Tour de Bloom – The Kokopelli Trail Done Right
It was certainly an ominous start. Gun metal gray clouds churned out sleet and the intermittent snow flurry, and each rude gust of wind had me retreating turtle-like further into my shell. At the Loma trailhead in Fruita on a late May morning, participants and organizers of the Tour de Bloom were adding layers, shuttling bags …
New Bike Legal Singletrack in Marin: Is It Enough?
Ah, Marin. “The birthplace of mountain biking,” they say. And they speak the truth. The legends of the sport hail from here and can still be spotted on the slopes of Mt. Tam. This place is a cornucopia of landscapes and ecotones. Dry, stubby chaparral clutches rare serpentine rock, gnarled mahogany fingers around sage-green earth. …
Placemaking: Building Community with Beer, Bikes, and Beans
“Hey, have you heard of a place in Sonoma County that has a bike shop and a bar and a café where bikers hang out? Trail something?” In my work on the San Francisco Bay Trail at the Association of Bay Area Governments, my colleagues are urban planners working on regional housing and transportation needs, …
Riding With Dudes (Or Anyone Faster Than You): A Lady’s Guide to Getting Dropped
Let’s face it. More guys ride than gals. For ladies who love mountain biking, this means you’re gonna ride with guys unless you contort yourself into some kind of masochistic pretzel to avoid it. And why would you? Guys are fun, and they make up almost half of the planet’s population. But for some women, …
Marin’s Trail King: Profile of a Trail Builder
“The hardest thing about trail building is getting permission.” So says Jim Jacobson of Forest Knolls, CA. And he should know. Jacobson has been building trail in these parts for more than 30 years and is responsible for Tamarancho, Big Rock Ridge, Endor (flow trail at Tamarancho), and many of the trails at China Camp …
Endura Women’s Singletrack Rain Jacket Review
The Endura Women’s Singletrack jacket is a nylon, fully seam-sealed 2.5-layer waterproof, “breathable fabric” rain jacket with under arm zipped vents, and a hood. I put the “breathable” in quotes because everyone says their rain coat is breathable, and then you end up just as wet from your own internal combustion as you’d be if you just …
The Guide Life: What You Need to Know Before You Quit the Rat Race
I recently wrote in these pages about a delightful supported mountain bike trip with Rim Tours. This wasn’t my first such experience—I’ve done the White Rim, the Maze, Bryce to Zion, the Sawtooths in Idaho, and Copper Canyon in Mexico over the past two decades. Each has been a wonderful adventure in a different beautiful …
Forest City, CA: A Ghost Town Renaissance
While trying to sell me on the idea of buying a house in Forest City, 62 miles north of Auburn on Highway 49, my friend Ruedy paused and commented to his friends, “She’s got short hair so it’s not a problem.” Responding to the quizzical look on my face, he explained that the particular house …
To Kamikaze or not to Kamikaze – THAT Is The Question
The Kamikaze. Until I went to Mammoth Lakes this fall to see the scene, ride the trails, and report back, I hadn’t actually seen pictures or video of the legendary downhill race. But as a result of images imported into my brain viewer by a nut-hatch friend of mine who won the race a few …
Mammoth Lakes, CA: Home of the Kamikaze Games, and Miles Upon Miles of Sweet Singletrack
“So the thing about riding Mammoth is…” Somehow I knew Gabe Taylor, head of bike park operations at Mammoth Mountain, would comment on the elevation. Was it my gasping and sputtering that made him offer this nicely-packaged, handy excuse for me? The one I was just about to deploy? I don’t know, but I was …
Riding Like Royalty: Mountain Biking the Rim of the Grand Canyon with Rim Tours
As I pounded my last tent stake, the first plump, squat drop hit me square on the snout. Distant thunder and lightning had played at the edges of our ride in on the Arizona Trail, but I’d been too taken with the scenery to notice. We six guests and two guides scurried around like ants …
Up a Hill, Down a Beer: The 2016 TransAlp Race
When the gun went off on day one in Imst, Austria, a strange sense of relief came over me. I’d done everything I could in the previous eight months to prepare for this seven-day, 323-mile stage race through the European Alps, and now the thing was in the hands of fate and luck. Ever since …
