Hi, I'm coming to visit Seattle (from Chicago) on June 17 and was wondering if any of y'all had any suggestions for:

(1) Place to mountain bike that's nearby (I'm staying near the Seattle airport) and not too aerobically challenging (have not been riding much lately)

(2) Place to rent a decent mountain bike that ideally would be close to the trail.

Through a quick scan, I've been seeing on mtbr.com that there are lots of good places to ride near Enumclaw and Greenwater. Would that be the most convenient option? Convenience is somewhat important since I have a somewhat tight schedule.

Thanks!

Well...if you have not been riding much, I don't know if you want to tackle the stuff out by Greenwater. There is usually lots of elevation involved, or it is pretty technical. Some of the stuff might not be open yet due to snow.

You do have some options that are much closer. There are trails at the south end of the seatac airport runway. They actually have races there during the week. Not really challenging, but really close.

Other options include Lake Sawyer, Tiger Mountain, Victor Falls, Tolt McDonald. These are all within an hour of the airport.

As far as renting a bike...good question. Maybe some bike shops would let you "demo" a bike. Hopefully others will chime in on rentals. A couple of shops to try: Gregg's Greenlake (I think they do have rentals) in Seattle, Center Cycle in Renton, Angle Lake Cyclery by the Airport.

Hope that helps.

Cool. Thank you, I will look into it. I've done lots of elevation in the past...and if I'm out of shape, I just take more breaks :) . Technical is not a problem.

Thanks again!

Check out Skookum Flats. It's about 1 hour east of SeaTac Airport. Any rental place will give you a driving directions. I'd give it a medium in technicality, with rolling up and down terrain. The nice thing is that it's out and back and will give you a true Northwest riding experience. Lake Sawyer and Victor Falls are closer to the airport. However, even with a map, you may end up lost. Can be confusion if you've never ridden there.
ps.
Ask the bike shop where to park for Skookum that wont require a back country permit. Although, we could use your money!

I used to work for Angle lake (Back when they had 3 stores and made the Counterpoint bikes) Unless thay have made a radical change they don't rent bikes or do demo's, just you usuall test ride in the parking lot..

I would start out at South Seatac If I were you. It's a good warmer upper type trail system and very close to the Airport. Take Pacific Highway (the main street the runs parallel to the airport) south to 200th go right. Go down the hill to the absolute trough before you go back up there will be a little parking area on your left. Park and take the paved pathway in and any singletrack to the right will get you a few miles of riding. It's a flat area but alot of twisty trails. You can get a couple of hours in there easy.

If you really want some fun, take a train up to whistler. They've got mountainside lodging, awesome downhill rentals and a gondola to the top, no aerobic difficulty there. Just pure fun. Everything is within walking or riding distance.