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.

Great Mountain Bike Loop From Fairfax

Not sure if the best part of the ride was the great views of Lake Lagunitas or the amazing Stout at Iron Springs Pub and Brewery in Fairfax, which is were I began and ended my ride. I headed up Bolinas to Porteous and started at Deer Park. Deer Park trail runs up to Five Corners, and I took Shaver Grade up to Skye Oaks Road. From there I headed up across the Lagunitas dam and around Lake Lagunitas. From there I climbed a bit more up until I hit Eldridge Grade and headed back down to Shaver Grade and up to Five Corners and back down to Deer Park (nice run-on sentence). Overall, the ride was about 11.8 miles and 1400' of elevation gain. For complete ride information, check out MarinFatTire.com. Besides the Stout, the Fish Tacos and Chile Relleno were pretty good, too.

Indian Fire Road Loop From Larkspur

Seventy degrees and great riding today out of Larkspur. I started from Emporio Rulli in Larkspur fueled by a delicious latte and an apricot doughnut - it's a carb, isn't it? I headed out Magnolia Avenue towards Ross Common and headed up Lagunitas Road to Natalie Coffin Greene park. After looping around Lake Phoenix, I headed up Eldridge Grade up to the 1450' elevation and branched off of Eldridge onto Indian Fire Road. From there I banked a right down Blithedale Ridge, one of my favorite trails, and then worked my way back towards Larkspur on Southern Marin Line Road. This ride ends about 800' above Larkspur, so you have to wind down some very steep narrow paved roads, but it's still a chance to take in some great views -- all roads lead back down to Magnolia where you can head straight back to Rulli. For more details and mileages check out MarinFatTire.

Lake Lagunitas Loop - Mt Tam Trails

Mountain biking around Lake Lagunitas is great but every once in awhile it's nice to hike around the lake with your kids and enjoy the serenity of the area. With temperatures in the high 60s, today was a great day to explore the paths and understand hikers' perspectives of mountain bikers -- all of whom passed us today where incredibly considerate.

We began our hike just outside of Fairfax, CA. Take Sir Francis Drake to Bolinas Road and then follow the signs for Lake Lagunitas. Take a left on Sky Oaks Rd and continue to the last parking lot. Hike up through the camping area next to the man-made waterfall, cross the dam, hike past the house, and follow the trails around the lake, including crossing three bridges, which my kids really loved. This is mountain-biking paradise. You can find information about mountain biking trails at http://www.marinfattire.com/. Enjoy!