Has anyone ridden Briones Lately?
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Post back on conditions
I'd like to ride OBD from Bear Creek this week, but not if the cows are still tearing it up on top.cohenfive said:
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We rode Morgan Territory Sunday
Trails were rideable, but some patches of serious mud.
If you want to stay local, other parts of Diablo should be in good condition. VTT and I have been around Castle Rock and Northgate with very little mud.
If you want to go later in the week let me know, and I can go with you.
Trails were rideable, but some patches of serious mud.
If you want to stay local, other parts of Diablo should be in good condition. VTT and I have been around Castle Rock and Northgate with very little mud.
If you want to go later in the week let me know, and I can go with you.
i'd probably be interested in something wednesday after work, around 4pm or so. let me know if that works for you. i've stayed away from shell/borges/diablo foothills so far thinking it would still be pretty sloppy and that the streams might not be 'fordable'.....but happy to get out.EBrider said:
great, just got permission from the boss. she's happy with me right now since we just got a new frost free freezer!!!!EBrider said:
i'm indifferent as to location, but the bottom of briones is not going to be rideable. i would also consider the oakland hills if those trails will be good.
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The orchard trail might still have a couple of spots of mud on it, but probably nothing to get all mudweenie about.cohenfive said:
You could make a nice combo loop of it if you wanted to start at the Gloria Terrace staging area, ride by road to and up Old Briones Rd to Old Briones Rd Trail to Briones Crest to Table Top to Spengler to Blue Oak Shortcut to Blue Oak and out. We've been doing parts of that on our Tuesday night rides and even with a little mud in places, Old Briones Rd, Briones Crest, Table Top and Spengler drain and dry nicely.
I was out there about 2 weeks ago w/ my kids and most of the trails were dry, although we started out at the top of Old Briones Rd and I haven't been to Orchard since a night ride about 3-4 weeks ago.
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If you have room for a third ridercohenfive said:
I am in for Wednesday either Briones or Mt Diablo. EBrider and I had good rides on Diablo in the last few weeks. Some of the trails are in excellent conditions with very little mud. May I suggest going up Mitchell to Juniper, Devil's Elbow down to Donner or Borges Ranch to Stage Road, up Wall point, return on BBQ Terrace and Stage Road or anything else i would love to ride out there since i haven't ridden that side. much more interesting than an abbreviated ride in the big 'b' anyway....the question is whether i can keep up...but i've got a good attitude!VTT said:If you have room for a third rider
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If we start at 4:00
I think they pulled the rain out of the forcast for Tuesday, so conditions should be good.
I haven't been to the big B since sometime in Sept or Oct. I've missed all the great Briones threads we had last summer.
Mitchell to Juniper & Devils Elbow may be a little agressive. I was thinking about some kind of loop from the Northgate side. Maybe from Castle Rock (bring your swim fins) to Stage Rd, Buckeye and down Little Pine Creek. We might be able to add to it as time permits.VTT said:If you have room for a third rider
I think they pulled the rain out of the forcast for Tuesday, so conditions should be good.
I haven't been to the big B since sometime in Sept or Oct. I've missed all the great Briones threads we had last summer.
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It's a stretch..
I think I'll pass if you guys want to do Castle rock.. I hate that area when the streams are flowing for a ride start.. I'd like for my drivetrain to actually operate for a decent portion of the ride.. Of course, Dan has no worries there..
If I could make it by 4, but I'd like to join up with you guys. I haven't had time to ride since I got back from Moab at the beginning of the month. I'm dying here! Maybe I'll just go to work in my jersey and shoes..EBrider said:
Curious VTT, is Donner the fireroad that runs down parallel to Mitchell? Coming down from prospectors gap, there is a fireroad to the right before you hit Deer Flat that I have no name for other than "the highway" as it's been dubbed by some friends. Curious if this is the route you speak of. We usually do this in about 2 hours or so, so it is feasible to squeeze it in before night time.vtt said:
I think I'll pass if you guys want to do Castle rock.. I hate that area when the streams are flowing for a ride start.. I'd like for my drivetrain to actually operate for a decent portion of the ride.. Of course, Dan has no worries there..
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Don't worry about keeping up with us... because I can't keep up with EBrider myselfcohenfive said:
.We ride for fun and we wait for each other on the uphill or the downhill part of the trails. Right now the Buckeye trail mentionned by EBrider is a beautiful place to ride with all the flowers, the scenery... and no cows to destroy the trail or chase us.
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I think that coming down from Prospector Gap you meet with Meridian Ridge. On the left it will take you to Deer Flat and then down Mitchell and the right take you down Donner Canyon.biggz said:
There is a part of Deer Flat road nicknamed "the widow maker" but I didn't about "the Highway".
You are right, Donner parallels Mitchell Canyon, and I am impressed with you doing the loop in 2 hours...
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I think we have some flexibility if you would like to join us
The Juniper-Devils Elbow loop we like to do is about 24 miles with 4,000 feet of climbing as we turn off right before the peak and is a challenge to finish (for us) in 3 hours. Another option would be to finish at Castle Rock, then you just need to roll down the hill to your car and lube the drive train when you get back.biggz said:
4000 ft of climbing in 3 hours...gulp!! that's a ton of climbing for me...my benchmark is annadel which is about 2500 feet. i'll do my best though.
i went into briones this afternoon for a short (1 hour) 'get reacquainted' ride. i drove up to old briones (dan i don't know where that other staging area is), rode up to the radar tower and fooled around a bit on the ridges before heading back down. trails were fine here but my guess is there is still decent mud down below given the standing water i saw. also (no surprise) the cows have really done a number on parts of the ridge, really making it tough just to get by in spots. i know this happens every year--i just can't figure out how the trails smooth themselves out again..
i went into briones this afternoon for a short (1 hour) 'get reacquainted' ride. i drove up to old briones (dan i don't know where that other staging area is), rode up to the radar tower and fooled around a bit on the ridges before heading back down. trails were fine here but my guess is there is still decent mud down below given the standing water i saw. also (no surprise) the cows have really done a number on parts of the ridge, really making it tough just to get by in spots. i know this happens every year--i just can't figure out how the trails smooth themselves out again..
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thought I might...
throw this out there as another option. What about those stretches of singletrack that border the northgate road enterance around where burma crosses over. I've done out and backs starting on those, which is kinda nice. I've double checked and they are legal. It ends in a fireroad near the junction. We could hop on summit from there, up to juniper, down Mothers if it's not to overgrown then try to meet back up with the singletrack we rode up. Hopefully I'm being clear enough that someone can help me with the trail names..EBrider said:
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