RR: Marin Headlands to Tennessee Valley

[sheclimbs]

[FONT="Century Gothic"]It was a beautiful day up here in the bay area. I started out at the Marin Headlands, just north west of the Golden Gate Bridge. Headed up the pavement for about 1.5 miles and then hit the dirt at Ridge Trail. The views from this ride are spectacular.
Headed down ridge trail and dropped into Rodeo Valley.

Rodeo Valley.JPG
Rodeo Valley

If you take this trail all the way out to the Ocean you will reach the Pt. Bonita Lighthouse.
I dropped down into the valley where I saw several deer grazing out in the meadow.
I crossed a few bridges and started the climb. The Rodeo Valley trail quickly takes you to the Miwok Trail, which is the most common way to cross Wolf Ridge since it allows you to enjoy the drop along Old Springs down in Tennessee Valley. Old springs is the only single track of the day, pretty mild but fun nonetheless, it barely justified my overqualified 5-spot on these tame trails. The single track was over pretty quickly as I dropped into Tennessee Valley. From there I started climbing Marincello up to Wolfback ridge.

wolfbackridge.JPG
Wolfback Ridge

From the top of Wolfback ridge there’s and awesome 360 degree view of the SF Bay and Marin County.
After a brief brake I headed down Bobcat, they say in the early morning you can actually see quite a few cats up here. At the bottom of the hill I passed through this Eucalyptus grove.

eucalyptusgrove.JPG

Finally the Coastal Trail leads from the old shooting range to Conzelman, which offers a very scenic and satisfying return back to the Golden Gate.

conclusion.JPG
Good view while kicking back with the post ride beer!

Most criticisms of the Marin Headlands come from the lack of (legal) technical downhill, which is fair. But this ride involves quite a bit of climbing with steady grades from 5-12 percent. The main draw to this ride is the scenic beauty as you cross the grassy ridges overlooking the rugged northern Pacific Coast, with cityscapes of San Francisco, Marin and the East Bay in the distance.

On a side note, all this talk lately about mixed use trails and the conflict between the hikers, the equestrians and MTB’ers, I passed hikers and equestrians and everyone was about as pleasant as they could be and Marin county has a horrible reputation for people wanting to keep the riders off the trail. Needless to say I was very pleasantly surprised.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[mottmcfly]

The scenery looks amazing. Did you take the 5 spot?

It's funny how all the written turmoil between riders, equestrians and hikers rarely translates to reality.

Mott

[Tedroy]

nothing wrong with beeing over qualified!

[Pain Freak]

Wow Lynn, who are you riding with up there, or are you out and about by yourself? Give me scenery any day over technical terrain. Fortunately Tahoe and many other places have both. The pix of the bay is a really good one. I've never rode Marin County, but if that's what I can expect I will.

[grandpa]

Awesome pictures Lynn!

[sheclimbs]

Originally Posted by mottmcfly

The scenery looks amazing. Did you take the 5 spot?

It's funny how all the written turmoil between riders, equestrians and hikers rarely translates to reality.

Mott

Yes, it's my only working bike right now, but I love it for climbing anyway.

Originally Posted by Pain Freak

Wow Lynn, who are you riding with up there, or are you out and about by yourself? Give me scenery any day over technical terrain. Fortunately Tahoe and many other places have both. The pix of the bay is a really good one. I've never rode Marin County, but if that's what I can expect I will.

Anytime you guys are ready, I'm happy to host the Bay Area Road trip. I lived here most of my life but didn't fall in love with mountain biking 'till I lived in So Cal. Hard to believe isn't it?

[dstepper]

Also being from Nor-Cal if have spent many days on the Headlands..you where lucky to get a clear day.

Thanks for the pics.

Dean

[sheclimbs]

Originally Posted by dstepper

Also being from Nor-Cal if have spent many days on the Headlands..you where lucky to get a clear day.

Thanks for the pics.

Dean

The weather is perfect, just the way we like it, clear and crispy cool!

Say hi to Sedona for me, and think of me if you make your way to Cathedral Rock - my favorite.