Chabot Mountain Bike Loop With The Dog!

Wow I've got to give it up for my dog.



Today was cold and windy, perfect for a long day on the trails. We hit the Lake Chabot Bike Loop about noon and I thought I'd see how far she wanted to go. From our start to just about 2 miles there is a bench that is a good place to take a break. It is after a long climb, has nice views, and gives me the chance to see how the dog is feeling. Tongue draggin? I'll make it a short day. If she just takes a quick drink of water and recovers quick, hey off we go for a longer loop.

We got there pretty quick, the trails were great, and she looked good after a quick water break, so off we went. We rolled up some smaller climbs and down a few small sections to the paved road at Merciel Road.

We took a longer break there and talked to a few people out for the day. It was an awesome day. If I turned back it would be an up and back 8 mile ride. But if I went down the hill I would be committed to going all the way around the lake. That's just over 11 miles. I've only done that a few times, but my dog has never been that far in one day. It would turn into a 3 hour ride.

The day was beautiful, nice and clear and dry and cold. Perfect for doing a long day. After a 10 minute break I decided to go for it and down the hill we went.

Here's the elevation graph of the ride. The "Let's Go" decision came at the top, as you can see it is a pretty steep drop from the top down to the lake.



That's about a 500 foot drop.

At the lake you run onto lots of people walking round, fishermen, baby strollers, joggers, other dogs. But you gotta have your dog on a leash. Cassie does really well on the leash as I ride along on my bike. We go about 5 to 8 miles per hour and she stays just off to the left rear of the bike.

We got to the Lake Chabot Marina and took another break. She was pretty tired and took to the comfort of the shade under a picnic table. I gave her a few shots of water in her foldable water dish. She was pretty happy to have a few shots of H2O. I watched her breathing to wait for it to come down, then waited some more, then she and I were ready to do the second half.

We had more of fairly flat lake trails to do before a few brutal climbs to get back to the truck. Once again she was on the leash chuggin' right along with me. After the dam at the south west end of the lake I unclipped her leash and the rolling climbs started again. We got to Bass Cove and laid down in the grass. We could have both stayed and taken a nap in the warming sun.

I had a Shot Blok snack and got ready to finish up.

A little more water for both of us and we had about 2 miles of mostly climbing to go. 2 tough miles. We stopped a few times, but mostly kept going. All day the trails were in perfect shape. No dust, no mud. It couldn't have been better.

And we made it. 11+ miles at just under 3 hours. The dog sure is beat, and, well, me too.

Here's the GPS route link @ MotionBased. http://tinyurl.com/march-mtb-dog

Chabot Mountain Bike Loop With The Dog!

Wow I've got to give it up for my dog.



Today was cold and windy, perfect for a long day on the trails. We hit the Lake Chabot Bike Loop about noon and I thought I'd see how far she wanted to go. From our start to just about 2 miles there is a bench that is a good place to take a break. It is after a long climb, has nice views, and gives me the chance to see how the dog is feeling. Tongue draggin? I'll make it a short day. If she just takes a quick drink of water and recovers quick, hey off we go for a longer loop.

We got there pretty quick, the trails were great, and she looked good after a quick water break, so off we went. We rolled up some smaller climbs and down a few small sections to the paved road at Merciel Road.

We took a longer break there and talked to a few people out for the day. It was an awesome day. If I turned back it would be an up and back 8 mile ride. But if I went down the hill I would be committed to going all the way around the lake. That's just over 11 miles. I've only done that a few times, but my dog has never been that far in one day. It would turn into a 3 hour ride.

The day was beautiful, nice and clear and dry and cold. Perfect for doing a long day. After a 10 minute break I decided to go for it and down the hill we went.

Here's the elevation graph of the ride. The "Let's Go" decision came at the top, as you can see it is a pretty steep drop from the top down to the lake.



That's about a 500 foot drop.

At the lake you run onto lots of people walking round, fishermen, baby strollers, joggers, other dogs. But you gotta have your dog on a leash. Cassie does really well on the leash as I ride along on my bike. We go about 5 to 8 miles per hour and she stays just off to the left rear of the bike.

We got to the Lake Chabot Marina and took another break. She was pretty tired and took to the comfort of the shade under a picnic table. I gave her a few shots of water in her foldable water dish. She was pretty happy to have a few shots of H2O. I watched her breathing to wait for it to come down, then waited some more, then she and I were ready to do the second half.

We had more of fairly flat lake trails to do before a few brutal climbs to get back to the truck. Once again she was on the leash chuggin' right along with me. After the dam at the south west end of the lake I unclipped her leash and the rolling climbs started again. We got to Bass Cove and laid down in the grass. We could have both stayed and taken a nap in the warming sun.

I had a Shot Blok snack and got ready to finish up.

A little more water for both of us and we had about 2 miles of mostly climbing to go. 2 tough miles. We stopped a few times, but mostly kept going. All day the trails were in perfect shape. No dust, no mud. It couldn't have been better.

And we made it. 11+ miles at just under 3 hours. The dog sure is beat, and, well, me too.

Here's the GPS route link @ MotionBased. http://tinyurl.com/march-mtb-dog

New (to me) Zinn 29er Mountain Bike: so far so good

Well after 10 years (almost to the day!) I finally got a new mountain bike. I tried for those 10 years to beat the crap out of my 1998 GT LTS 3000 and other than the usual drivetrain and tires it survived a 300lb + trail rider. It was quite a bike!

I've been looking at lots of bikes in the last year or 2, including a Zinn 29er all mountain Gigabike. Everything priced at about 5K out the door done deal. I could buy for less, but I was looking at overbuilt bikes and components for my size. Being fat sux! (I'm working on it!)

The Zinn bike was a front runner. I liked how solid they seemed, and that they are used to bigger folks riding bikes, and that the frames use the bottom bracket area as the main pivot point, with a grease fitting on the bike to easily keep it all happy "down under."

Zinn is headed by Lennard Zinn. He really did write THE books on both mountain bike and road bike maintenance. He has a tech Q&A column on VeloNews and builds custom bikes for anybody that wants one.

So a few weeks ago they called me and said they were selling off their lightly used always maintained, all mountain Gigabike demo.

It was priced nice, a deal I couldn't refuse.

It doesn't have the latest stuff hanging off the various ends, the SRAM grip shift is a little different, but after about 15 miles of riding I'm pretty used to it. It is kind of nice being able to shift more than 3 gears at once!

The shock is a Manitou SPV 3 way air, the fork is a WB Fluid 29er. I pumped them both up with a fair amount of air to stiffen them up, and man it feels nice.

I spent most of my time on the LTS sitting deep into the shock travel, and I'm fairly sure the old elastomer forks were riding along pretty deep into the stroke too.

It is a tall bike for sure, stepover height is umm... let's say I hope I don't need much at any given time...! and it has 200 Zinn crank arms. Longer cranks are one of his things. So paired up with being a 29er it is pretty different. I can't say too much about it yet, just climbing around Chabot it is fine, but I hope to push it a little more. I thought maybe the 29er would be harder to pedal uphills, but no issues there at all. I think with the longer cranks it is easier, but not sure.

Anyway should you see a big guy on a big bike with a little black low rider dog (1/2 basset 1/2 lab) on the trails feel free to say hi.

Here's photos from Chabot @ Bort Meadow earlier today with crap iPhone camera.

Woot Woot!

PS: those disc brakes are something. I bet one day they really catch on!

:)

The Best thing about living in East Oakland

Ok so in my zipcode there are the drug dealers, the drive-bys, the carjackings, the restaurant holdups, sketchy and overpriced gas stations, nowhere really good to go eat, and few pizza delivery places.

But.

Just at the top of the hill at the end of Skyline is Chabot park. I love this place. So many beautiful hikes, bike rides, vistas, and places to chill.



Like under a redwood tree in Bort Meadow after a mountain bike ride with my 4 wheel drive buddy.

Fall MTB ride and Fire Control in the Oakland Hills (it's Goats!)

These four legged creatures were doing their thing today on the trails where I do lots of mountain biking. It is at the southern end of Skyline in Chabot park.



That is at the far south end of the Oakland hills, the opposite end of where the big fire was.



They spend a few days there munching away, and leave behind their calling card(s) but really do a good job cutting down on the dry fuel in the hills. Once somebody shot some :( , since they spend the night in the hills they are kind of at risk, but there are people and dogs that watch over them all the time.

Crazy ass Oakland.

But still BIG THANKS to Goats R Us from this Oakland resident!

(yes really Goats R Us, check the link!)

Today the dog and I rode about 5 miles in the hills, the iPod was rockin another pretty weird mix, The Samurai Champloo soundtrack, and "I'm Your Biggest Fan" by Dallas Wayne.

Works for me!

again a hike

Late Monday in the East Bay on nice uncrowded trails that's just about the best.

I parked at the Chabot Equestrian Center and walked down Horseshoe to Brandon to the Bort Meadow/Big Trees campground. That is such a cool place. I mean you can find a spot in the redwoods and just sit. The longer you sit the more you hear and see. Yes you can camp there, and many do.

After a little break I headed up narrow and steep Buckeye, crossing some bridges and climbing the steps to Goldenrod.

From there it was left and back to the trail head at the horse stables.

About 2 miles and around 1 hour.

iPod:

Roseanne Cash Interiors

Strung Out Live In A Dive

A good quiet relaxing hike and a whacked out mix of music, as usual!

I love my Cabelas boots. By now they are really broken in. You can pay way too much and buy "hiking" boots at REI etc, but I'd say get some "upland hunting boots." They are perfect for the trails around here. And then when you go hunting you and your boots are in shape. Oh you don't hunt? Well you'll still have great boots.

check em out

Mine are actually these hunting boots. They have over 100 reviews by users and a 4.6 out of 5 average review.

Bird season starts soon. I'll be ready.

a hike

Hey Yo

It was a little warm today, not as hot as it had been in the Easy Bay, but a little warm. I waited until late in the afternoon and took a nice 4 mile hike on a bee you tee full trail in Chabot.

You park at the south end of (Oakland's) Skyline blvd where it turns into Grass Valley. That is the Clyde Woolridge staging area. Grab a map there if you don't know the area, and head down the hill to the left of the parking lot on Jackson Glade.

At the bottom is a big intersection of trails. Take the narrow trail just behind the bench, the Cascade trail. It follows Grass Valley Creek. It cal flow pretty good in the rainy season, and is has some pretty cool views from the trail to the creek. Now of course it is dry. All of the trail is in the shade so it is perfect for a hot day. Dogs are ok off leash, but no bikes allowed.

It is pretty flat for most of the trail, after a downhill section the trail is right next to and really becomes one with the creek. You'll get a little wet if you go this far in the winter.

Stay on the trail and you end up at Lake Chabot. Keep going to the Bass Cove area where you find a pit toilet, and some nice views.

There are a few different ways to get back, I just doubled back. A few hours, and a few miles in the east bay trails.

Cool.

On the iPod for the hike:

Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys

IIIrd Tyme Out

Man or Astroman

Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Winter MTB Ride at Chabot

Hey I've written about Anthony Chabot Regional Park before. I like the mountain bike riding, hiking, fishing, and just hanging out there. The trails in the summer can get hot and dusty. A week after a good rain in the winter is a good time to load up the mountain bike and ride. So Wednesday with blue skies and temps nearing the 70's I hooked up with a buddy and brought my dog for a Mountain bike ride. Here's the report.

Want to ride a good loop? A little outta shape? Want to bring your dog? Read on.

2 kinda outta shape 40 something guys on an old GT LTS 3000 (me) and a Jamis Dakar (buddy).
1 dog that is a half breed black lab and basset hound (heart of a lab, speed of a basset)

A 6 mile loop at Anthony Chabot Park. Whee!

We started at the Redwood Road Bort Meadow parking lot.



The casual ride down Brandon to the Stone Bridge was dry and always fun. At the end you ride under some impressive redwoods. That's always cool.



The dog got a water break from her backpack, and we continued on the Chabot Bike Loop left at the stone bridge and up Brandon. It wasn't muddy, and seemed about perfect. It had been a while since I had done this climb and I could tell. Most of the time the dog and I do the loop on Grass Valley back to the parking lot. But the 3 of us carried on. A couple of guys passed us, and we kept riding until short Deer Canyon trail. It got pretty muddy there and we turned left and hiked it up the hill. Squish squish. Close to the top we rode a little and got to Red Tail turned left and crossed at Marciel Road. So now we were at the top. We rode some of the all too short singletrack on Red Tail down to the Marciel Gate staging area of Redwood. Time for the dog to get another water break.





Ok now it is fun fun mostly downhill. We exit the parking lot and pick up Red Tail again. A little more single(+1/2)track and purrfect trail conditions.



Rock and Roll with some mild uphills and more downhill to Grass Valley (still a little muddy in spots, Brandon doesn't get nearly as muddy if you want to aviod it) and back to the Bort Meadow parking lot.

We were all pretty tired, but had fun. I got a bad case of chain suck in my small chainring, it is really wasted. So time for some new parts, then we'll all hit it again.

It is a fun loop, about 6 miles. It wears me out pretty good, most people, probably not so much. Good for taking the dog, (bring water for them) mine has good trail manners, and I carry a leash with me all the time. Weekdays it is pretty empty.

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