• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Do You Mountain Bike?

What a shitty ride. My greddy ass was suposed to go to China Camp.. But beacause I woke late I decided to hit Soquel instead. Being my second time there - I had no clue to as which trail to take. No cell phone reception to call up Crash or Whaine either...

So I winged it and ended up taking Ridge Trail all the way down to Saw Pit Trail... *Note for all newbies... DONT TAKE THIS ROUTE... IT SUCKS DONKEY SHIT IF YOU AINT GOT THE SKILLS. I fell 4 times and had to walk down 3 sections. In addition to this... Saw Pit Trail take you to one of the lowest parts of Hinh's Mill Road... which ended up being a total of 5-6 miles back uphill....

Anyhow, the lesson learned today... (1) Plan Ahead and (2) Go with people who know where the hell their going. (I ended up following some HC XC Riders *Big Mistake!)

Only thing I got out of the ride.. was a big whooping and some decent excersice.

*Can't wait to go back. ;-)
 
Last edited:
I also made a BIG mistake with the WTB Wierwof tires. Those things slide like hell.

I don't recomend these tires. GOing to try the Mitanos or Michelins.
 
So, when are we gonna have a ride for old, fat, slow people? :blush
 
great ride kids!

Highland
Buzzard Lagoon
Secret Squirrel
Ridge
Braille
Hihn's Mill

Next time let's turn around at the bottom and do it backward too!!!
 
oh, yeah, the pace was totally casual. old fat slow people are welcome. and braille is technical, so old fat slow people are probably amusing.

I know I am...
 
MassiveAttack said:
What a shitty ride. My greddy ass was suposed to go to China Camp.. But beacause I woke late I decided to hit Soquel instead. Being my second time there - I had no clue to as which trail to take. No cell phone reception to call up Crash or Whaine either...

So I winged it and ended up taking Ridge Trail all the way down to Saw Pit Trail... *Note for all newbies... DONT TAKE THIS ROUTE... IT SUCKS DONKEY SHIT IF YOU AINT GOT THE SKILLS. I fell 4 times and had to walk down 3 sections. In addition to this... Saw Pit Trail take you to one of the lowest parts of Hinh's Mill Road... which ended up being a total of 5-6 miles back uphill....

Anyhow, the lesson learned today... (1) Plan Ahead and (2) Go with people who know where the hell their going. (I ended up following some HC XC Riders *Big Mistake!)

Only thing I got out of the ride.. was a big whooping and some decent excersice.

*Can't wait to go back. ;-)
Click to expand...


Massive,

Did you get my message? Gave you a call Saturday night for the Sunday ride at China Camp.
 
are you folks going to china camp on Sunday?
What time and where do you meet up?
 
Wolf said:
Anyone know some good foresty trails? I'm looking for a single track, mostly level, through the redwoods. Remote, if possible (ie: not going through campgrounds,etc)
Click to expand...



Find anything good yet? I don't like climbing and I'm looking for something more rugged than Coyote.
 
Frodog said:
Massive,

Did you get my message? Gave you a call Saturday night for the Sunday ride at China Camp.
Click to expand...

I did not get the msg until after I got back from my ride in Soquel on Sunday. Cell battery was dead!!

China Camp this Sunday??

*Got some new tires

:teeth
 
I am sure you all already know this, but if not, be warned:
(email from the ROMP listserve)

> > Sent: Monday, August 23, 2004 9:30 PM
> > Subject: [theRide] Skeggs tomorrow
> >
> >
> > Well, last week must go down in the annals as one of
> > the worst evenings in theRide history. The
> > seven-rider turnout got off to a reasonable start,
> > but the three flats on the 10-mile 1.5-hour ride
> > were only a warm-up for the three cars that we found
> > broken into in the Monte Bello parking lot. Open
> > Space rangers and Palo Alto police later confirmed
> > that we were victims of a recent spate of these
> > events at many of our favorite rides. Apparently a
> > fairly methodical perpetrator has tuned into the
> > notion of riders coming straight from the office
> > with juicy laptops and cell phones lying around on
> > front seats. So, whether it's an obvious reminder or
> > inspiration for a new practice:
> >
> >
> >
> > a.. Leave the laptop at work on Tuesdays
> > b.. Briefcase on the front seat doesn't really
> > hide under the pile of clothes
> > c.. The clothes themselves are actually a target
> > since apparently pants often contain wallets
> > (fortunately not in my case, but they got a nice
> > belt.)
> > d.. Bring watch, wallet, keys, money, passport,
> > cell phone, etc with you on the ride (this was one
> > ride out of twenty where I left the phone in the
> > car.)
> > e.. If you have something exceptionally valuable,
> > go to some effort to hide it (they got my laptop,
> > cell, watches, walkie talkie, etc, but not the
> > digital camera I bothered to put in the back under a
> > towel.)
> > f.. Know how to disable your garage door (turns
> > out they take garage door openers, which isn't a
> > good feeling on the drive home knowing somebody
> > might have beat you there)
> > g.. Be aware of what's easily accessible on your
> > laptop and PDA-cell (I've spent a lot of time in the
> > last week resetting passwords, restoring data from
> > backups, and getting an alarm system installed on my
> > house knowing that a practicing thief now possibly
> > knows my extended times away from home in the coming
> > months)
> >
> >
> > So, with that wonderfully enticing preamble, let's
> > ride tomorrow at Skeggs, a relatively well-populated
> > and well-traveled parking lot, and hope the run of
> > break-ins dies out soon.
 
ScorpioVI said:
Find anything good yet? I don't like climbing and I'm looking for something more rugged than Coyote.
Click to expand...

I can take you on an easy cruise into Santa Teresa park and back. Distance can be as much or as little you want :teeth
Map of S.T. park: http://www.parkhere.org/scc/assets/docs/41081santa_teresa.pdf

route idea: Try parking at the .trailhead on Harry Rd., located just south of Almaden Expwy. and next to the entrance to IBM. Follow this path to the main trailhead (which can also be reached via Fortini Rd from McKean) and then take Fortini Trail until it dumps you into a parking lot (Pueblo day use area). There is a public restroom on your right with a park map and usually good shade, a good spot to take a break and check out any activities that may be going on in the area.
From here, keep going on the trail you were on (Pueblo). It'll climb a bit when you start running up to and along Bernal Rd. until you reach the top where additional parking can be found at (where it intersects with Mine trail again). Follow Mine (fun, steep downhill leading up to a climb you can practially coast up :teeth)until you fork back to Fortini. Turn right onto Fortini and retrace your footsteps back to where you parked.

This should total about 4 miles, will take you along single track and fire road. Places do get bumpy, rocky and technical but they are short and probably won't surprise you toooo much. You'll encounter one long, gradual climb and one fairly steep climb but the steep one is right after a downhill which will boost you most of the way up it if you carry momentum into it.

Lemme know if you wanna give this is a shot sometime and I'll gladly lead you along it. This is a route that Becca even enjoys for the most part and gladly goes back to, just to give you an idea. You can also explore on some of the more technical trails there (such as Stiles Ranch {extremely rocky}, Rocky Ridge and a few others) if you find this is pretty tame for you as it's a beginner to casual intermediate style route

:burnout
 
Saratoga gap isn't TOO bad. It's got some uphill, but it's not too long or steep. It's about 50/50 uphill downhill. Pretty technical (at least to me), I felt like I was riding trials through some of the rocky/rooty parts.

It's that little trail off Hwy 9 immediately before you hit 35.


What I'd really like to find is a flat, semi-technical singletrack that runs along a valley floor in the redwoods (Like Boulder Creek/La Honda-type area). I hate riding on these summit trails that are on the side of a cliff. :x
 
Last edited:
Wolf said:
Saratoga gap isn't TOO bad. It's got some uphill, but it's not too long or steep. It's about 50/50 uphill downhill. Pretty technical (at least to me), I felt like I was riding trials through some of the rocky/rooty parts.

It's that little trail off Hwy 9 immediately before you hit 35.


What I'd really like to find is a flat, semi-technical singletrack that runs along a valley floor in the redwoods (Like Boulder Creek/La Honda-type area). I hate riding on these summit trails that are on the side of a cliff. :x
Click to expand...

How many miles and how long is Saratoga Gap? Are there any signs there?
 
I did Saratoga Gap a couple of times. The last time I did it, I made a 20 mile loop out of Saratoga Gap, Long Ridge, and Grizzly Flat. Including that climb out of the depths of hell on the infamous Charcoal Road. But if I ever find myself that far south in the Bay for mountain biking, I *have* to do Soquel :)

I like El Corte, as Manzanita and Resolution are two of my favorite trails. But the climb out is a handful, especially since I'm not in the same shape I used to be.

I do want to try Wilder, but that gets to be quite the trek from the Berkeley area.

Auburn / Foresthill is another good one. Anything with long, fast, flowing singletrack with some technical breaks and the occasional jump / drop is definitely cool - the Clementine / Stagecoach double loop ranks second behind Soquel in my list of favorite non-Northstar parks.

Anyone game for a Northstar trip? Or maybe Downieville :)

Saratoga Gap / Long Ridge / Grizzly Flat - http://www.mtbwest.com/saratogagap-04.html

Stagecoach - http://www.ogrehut.net/trails.php/Sierra-Central/Stagecoach/

Clementine - http://www.ogrehut.net/trails.php/Sierra-Central/Clementine
 
Hyperlite said:
I can take you on an easy cruise into Santa Teresa park and back. Distance can be as much or as little you want :teeth
Map of S.T. park: http://www.parkhere.org/scc/assets/docs/41081santa_teresa.pdf

route idea: Try parking at the .trailhead on Harry Rd., located just south of Almaden Expwy. and next to the entrance to IBM. Follow this path to the main trailhead (which can also be reached via Fortini Rd from McKean) and then take Fortini Trail until it dumps you into a parking lot (Pueblo day use area). There is a public restroom on your right with a park map and usually good shade, a good spot to take a break and check out any activities that may be going on in the area.
From here, keep going on the trail you were on (Pueblo). It'll climb a bit when you start running up to and along Bernal Rd. until you reach the top where additional parking can be found at (where it intersects with Mine trail again). Follow Mine (fun, steep downhill leading up to a climb you can practially coast up :teeth)until you fork back to Fortini. Turn right onto Fortini and retrace your footsteps back to where you parked.

This should total about 4 miles, will take you along single track and fire road. Places do get bumpy, rocky and technical but they are short and probably won't surprise you toooo much. You'll encounter one long, gradual climb and one fairly steep climb but the steep one is right after a downhill which will boost you most of the way up it if you carry momentum into it.

Lemme know if you wanna give this is a shot sometime and I'll gladly lead you along it. This is a route that Becca even enjoys for the most part and gladly goes back to, just to give you an idea. You can also explore on some of the more technical trails there (such as Stiles Ranch {extremely rocky}, Rocky Ridge and a few others) if you find this is pretty tame for you as it's a beginner to casual intermediate style route

:burnout
Click to expand...


santa theresa park is definately awesome. stiles has evolved so mu since the last time i did it, with the loose gravel packed in and the jutting rocks. definately very technical. i am starting to ride there quite often now. once or twice a week.
 
anyone want to take me on a tour of Santa Theresa?

anytime. I need to go visit IBM anyhw...
 
MrCrash907 said:
I did Saratoga Gap a couple of times. The last time I did it, I made a 20 mile loop out of Saratoga Gap, Long Ridge, and Grizzly Flat. Including that climb out of the depths of hell on the infamous Charcoal Road. But if I ever find myself that far south in the Bay for mountain biking, I *have* to do Soquel :)

I like El Corte, as Manzanita and Resolution are two of my favorite trails. But the climb out is a handful, especially since I'm not in the same shape I used to be.

I do want to try Wilder, but that gets to be quite the trek from the Berkeley area.

Auburn / Foresthill is another good one. Anything with long, fast, flowing singletrack with some technical breaks and the occasional jump / drop is definitely cool - the Clementine / Stagecoach double loop ranks second behind Soquel in my list of favorite non-Northstar parks.

Anyone game for a Northstar trip? Or maybe Downieville :)

Saratoga Gap / Long Ridge / Grizzly Flat - http://www.mtbwest.com/saratogagap-04.html

Stagecoach - http://www.ogrehut.net/trails.php/Sierra-Central/Stagecoach/

Clementine - http://www.ogrehut.net/trails.php/Sierra-Central/Clementine
Click to expand...

I'd be game for Downieville. I hear its a non-stop rollercoaster of singletrack, (10-15 miles?). And you take a shuttle, which throws in another (+) for those who don't like the climb. ;)

Name the date and time and I'm there!:teeth
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top