[bayareakiwi]

Which (tamarancho, china camp, Mt Diablo, Joaquin etc) is recommended after the rain (or during) for riding in the next week?
I have ridden some, but not many.
I am in Berkeley and have a few days (two weeks) off and child can go to daycare for a few days and with these warm stroms, the skiing is going to stink (sierra cement)..so biking is the means to get out.
Advice appreciated, and if this/these questions have been answered elsewhere, please direct me there, I don't have time to search...as 11 month old is going for the knife drawer as I write.

 

[bigtrees]

Forget the east bay

East bay is all clay. Except Rockville is fine even during rain.

China camp backside (not front side).

Mt. Tam and much of west marin (note: parts of pine mt loop are muddy).

Oat Hill (Calistoga).

Tamarancho is OK, not great, but you could ride rockville, CC, and oat 365 days/yr.

The time it takes to drive there will be partly recovered during your bike cleanup, or lack of it.

 

[norcallifter]

What about in the South bay or mid penninsula? I was goign to go riding early in the morning tomorrow but dont know what trails would be open. Accordin to the weather channel, no rain only cloudy tomorrow. any help would be appreciated. I need to get my mtn biking fix in. hehe.

 

[Tracer Bullet]

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=89492&highlight=rain

 

[J]

Water Dog in Belmont is soaking wet, so unlike the two jackasses that were out there this am that I saw on my way to work, please don't ride it.

 

[timehoc]

......

 

[Gakster]

Check www.openspace.org for Mid-Pen trail closure

What about in the South bay or mid penninsula? I was goign to go riding early in the morning tomorrow but dont know what trails would be open. Accordin to the weather channel, no rain only cloudy tomorrow. any help would be appreciated. I need to get my mtn biking fix in. hehe.

........

 

[Quercus agrifolia]

Rockier terrain = better in rain

Rockville in Fairfield is probably the best, good volcanic, well-drained soil.

China Camp is pretty good, some standing water, but no mud. Bigtrees said the backside is better in rain, but the front side has the same geology, and handles water basically the same, IMO.

Annadel State Park is good. Again, lots of standing water, and mud on a few trails (both Burmas, up around Ledsen Marsh and the lake).

Tamarancho handles water well. IIRC, only Alchemist gets a little soupy, but again, no clay-rich, stop-you-in-your-tracks mud.
__________________________________-

It's always important to stay in the middle of the trail, even where standing water is present, to minimize trail braiding/widening. So I think fenders are always a good idea in winter, so that you are not encouraged to skirt the standing water. Getting wet does not present nearly the problem that getting muddy does, in terms of gunking up derailers, brakes, etc.

 

[Reposado Man]

The Nisene Marks fireroad drains pretty well, but dunno if fireroad is worth driving down for!

 

[bayareakiwi]

thanks...how about around aptos or soquel?

Thanks to all who replied! A great resource for those with little time...or too much time on the web..

tamarancho or china camp it is then....although I have just been hiking in redwood with baby in backpack and it is raining hard....!
and I won't go if it means mucking up trails, but it sounds like a few stand up well....
I am going to Aptos for Xmas day and planning to ride soquel early morning...never ridden there b4, how does it do with weather? anything else around aptos/Santa Cruz area I should check out?

Thanks again!

 

[29erchico]

I am going to Aptos for Xmas day and planning to ride soquel early morning...never ridden there b4, how does it do with weather? anything else around aptos/Santa Cruz area I should check out?

Thanks again!

I'll be looking to ride Sunday AM as well. Are you talking Soquel Demo Forest or Nicene?
The weather shows no rain Fri and Sat, so Xmas AM should be decent. If I get really good reports I'm going to hit Demo, if not it's the Sea Otter course on Fort Ord or Wilder in SC.

I'm pretty familiar with the riding in the Monterey Bay area (folks live there) so if you want to ride, let me know.

29erchico

 

[knobbyknees]

Soquel Demo needs a day of actual *sunshine* to firm up

I won't go if it means mucking up trails, but it sounds like a few stand up well....
I am going to Aptos for Xmas day and planning to ride soquel early morning...never ridden there b4, how does it do with weather? anything else around aptos/Santa Cruz area I should check out?

Soquel Demo has sandy soils that drain well, but they can be pretty slippery & sloppy and you can really mess them up if you hit them too soon after a lot of rain, because the dirt doesn't hold together real well when it's saturated. The forest is pretty thirsty though, so if we get some good sunshine and warm temps where the trees perk up and start drinking, things dry out and firm up fast. With cloud cover and drizzle, it takes a lot longer.

I'd stay off of Braille or Sawpit until we've had a couple days of dry weather. The fireroads and Tractor Trail should be OK, but getting there on the Ridge Trail may be sketchy. I'd suggest dropping Hihn's Mill, climb Sulpher Springs, drop Tractor, and climb out if you really want to spare the singletrack. Not a very long loop.

If you want extra mileage, turn left at the bottom of Tractor and go down to Badger Springs, and then another mile or so to the bridge over Soquel Creek. That's a really, really beautiful area. Highly recommended. You might get to see some spawning Steelhead trout (2 to 3 feet long) swimming upstream if you hang out at the bridge for a while. Then turn around and climb out. That would add about 4 mostly flat miles and only 300' of extra climbing. There is also a fireroad on the other side of the creek, called Amaya, that you could do an out-and-back on. Check out the upper part of the Nisene Marks map (2.1 MB pdf file) at http://www.virtualparks.org/maps/files/nisene-marks-v106.pdf for details on Soquel Forest roads and trails.

Patty

 

[bayareakiwi]

Great info Patty ...happy frigging xmas!

Thanks so much for the detailed reply......

Excellent info which I will take into acct on Sunday...Should I get to ride...babies 11months old who don't sleep tend to get in the way...but I REALLY appreciate the hospitality given that I just joined this board/site....being a New Zealander I really admire hospitality by others from other countries, even though I have lived here off and on for many years {mostly winter}.... (and now permanently with that baby!...LOL) so cheers...