In Search of Legal Singletrack

[Veronica]

We don't have a lot of legal single track in our area. Mount Diablo State Park has a few trails and we thought we would give the Oyster Point Trail a try today. It was freakishly steep. We climbed 340 feet in four tenths of a mile and we didn't get anywhere near the top of the ridge. We decided to bag the single track. It was a gnarly little trail, truly single track with some exposure, some roots, lots of ruts and did I mention really steep? I'm happy to say I rode down it. Going up, I didn't know if I could manage the down. It surprised Thom that I didn't walk it Happily, there are also a lot of fire roads in this area that crisscross between Diablo State Park and Morgan Territory Regional Preserve. We headed off on those and still got in a good ride.

We're going to try Oyster Point from it's other side and see if that is anymore fun.

Veronica

[Wahine]

Is Oyster point an out and back? Sounds like the kind of trail that would be way more fun as a loop with a more gradual climb.

It's really fun to hear your stories of discovery on the mtn bike.

[Veronica]

There are sections of private property that encroach into the parks making a legal loop on single track and fire road impossible. It's possible to make a loop that includes pavement. We were going to do it as an out and back. So far, we haven't found any really gentle climbs in the Diablo Foothills. :rolleyes:

Veronica

[maillotpois]

I love Coastal trail from Pantoll down to Hwy 1. Then you can climb back up Dias ridge from Muir beach. Makes a great 30ish mile loop. Dias and Coastal are both singletrack.

Shoot me an email if you want specifics.

[Veronica]

Thanks for the suggestion. I know there's lots more single track a little further afield. We've been trying to not drive too far and explore what's closer to home. We'll hit Rock City, Annadel, Tam and Point Reyes eventually. And then there's oodles of things towards the Sierras!

Veronica

[maillotpois]

Yeah there's a ton in the Tahoe area. We've only just started exploring that.

[Irulan]

It's so sad that even though mountain biking was birthed in the Bay Area, that trail access is still so limited after all these years.