Passion Trail Bikes, Belmont, CA - specialists in quality bike service and custom-built mountain bikes: Category Trails

Waterdog Lake Loop Trail volunteer builders needed!

Patty — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:45:00 +0000

In the last month we have finally navigated all the bureaucratic paperwork, designs, reports, CEQA statements, City Council approvals etc. and have started construction on the new Lake Loop Trail in Waterdog Park. This is actually a trail realignment project; there is currently a trail that goes around the lake (shown in red), however it was built below the high water mark and it has become impassible in spots, even for hiking. It was never intended to be a multi-use trail and while it wasn’t illegal for bikes it wasn’t rideable either.

The new trail (shown in white) is intended to be an EASY trail, suitable for family outings – beginner riders, kids, strollers, etc. It will be wider than most of the singletrack that already exists in Waterdog, built to a 4’ to 5’ width and at a mild grade of less than 10% with no sustained climbs – it will be mostly flat. There will be three bridges over streams that feed the lake and a bridge over the spillway that will bypass the pavers. Volunteers will build both the trail, AND the bridges, as well as some really cool retaining walls.

My hope is to get this project completed by the end of September. I would really like to get the trail tread cut in before the end of May, and to build the bridges in the summer. So I’m looking to recruit some extra volunteers for the next two months to make some progress on the bench cutting.

If you can make any of the dates I have posted on our community calendar please let me know. Email me at patty@passiontrailbikes.com

The work projects are four hours long, and start at the times listed (subject to change):
Saturday 3/28 8:30am
Saturday 4/4 9:00am
Thursday 4/9 8:30am
Sunday 4/12 8:30am
Wednesday 4/22 5:30pm (Earth day)
Sunday 5/3 8:00am
Sunday 5/10 8:30am
Monday 5/18 2:00pm
Saturday 5/23 9:30am (Memorial day weekend)
Saturday 6/6 9:00am

Alex, Valerie and Krishna cutting in new trail tread at Waterdog Lake

Carlmont Cleanup was HUGE

Patty — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:25:00 +0000

Three couches, a sink, 20 bags of trash

Here’s a note from Damon at Pacifica Free Ride, stolen from the Ride Monkey Forum:

“Thanks to everyone that showed up at Carlmont today. We had over a dozen people show up to help. Specifically, thanks to Andres, Krishna, Bobby, Dirtbag Matt, Adam, Daniel, Gideon, Passion Trails Patty, and geez there were others, and thank you all.

“We pulled out three couches, a sink, a piece of car, and five super-stuffed large trash bags. Pictures to follow.

“Also, thanks to Charles and Patty from Passion Trails for letting us use their dumpster. Patty was out there at 10am and stayed until late, so double reps to her.

“Thanks to the SF DirtLab crew and San Jose Greg for letting us use your trucks. You guys rock!

“We installed a garbage can at the tree by the Math Line. There’s extra bags at the bottom of the can. If you want to earn some karma, you can drop full bags off at the Passion Trails dumpster.

“Please respect the garbage can! Use it for trash, and we’ll make sure it gets emptied on a regular basis.

“After the clean up, we had a good ride session. It was awesome to see so many people of different ages and skill levels stepping it up.

“Remember, Carlmont is one of a kind! There is no place in the Bay Area that has pro-level riding like Carlmont. If Carlmont gets closed, we are screwed. Keeping it clean of trash is one easy way to keep it open.

“Thanks again to everyone that showed up. See you on the trails.”

Damon

Wrecked TREK 3500 hybrid bike, found at the bottom of “Rocky”

Soil types and where to ride in Winter, Part 2

Patty — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:19:00 +0000

Here are some tips on choosing a place to ride in winter

Where to go when it’s ACTIVELY RAINING:

We recommend pavement or gravel surfaces, or very sandy or rocky trails.

Option 1: Paved MUPs

Paved off-road multi-use paths are great if you don’t want to share space with cars when their wipers are wiping and visibility is poor. They also tend to be relatively pedestrian-free at these times, which makes biking much more pleasant and conflict-free.
The San Francisco Bay Trail is great, especially from San Mateo to Redwood shores, and from Palo Alto Baylands to Shoreline Park in Mountain View. The Bay Trail is incomplete, so check their website for what sections are finished in your area. Unpaved sections of the Bay Trail tend to be greasy gooey mud, so be aware. Other paved MUPs include…

Sawyer Camp Trail along Crystal Springs reservoir in San Mateo County, the Coastside Trail in Half Moon Bay, Vasona Creek Trail in Los Gatos, Stevens Creek Trail in Mountain View, Coyote Creek Trail from San Jose to Morgan Hill, and the Almaden Creek and Guadalupe River Trails in San Jose. Marin has a number of paved MUPs, as does the East Bay, in particular the Iron Horse Trail between Concord and Dublin.
If you are making one of these multi-use paths a destination, we recommend riding uphill or upwind on the first leg of your ride until you’ve used up about 65% of the time you have, then turning around and riding back to the start, enjoying the faster downhill/downwind ride after you’ve gotten good and warm.

Option 2: Paved Roads

On-road is another option for a great rain ride. There are hundreds of miles of little-driven roads in the Santa Cruz mountains or Marin Headlands that make for incredible joy-inducing rides through rain and wind. Other places to find good roads for cycling include roads like those in Golden Gate Park or the Presidio in San Francisco, or Huddart Park in Woodside, or Big Basin park in the central Santa Cruz Mountains. Road riding in the rain should inspire you to take extra precautions with your bike set up and handling. Put lights and reflectors on your bike. We also suggest a blinkie light for the back of your helmet. Wear a roadie yellow jacket. BE VISIBLE!

Option 3: Gravel or rocked fireroads

There are quite a few roads within various parks and open spaces that are coated with gravel or a crushed rock surface so that motor vehicles won’t get stuck in the mud. These roads usually will have a firm enough surface that you will be able to pedal along on top, rather than sink in. Examples include Gordon Mill Fireroad in ECdM, Hihn’s Mill Road in Soquel Forest, Radio Road on San Bruno Mountain, Old San Pedro Road on Montara Mountain, Black Mountain Road between Palo Alto and Cupertino, and Old Haul Road in Pescadero.

Option 4: Super long loops that combine Options 1, 2, & 3.

Oh, yeah. Let your imagination run wild. Bring a spare pair of dry gloves, and a dew rag to wipe grime from your glasses.

Option 5: Trails on bedrock or sand

Bedrock is amazing in the rain. Water does not sink in, it flows across the surface. We know of one great place to experience this first hand: The Oat Hill Mine Trail in Calistoga. This historic mining trail runs up a south facing mountain on a volcanic rock substrate, and is blazing hot in the summer. In the winter, it’s as hard as a rock, and you can ride right through the water flowing across this old road cut. Bring technical skills because the rock is not smooth and you will have to work it to make your way to the top. Rockville in Fairfield is another option, although there is more soil between the rocks, which can be fairly slickery.
Sand is another super fun surface in the rain. It is actually much firmer in the middle of winter than it is in the middle of summer, because water helps the sand crystals stick together. Fort Ord is basically nothing but a bunch of old sand dunes. This highly erosive surface is so unconsolidated that Mother Nature is constantly blowing it up into the air in little dust storms, or washing it down the drain. There are a number of trails in the Laguna Seca/BLM area that have had the thin top-coat of black greasy grassy muck washed off, leaving only the blonde sand crystals behind. These can make for a great winter riding experience.

Where to ride shortly AFTER HEAVY RAINS HAVE PASSED:

Consider any of the rain ride options above. But if you are jonesin’ for real trail riding, what you are looking for after heavy rains is roads and trails that drain well and firm up quickly as the water percolates through. You want to be able to pedal and not have the mud build up on your tires, or have your tires sink in and leave tracks behind. You also want to be able to stay upright and control your speed, so a surface that provides some traction is good. Generally speaking you are looking for sandstone or granite underneath, with minimal clay topcoating. You absolutely need to avoid trails with a lot of adhesive clay, or greasy leaf coated organic surfaces. Also avoid trails that cross a lot of seep zones, or have fords through rushing creeks.

Good places to look for fine riding conditions after fronts pass through are mostly on the west side of the San Andreas Fault and include Pacifica’s Montara Mountain which is granite based, Purisima Open Space (note that the singletrack Whittemore Gulch Trail is closed when wet), El Corte de Madera Open Space, and Soquel Demonstration State Forest, which are all sandstone based. Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz also has a nice long climb up under the redwoods which holds up well. Keep in mind that you still want to let the trails firm up with a little sunshine before you start laying down tracks. The dirt jumping area near Carlmont High School is pretty nice after a rain, since there is no organic matter and a lot of rock in this old quarry area. One special place to consider is the Berry Creek Trail from Waddell Beach, in Big Basin State Park. This mostly flat fireroad leads to a very pretty set of waterfalls and is a great place to take kids. There is a one-mile hike at the end to get to the waterfalls.

Where to ride AFTER A WEEK OF DRY WEATHER:

Here you can consider a number of parks that are just too much of a mess right after a rain. These include places east of the San Andreas Fault that are underlaid by much older and finer sandstones, places with a lot of north facing slopes, and places with more clay content. Nice options include Waterdog Park in Belmont, Russian Ridge Open Space preserve, Skyline Open Space Preserve, and Monte Bello Open Space Preserve up on Skyline above Palo Alto, and Saratoga Gap above Saratoga. Try to avoid trails in the deep shaded canyons, as these will firm up last, and be aware of a few trails that are closed seasonally.

Where you need to wait until after SEVERAL WEEKS OF DRY WEATHER:

Other than the first few rains in Autumn and Winter, when the ground is still absorbing water, many preserves will stay gooey and largely unridable most of the winter due to heavy clay content, springs, and deeply shaded north facing woodlands. These parks include any of the dirt sections of the Bay Trail, like shells in Foster City or the Baylands in Palo Alto, Arastradeo Preserve and Windy Hill in Palo Alto/Portola Valley, Long Ridge Preserve on Skyline, and Fremont Older Preserve in Saratoga, and the Canyon Trail in Monte Bello Open Space.

BC videos

PeterD — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:10:00 +0000

Here is something to keep you going while the cold and rain is outside…

A group of our customers were up in BC this past summer. One of them (Brian) edited up some videos of their trip. Here are two videos for your viewing pleasure…

Mt. Fromme

Mt. Seymour

What form!?!

PeterD — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:34:00 +0000

Berry has an interesting method for doing some stream crossings, though I am not sure how to describe it. This shot was from Thursday’s Appetite Seminar ride in Marin.

How would you describe it?

build up your appetite for turkey?

PeterD — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:57:00 +0000

No surprise – the shop will be closed on Thursday.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t build up your appetite by going for a ride. And if you want company, there are annual rides, including Los Gatos’ Turkey Day Ride and Fairfax’s Appetite Seminar.

There are not official rides, as there isn’t a ride leader, official departure time, or anything like that. Just mass gatherings where people go to a designated start area and ride a designated route. Routes are pretty easy to find – just follow the mass of people.

There is a bull pen in the town of Fairfax where a few kegs of donated beer are available for your enjoyment after the ride (though it often runs out early, so plan to be there before 11 or so to make sure you get some). And Los Gatos’ tradition has come to include a picnic at the top (so watch for people towing roasted pigs, kegs, etc.) to the top.

I think you may find Charles in Los Gatos, and Berry up in Fairfax…

2 years ago, Charles wrote up a bit about the history of the Appetite Seminar and his experience on the ride and posted it here.

Road to Soquel Forest repairs nearly done

Patty — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:54:15 +0000

We got word today from the Soquel Demonstration State Forest Managers that repairs to the slide on Highland Way are nearly done. The contractor reported that the paving is done and they will finish ahead of schedule. We don’t know if the K-rails blocking the road have been removed yet, but if not they should be soon.

Fires at Waterdog

Patty — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:51:00 +0000

Belmont issued the following press release today about a person of interest related to the fires set in Waterdog Park.

Age: 30’s
Gender: Male
Height: 5-10 to 6-0
Weight: 170
Eyes: Unknown
Hair: Brown
Complexion: Medium
Race: White
Date of last contact: 9/4/08

On Thursday 9/4/08 at approx. 4:50pm, two separate fires were reported in the canyon area, on the east side of the Hallmark neighborhood. Both fires were near Wakefield Dr & Somerset Dr and the two fires each burned approx. 1/4 of an acre. No structures were involved and there were no injuries. A preliminary investigation has determined that both fires were human-caused and may have been intentionally set. The Belmont Police are asking for the public’s help in this investigation.

The subject shown above was seen in the area of one of the fires. His involvement is unknown and investigators would like to talk with him. He was wearing a blue baseball cap, white t-shirt, blue shorts w/white stripes on the sides and light colored athletic shoes. Investigators are also looking for an older model white BMW sedan, with significant damage on the driver side, which was seen leaving the area at the time of the fires. It is unknown if the subject and the vehicle are related and their involvement with the fire is unknown. Anyone with information on these fires is asked to call the Belmont Police Department.

Belmont Police Department Crime Tip Line (650) 598-3000

SSWC

PeterD — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:05:00 +0000

The Single Speed World Championships are this weekend in Napa. I have been singlespeeding for some 10 years, and am even at the point that the only MTB I currently own is a singlespeed Santa Cruz Chamleon. So, today I sent my bike off to Napa…

...though I am not following it.

The back story is that a few months back, there was a post on MTBR from a Brit saying he was going to the SSWC, but was hoping to borrow a bike, as he didn’t want to ship his bike with him. There were a few responses from folks offering it up, but for some reason he chose mine. We passed a few messages back and forth and made sure everything would work.

So today, Simon C. of Sheffield, South Yorkshire showed up with his girlfriend and brother (in a Lincoln Continental or some boat like that – “petrol” prices are positively cheap here as compared to the UK). We stuck him on the trainer for a fitting, and then sent him off. I believe the winner of the race gets a custom tattoo, so hopefully we will see this on him when he brings the bike back.

If anyone is up there, give a holler for the guy in the blue Chameleon! And remind him that the left hand controls the front brake, which is opposite of what they do on the other side of the pond.

Ride Day 8, Oakridge Day 2

Charles — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:25:00 +0000

Our original plan was to use yesterday, Wednesday, as a rest day of sorts, so we would be plenty fresh for a long ride on Thursday. The long ride of choice was the Alpine Trail, just outside of Oakridge in Westfir, also known as the venue for the Cascade Cream Puff . After the prior day’s dubiously restful nature, we had a lot of trouble getting ourselves motivated and out the door early enough to load our Camelbaks with a days rations and hit the trail in time to catch the shuttled riders leaving the Trailhead Cafe at 10:00, so we slept in, and it was good. Real good, and easy to tacitly rationalize at this point in our trip, so instead we grumbled. Or at least I did, all the way up the hill in the shuttle van. It seemed a shame to waste a perfectly good ride day with just one short shuttle that would have us back in town by 1:00, especially now that we were so well rested.

Once up on the top of the hill, the decision was quickly made to repeat some version of a ride done by at Bill and Berry earlier in the week, before Sean and I got into Oakridge. We began the descent down the Alpine Trail as usual, but a third or so down our contingent of three, Bill, Sean, and myself, veered right onto the Tire Mountain Trail, and one ridge over. Tire Mountain was Bill’s highlight of the week, and this group enjoyed it enough to contemplate the Winberry Divide over lunch. The decision was made to drop into Winberry, and watch history repeat itself. Again we had a good enough time to bump over one more ridge and trail, and hit the Eugene Crest Trail on our way back down to lake level and town. This popped us out on the North shore of Lookout Point Lake, about a dozen or so mile downstream from town, so we hopped on the North Shore Road and burned on toward home.

Our total ride time was just shy of 7 hours, after about 37 miles, and we rolled back into the Trailhead like locusts. Lemonades, water, and coffee were all consumed at a disturbingly frantic pace. After showers and a quick change, a similar trail of waste was left at Mazatlan, the Mexican restaurant up the street.

Our plan tomorrow is pretty loose at this point, but includes the possibility of a couple different rides in the Bend area, or possibly not riding at all. We’ll have a better handle on our viable options when we try to walk to breakfast in the morning.