Cinco de Mayo Celebration at Passion Trail Bikes

We are back to our irregularly edited version of the news on the trail, on May 5th, 2010

1. Wednesday Wrides, Sombrero Style, 6:30pm
2. Belmont Half-Mountain II Time Trial
3. Trailwork in Waterdog Saturday 5/8, 8:30am
4. Trailwork at Soquel Forest Sponsored by MBOSC Saturday 5/8 9:00am
5. Soquel Forest Timber Harvests and GFMP Update
6. Bike to Work Day is May 13th – Get a Friend to Ride!
7. Breezer Steel Hardtail Demo Bikes
8. Ecocyclist: Rattlesnakes and Snake Bite First Aid


1. Wednesday Wrides, Sombrero Style, 6:30pm
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Sunset is at 8:02PM this Wednesday 05/05/2010. Twilight ends and near-darkness falls right around 8:45pm.
Next week on May 12 the Regular Ride launches at 6:30PM, and will for the rest of the summer.

Well, sunny and Breezery is the forecast for Cinco de Mayo en la Canada del Diablo. Come on over to Passion Trail Bikes for our Gringo Special version of the Wednesday Wrides and evening fiesta, when Patty puts on her famous Chicken en Mole taco bar, and Charles squeezes limes into salt-lined glasses.

Wednesday Wrider climbing out the bottom of Finch Trail

P. L. E. A. S. E. . . . P. U. T. . . . L. I. G. H. T. S. . . . O. N ! ! ! !

Please remember to put a light on your handlebar and have a blinky ready for the ride back to the shop! CA vehicle code requires it. Don’t get caught out on the streets in the dark! Also, a reminder that we need to be super conscientious about stopping at stop signs and lights, yielding to pedestrians, and operating our bikes predictably and responsibly while on the roads and trails. Let’s be safe and kind out there.

For all the details about what makes each group listed below unique, please refer to this webpage. If your questions aren’t answered there, you can also email us for info at info@passiontrailbikes.com.

All rides start pedaling from the shop: Passion Trail Bikes, 415 Old County Road, Belmont, CA 94002 650-620-9798.

The FRISKY rides will go out at 6:15 PM.
The REGULAR rides will go out at 6:30 PM.
The WHITE SOCKS ride will go out at 6:35 PM.
The FBG or Fat Bottomed Girl ride will go out at 6:35 PM.
The STRAGGLERS ride may form and start chasing around 6:45 PM.
For future planning, we have the upcoming start times each week for the first wave of the REGULAR ride posted on our Community Calendar

Note we may not have leaders for each ride but usually someone knows their way around. All groups will meet back here at Passion Trail Bikes right around dark for the usual story telling & beverage enjoyment. We will have stuff to eat plus chips and fatty snacks and EANABS to pair up with the Devil’s Canyon Brewery’s Full Boar Scotch Ale, Silicon Blonde Ale, and Little Devil Root Beer. We will hang out until about 10pm, so come on down, even if you can’t make the ride! Passion Parties are better with YOU in the mix!

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2. Belmont Half-Mountain II Time Trial
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Once again, Krishna has posted a self-serve Half Mountain Time Trial up on MTBR’s NorCal Forum.. This time it’s the climb up Finch. We have a time posted on our newsletter archive that quotes Krishna’s pre-fatherhood time as 6:28 without any time bonuses. Check yourself out and bring your stopwatch on your next trip to Waterdog!

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3. Trailwork in Waterdog Saturday 5/8, 8:30am
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This weekend’s project is small, and will focus on clearing brush in the last remaining uncleared stretch of the realignment corridor, and taking care of a few loose ends near the bridge site on the north side of the Lake Loop realignment. Meet at the bottom of the Lake Fireroad at 8:30am. We will work on the north side of the lake until about 12:30. Please RSVP to Patty at patty@passiontrailbikes.com, and let her know you want to join in. She needs your RSVP for a tool count and for project planning.

ROMP Volunteers backfilling a stone retaining wall on the Lake Loop Trail

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4. Trailwork at Soquel Forest Sponsored by MBOSC Saturday 5/8 9:00am
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MBOSC is sponsoring a trail work day at SDSF this Saturday May 8th. We willl be working on the upper part of the Ridge Trail. Meet at the highland parking lot at 9 am. Yes it will be open to all trail workers. Free coffee, pastries, schwag and post work day beer, snacks and a raffle. We are looking for about 25-30 trail workers. The trail day will be let by Scott Robinson and others.

Stewards of Soquel Forest volunteers cleaning out a Humboldt Crossing on the Braille Trail

Detail and and directions on the MBOSC website. Come on out and give back to the forest. It’s like hiking except you have trail tools and you can fix the trails. It’s a nice hike in the woods. Sign up at http://trailworkers.com/soquel_forest_.cfm

See you out there!

—Mark

President, MBOSC

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5. Soquel Forest Timber Harvests and GFMP Update
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To friends and neighbors of Soquel Demonstration State Forest,

We would like to make you aware of some recent developments at Soquel that may be of interest to you:

1. Soquel DSF has started a process to update our General Forest Management Plan (GFMP). CAL FIRE staff will be working on a minor draft revision under the direction of the California Board of Forestry. Public input will be solicited as part of the process. If you wish to receive e-mail notifications on this process, please send an email to Soquel State Forest at Soquel.StateForest@fire.ca.gov, with “GFMP” in the subject line.

2. A forest landowner adjacent to Soquel DSF plans to begin a timber harvesting operation on their land beginning on April 22, 2010. This activity will be in the vicinity of Aptos Creek Fire Road, the Highland Way parking lot and Hihn’s Mill Road entering Soquel DSF. Temporary closures and/or detours at the Highland Way parking lot and along portions of Hihn’s Mill Road will be necessary for public safety. Signs will be posted in the vicinity to notify forest visitors of this activity and how to avoid potential hazards. Please do not approach these operations for your own safety.

3. Soquel DSF is planning to conduct timber harvesting on State property this summer in the vicinity of Tractor Trail and also near Longridge Road and Fern Gulch. Temporary closures and/or detours will also be necessary at these locations for public safety. Signs will be posted in the vicinity to notify forest visitors of this activity and how to avoid potential hazards. Soquel DSF will however, conduct guided tours for the public of active timber operations to show and explain all aspects of the work being performed. If you wish to be notified of guided tour dates and how to reserve a spot, please please send an email to Soquel State Forest at Soquel.StateForest@fire.ca.gov, “Timber Harvest Tour” in the subject line.

Thank you,

Soquel State Forest
4750 Soquel-San Jose Road
Soquel, CA 95073
(831) 475-8643

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6. Bike to Work Day is May 13th – Get a Friend to Ride!
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May is Bike Month. Next Thursday, May 13th, is Bike to Work Day. Help get a friend who doesn’t normally ride, to ride to work!

The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition has a lot of resources available on their website for people to plan routes, find energizer stations, and learn about riding safely on the roads.

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7. Breezer Steel Hardtail Demo Bikes
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There has been a lot of interest in the two new mountain bikes coming out from Breezer but they have been pretty hard to get a hold of til now. We got a chance to finally meet them last night, and they will be staying with us for a little while.

Breezer Bikes has been kind enough to loan a couple of really sweet demo bikes to us for a week or two. We currently have one 18.5” Lightening Team, and one 17” Thunder Comp. Our normal demo fee is $75 for a one day rental, and $25 for each additional day, but Breezer is subsidizing these two bikes, so they are available right now at half our normal rate. In addition to the discount, all rental fees can be applied to the purchase of any new bike within 30 days of the rental, so try a couple different bikes while you are at it.

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8. Ecocyclist: Rattlesnakes and Snake Bite First Aid

Now that spring is here and the ground is warm and rodents and birds are active, snakes are active too. I’ve gotten two interesting reports on sightings of rattlesnakes recently on the trail. First was of a report by Janet, who said she rode, unaware, right past a rattler in Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto, only to hear two ride companions behind her announce “SNAKE!” Second was a report from a fellow MROSD docent, who took some cool pictures of two rattlesnakes involved in an interaction that was either territorial between two males, or courtship between a male and female. Since snake sex cannot be identified by markings or coloration, and the snakes weren’t talking, we can’t know. But here’s a cool shot, and a link to more photos.

Two rattlesnakes intertwined at Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve

Rattlesnakes look a lot like gopher snakes to the untrained eye, and occupy the same habitat. Both have diamond or cross-striping patterns that are various shades of brown and tan. You can tell the difference quickly though if you know just a few identifying marks on rattlesnakes. First, their scales are dull, and rough looking. They are not glossy and smooth looking like gopher snakes. Second, when agitated, their heads are markedly triangular, and they have a bulging jaw that sets the head off as if the snake has a neck. The gopher snake’s head is more linear and blends in with the body. Oh, and third, yes, rattlesnakes have rattles on the end of their tail. If the snake you are looking at has a sharp pointy tail, it’s not a rattlesnake.

Snake bites are very rare among hikers and mountain bikers, even though the snakes themselves are rather common along trails. The reason is that rattlesnakes are not aggressive, and take a moment to respond to your presence. Once startled, they will rattle and coil up as a defense, and will strike to defend themselves if you get closer, but 95% of all snake bites are due to people messing with the snakes, poking them, trying to catch them, etc. Just move back, give the snake a bike length’s worth of space and you will be fine. You are most at risk if you ride second or third in line, and the lead rider gets a snake agitated and you ride close to it. You are also at risk if you don’t look at where you put your foot down when you stop.

I took a wilderness first aid course a while back, and have done a bit of research on the best treatment in case of a rattler bite. First thing to know is that the best thing you can do is get the victim to a hospital that has anti-venom ASAP. Death is rare but tissue damage is common. My professor said the best pieces of equipment to have to treat a snakebite are a cell phone and a car key. Call 911, let them know about the bite and CALMLY head for the trailhead ASAP.

Do not use a snakebite suction kit on the bite, do not use a tourniquet or ice. A mild wrap with an ace bandage is good but not essential, in fact no treatment at all is OK if you are evacuating quickly. Keep the bite below the level of the heart; you want to slow the rate at which the venom travels back to the heart. If you are riding in a group, the victim should coast on the downhills and be pushed on the uphills to keep the heart rate low and yet move out quickly to meet the ambulance. If you have to walk, walk slowly, again, don’t elevate the heart rate of the victim. Or wait for emergency responders to bring a litter to carry the victim to the trailhead. But if you are within a mile or two of the trailhead the delay in waiting for a litter to arrive and for the carry to be completed may do more damage than a mildly elevated heart rate from a walking victim.

For more info on treating snakebites, read Dr. Paul Auerbach’s article here.

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Read back issues of the Passion Trail Bikes Community e-Newsletter on our website.

To contact us, email us at info@passiontrailbikes.com, or call the shop at 650-620-9798.

Happy Trails, from the PTB crew
Charles, Patty, John, Bret, Sterling, Pancho, Will, Derek, Matt, Peter, and Reba