Join us for one of our rides! Our rides are open to anyone!

The terrain in the bay area tends to be very hilly, dry hard pack with few roots or rocks to speak of. Trails can have deep ruts, water damage, and may be gravelly. In the winter it varies from incredibly sticky, slippery mud to decomposing granite and sand that drains very well. The best places to ride in the winter are Montara Mountain in Pacifica, Henry Coe State Park in Morgan Hill, and Fort Ord near Salinas. We encourage people to stay off the trails at least 24 hours after a rain.

The Not-To-Miss places around here are Soquel Demonstration Forest although the road may be offically closed due to mudslides, and El Corte De Madera Open Space Preserve. It is worthwhile to have a guide for either one. We lead rides there on the second and third Sundays repectively. SDF has a pretty defined one way pattern. Most people ride up Highland Way, Buzzards Lagoon, Aptos Creek Fire Road and Down Braille, Tractor or Saw Pit, and up and out Hinh's Mill. ECDM is steep and has many trails that you would not want to climb. My favorite trails to ride down are Manzanita, North Leaf, Crossover, Giant Salamander, Resolution, Blue Blossom, South Leaf, and Virginia Mill. The best ups are El Corte De Madera Creek, Resolution, North Leaf, Tafoni and Gordon Mill. Some trails in ECDM are subject to seasonal closures, and temporary closures for envinronmental protection. A 10 - 15 mile ride at these locations will be 2500 - 3500 feet of climbing.

There are group rides listed on the ROMP calendar, and you can also read or subscribe to the ROMP email list to read and post any impromptu rides or ask for a tour guide. MTBR's Norcal forum is also a good option for finding rides / ride leaders.

Our first Sunday ride at Grizzly Flat / Saratoga Gap is good (11 miles, 1500 feet of climbing) with spectacular views as well as some technical singletrack, and if you have a penchant for climbing you can start in steven's canyon 1 -1.5 hours early and ride to the ride (adds 5+ miles up and 1500 feet). Check out the Fourth Sunday BARF ride for a place to start / park, and then Ride up Grizzly Flat Trail in Monte Bello OSP, staying right as you go up.

Summit Cycles in Burlingame, and perhaps in Los Gatos will rent you a hard tail, which is generally enough travel for the hardpack we have here, with the exception of Soquel Demonstration Forest. Trailhead Cyclery will rent you a high end bike for $75 a day. A visitor pointed me to Bike and Roll in San Francisco which rents GF Sugars and Cakes for about $40 a day, and is probably close enough to the Golden Gate Bridge to ride into the Marin Headlands.