The Sacramento Valley is a great place to live, work and play. For a growing number of people, recreation means taking their mountain bike along seemingly endless trails in the North State, including in Redding.

There are several studies that suggest mountain biking is worth billions to the economy.  When in Redding, it’s almost impossible to miss how big this pastime is – with many amazing trails to choose from!

Mark and Naomi Haslam went full tilt into mountain biking about seven years ago. They how ride upwards of 100 miles a week from spring through fall.  Mark is President of the Redding Mountain Biking Club, and in recent years he’s seen the number of mountain bikers in the county grow fivefold to around 1,000.

Why is Redding a good place to ride? “The terrain is anywhere from rolling, to flat to steep to challenge any mountain biker, which adds to the fitness aspect of it,” Mark said. “Some of the trails are newly built, which are nice and wide where all levels of riders including beginner level riders can ride them.  But if you prefer single track with technical challenges and long climbs with fast descents, the north state offers that too, especially for the expert level rider.”

Mark was kind enough to take a trail ride that we captured on a GoPro Camera.

The big annual event for mountain biking is coming soon to the north state- the 29th annual Lemurian Shasta Classic Mountain Bike Race will be on April 30th, which attracts mountain bikers from all over California, including pro mountain bikers down to the novice racer.