garden. “We try to create a fun atmosphere and have something for everybody,” Walker said.

He said the move to Port Gamble has been beneficial for the festival as it has more space and provides many kinds of trails and jumps. But he did say the event may move to a new venue in a few years.

“The great thing about Port Gamble is it’s built for all riders,” he said. “There’s a nice compact ride park within a great riding area. If you want to do a big 10-mile loop, you could do that, or if you want to go session a certain jump line or features in the park, you can do that. The location, the elevation and the distances are all really great, especially for folks who don’t have a lot of time to get out and ride.”

Previously, the festival was held at Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park in Issaquah. “This is our largest event we do each year,” Walker said about the alliance. “It started as a celebration of the opening of Duthie Hill about a dozen years ago. It has evolved into an annual event. The event frankly outgrew Duthie and sort of the ability to hold it there…It’s hard to stuff this event into it.”

Walker expects a couple-thousand people over the two days. For those who don’t sign up beforehand, on-site registration will be available.

About EVMBA

The alliance is one of the largest statewide mountain bike advocacy and trail-building nonprofits in the nation, Walker said. There are eight chapters in Washington, and Kitsap is part of the West Sound chapter. The organization started in 1989, originally as a small club in Seattle called the Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club. Its headquarters are in North Bend.

“We build and maintain hundreds of miles of trail,” Walker said, adding they have been partnering with cities, land managers, state and federal agencies to bring more access and trails to mountain bikers and all users statewide.

There are about 9,500 members in the state. Memberships start at $35, which provides more access to trails along with discounts/special offers on classes, clinics, etc. “Primarily, membership gets you trails,” he said. “Our funding is almost entirely focused on creating that access, maintaining trails and building new trails.” For details go to evergreenmtb.org.