Holy Hoo-Koo-E-Koo

Besides having a great name, the Hoo-Koo-E-Koo trail offers incredible views of the San Francisco Bay, downtown, and the expansive Pacific coastline. Yesterday's mountain bike ride may be a third candidate for a great Mt. Tam area Sea Otter Classic training ride, but whether or not you're training for Sea Otter, these are great trails to explore.

As with many of my Winter rides, I began at Ross Commons in Ross, CA, and rode to the trail-head at Natalie Coffin Green Park (the fireroads around Mt. Tam drain incredible well and make for great winter riding). From there I rode around Phoenix Lake, and climbed Eldridge Grade to the East Peak of Mt. Tam. I came back down Ridgecrest slightly past Eldridge and took a left on Old Railroad Grade, which was over 3 miles of twisty, fast fire road, with each steep downhill section looking like it could dump you straight down into the Pacific Ocean. This trail also takes you past the West Point Inn. I then took a left on the famous Hoo-Koo-E-Koo trail, which descends past several small waterfalls, through redwood groves, and by more great views of the Pacific and San Francisco. I then had to climb a bit up to Blithedale Ridge and then up Indian Fire Road, which took me back to Eldridge Grade. From the 1450' mark at Eldridge, it was pure downhill the rest of the way back to Ross Commons.

Overall, the ride was just over 19 miles and 3200' of elevation gain . . . very similar figures to past Sea Otter Classic loops. Check out my two other Sea Otter training ride candidates: Lance's Sea Otter Classic Training Ride and the Mt. Tam Epic Twin Peaks Ride, each of which is just over 19 miles with more than 3200' of gain.

See the full details of the Mt. Tam Summit - Eldridge Grade-Hoo-Koo-E-Koo Mountain Bike Loop at MarinFatTire.com, or check out the GPS data at Motion-Based.

Get Ready for Ales and Trails 2009

Start gearing up for one of the best mountain bike events in Marin. Ales and Trails at China Camp is always a huge hit and fun event where you can sample great beer, go on group rides, test yourself on a skills course, and interact with great people. There are even events for kids like a kids race for children under 11 and jumping demos. All attendees get a grab bag of goodies.

David Weins, the mountain biking powerhouse who beat Lance Armstrong last year in the Leadville 100 and who was named one of Outside Magazine's badasses off 2008, will be leading an Advanced ride around China Camp’s great mountain biking trails, and I'll be leading an Intermediate ride sponsored by MarinFatTire. There are a number of other great rides for everyone from Beginners to Experts. Check out the site for all of the event info. Sponsors include Marin Bikes, Ergon, REI, DirtRag, WTB and MarinFatTire.com, to name a few. All proceeds go to IMBA California, an organization dedicated to keeping trails open for mountain biking and mountain biking advocacy in general. For more information about the event, please go to the Ales and Trails website.

I hope to see you there on May 2, 2009!

China Camp is located off of 101 in San Rafael. Take the North San Pedro Exit East. For China Camp mountain bike trail information check out China Camp Trails.

Mt. Tam Twin Peaks Loop - Epic Mountain Bike Trail

While the Sea Otter Classic Training Ride is a great training ride with steeper grades, today's ride may be my new favorite mountain bike trail on Mt. Tam. Beginning at Natalie Coffin Park, I rode around Phoenix Lake and took Eldridge Grade all the way to the top of the East Peak of Mt. Tamalpais (2350')(as far as you can get on a bicycle), and then I road along Ridgecrest Blvd until I passed the West Peak Summit (2500')(elevation on the road). The views at East Peak and along Ridgecrest are magnificent. Today I could see well past San Francisco and miles out into the Pacific.


I continued down to about 2080' where I picked up Rock Springs. You climb for the first .5 miles or so up Rock Springs, but then it's pretty much downhill all the way back. I branched off onto Rocky Ridge trail, which is much more fun descending than climbing and the views are great, particularly when you start getting closer to Bon Tempe Lake. Ride across the Bon Tempe dam, and take the road back out to Lagunitas Road where you pick up Shaver Grade trail. Shaver leads you down to Five Corners where you continue on Shaver back down towards Phoenix Lake and Natalie Coffin Greene. The loop from Natalie Coffin Greene park was 17.04 miles and 3301' of elevation gain; you can download the GPS motion-based data for the mountain bike loop here. If you start at Ross Commons, add another 2.1 miles to the overall trip and another 100' or so of elevation gain. This ride also very closely mirrors the distance and elevation gain of past Otter Creek Classic cross country loops.


Details of this ride are posted here on MarinFatTire.com, where you can explore lots of great Mt. Tam Mountain Bike Trails.

Summer in February on Mt. Tamalpais

I'm as worried as everyone else about the inevitable drought we'll experience this year, but the best way to assuage my sorrow is to hit the dusty Mt. Tam bike trails on my mountain bike when the sun is bringing the mercury north of 70. Today I broke away for an hour and did my standard loop on Mt. Tam that I call the Eldridge-Fish Gulch Quick Loop, and I began from Ross Common in the center of Ross.

The trailhead actually begins at Natalie Coffin Greene Park about 1 mile away, but parking always fills up fast there. Instead, park in Ross, warm-up with a mile ride up Lagunitas road where you can ogle the Ross mansions, and then head up the fireroad once you're in the park. The loop has you ride past and around the right side of Lake Phoenix, heading back towards a four-way intersection where you take a Left on Eldridge Grade and climb up to 980' (963' according to my new (refurbished) Garmin 305 Edge, but that's another post). Take a Right down Lakeview trail (BUT FIRST, take a Left and ride up a few hundred feet and take in the incredible views of the Bay and the Richmond Bridge and beyond). Hang a Left into the redwoods and enjoy a flat fast lap around the West side of Lake Lagunitas, crossing 3 footbridges and then hanging a Right across Lagunitas dam. From there you have to head down Sky Oaks Rd for a few hundred yards and then bang a right down a paved trail/road, and then take a left on Fish Gulch trail. This is a seriously fast harrowing trail and you must watch your speed. In no time you'll see the odometer approaching 30 (I'm told) and then you have a 90 degree right hand turn in your face. It's a great test of seeing how quickly you can bring your bike down to a reasonable speed without locking up the disc brakes. The .6 miles of sheer downhill fun is over in seconds and you wonder why it took you so much longer to climb up Eldridge. Fish Gulch heads straight through the 4-way intersection back towards Phoenix Lake and the park entrance. Round trip was only 8.97 miles with 1,284 feet of elevation gain. I'll soon have exact ride details/mileage on Marin Fat Tire.

Here's the link to the motionbased.com data for Eldridge-FishGulch Quick Loop.

Summer in January at China Camp

After last week's Sea Otter Classic training ride on Mt. Tam, yesterday's mountain bike ride at China Camp was a walk in the park. Located just a few miles outside of San Rafael in Marin, China Camp provides some of the only singletrack mountain bike trails in Marin, and the views of San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the surrounding bridges and mountains are magnificent.

Yesterday I rode what many consider to be the classic China Camp Loop covering about 10 miles and providing about 1100 feet of total elevation gain. Access China Camp from North San Pedro Road. You can park on San Pedro just outside the campground entrance to the park, and head up Bay View Trail immediately inside the park entrance. While there are a number of intersections, the basic route I took yesterday had me cover most of Bay View Trail, down Miwok, across Oak Ridge Trail, and then back on Shoreline trail. For complete ride details and distances go to China Camp - Bay View - Shoreline Trail at MarinFatTire.com.

This loop is great for beginner and intermediate riders alike, and the singletrack portions of Bay View trail dish out a few obstacles that will keep even more experienced riders on their toes. If you're like me and do most of your riding on fireroads around Mt. Tam, it's worth a trip to China Camp to brush up on your technical skills. A quick warning - from about .3 to .75 miles, you'll have some steep climbing up a very rutty fireroad, but stick with it and then the rest of the ride involves traversing fun singletrack and doubletrack trails with great views.

On your way to or from China Camp, check out a new bike shop on San Pedro called Bikes and Beans where you can get a jolt of espresso or any other essentials before your ride.

Finally, while it doesn't show all of the trails, the China Camp Bike Trail Map on page five of the linked pdf provides you with a great overview of the area.