24Nov2011: Thanksgiving Ride

Riders: Benny & Jun
The usual ride up Kennedy.
Chilly ride but no rain as forecasted. Just a little precipitation going up.
Pinoys with their usual lechon.
Benny brought balut to share

Oct 29, 2011 Santa Cruz (Henry Cowell & Wilder Ranch)

Riders: Benny Gene Chito Matt Vince & Mike
14.5 miles

Started out chilly at 41 deg but turned out to be a really nice day to ride. The pictures show all the smiles we had collected for the day/

Oct 22, 2011: 4 Parks (Upper Stevens, Montebello, Skyline, Long Ridge)

Very pleasant 70 degree weather!
Riders: Jun and Benny
12 miles, 1:50 mins riding time

Nothing much to say other than it was very pleasant weather! On the way home though, there was a motorcycle rider down on Skyline/35 near the junction at hiway 9. Jun and I had to make a U-turn and go home via PageMill Road.

Upper Stevens Creek County Park
-Grizzly Flat Trail

Montebello OSP
-Canyon Trail
-White Oak Trail

Skyline OSP
-Horseshoe Lake
-Christmas Tree Farm
-Ridge Trail

Long Ridge OSP
-Ridge Trail

October 1, 2011: Soquel Demo Forest

Awesome 18 miles in 3 hours of riding time.
Riders: Matt, Gene, Jun and Benny.

First of all, many thanks to Matt for leading the trails. After climbing up the usual Highlands road and onto the uphill fire roads and single tracks, we did a couple of awesome trails. Upper Bacon. Then onto Ridge Trail and continued on Saw Pitt. Then the usual fire road uphill 4 mile grind back to the parking lot.

We did have a couple of mechanical issues - Gene got a flat coming down Saw Pitt. Then Jun's seat & seat post lost a bolt. Thanks to Matt's handy McGyver-style duct tape, Jun was back on his saddle. You should ask Jun why he has such a big smile on his face!

Sep 10, 2011: Santa Teresa

Riders: Benny Chito, Ralph and Radi
just under 20 miles

27 Aug 2011: North Side of Skegss

Riders: Ralph, Time, Chito & Benny
TOTAL miles: 8.4 miles

Start at gate CM01 near Skeegs Point parking
go WEST on El Corte Madera Creek trail 1.5 mi (downhill single track)
go EAST on Tafoni trail 0.8 mi + 0.1 mi
go WALK on foot Sand Stone formation 0.2 mi (bikes not allowed)
go WEST on Fir trail 0.3 mi
go WEST on Resolution trail 1.1 mi
go WEST on El Corte Madera Creek trail 0.7 mi
go SOUTH on North Leaf trail 0.7 mi
go EAST on Methuselah trail 1.1 + 0.3 + 1.1 mi (long uphill climb fire road)
go EAST on Fir trail 0.1 + 0.4 + 0.2 mi

20 Aug 2011: 3 Parks - Russian Ridge, Coal Creek & Montebello

Riders: Chito and Benny - what a chilly & FOGGY day to ride. But that did not stop us from doing 3 parks. Started at 9:30am at Russian Ridge, worked our way up through ridge trail then down Hawks trail. Over to Clouds Rest and onto Coal Creek. Hopped onto Montebello Park to try out the newly opened White Oak trail. Still had patches of fog by noontime when we finished 3 parks.

13 Aug 2011: Skeggs

Nice day to ride Skeggs! Ralph, Jun, Chito and Benny. We did the usual route on the south side. Next opportunity, we're thinking of doing the north side of Skeggs.

6 Aug 2011: Saratoga Gap

Chito and I managed to do Saratoga Gap. My first bike ride after jet lag!

July 2nd & 9th: Saratoga Gap

The 2 weekends of July (July 2nd & 9th), Chito and I (Benny) managed to sneak in a couple of rides at Saratoga Gap. It was his first few rides after his Manil trip and my 2 rides just before flying to Manila.

16 April 2011: Santa Teresa

A cool, cloudy morning but very nice spring ride at Santa Teresa.

Riders: Benny & Tim

We started at the trail head by Mazzone Drive corner Crossview Circle through the hidden singletracks parallel to Almaden & Camden. Climbed up Stiles, then worked our way through Mines trail to get onto the long ardous climb of Hidden Springs and onto Coyote Peak trail. After all the climbing, we enjoyed the view at Coyote Peak (1155 ft). And after a nice rest, we had more fun coming down Rocky Ridge, then further down Stiles Ranch.

All in all, that was about 8 miles within Santa Teresa Park, then add about 9 miles back and forth from our parking spot. So my guess is we did about 17 miles altogether.

10 April 2011: 19-1/2 miles Montebello & Russian Ridge Parks

19-1/2 miles!

Ride Start: 2:40pm Ride End: 6:45 Riders: Jun, Gene, Benny, Radi and Ernie

Starting the ride from Grizzly Flat Parking on Hiway 35, enjoyed the awesome downhill on Grizzly Flat Trail, crossed the creek at the bottom and then worked our way up Stevens Canyon Trail. After a brief break, went up the gruelling climb on Indian Creek Trail! Then had another blast down the single track of Bella Vista Trail. Worked our way on Page Mill Road over to Russian Ridge Park. Did the usual Hawk Trail and Rapley Ranch. Was getting late so we worked our way on Hiway 35 Skyline Blvd back to Grizzly Parking lot.

More Pix posted in this April 2011 media fire folder

3 April 2011: Three and a half parks!

Finally, a sunny day after all the rains in March. We did about 12 miles starting at Russian Ride riding up Hawk Trail, then down and up the single track to Rapley Ranch Road. Moved on to Coal Creek. We planned to do Ancient Oaks at Montello but that was closed, likely because of too much mud from the rains from past weeks. We then finished up doing Skyline Ridge.

Riders: Benny Ralph Jun Radi and Tim

13 February 2011: MTB at Skeggs

The very first group ride for the year! A wonderful Sunday afternoon ride, 8.8 miles, 1 hour 20 minutes
Riders: Gene, Chito, Benny, Tim and Tim's friends Radi and Ralph
We hit the trail by 2:30 pm
Was nice meeting Ralph and Radi
Climbing back up before Manzanita trail, Benny broke his chain but had his chain tool and a spare shimani pin handy. Thanks to Chito and Gene for helping.
Rain is forecasted for next week, so let's see when this group rides again. Hopefully soon!