Anne & Russ' Mountain Biking Pages

C-c-c-old Gap Ride

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:27:32 -0800

December 16, 2007

By looking at it, you'd think we were getting ready for snow. Man, it felt like it. More importantly, the trails were nice and tacking. Lots of traction everywhere for everyone. The rock garden and starstep roots at the Gap were so much fun.

After the stairstep fun and the Gap, Long Ridge was just as nice. As nice is the view is on Turtle Rock, it was waaaaaay too cold to stand up and enjoy it, so we took our munch break down on the fireroad where the wind was not attacking you. We continued after the break out in the open Long Ridge fireroad and lots more cold wind.

The fireroad was nice and tacky, and we were really happy to see the Long Ridge/Peter's Creek singletrack open (most likely for the last time this season). We rode down Peter's Creek, up the connector fireroad, down the steep part of Long Ridge, then back up Peter's Creek.

After the return from the Long Ridge fireroad from Peter's Creek, we were pretty beat. Bill was even nice enough to remind us that was 43 degrees out at 2:30pm. Brrr, but worth it being out.

Flume Trail

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:03:47 -0800

August 20, 2006

Second day riding at Tahoe. This time, we opted for the Flume Trail, which is one of the prettiest (and most popular rides) in the Lake Tahoe area. Even the beginning climb was hard (just because of the altitude for me), it was through a pretty forested area.

Reaching the top took a lot of out everyone. There were quite a few folks hiking. As usual, I'm the last one up. We took a group picture at the top (I have no idea why Daryl isn't smiling), and all continued down. Once we made it past this point, we were off to Marlette Lake.

Marlette Lake was the prettiest part of this ride. It was rolling open fireroads, and even some rocks to roll over on occasion. Bill had fun with my camera, and I was even in a few shots on such a beautiful day. This was the prettiest part of the ride.

Next, I heard on the radio "Take a left, then go THROUGH the water.." You have to go through the lake. I've done creek crossings before, but this was a looong way across. The water was clear, and the views were spectacular.

After Marlett Lake, it was mostly a hike-a-bike through a creek-ish area that starts the actual Flume Trail. This trail is very gradual, but your views of Lake Tahoe can't be beat.

While on the Flume Trail itself, it was quite beautiful, and pretty narrow. It was as ledgy as everyone made it out to be, especially since nothing was particularly technical. The worst parts were the outcroppings to get around, and I was feeling pretty slow from the altitude. The good news is that gives you time to take pictures, even of your friend's going the wrong way. :-)

Unfortunately, that was my most common view of Daryl. I didn't see him much, partially because all the crazy people passing me where making me very nervous. However, there were some breathtaking views, and even most of the most popular places to be photographed on a mountain bike.

Despite the exhaustion, it was hard not to enjoy the view. Man, it was beautiful. The worst part was crossing the slide area. That you had to do by walking over. Ugh.

After crossing the slide area, it was a really quick ride until we reached the intersection with the fireroad. At the fireroad, the ride because very sandy and unstable until we reached the end where the shuttle picks up. It's worth riding, but make sure you don't do it on a crowded day.

Route taken: Spooner Lake to Marlette Lake, Flume Trail to shuttle pickup.

Riding in Santa Cruz

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:03:29 -0800

April 16, 2007

After Sea Otter, I couldn't wait to ride a trail that wasn't crowded--which would be ANY trail not at Ft. Ord. My buddy Mike took me to Pogonip in Santa Cruz. It's one of the trails in the UCSC area, and provided a great test of my full suspension.

When we got to the top of the jumps, there were all sorts of little play areas (tabletops, doubles, and just some lips) to hit. There was one section I could just really get some serious air on, where Mike was able to clear both the double and the tabletop.

After we got through playing on the jumps, we hit the downhill fun section. There were a tonload of berms and lots of log crossings. Once you get through that, you are quickly back at the cars. But this ride just made me remember why I got into biking--the feeling of being free.

Mud Otter 2007

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 10:20:39 -0800

April 13 and 14, 2007

I've been dying to go to the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey for a long time. I've heard so much about it. Since I wasn't prepared to race, I decided to do the "fun ride," or MTB Tour. I took the day off Friday an drove down. Before going to the Expo area, I had to register for the MTB Tour, in a long line of racers. I got to put a tag on the front of my bike for the 20 mile fun ride.

The Expo was interesting. I met all sorts of folks, including a group that runs a mountain bike tour of Bend, Oregon (ooo.. a new state to bike in!), some decent eats (vegetarian food today, it was plenty hot). The cool thing was running into some folks I haven't seen in ages. It was still just bizarre seeing all the people there for mountain biking.

I signed up for a skills clinic, but that didn't start until later in the afternoon, so I watched the jumping contests. Fortunately, Tony had some great pics that he took.

I had signed up for the Women's only bikeskills.com. Tara Llanes was the instructor, and since there were a lot of folks in the class, Joe Lawwill joined us. What was cool was following Joe's lines downhill. I sure could learn a lot from him. The class was very basic, but I met some cool folks and saw lots of sheep on the trail.

At first, the sheep didn't seem so close, but then getting across the trail became a bit of a challenge. Ironically, I really thought we were on the Goat Trail (Trail 41). One of my classmates was cool--she's a co-owner of a bike shop up in Oregon, Bike Newport.

After the class, I hung out with a bunch of folks from Mere Mortals and some other guests before retiring for the night. Looking at the pictures from the first day, you're probably thinking why the headline Mud Otter? Well, Saturday was completely different. My roommate Anne-Marie spent a considerable amount of time arguing with a non-functional coffee pot before her race at 8am. After I got up, I drove to the trail with some common sights.

The women's only class was an unexpected 6 mile ride yesterday, I wasn't going to even try to the 20 mile today. Fortunately, the 10 mile was an option. However, I was still worried about my fork, and before meeting up with the Ventana guys, the folks at SRAM were nice enough to rebuild my fork (warranty issue). It wasn't going to be done in time for me to start with the tour group anyway, and it was starting to look like a true Sea Otter. While i was waiting, I even got to pose with the Otter.

At the start of the ride, we caught up with Gary Fisher, who I thought I would have been impressed with, but I wasn't. Sherwood, Aaron, Leah (a non-Ventana riding Mere Mortal) and the other Ventanaphiles were much more impressive and fun. The views in Ft. Ord are always beautiful, no matter what the weather is like.

After Aaron and I finished clearing the climb, we met up with the rest of the gang and then it poured. Unfortunately, at this time, my front brake went completely out due to a bad brake line, and the next downhill section (which looked like a lot of fun), I had to walk. But, it was definitely a good thing for someone, because I found their GPS. That, and it gave Leah and I some time to chat and walk together.

Unfortunately, after this point, there was significantly more hiking, more rain, and very frozen legs, hands, and fingers, so we just finished the ride and got back to the Ventana booth to clean up.

Huge group ride

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 13:10:58 -0800

Oct 29, 2006

What a turnout. I couldn't believe it. I was expecting MAYBE 5 people on this ride. We started out with twice that, and ended up with 12 folks at the end of the ride. Even though this was a Mere Mortals ride, we had some folks from MTBR who recently joined, and even caught up with two folks I have ridden with in a looooong time (Rose and Kurt).

One of the guys we rode with, Mike from El Cerrito High School MTB Race Team, got some great photos of the 'flow on the trail. The next time was I just barely able to get ahead of the group to take photos on a wide sweeping turn. Cindy wasn't too far behind me, and I think she was amused that I thought she was farther back.

I could barely snap the photo of Cindy, where the others were a bit easier as I was in position.

The interesting thing with a group this size is that people tend to ride in clumps. The faster people tend to be together with a decent gap that separates the slower folks. Interestingly enough, this order can change during downhills and climbs. Then again, there are people who are always fast :-)

Having Mike ride with us was really cool. He was patient to hang with different groups and give various people advice. He even was joking around with Russ.

Before we hit the Miwok Meadows campground, Mike was able to get up in a tree and get some great sweeping shots. We when we took the campground, Karen and Cindy found a tire to play on..

..And this tire appears to provide a world of fun. I wish we had the giant q-tips from American Gladiator as that would have added to the fun :-) We also took a group picture using the really cool tripod Russ gave me for our anniversary. In the background of the last picture, you can see two characters watching us: that's Kurt and Rose :-) They joined us on the ride after losing touch with them last year.

Next, I rushed ahead to get some pictures..

Wow.. people were cruising here.. and Cindy is still smiling. :-)

The last of the folks flew through. Mike was riding behind everyone, as he watched the others ride. Unfortunately, I didn't get Mike in motion.. instead, I photographed him in track-stand. After this point we continued until we reached the top (note that not many people take pictures on the climb, but we should change that). When we started down the fun rocky run, I finally made it through the trees (Bill got this shot of me screaming happily). Thanks to Ray for helping me get over my mental blocks :-)

This section of trail is really interesting. You have to take the steep left turn at the top with a wide apex, or you find yourself in a funny angle and can't shot the gap between the trees. Also, if someone stops in the path, it makes it very hard to fix your line.

As the last folks continued downhill, some of us were waiting at the lower part waiting for everyone. I unfortunately didn't get my camera out for the climbing contest between Karen, Cindy, and Mike (Mike won, even though he fell at the top :-), Mike did get some shots of Bill and I descending down.

Route Taken: Shoreline/Bayview Loop. No pictures of the view this time.. there are too many from the last times :-)

Riding the Trails

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 21:11:30 -0800

This area includes everything from Santa Cruz/Monterey north on the coast, and the Tahoe area.

Bay Area/Santa Cruz/Monterey

Arastradero - A short (~5 mile) loop through the western part of Palo Alto. Plenty of wildlife, a little bit of singletrack, and some nice jumps and the bowl for playing in.

China Camp - One of my favorite trails. Nice fun singletrack through Marin county, and you can make it as easy or as difficult as you like. I love the lower loop, as it provides a great singletrack workout on the Shoreline trail up, then up to the Bayview Trail and back down.

El Corte de Madera/Skeggs - Probably the most popular ride in the Bay Area. There is a network of 36 miles of trails to ride, most of which are intermediate, some are advanced, and others are impossilbe. I have a loop I love on this route that has to include going down Manzanita.

Fremont Older - A misnomer, as this trail is closer to Saratoga and Cupertino than Fremont. This is a great afternoon trail with a quite a bit of climbing, so this is usually my weekday afternoon trail as you can push yourself quite far for such a closeby and short-distance trail.

Fort Ord - An old military base that has become the best mountain biking in the winter in the Bay Area. It's sandy, so this place doesn't get as soupy as the other trails in the winter. There's quite a network of trails of here. Endless possibilities for various skill levels.

Long Ridge/Saratoga Gap - Part of the South Skyline region in the Midpenninsula Open Space Preserve. Saratoga Gap is a 2 mile technical singletrack that reminds me of East coast riding, and Long Ridge is the less technical part of the trail, but plenty of beautiful views.

Monte Bello - A good mix of various riding, but I don't tend to hit this trail frequently enough to know any decent routes. However, it does live up to its name (beautiful mountain in Spanish).

Quicksilver - Fireroads with nice views (and climbs), and some interesting history.

Rockville - A little park in Fairfield where rocks will rock your world.

Russian Ridge - Small area of trails off Skyline, but provide some excellent views, and some serious heat in the summer.

Shoreline/Baylands Park - Easy riding in Mountain View and Palo Alto, and usually a good place to introduce new folks to mountain biking. It's also a good place for a quick afternoon ride in the summer and spring.

Sierra Azul - Good fireroads for training in South San Jose. Also, some really killer views.

Pogonip - Great forested riding in Santa Cruz.

Wilder Ranch - A large network of trails just north of Santa Cruz. There is some beautiful riding here, and definitely a lot of climbing.

Lake Tahoe Area

Tahoe Rim Trail/Big Meadow - The most beautiful recommendation on a trail we have ever received.

The Flume Trail - A classic, not very technical, but definitely a very pretty ride.

First MTB trip in Tahoe

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 19:00:50 -0800

August 19, 2006

For this beautiful weekend in August, Russ and I went back to South Lake Tahoe for the first time since our wedding three years ago. This time, we brought along a few mountain bikers who rode with us on this beautiful section of the Tahoe Rim Trail, starting from Big Meadow.

After the initial climb, you can see where Big Meadow got its name :-)

As we continued to climb, we hit a sign that not only showed us which way we should go to Round Lake, but also how people gave sacrifices to the trail gods. Matt decided this was a good place to mess with his bike, so John assisted him by watching. At this point we continued to climb until we hit this sweet swoopy section of singletrack.

After the swooping, we reached Round Lake. It was a beautiful section, and it had little trails that led directly to the Lake itself.

The lake itself is just beautiful, and before we sat down for lunch, a few of us played around on the trails. And a few of us took pictures of a tree with an "alluring" quality.

Russ and Bill were having a lot of fun with my camera, while the rest of us just munched and chatted. :-)

Then it was time for a group picture-- one with helmets and one without (in case you don't see us with them on and you still want to recognize us), and another shot of Round Lake before heading down to Darnelles Lake.

On our way to Darnelles Lake, we found three creek crossings. Amrit and I were getting a wheel wash, and one of the other creeks was just fun to go through. Russ particularly likes creek crossings, so he was really enjoying this.

After the rest of us got across the creek, the trail got rockier and rockier. Bill made an attempt at this section, and cleaned most of it.

We had another creek crossing before the trail became a hike-a-bike. Bill was determined to show us how to rock. On the way up, we saw a rock that looked like it was cleaved in half by a tree. By the time we finished the hike-a-bike section and it was ridable again, we had reached Darnelles Lake.

On the way up, Russ was saying that the lake needs to have margaritas and mermaids to be worth the hike-a-bike section, then he saw the lake and said: "This will do." :-)

Russ found this cool dragonfly, and he got some interesting shots of us...

...and Bill shot some really nice ones of the lake before we headed off again down to Christmas Valley Trail.

When we crossed the final creek back to the trail junction and reached Christmas Valley Trail, we were really tired and looking forward to a fun downhill. Parts of it were really fun and killer...

... but by the end, the only person taking pictures was Bill (who was taking them of me because I was so slow), and the rest of us was a major walk for those of us not expecting as much rock gardens as we did.

Route Taken: Up TRT/BIg Meadow to Round Lake, out and back to Darnelles Lake, then down through Christmas Valley Trail (which we'll probably skip next time).

Cultivate the rock garden within

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:27:50 -0800

July 31, 2006

I took this week off from work to go mountain biking. It was worth it, just even for this ride alone. I had never been to Rockville, but it sounds like fun. I also need to remember to bring at least leg guards for a confidence builder on trails like Rock Garden Trail.

Daryl and I drove up, and got ready to ride. At the parking lot, you pay the usage fee, then head uphill. As you head uphill, the terrain gets more technical. Then it gets less technical, and the views are just beautiful.

There were some trails that were really challenging. I spent quite a bit of time scouting the rock gardens to decide if it was really something I wanted to ride, and what lines to take. Then there ones I hit at full speed just to see what would happen.

At this place, you can really test your full suspension. And your skills. And how unpredictable rock gardens really are.

There is also some strange obstacles are part of the trails you need to avoid: decapitating trees, barb wire on the fence near the ledgy singletrack (ugh), and uh, never mind. The views again were just beautiful.

Daryl provided a nice subject for photos, especially in the open meadown, and down one of the steeper rock gardens. It's fun to watch him ride so smoothly over something so choppy.

Route Taken: That's a really good question. We did take Rock Garden Trail at one point :-)

First ride in Monte Bello in years

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 15:51:07 -0800

July 16, 2006

We started at the top of the road (yes, we shuttled), and climbed from their to black mountain. We had a good turnout of Ray, Daryl, Janet, and myself. As you can see, Black Mountain is just beautiful.

Black Mountain not only has beautiful views, but really cool rock formations. As beautiful as it is, the downhill was calling us. Nice, smooth singletrack on the ridgeline was just amazing.

We continued along this smooth ribbon of singletrack that seemed to last forever. Eventually it opened up to a wide fireroad. At the start of the fireroad, Daryl helped some stuck MTBers who had a broken chain. Before we had a chance to take off, we saw some rangers get a head start.

When we got past the rangers (it took a while after a few of us were reprimanded), we hit some interesting creek crossings. The dry creek crossing provided a bit of entertainment. The uphill side looked really loose, but we all thought Daryl would make it.

As it turns out, Daryl didn't make it. Neither did Janet (who tried beforehand). Since it wouldn't be fair to Daryl and Janet, there are also pictures of myself and Ray screwing up in the creek. :-)

Route Taken: Black Mountain to Stevens Canyon.

An unlikely nice day in February

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 11:48:55 -0800

February 18, 2006

Russ and I went out to Quicksilver to meet up with Larry to ride one of his local rides, Quicksilver down in South San Jose. Even though it was mainly gravel-ly fireroad, there were some very nice views. We hooked up with a new fellow who works at Rockwell Painting.

When we reached the top, there was a mine shaft that looked to be a good place to take pictures of the mine shaft, and well, a photographer. :-)

There was even some nice places to get some speed before heading down. There were lots of historical mining buildings (quicksilver is another term for Mercury).

Lovely ride in Marin..

Wed, 05 Jul 2006 14:46:24 -0800

June 4, 2006

I love China Camp, and the Shoreline trail out and back for me is still fun. It's a great place to introduce folks to the joy of singletrack, and I can still work on my switchbacks. :-) We had quite the turnout too.. myself, Russ, Heather, Jeannie, and Larry.

Everyone did quite well with their riding. Heather and Jeannie both looked very comfortable on their bikes, and had a good time.

As you can imagine, some ruts may have even gotten their adreline up a bit..

The trail provides some beautiful views without a lot of climbing, and even some wildlife..

Even for a fairly level trail, there are some adventures, like creek crossings..

And always bridge crossings..

Lots of happy people riding today..

With all this picture taking, there was some great scenery and terrain between open trails...

..and shady forests.

Route taken: Shoreline trail out and back.

Tour guide through Skeggs

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 08:37:58 -0800

June 11, 2006

Kathleen posted on the ROMP list that she was going to lead a B level (read: slow) ride through Skeggs. The total ride would be 1500 ft up and 8 miles. Perfect. I think I can make that, even with quite a bit of huffing and puffing. Well, that's what it was supposed to be (acutal total was closer to 17 miles and 3300 ft).

The ride down through El Corte de Madera Creek trail was fast and beautiful. Then we began winding our way through (and eventually up) Resolution, which is nice rolling switchback until you hit a pretty technical and ledgy section. After Resolution, we went up the Fir trail to hook up with Manzanita via a few connector trails. We also met some rangers.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of sending our photographer (Larry, I still feel bad about this) down the wrong trail, we didn't get any pics of Manzanita, the fun part of the ride. Fortunately, one of the other guys (sorry, I don't remember yer name) was nice enough to track Larry down.

However, we did reconnect with Larry during the rest of the ride, and we got several pictures on the sweet singletrack that's Steam Donkey (or Totem). Note there are no pictures of people walking the torturous climb up (it was really STEEEEP).

After Steam Donkey was Blue Blossom. More sweet singletrack, recently cut by ROMP.

Don't let that picture of Anne-Marie walking fool you, she's fast :-)

Route taken: Gate 1 to El Corte de Madera Trail, Resolution Trail, left on Fir Trail, down Manzanita Trail, down short cut Trail, up Gordon Mill, down Steam Donkey, up Springboard, down Blue Blossom, back up Springboard, up Gordon Mill to Skyline out (whew!).

Planet Ord

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 18:56:35 -0800

April 15, 2006

Ugh, still rainy. Still cold. And it's freaking April. I was hoping to try to make it to Sea Otter last weekend, but I just couldn't motivate myself. However, the weekend after there was a big MTBR ride with a D level ride! Yay! :-)

We started up the wet asphalt and out the trail. It's something to be on a ride with 40+ people. I couldn't believe how amazing it is to see so many folks going up the trail.

In the D group, we all started with everyone else with the other (faster) groups. We continued uphill until we all reached a stopping point to wait up for some of the other folks.

When the rest of the folks caught up with us, we were on our way.

On our way up, you had to watch out for the people-eating shubbery. One of them attacked me, but no harm done. The nice thing is this section was good and tacky.

We reached a big open area before continuing on more tacky singletrack. The worst part of Ft. Ord is it's really easy to get lost and all the trails are numbered and very few are named.

The next section was really nice because it was a gradual climb before heading downhill.

This section was great. A nice swoopy singletrack ribbon of fun.

What amazed me is some of the views in Ft. Ord. You could see crags in the rocks, and even at one point presented us with a technical section. Being on a new bike kinda hurt my confidence, so I volunteered to take pics instead.

After this section, all the ride groups convene at the same point, and we take a break before separating.

The next trail we reached was a fireroad. No big deal, until you realize it's too steep for any mere mortal to climb. Ugh. We all hiked our bikes to the top of it. The views were nice, but it was even more fun to shoot down :-)

When we hit a crossroad, we all had to check the map. This is a confusing place, and it helps to have a tour guide or two. The other thing I discovered that some of the trails that were fun to go down and not as much fun up (espeically after mile 10).

Because I climb at the speed of a moving trackstand, Larry had gotten pictures of me climbing. After we continued out, instead of going back to the cars right away, we explored some of the other short trails. some of which circumvented a lake.

When we got back (17 miles later), man we were sore. However, we didn't go as far as the A, B, or C groups, and we got to see them return, as well as enjoy a bite to eat before heading back.

Route taken: I wish I knew. Too many trails with numbers. Thanks to Larry for the pictures.

First trip to Skeggs in a while..

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 15:07:57 -0800

May 21, 2006

Without a tour guide. Under a time crunch. Right after a storm the previous night. Yeah, g-r-e-a-t idea.

This winter was particularly harsh. You can see the landslide in the first shot, and Bill showing everyone how dirty his bike really does get (especially in the mud).

The ride required some skills I didn't feel very confident in, like going down a steep rocky section in wet mud (bleh), and keeping up with some other folks in our group. As you can tell, they're really fast (and Skeggs is a difficult place to get good pics).

Oh yeah, it's not hard to get lost in Skeggs. Go with a guide. Or folks who have the time and patience to get lost with you :-)

Route, er, Abuse taken: Down Fir, down Methusulah, up Giant Salamander (ugh, bad idea), Up Timberview, Up Methsulah, and back up Fir (I think).

Recess!

Wed, 31 May 2006 21:56:47 -0800

May 31, 2006

Today's ride felt like we were getting out of work for recess. I really felt like a kid again.

I was really happy that four other folks could make it to the weekday afternoon ride at Fremont Older. Myself, Russ, Carla, Sung, and Daryl made it out for a ride on a really nice cool day. Well, it felt cool until we got to the top of the hill. Ugh, wow, we were drenched. Everyone did really well, as everyone cleaned the Coral Older climb ('cept me, but I made it further than I ever without stopping because I had FINALLY cleared that right hand switchback.. woo!).

When we got to the top, we were all pretty warm, and tired.. but the Seven Springs trail called to us.. :-)

The Seven Springs trail is a great little loop for not only flying downhill, but practicing a couple of switchbacks, and a good climb back up. Downhills make better pictures though.

Next, we did a couple of loops on the Toyon Trail. The climb up to the Toyon Trail is not bad, but it definitely takes some time. Once you get there, you're rewarded with a roller coaster loop of sweet singletrack.

Route Taken:Coral Older Trail, up to Seven Springs loop, two loops on Toyon Trail, and back down.