Tehaleh Mountain Bike Trails
The west ridge of Tehaleh is too steep for building, so the developers wer looking for alternatives. They reached an agreement with the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance to build a mountain bike park. Tehaleh would put in a paved access road, parking lot, and restrooms, while the alliance would create a state-of-the-art trail system. Upon completion, Pierce County took over the project as a county park.
Descents
RB--Rhythm and Berms
BP--Bacon and Pancakes
TV--TV Party
SS--Slippery Slope
AR--Awesome and Radical Journeys
RN--Resto-Mod
PB--PB&J
FC--Fast and Curious
Cross Country
HN--Heavy Nettle (Ridge Trail)
MD/MC--Madrona Loop
(Perimeter Trail--Descent and Climb)
Connectors
CC--Cross Cut
ML--Missing Link
EC--Elk Club
SS--Short Circuit
Bacon and Pancakes features tabletop jumps and more bermed curves. It is rated difficult because of the jumps. I gained enough speed to climb the tabletops and get some air on some of them.
TV Party is a series of gap jumps and is not suitable for trikes. Rated Most Difficult, it is the only trail in the Tehaleh Mountain Bike Park that I did not ride.
Rhythm and Berms is a smooth and fast downhill with a series of bermed curves. It is the only descent (other than sections of the Madrona Loop perimeter trail) that is rated easy. It is an ideal first run in the park for trikes.
Slippery Slopes, rated Most Difficult, is very steep and often narrow. Sometimes the trail sideslopes to the downhill side, which can be especially precarious for trikes. It also has several drops. Much of the trail has a natural forest surface, with roots, rocks, and debris.
Awsome and Radical Journeys is another Most Difficult trail. It descends the same ravine as Slippery Slopes, so has the same characteristics.
Resto Mod is the third steep descent of the ravine. It joins he other two before connecting with the Madrona Loop perimeter trail.
Fast and Furious lives up to its name. The high speed double slalom features smooth curves and high berms on a steep descent.
PB&J is a narrow and overgrown descent with a Difficult rating.
Heavy Nettle is a rough, narrow loop rated Difficult. I flipped the trike because of its uneven surface.
Madrona Loop is the perimeter trail for the whole network. Although it is rated Easy, it descends and climbs a lot,since it begins and ends at the highest point and reaches the lowest.
Missing Link, rated Difficult, climbs from Cross Cut to the tops of PB&J and Fast and Curious descents.
Short Circuit is a bailout from Heavy Nettle to Madrona Loop and Cross Cut.
Elk Club links the end of Awesome and Incredible Journeys with Madrona Loop,with a branch to an interesting out of network trail over the ridge.
Cross Cut connects Madrona Loop with the lower descent routes.
The Skills Area is a place where you can discover what are your optimal speeds for various features on the trails. On Banana Slug, you can experiment with the variables of centrifugal force and gravity on a berm. Rolly Guacamole gives you a short sample of the kind of rollers you will find in the network. If you have never tried a tabletop jump, Wing Ding has two easy ones to learn on. Then move on to Jam Session to practice on a series of them. Discover how much air you are comfortable with and the speed necessary for it. Finally, try out the four samples on Drop and Roll if you are up for them. I skipped those since at my age dropping is a skill I don't need to learn.
The first three samples are rated EASY, the fourth DIFFICULT, and the last MOST DIFFICULT.
