Living and Dying by My Cambelbak

Last week I wrote about taking a nasty fall at Camp Tamarancho and the good fortune of landing on my full Camelbak that spared my spine and back. Well, I must not have thanked it enough, because this week my Camelbak was bad Camelbak, having some fun at my expense. On Saturday I was on the upper stretches of Bayview trail at China Camp and there was a tree stretching across the path about 5' off of the ground. I slowed a bit but decided that a mountain bike limbo was more than sufficient to clear the obstacle . . . but I forgot about my cherished Camelbak. Sure, my head was hugging the handlebars and skirted underneath the tree without even touching it until suddenly my Camelbak seemed to leap up, grab the tree, and clothesline me like a defensive back. It was all I could do to hang on to my bike so I didn't fall to the ground like a cartoon character with my bike careening forward. Anyway, bad Camelbak incident notwithstanding, mountain biking around China Camp was great.

I did two loops, with the first one taking up Bayview to Echo Trail, and then heading up Bay View Road (I think), which is a grind of a climb, through the gate and up to the old Nike Missile Radar site. I then continued down the road, and hung a left onto Ridge Fire Trail, to Back Ranch, and then back to Bayview. Bayview turns into Oakridge which is a fun ride down to Shoreline, which takes you all the way back to the main entrance.

My second loop largely followed my last post about the main China Camp Loop, but instead of riding some of the Powerline Fireroad, I stayed on Bayview the entire way. Both loops were great, and riding right when the trails opened at 8 a.m., they were relatively quiet, except for some wild turkeys - which are much bigger than you'd expect, especially when you round a corner and one is on the trail. Also, watch out for the small reddish newts sunning themselves on the trail.

China Camp is a great place to ride, just watch that tree on Bayview, and don't trust your Camelbak!

For more great rides, check out Marin Fat Tire.

Hoo-Koo-E-Koo Just as Holy The Other Way

Last month I wrote about riding to the top of Mt Tam on Eldridge Grade and then descending on Old Railroad Grade to Hoo-Koo-E-Koo and what a great mountain bike ride it is - http://marinfattire.blogspot.com/2009/02/holy-hoo-koo-e-koo.html. Well, last week I ascended Hoo-Koo-E-Koo and Old Railroad Grade and it was just as great of a ride. Here's the difference.

Up Eldridge Grade to East Peak and Down Old Railroad Grade
Leaving from Ross Commons and riding into Natalie Coffin Greene Park, this ride takes you straight up Eldridge Grade all the way to the top of the East Peak of Mt. Tam. It's the shortest and relatively fastest route to the top, and the last mile of Eldridge Grade is punishing with lots of fist-sized loose rocks that make it more technical. The trip down Old Railroad Grade and Hoo-Koo-E-Koo offers unbelievable views and it's nice to take them in after an invigorating climb and coasting downhill most of the way. The bad news comes when you realize you've descended below 1000' feet on Hoo-Koo-E-Koo and then have to climb back up to around 1200' feet to Blithedale Ridge, and then ride an almost unclimbable section of Blithedale Ridge for only a couple hundred feet up to Indian Fire Road, where you get another .5 miles or more of tough climbing back up to 1450'. The good news is that you're back at Eldridge and have a fast and fun descent all the back down to Ross from there.

Here's a link to this ride: Eldridge-Hoo-Koo-E-Koo Loop

Up Eldridge Down Indian Fire Road Up Hoo-Koo-E-Koo Up Old Railroad Grade and Down Eldridge
People are honestly split between whether they prefer climbing or descending Eldridge Grade. If you like descending it, then this is a the better loop. Of course, you also get to climb up to 1450', where you take Indian Fire Road downhill, hang a right on Blithedale Ridge, and then a hard right onto Hoo-Koo-E-Koo just long enough to get lost in the fun of the downhill when you realize, as with the other loop, that you've just shaved off 500' that you have to re-climb on your way up to the top of Mt. Tam. The climbing up Hoo-Koo-E-Koo and Old Railroad Grade is gradual almost every foot of the way, however. It just seems to go on forever, but it's still a beautiful ride. Once at the top, you'll relish in the fact that you have almost zero climbing to do and can focus all of your strength - what's left of it - and energy on descending Eldridge.

Here's a link to the directions for this ride: Hoo-Koo-E-Koo-Eldridge Loop

No matter which way you go, you can't go wrong. For more great trails, check out www.MarinFatTire.com. And don't forget to check-out www.Alesandtrails.net.

Giving Blood at Camp Tamarancho

Nothing is certain but death, taxes, and mountain bike crashes. I was long overdue to hit the ground hard, and I had an unpleasant reminder of how painful that can be at Camp Tamarancho last weekend. I was getting into a rocky section of Wagon Wheel trail, missed my target, and did a side flip onto my back, landing about 3 feet below the trail onto some basketball sized rocks. My camelbak completely saved me from a more severe injury, my shins are badly battered and ripped from the rocks, and my chest has a now-yellowish welt that's still sore to the touch. There was a certain calm for a few seconds as I lay face up on a bed of boulders with my bike resting atop my bloody body, watching some birds circling above, and appreciating the stillness of the morning and the fact that nothing felt broken. Once I muddled through the physical comedy of getting unstuck from the rocks with a bike on top of me, I cautiously finished that stretch of Wagon Wheel and enjoyed a great ride.

Camp Tamarancho has some of the best (and maybe the only true) legal singletrack in Marin. The trails are on property owed and maintained by the Boy Scouts, and the main loop, including a .6 mile out and back access trail, is about 8.5 miles, and takes around an hour (more if you ride it the way I did). You can ride the loop clockwise or counterclockwise; last week, I went clockwise around the following trails - Goldman, Serpentine, Wagon Wheel (curse you!), B-17 , Broken Dam, and back to the Goldman Trail. You access the loop from the Alchemist Trail off of Iron Springs Road. Since there's no parking on Iron Springs Road, it's best to Park in downtown Fairfax next to Java Hut. From there you head West on Center/Broadway for several blocks, and then follow the Bike Route signs for several blocks (with some turns) until you take a left on Rockridge which becomes Iron Springs. You get to climb several hundred feet of elevation over a mile up Iron Springs until you see a sweet singletrack trail - Alchemist - on your left. Overall, roundtrip from downtown Fairfax will cover 12.5 miles and just over 1700' of elevation gain.

If you ride Mt. Tam or fireroads all the time, then it's great to hone your technical skills on some singletrack trails. If you're new to singletrack, then I'd definitely tackle something like China Camp before trying out Camp Tamarancho. Here's a link to a great loop at China Camp: Bayview-Shoreline Loop.

To ride Camp Tamarancho, you need to have either a season pass ($45) or a day pass ($5) which you can get through Sunshine Bicycles in Fairfax or buy online through the Boy Scouts website. I'd also recommend bringing a Camp Tamarancho Map, which you can print from the above link, and, if you plan to give blood, riding with a friend!

For more great trails and mountain biking resources, check out http://www.marinfattire.com/.

GPS Links for China Camp and Mt. Tam Rides

Here are a couple of quick updates on mountain bike trails on Mt. Tam and China Camp. In the past two weeks, I've captured the GPS data for a great short loop around Mt. Tam and a classic China Camp Loop. Below are links to the rides and the Motion-based GPS data:

China Camp Bayview-Shoreline - Mountain Bike Loop - 9.7 miles, 1200' gain

- GPS data link

Mt. Tam Shaver-Lake Lagunitas - Eldridge Mountain Bike Loop - 11.1 miles, 1484' gain

- GPS data link

This loop takes you around Lake Lagunitas, pictured above.