Let's Get Technical

Since beginning my foray into off-roading, I haven't done much technical riding. East Bay Regional Parks mountain biking is mostly old fire roads, rarely getting a chance to touch single track which split off the fire road in every direction along parks such as Redwoods. I completely understand this and am not complaining at all. As an avid hiker too, I would be very annoyed if I was hiking along and someone on a bike comes rocketing at me full speed.

Before the trail I found this sweet old fashioned looking utility building, reminded me of Buffalo/Niagara.

The East side of Old Tunnel Road before Quarry Road.

On my ride the other day, it started out that this was the same. From Grizzly Peak Blvd. I always eyed this road that went straight up the East Ridge, I was curious to find it. So after some Googling, I found it, Quarry Road. Part of the old quarry that is now Sibley Volcanic Regional Park, Quarry Road goes straight up the side of the West Ridge. It was a brutal ride up it, but once there I hopped along some fire road that was flat along the top of the ridge, but what is up, must go down. This was one of the most intense fire roads I've ridden since my experiments on gravel. Quarry Trail, a fire road as well, dropped down back to Quarry Road on a fairly shallow drop, but on gravel with a cliff to your left, this is a lot hairier than the incline leads to believe.

The West Ridge.

I guess these are the volcanoes?

Quarry road switchbacks, plus no traffic! Yum!

Then from there I was able to rocket down the wall that is Quarry Road. Now I was in the valley and had to find my way back up to the West side of the West Ridge, how to? From where I stood a trail led up to the Skyline Staging Area of Sibley Park, other than that, it meant backtracking, but why backtrack? I've got the tires why not?

The beginning of Skyline Trail.

This was no fire road. A single track that crossed dry and not so dry creek beds, bumping up and down over tree roots, this reminded me of the true mountain biking I did as a kid in Rocky Point. Going over technical bumps and popping over the trail, the trail decided it too wanted to go straight up. At first this wasn't so bad, but with the cover of trees dropping their fall foliage, as well as being wet, this meant my tire had nothing to grip on to. I hopped on the bike, pushed, but to my dismay the tire only spun, I put my foot down. I really wanted to prove I could ride this, tried it a few more times, but nope, wasn't happening.  I got out and carried the bike up this ridge.

Damn leaves!

I hopped back on, going through some more mud (no fenders this time, means no stopping!), but it wasn't long until up came again and this time mud was the culprit, Round Two of walking it up. Luckily this was the last defeat, from there on out I was able to grip some and push up to the Skyline staging area, almost a straight line up the ridge in shrouded single track that was totally worth the struggle for, and for once, it was an up that I'm more excited to go down than a down I'm excited to go up.