Mountain biking in San Francisco. You've got the trails around Mt. Sutro, a few trails in Golden Gate Park and the trails of McLaren Park. It's not bad considering the city is 7 x 7 miles. This doesn't count the illegal trails of Mt. San Bruno, which I have yet to explore. For a quick dirt fix I'll hit up any one of the three parks if I'm pressed for time. In the photo above I'm overlooking Mt. San Bruno from the east end of McLaren Park. I just started riding the trails here, and only got to do the lower half of the park before having to head to work.
Double Down
It's fun exploring new neighborhoods, especially one's you normally wouldn't during the daytime or evening. I did an easy recovery ride around Hunter's Point and up into McLaren Park, exploring industrial streets and some sweet single track. I woke up before 6 am with the plan of sleeping in a bit, catching the lunch ride in the afternoon, which I did as well. My legs are feeling a bit better, but not at 100%. By lunch time I was feeling punchier, and managed to hang with the fast group on the Wednesday's Bailey loop. Tomorrow and Friday I plan on tapering off my efforts in preparation for the Sonoma Lake race.
McLaren Park
After finally cleaning my bike from a month's worth of built up dirt and sweat I took the trails of McLaren Park after work. The sun was setting so I didn't have much time to fully explore the trails. They reminded me a lot of China Camp in terms of terrain, lots of dusted hard-pack single track. It's only a few miles from our new place in Dogpatch, Mount San Bruno being the other new personal playground. I explored maybe a fraction of the available dirt, coming across a small pump track towards the middle of the park.
It's nice to know that I have a few good options, both mountain and road, considering I'm pressed for time. I do miss being close to the Marin Headlands, but it's been a nice mental break getting to know a new part of the city.
Mt. Tam Crew
We had a solid crew going out to Mt. Tam and back via Peter's Headland Heifer route. We had a couple new faces join us, mixing it up. I suffered like a dog, having ridden to work the day before, and not getting enough rest or sleep, but I stuck it out and made it the whole way.
Our crew today consisted of Steve, Peter, Musa and another Steve (off to the right).
The whip of choice, a hardtail 29er. All five of us rocking the big wheels. My bike hasn't seen a wash in almost a month. Not since Boggs! I usually keep my bikes clean, but I haven't had the time to pay them much attention. I've got a nice layer of sweat and dirt covering my downtube.
Why am I not clipping in? Oh, that's why. I broke my pedal. Crankbrothers pedals have been a consistent headache for me. I previously had the titanium versions of these Eggbeaters. The bearings seized up on those. This time I snapped off a wing. I've got one more pair to get me by till my next pedal purchase, which won't be Crankbrothers.
The view from 3/4 of the way to the top. We lucked out with another gorgeous day of riding. Glad to see our Mt. Tam epic crew growing in size. It's great training for Leadville.
Two Opens
Did a big ride with my friend Musa this morning, 65 miles of dirt to the top of Mt. Tam and back. It was gorgeous weather all day long. I'm loving how my rides out to Tam have become my regular weekend ride, whereas earlier in the year I'd consider it a rather epic ride. I'm so used to putting in the long miles and lots of climbing, which is good, especially with the Leadville qualifier in Tahoe and the Leadville 100 not too far away.
On our way back I ran into my friend Steve, who happens to own an Open as well. He finally got his built up after months of piecing it together. Today was the maiden voyage of his super colorful beast of a bike. Go team Open!
I Ride for Burry
I see this every day as I enter the office. It's a memorial to Burry Stander, World Cup XC racer who lost his life in a car accident not too long ago while out on a training ride. So much respect for his talent. It's a great reminder to value those you love as well as what you love.
Keeping the Dream Alive
With my new schedule comes a lot of changes, especially with my regular training rides. The one I don't want to give up is thankfully conveniently placed in route to work. I got up earlier than usual to make sure that I had enough time to load up the car and drive over to the bride by 6:15am. I even had 20 minutes to spare. I rode with Brian and Jon this morning and put in a good effort all the way through, however my body was still feeling weak after an epic day last Saturday as well as doing an intense lunch ride the day before.
The sun rises are earlier and earlier, so my morning photographs don't have the same dramatic lighting, but it's still quite gorgeous from the top. My bike has been collecting a lot of dust, not because I've been neglecting it. Quite the opposite. After racing Boggs a couple of weekends ago I still haven't had the time to clean my bike. It has a nice thick layer of dirt from Boggs, Mt. Tam and the Marin Headlands.
New Kids on the Block
Had an amazing ride with some new guys up to the top of Mt. Tam and back via dirt. We rode over 50 miles and climbed over 8000' by the end of the day. We ducked in and out of fog before climbing our way into the hot sun facing the west side of Mt. Tam. Musa and Drew put the hammer down in a number of sections, drilling me into the ground at some points. It was great to ride with fast people. I even came out of it with a few personal records going downhill along Dias Ridge.
This is why I love mountain biking so much. Getting to meet new and interesting people with a shared love of dirt and adventure. We had six in our crew, which turned to five halfway up Tam, and dropped to four on our return trip through the Headlands. The weather was perfect for the most part, and grabbed a burger with everyone before my ride home. What an epic Saturday.
China Camp Recover
It's been a while since I've ridden out in China Camp. I had to bring my car in for an emissions check to our dealer out in Marin, so I decided to throw in a quick spin around the park to help get my legs back. It was a beautiful day in San Rafael, and hardly anyone out in the park.
All Play & No Work
Well, not exactly. I am working without having to do anything. I'm resting and recovering, and slowly ramping up my efforts for this weekend's race in Redding. The rest is really paying off in that I feel the pop in my legs without fatigue. I rode around the trails of Mt. Sutro, then cut into Golden Gate Park. On my way back I found a tame section of dirt that stretches for a few miles before turning back home. My Open is all dialed in, and the fork seems to be fixed. We'll see after this weekend if the seal kit worked out.
Ride Hard
After a day of recuperating, involving a lot of stretching, foam roller massages and a good amount of sleep, I was ready to test out my legs. I rode the Headlands in the afternoon, smashing a few personal records along the way, besting my times on a number of segments. I started out slow, thinking it was better to spin it out, and see how I felt as the ride went along. The soreness and fatigue I was feeling all last week was gone, so I knew my body had recovered well enough to hammer. I spent most of my morning rebuilding my RockShox SID Solo Air fork, replacing all of the air cartridge, hoping it'll solve my leaky air woes. So far so good, and it's not at all difficult to break it down. Having had experience working on forks made it easier for me to tinker with it, especially after pouring over all of the technical documents I could get my hands on.
Sea Otter Festival
Despite my lackluster race yesterday I had a great day otherwise. My first stop was the Open booth, where I got to meet Gerrard and Andy, founders of Open. It was so awesome to finally meet them. They were both really cool to talk to. It was also great to see a fleet of Open's next to my own. Along with their booth were the folks at Pro Bike Supply, one of Open's largest retailers and all around great shop. Jayson was there, who helped me put together my ride. Great to finally meet him, too.
My second stop was the Specialized team trailer and expo, where I met with my new boss as well as the head honcho himself, Mike Sinyard. It was so surreal standing there. It was just a year ago where I came to the same tent, and met Ned Overend for the first time, never expecting that one day I'd be working for the big S. The day's start was pretty emotional for me. I wish I had more time to spend at the festival, but I had to suit up and get to the start line.
Actually, our day started out with a minor bump. On our way down Jeremy's care got a flat tire, but was quickly fixed. We had plenty of time to get down to Laguna Seca, check out the festival, have lunch and warm up.
After the race was done, I hung out at the finish line and waited for my friends to roll through. We all suffered, maybe except for Jeremy who put in a really solid race, finishing 11th out of 32. He bumped up to Cat. 1 this season, and is doing quite well. After cleaning up a bit we hooked up with our crew, had a celebratory beer and checked out the Clif Bar BBQ, and grabbed a burger before driving home.
What day. What a week! And it's all just getting started. I look forward to taking some much deserved time off, recharging my batteries both mentally and physically.
New Rubber & Metal
Last night I replaced my worn out chain and set of Racing Ralph tires. It's funny how bald my tread was compared to a fresh set of knobbies. I went with a slightly wider than normal 2.25" front tire for extra control. This morning I tested everything out on our Dawn Patrol ride, where we welcomed a new face to the morning crew.
I really stretched out my chain, and luckily hadn't worn out my cassette too much. I made a few front derailleur adjustments and made sure I wouldn't drop any more chains come Friday. Still, I'm a bit nervous about that happening again, especially in a race situation. I did some research on chain catchers, but because of my direct mount style front derailleur and the fact that the tubes on my frame are Squoval shaped I'm left with little choice. Any recommendations for possible water bottle mounted chain catchers? Seems like my only choice.
Anyways, we had a great ride this morning. It was hella cold down in the valley. The coldest I've ever felt in the Headlands. My face was completely numb by the end of the Bobcat descent.
Sunny Side Up
I love when summer is just around the corner. Days are long, and more importantly the sun rises are earlier and earlier. This morning was glorious, with the sun shining on the trails. It was rather windy at the top, but we tried to play it to our advantage on the way down. Peter and Craig flew down Bobcat snagging the coveted KOM. I couldn't hang with their pace, overshooting a few of the corners with too much speed.
A Piece of History
This is only the second time I've ridden Tamarancho, one of NorCal's best mountain bike park, just 3o minutes away from the city. The last time I rode these trails was in the summer during the Tamarancho Dirt Classic, where I placed 3rd in Cat 1. Situated just outside of Fairfax, CA the trail starts a mile or so up the road. The single track cuts through some beautiful forests and open landscape. We rode about 25 miles and climbed over 4,000'. Not bad considering most of it was on single track.
Being Saturday the trails were in full use. We immediately ran into a few groups on our way up, but quickly got off the main drag to explore the depths of the woods. We bombed down some barely used single track, followed by fire road as we come to an intersection of significant importance.
The rock pictured above is the finish line for the infamous Repack descent, the birthplace of mountain biking. Joe Breeze and Gary Fisher would take their modified beach cruisers and rip down the 2 mile fire road, using this rock as the finish line. They'd pack in kegs and party with friends at the end of a day of riding. It's called Repack because they'd have to repack their old oil-drum brakes at the end of the descent.
Part of our exploration was not to go down Repack, but up. It's quite possibly the hardest ascent I've ever done, next to Powerline in Leadville. I hammered out of the saddle right away, not knowing when to expect the end of the climb, other than it'll take me at least 20 minutes to reach the top. I set a sub 20 minute goal. Not even a quarter of the way up the hill I realized I needed to back off on my effort so I wouldn't blow up halfway through. I put in a solid effort and snagged the KOM on the segment. Not sure how long that'll last, but I certainly gave it my all.
When we regrouped at the top we ran into some serious mud trying to connect back into Tamarancho. It's been a while since I've encountered mud that thick and sticky. It was comical how much mud accumulated in such a short distance. Josh wasn't having it so we decided to detour onto a piece of single track that dropped straight down into the forest. It was fast, fun and loamy, but turned pretty dicey towards the end. Peter crashed off the trail and I managed to clean a portion of the steep grade before coming to a complete stop and walking down the rest.
After a few miles of riding on the road we hooked back up with the main Tamarancho loop and finished it out before calling it a day. On the way up I managed to crash and fall onto some rocks, miscalculating a series of baby head rocks. Who crashes going up? I do apparently. I smashed my face on the side of a rock and rolled onto my back, nearly cracking my iPhone. Luckily I was wearing a helmet and my phone had a case.
Afterwards we grabbed lunch in town. Fairfax was overrun with cyclists either going up to Tamarancho or going up the back side of Bolinas Ridge on road bikes. It's such a cool little town with such an amazing backdrop and playground.
Reverse
Had a decent ride this morning through the Headlands. I ran into quite a few riders along the way as well as trail runners, which is surprising considering I was out rather early. I did my normal loop in reverse to mix things up.
Ominous bunny watching my every move. Just after this sighting a family of deer scooted past me and another rider going the opposite direction.
I just wanted to keep going, forget about work and focus on the trail. Sadly I had to come back down to reality.
Epic Sunrise
Amaze-balls sunrise this morning in the Headlands. Our Dawn Patrol crew was strong as we hammered our way up to the top as well as down, setting a few personal records along the way. We caught up to another rider going up the Headland Heifer, who was also aboard a BMC 29er similar to Peter's. The top was foggy as hell once we summited, but after a few minutes the skies parted revealing the most epic sunrise I've seen in a while.
Dialed In for the Weekend
It's the first time I'll be doing back to back race weekends. Tomorrow I'm heading down to Fresno to race the Big Sandy. It's one of the last remaining point-to-point mountain bike races. I'm excited to get my climb on and check out a new part of California. My bike didn't need much dialing in this week. I thought about swapping out my tires for a fresh pair of Racing Ralphs with Snakeskin protection, but instead I just refilled my tires with Stans. Everything else is solid.
To Race, or Not to Race
This weekend there are a few choices for racing. We've got the CCCX down in Seaside, CA, the one I did last weekend, but with a twist; they do a reverse course. There's also The Big Sandy out past Fresno near the Sierra National Forest. And there's the US Cup in Fontana, just outside of LA. I'm leaning towards CCCX because of it's close proximity, but wasn't wow'd by the course. I'm curious about The Big Sandy because of the location and course style, but it's a tiny bit further away. I should know by tomorrow, but I'm excited to race again.
Dawn Patrol Recovery
The view from the top never gets old. Our Dawn Patrol crew was pretty wiped out from the weekend, so our Tuesday morning ride went with a brisk pace. I was especially tired, having raced CCCX over the weekend, still recovering from the series of sprints and sustained efforts. We were all hanging on each others wheel, but I had to put in a dig with every climb to shake out any post race jitters and doubts.