# Mixed Terrain Adventures Ride Report



## CrankyMonkey (Jul 8, 2007)

Lately I've really been getting hooked on doing "Mixed Terrain" rides also known as "Cyclocross" rides or for you really classic guys, "Jobst Rides". You could even call it "Randonneeing" but I don't think I'm following the same spirit of those rides. 

This week I was fortunate to be able to go on two mixed terrain rides. My first mixed terrain ride of the week was on Thursday from my apartment in Sunnyvale to Pescadero to meet up with my family for a day at the beach.

I started out on my usual route from Sunnyvale over to Page Mill. Then I took a break form the road by taking a round about route through Arastradero Preserve.

<a title="Singletrack at Arastradero by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2807212533/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3287/2807212533_8ddc816ea6.jpg" alt="Singletrack at Arastradero" width="500" height="375" /></a>

As tame as Arastradero is, it's a nice detour from riding on the roads with the morning commute. It's also kind of fun to see the look of guys riding the same tame trails on full suspension mountain bikes when they see my drop bars and skinny cyclocross tires. After my short excursion through Arastradero it was time to make my way up Alpine Rd. I thought this sign was more of a challenge then discouragement for my journey.

<a title="This sign is not entirely true. by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2808061422/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2808061422_4acae10c0f.jpg" alt="This sign is not entirely true." width="500" height="375" /></a>

There is something I like about Alpine maybe is how deserted it feels...

<a title="Climbing up Apline Rd. by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2808062262/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/2808062262_0ecb33dcd2.jpg" alt="Climbing up Apline Rd." width="500" height="375" /></a>

I ran out of tarmac and it was time to get back to the dirt and finish my ascent.

<a title="This is the end of Alpine Rd. by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2808063118/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3074/2808063118_5127538ce3.jpg" alt="This is the end of Alpine Rd." width="500" height="375" /></a>

<a title="Climbing up Alpine is hard work on a hot day. by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2808064396/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3185/2808064396_f805747599.jpg" alt="Climbing up Alpine is hard work on a hot day." width="500" height="375" /></a>

At the top section of Alpine I decided to cut through Coal Creek and link up to West Alpine Rd. via Russian Ridge. Here is a shot from above Alpine on Clouds Rest Trail over looking the South Bay.

<a title="I started way over there. by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2808064828/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3148/2808064828_a6ea2c43df.jpg" alt="I started way over there." width="500" height="375" /></a>

From Coal Creek I crossed Skyline cut through Russian Ridge OSP to get to West Alpine.

<a title="Russian Ridge by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2808065726/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/2808065726_d1515a3be3.jpg" alt="Russian Ridge" width="500" height="375" /></a>

One thing I totally underestimated on was the heat and how much water I was going to need, I ran out of water right about here.

<a title="Heading back to Alpine Rd. by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2807218033/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3275/2807218033_9cb5565d5f.jpg" alt="Heading back to Alpine Rd." width="500" height="375" /></a>

My original plan was to ride down to Portola Redwood State Park and refill on water then connect up to Pescadero Rd. using Old Haul Rd. Unfortunately my plan was thwarted whe I rode past the turn off and didn't realize till I was several turns down the road. 

<a title="West Alpine Rd. by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2807218931/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/2807218931_596f9d896f.jpg" alt="West Alpine Rd." width="500" height="375" /></a>

Since I didn't have the water to climb back up I settled for Plan B and refilled in La Honda.

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2807219807/" title="My bike got a little thirsty so we had to stop for some water in La Honda by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3211/2807219807_b39a3d5525.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="My bike got a little thirsty so we had to stop for some water in La Honda" /></a>

After replenishing my supplies I made my way down to Pescadero Rd. and climb over the hill down to my final destination, The Country Bakery, for some chocolate croissants.

<a title="Nothing is better then sitting under the shade and eating some high calorie food. by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2808069158/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3174/2808069158_21ab9da29a.jpg" alt="Nothing is better then sitting under the shade and eating some high calorie food." width="500" height="375" /></a>

While I was waiting for my wife and kids I decided to do some reconnaissance and ride down to the ocean to take a look at the beaches.

<a title="The End! by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2808069626/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3197/2808069626_5c00c88525.jpg" alt="The End!" width="500" height="375" /></a>

Once my family arrived my wife was pretty upset because my youngest daughter got car sick while driving over the hill and vomited all over the back seat. I got the lucky job of cleaning it up behind The Country Bakery.

<a title="Vomit Duty by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2815062639/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3242/2815062639_216cb8ac34.jpg" alt="Vomit Duty" width="500" height="281" /></a>

Nothing like cleaning vomit up with a garden hose after a nice long ride. We finally made it to the beach which put an exclamation point on a near perfect day.

<a title="More fun in the sun. by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2807221801/"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3202/2807221801_f14c09458d.jpg" alt="More fun in the sun." width="500" height="375" /></a>

<strong>Ride Stats:</strong>
<ul>
<li>Distance: <strong>4</strong><strong>8.8 miles</strong></li>
<li>Altitude: <strong>+</strong><span class="left"><strong>4735 ft / -4704 ft</strong></span></li>
<li>Calories Burned: <strong>5053</strong></li>
<li>Total Time: <span class="left"><strong>05:05'40</strong></span></li>
<li>Moving Time: <strong>04:02'13</strong></li>
<li><a href="https://rides.chriscowan.us/activity/Pescadero-Beach-Ride/id/75" target="_blank">View the full stats</a></li>
</ul>


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## CrankyMonkey (Jul 8, 2007)

*Part Duex!*

After Thursday's awesome ride I decide to see if I could re-capture the magic again. I started out traveling South towards Monte Bello OSP by winding though the quite early morning streets of Sunnyvale and Cupertino. 

Once I made it to Steven's Canyon Road I started my accent and connected up with the Canyon Trail. I decided to climb to Skyline via Grizzly Flat Trail and then cross over onto the Ridge Trail and take that past the Christmas Tree Farm to the Skyline Ridge OSP parking lot. From there I rode up Skyline to Page Mill and then descended down the upper section of Alpine back towards Portolla Valley. On the way back towards Sunnyvale I decided to take another detour through Arastradero for good measure, plus I could add it to my talley of preserves I conqured for the day. 

This time I opted to take an extra bottle of water instead of a camera so you will have to settle for two snaps off the iPhone. Here is the Christmas Tree Farm...

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2819220993/" title="The Xmas Tree Farm by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/2819220993_6e2c598a1a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="The Xmas Tree Farm" /></a>

and a meadow near the Ridge Trail...

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhduhmoblog/2819245135/" title="A Meadow Near Ridge Trail by CrankyMonkey, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2819245135_6b9529c974.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="A Meadow Near Ridge Trail" /></a>

<strong>Ride Stats:</strong>
<ul>
<li>Distance: <strong>47.4 miles</strong></li>
<li>Altitude: <strong>+4454 ft / -4447 ft</strong></li>
<li>Calories Burned: <strong>4829</strong></li>
<li>Total Time: <strong>04:11'13</strong></li>
<li>Moving Time: <strong>03:52'49</strong></li>
<li><a href="https://rides.chriscowan.us/activity/Mixed-Terrain-with-Grizzly-Flat/id/76" target="_blank">View the full stats</a></li>
</ul>


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## CrankyMonkey (Jul 8, 2007)

Also check out all these cool photos from the Jobst Rides... http://www.geocities.com/rayhosler/coastrangeslides/coastrange.html


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## MSH (Jul 16, 2006)

Yes...definitely a blast. I did my first true long distance enduro a little over a month ago. Datenschwanz over on mtbr put together a 100 mile Mixed Terrain Enduro/Alleycat unofficial race. It started in SF in Golden Gate park...you hit a few checkpoints in the City and then off across the GG bridge to head up into Marin for all the fun in the dirt and then back to SF. Ended up being a little less than 100 miles and little over 10K of climbing. http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=432579

Most folks were on cross bikes. One crazy guy actually did it on his road bike...don't know how on earth he did it without flatting, as there were some super burly rocky sections along the way...not too mention lack of traction with road tires on many of the sections. 
I did it on my Soulcraft 29er MTB but threw on some CX tires. Worked out a-ok, but I think I would have rather been on a CX bike...I think the lighter weight of the CX bike over that distance trumped my descending advantage with the front fork. I needed everything I could get LOL since my training schedule the month and a half leading up to the event was horrible.

MSH


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