Mountain biking Santa Cruz, CA
This is my mtb ride from this morning in Santa Cruz, CA. I had planned to ride quite a bit longer and down a few nice single track trails, but after reaching the top of the climb, I did not feel so well. So instead of me getting sick, I turned around and headed back. But I did take the time to snap a few shots like the one below of beautiful redwoods. (I do notice that the Galaxy S9 looses a bit of color saturation, so I added some on a few shots)
The ride was 11.7 miles and 1300 feet of climbing. It was a cool 60*f, so really good weather for climbing.
GPS data from a Garmin Vivoactive HR uploaded to strava.
The initial start at Pogonip park is a buffed single track under the redwoods. The Emma McCrary trail.
Can you see the bridge in the background. The trail drops down on the left side of this shot down to the bridge, it's really green in Santa Cruz, very similar to Ashland Oregon.
There are old water tanks at the top of the hill. Local 'artists' like to paint on them, guess you can call it graffitti...
There is quite a bit of fog rolling in during the night which burns off mid morning. It is enough to keep the moss green, I thought it matched the color of my bike well.
If you ever visit Northern California, stop by Santa Cruz and the surrounding area for some nice views, hiking and fresh air.
Why do you take the heavier full sus bike out for a climbing ride? Wouldn't it be more fun on a hardtail or easier at least.
Also, do you ride with flat pedals or clipless?
This area of Santa Cruz has some full suspension worthy trails, some really steep stuff with medium sized rocks scattered around. There have been a LOT of busted up people here, a lot of broken bones. One of my friends broke his hip here 2 years ago. I'm not talking fracture, I'm talking broken as in pieces...
I'm riding clipless, but will change to flats for the FS bike. My feet start hurting due to the centered spindle/axle and very little pedal body under my feet.
That sounds scary!
Aren't you worried about your shoe slipping off the pedal when riding downhill on flats? Which of the two pedals give more confidence when going down?
The flat pedals have small spikes that you can place around the pedal so you have a better grip.
I've been riding SPD's for quite some time, but the crank brother's Candy SL's have too small of a platform and at my age on a rough bumpy downhill, my feet can't take it any longer. The larger platform on the flat pedals distribute the force over your foot.
Oh yeah, here is a segment on Strava on a rocky steep section of a trail named Mailboxes. Eating it here will always be painful. I'd like to see someone do it on a hard tail...
Ooh those numbers sound scary! I would be walking down that section. Backwards. On all fours! And call it a technical trek :D
@glennolua Excellent friend your walk, thank you for going out to enjoy this beautiful landscape and you shared it with us in your beautiful photos, very nice views of northern California, in santa cruz, are very beautiful surroundings, enjoy a lot thanks to your photos of this beautiful landscape, fresh and natural.
Thank you @glennolua.
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