The best of 98

The Best of Mtn. Biking, According to Me (1998) by Danny Forer

Miles happen. And I was very lucky in 1998 that a lot of miles happened to me. This is my personal "Best Of" list for the past year. All opinions expressed are my own, except those given to me by the people I ride with, and by my sponsors (if I had sponsors). Best Race: Sea Otter has the largest age group fields, an 18 mile loop that is 1/2 single track, and an extensive expo. The pre-ride on Saturday, with friends, is my favorite part of the weekend. Best Invitational Race: The Forest Knolls Freewheeler 3rd annual "Giro-nimo" race/tour around Geronimo Valley. This unique event has 5 race stages, all hill climbs, which take place while doing a 37 mile all dirt tour, with over 7,000' of elevation gain. Some riders are doing the race, some are doing the tour, and others doing some of each. Points are awarded for finish order at each of 5 summits. Even with many opportunities to bail almost all starters finished the complete ride, because it was so much fun. No entry fee and a great bar-b-que at the end. Best New Product: Marzocchi Atom Bomb fork. The best 4 lb. accessory I have ever put on my 2.8 lb. frame. Durability, limited maintenance, and performance makes it the best suspension fork available now. Worst New Product: I was given a prototype tire to test for a company that makes high end mtn. bike tires. The rear tire had poor traction, the front was squirrely, I had 2 flats (one because of misadjusted brakes), and even though they were free I went back to my WTB's because they performed so poorly. However, I did like the way green sidewalls looked, and they were fast on pavement. Best Reason to Check the Warranty on a New Bike: If you ride enough, everything breaks. In my mtn bike club, which has about 30 members, we had 5 titanium frames break in 1998. These include: 1. Litespeed Obed- Randy (second time breaking frame) 2. Litespeed Obed- Vernon (second time breaking frame) 3. Ibis Ti Mojo-Franco (second time breaking frame) 4. Ibis Ti Mojo- Danny 5. Kona Ti- Matt Best Mtn Bike Celebrity Seen: Olympic gold medal winner Paola Pezzo, riding a road bike, on Ridgecrest pavement, Mt Tam, just prior to the World Cup race in Napa. Hardest Climb: Willow Camp is a 1.5 mile fireroad, from Stintson Beach to Ridgecrest pavement. It has an elevation change of about 1,500'. I had a good climb, and cleared the entire thing, except for a 1.2 mile section that was extremely steep, which I had to hike-a-bike. Ride/hike it for yourself, and see why this is somewhat less popular with cyclists than, oh, Railroad Grade. Best Mtn. Bike Ride: Randy and Barbara's Wedding Ride. From Forest Knolls the wedding party, of about 25 cyclists, took pavement to Fairfax, then up Rock Springs, past Portrero Meadows, to Ridgecrest, for a wedding service, performed by a member of the club, at a scenic spot, with views of the Pacific Ocean. We returned via Bolinas Ridge, with the newlyweds on bikes specially decorated by other riders, to a party in Forest Knolls. Best Riding Streak: Jim Lovell (sp?), a retired Cal professor, who we see at Tamarancho regularly, rode his bike 85 days (!) in a row. What makes it even more remarkable, was that he set his record in the middle of the El Nino winter, including the entire month of February, when it rained almost daily. Toughest Ride: The first annual Marin 10K ride. We copied this idea from our friends in ROMP. No, it is not 6.2 miles. It is 10,000' of climbing. Three finishers, did the 68 mile loop of Marin fireroads and single track in about 11 hours. Stupidest Traditional Ride: For the 3rd year in a row, this award goes to the BADD Ride (Briones to Antioch Dirt Death ride). It is 55 miles, with almost 8,000' of climbing, one way between Pittsburgh Bart and Lafayette Bart, mostly dirt, with some bike paths and pavement, and travels through 8 parks/regional trails/recreation areas/open space districts. Next year it will go West to East, and avoid the killer climb, up Lafayette Ridge, at the 50 mile mark, but it is still stupid. Best Photos: With so many riders carrying cameras, including Shred with his digital model, some of the rides are beginning to feel like media events. The best photos, chosen from about 1,000 taken in the past year: 1. Franco, in mid air, just about to hit the ground and break his wrist (Randy) 2. Barbara and Randy kissing, wet and naked, at Bullards Bar Reservoir (Danny) 3. Brent, avoiding heat stroke, sitting in a full horse trough, with his helmet on (Randy) 4. Franco and Eric's shadow projected on the clouds above Mt. Diablo (Franco) Best Mtn Bike Present: Jim Jacobsen, president of Bicycle Trail Council-Marin, was given a complete WTB Titanium bike, for his birthday, by his friends, in acknowledgment of his 10 years of work to improve mtn. biking in Marin County. Best Single Track: The most memorable single track I rode this past year include: 1. Henry Coe- standard Middle Ridge- China Hole loop, near Morgan Hill 2. Bullards Bar Reservoir- 28 miles of buff rolling single track, near Downieville 3. South Boundary Trail- wooded, buff single track near Taos, New Mexico. 4. Chimney Rock Loop- dramatic narrow ridge trail, Downieville 5. Perfect Cyclist Trail- don't ask Worst Injury: Falling is part of mtn biking, but the worst injury I saw was a hiker, who fell off a cliff in Tilden Park. Her boyfriend was with her, shouting for help. She was unconscious and her breathing sounded like a deep gurgle, and it is the closest I have seen a person to death. I was the first one on the scene, and I raced on my bike to Lake Anza, and returned with the first aid person. She was given an emergency tracheotomy, to help her breath, right on the trail, by the EMT's, who arrived shortly after. I am not sure if she survived. Be careful out there. Best Web Page: http://www.Mtnbikehq.com Shred's mountain bike page, that has photos and articles about riding in Marin. New stuff all the time, and I won 4 beers in a contest identifying locations of photos. What more can you want on the web. Worst Excuses for Riding Boy Scout Trails (Tamarancho) Without a Pass: (all responses are reported verbatim) 1. "Oh, I didn't know you needed a pass." (Every trail has a posted sign, a total of 5 signs, with box of applications in two locations) 2. "I'm on my way to get a day pass." (No such thing. Never has been.) 3. "I meant to buy one." (Yeah, and I meant to win a world cup race, but I didn't) Best Thing to Bring On a Camping Trip in Downieville: None of the local campgrounds have showers. We brought solar showers, that worked great. It was neat at end of long day of riding, to take a warm, outdoor shower, to clean off the dirt. Also, as a bonus, you get to see your friends naked. Best Winter Mtn Biking: Anza-Borrego State Park, located about 100 miles East of San Diego, is the largest state park in the country. There are 500 miles of dirt roads to ride. I did 2 memorable loops, in January, dressed in shorts and short sleeve jersey, through interesting, and at times, spectacular terrain. Limited single track, and some sections are sandy, but still great desert riding, in perfect weather. Best Way To Start An Argument: On a group ride, with an average group of opinionated cyclists, say the following: " The best chain lube, without doubt, is _________________". Fill in the blank with any of the following: White Lightning; Boeshield; Finish Line Cross Country; Pedros Ice Wax, Rock `n Roll; Triflow Krytech; wax; etc. The ensuing argument is good for at least 5 or more miles of lively debate. Most Improved Mtn Bike Club: Bicycle Trails Council-East Bay. This club is over 10 years old, and has always been active in advocacy work. However, in the past year, with Eric Muhler as president, and an active board of directors, the membership has increased, the trail work at Joaquin Miller has been successful, they played an important role in getting some of the new Los Vocaros Reservoir park open to bikes, they have the best mtn bike group ride schedule, a spiffy newsletter, a new jersey with 10 sponsors, they are working on new single track in Dimond Park, and many other notable accomplishments. If you live in the East Bay, and ride off-road, and not already a member, join now. Best Mtn Bike Party: Bicycle Trails Council Marin annual picnic at China Camp. Group rides, some single track, food, beer, bikes, banjo, this party had everything. Best Mtn. Bike Rider: I ride with some strong riders, and know of lots of 30 to 40 year old hammerheads who ride very fast. However, only one person I ride with, could compete at a national level, if only there was appropriate class offered. Mtn Val (Valerie Doyle) is a fit endurance athlete, and excels at long tough rides, likes the technical stuff, and an is great climber. If the national championships had a Women's 55 and over category, I would bet on her to be on podium at the awards ceremony. Best Line Putting Me In My Place: An expert female racer, who came on one of the regular Tuesday rides, said to me, "I heard you use to be a strong rider". Best Wildlife Sighting: Humming bird mating display. For about 2 months, every time we stopped at a certain spot on Bolinas Ridge, we were able to witness, and hear, hummers doing aerial maneuvers, that was a tremendous demonstration of their athletic ability, speed, endurance, and agility. They would go straight up, maybe 50 feet, until they came to a stall, then head straight down, at top speed, when just before hitting the ground, they would turn sharply, to go straight up again. This lightning fast show would be repeated maybe 10 times without rest. The speed was so high that a distinctive sound was made (that is how we first discovered them), that, I think, drives the female hummers crazy with lust. Best Local Place to Ride for an Overnight: Brooke reserved a cabin at Steep Ravine Environmental Campsite, (just south of Stintson), and invited club members to spend a night. I gave a bag of clothes to a friend to bring in a car, and rode my bike over from Fairfax and returned the next day. The rustic, cozy cabin had an ocean view, there was a natural hot spring in the rocks near the water, the sky was filled with stars, and the big fun was had by all. Best Bicycle Convoy: Three bikes, (me, Jim and Brent) pulling trailers, going up to the Appetite Seminar, the Thanksgiving ride on Pine Mtn. We had 800 Odwala Bars, weighing 120 lbs., as well as the BTC folding booth, and information flyers. We rode, and pushed the bikes, up to Horseshoe Junction, on San Geronimo Ridge, to support the ride, and spread the word about Bicycle Trails Council. I know all local cyclists have their own Best Of list for this past year. We are lucky to be able to ride in the Bay Area, with year round riding, great terrain, and an active bicycling community, and I wish everyone a great cycling year for 1999. Free the singletrack! Danny Forer December, 1998