Took a pilgrimage this weekend to the first trails I ever rode on a mountain bike, nearly 5 years ago now. Back then I barely had the fitness to complete the first climb without passing out, & since I live a good distance away, didn’t really have an occasion to tackle the route again until now.
Was recently thinking about that trip & realized the loop was actually quite mellow, so in keeping with my flair, decided to try it out on the gravel steed. Since the original ride was too short to be worth the drive (took forever at the time, would be less than an hour now), I extended it into some trails I had never seen before, most notably Rocky Ridge (site of the first 2 photos).
All but a few folks I encountered along the way were on full-sus trail/AM bikes, and after riding the extended loop, I suspect they had more fun on that trail: appropriately, much of Rocky Ridge is a festival of steep, loose chunk on both the ups & downs (which felt hella slippery to boot, as the ground was still damp from recent rains), so those 2 pics are only from where I didn’t have to focus all my energy into keeping it rubber-side down.
But no matter, because the challenge was satisfaction enough & those views made it all worthwhile. Mt. Tam is now easily one of my favorites – I’m still coming off the rush of experiencing so many different landscapes in just one ride (& that’s not even all of them). The vibe in Marin is really top-notch – need to find a way to go there more often.
Will bring the XC bike next time & make that steep, loose chunk my bitch.
by sticazzi-ragazzi