Thread: Skeggs

Hey-

Moved to the Peninsula last week. I've ridden Skeggs a couple times and have a couple questions... I first rode it Sun. afternoon with a friend, there were TONS of people, it was nice chill ride, we didn't go to the bottom. Rode it tonight by myself and went down to North Leaf, Methuselah (sp), etc. and kind of got slightly sketched out. Think it was just darker more remote (it was only 6:15ish so not that late) but I was wondering if the area is safe. Figure it's a bit too remote for weird peoples to go tromping around looking for ladies on bikes but hey, I'm new to this CA thing. So yeah, any sketchyness to worry about?

Also, any route selections and would anyone like to meet up for a ride some time?

Thanks
K

skeggs is purty safe.... unless you're going >15mph on a bike. (honestly, they have rangers out with radar guns.)

a route that i used to like was:
* park @ CM02
* take sierra morena
* go down fir
* down manzanita
* up timber view
* down crosscut
* down timberview
*down, then up giant salamander
* methuselah
* up north leaf
* up el corte de madera
* up resolution
* up fir
* back on sierra morena
that's about 10 miles

you can also start out with or tack on:
down steam donkey
up spring board
down blue blossom
then up spring board
back on fire road

that will add another 7 or so.

plan on about 3h w/ 4700 feet of climbing.

Originally Posted by skiergirl

Hey-
Also, any route selections and would anyone like to meet up for a ride some time?

Thanks
K

Welcome to Skegg's Club.

THE FIRST RULE OF SKEGG'S CLUB IS.....
YOU DO NOT RIDE UP Manzanita/Crosscut/BlueBlossom!

THE SECOND RULE OF SKEGG'S CLUB IS.....
YOU DO NOT RIDE UP Manzanita/Crosscut/BlueBlossom!

Me and Watersnowdirt have a regular crew there, though lately people have been flaking bigtime

My favorite after-work loop is to start at the main lot and either:

1) Tafoni-Manzanita-Crosscut. Then climb Gordon Mill back to the road. head south to Bear Gulch then follow signs to Blue Blossom (BB=The Shit). Ride up Gordon Mill again then Sierra Morena back to the parking lot.

This loop is about 12 miles of XC, DH and climbs. It usually takes about 1.5-2 hours. If you're short on time, you can skip BB and just do Steam Donkey , which yields the same vert but cuts about 30 minutes. HEEEHAW!!!!

2) Tafoni-Resolution-North Leaf down to the Creek crossing, then a long ass-sucking crappy haul back to the top. This one is fun since the first half is all DH. What would make it better is if there were a chairlift at the creek to hop back on. This takes about the same amount of time. It is a looooong DH ride, followed by a short climb to N. leaf, followed by another loooooong DH section with a bunch of jumps. What makes it suck is the climb. I hate climbing. Climbing is for gay sissy fags.

On weekends you can loop 2 to 1 for a 3-4 hour ride.


I've never heard of anything sketchy going on there or seen any suspicious people hanging around, except for broken glass in the parking lot on one occasion.

We usually hit it Tuesdays and Thursdays. 6pm at the lot. Look for the cars with the TGR stickers.

So sorry I didn't pm you back yet, skiergirl!

would be GREAT to ride with you! We definitely need more girls in our posse.

As PU said, we're usually at Skeggs a couple times a week, though it has been shifting lately. I'm gone next week, but would love to get back out there when I return, maybe even go for a ride on Labor Day.

PM me your email and I'll put you on our little email list.

Have fun!

Originally Posted by watersnowdirt

So sorry I didn't pm you back yet, skiergirl!

would be GREAT to ride with you! We definitely need more girls in our posse.

As PU said, we're usually at Skeggs a couple times a week, though it has been shifting lately. I'm gone next week, but would love to get back out there when I return, maybe even go for a ride on Labor Day.

PM me your email and I'll put you on our little email list.

Have fun!

Do you guys ever ride it on weekends? If so, got room for 1 more? Have you ever put together a long loop through El Corte de Madera and Purisima Creek?

Thanks for the suggestions! Let me get 1 or 2 more rides out there then I'll start showing up on Tuesday/Thursdays. Also thanks for the route suggestions, I'll try something out this weekend.

WSD - Labor Day would work for me. I'll pm you my number.

You guys interested in going somewhere outside the Bay Area for Labor day weekend? Tahoe, Downieville. Camping will be a challenge to find in either place, but it's likely my last chance before grad school starts to really get away.

I was planning on email about this... But since it's come up here why not.

Nater-
I'm still planning to come up your direction too. Wherever works for me.

I may have college fb withdrawls but I'll work through it...

Up all Night is suggesting good stuff, listen to him.

Ahhhh Skeggs. For local riding Skeggs can be fun. Back in the mid 90s the trails were really fun and technical but those days have long since gone but if you piece it together you can still have a stellar ride.

Everyone's issues on this thread are very true - fat empowered rangers w/radar guns! Clearly we are paying too much in taxes if we have cops in the forests with radar guns. These guys are out of control too. I've had one guy try to give me a ticket for riding up a fire road with my helmet on my handle bars. Another one told me that I was going to fast and putting people in danger, this was at 7am on a Sunday morning in the heavy fog.

The other main problem with skeggs is the weekend crowds. The place is a zoo and it becomes a pain in the ass to get your groove on and rip....

I have heard many good things about mid week rides, I'm just too lazy to get my ass down there after work.

Now, with this said, you can get a great work out at skeggs if you hit it right and hit the right ride. I know a few folks (Punani &WSD - I think we had this conversation in Downieville) only like people to go DOWN on Manzanita/Crosscut/Blue Blossom but I swear that riding up them gives you more single track downhill in the end.

The loop below should take you about 3 hours w/minimal stops.

In my opinion (which is not much) here is a sugar sweet loop:
Park at CMO2-->
Ride South on the Sierra Morena Trial to the gate at CM04-->
Ride the road south for a few hundred yards, look for gate on right-->
drop into Steam Donkey Trail-->
Ride Upper and Lower Steam Donkey-->
Make a right on Gordon Mill fire road-->
CLIMB CROSS CUT!!!!-->
Make a right at the top and follow the single track to the Timber View fire road-->
Make a left onto the Timber View fire road and continue to climb-->
Make a right and CLIMB Manzanita Trail -->
At the top of Manzanita go straight to the T in the road-->
make a left at the T and go down the Fir Trail fire road-->
Make a right onto Resolution trial and go down-->
Continue down to the El Cortde Madera Trail (bare left at sign)-->
At the pump house bare left and climb Fire Road-->
.5 mile in you will see North Leaf on your left-->
North Leaf turns into Methuselah trail, go all the way down to the stream crossing-->
Climb out of stream and continue on Methusela trail-->
Make a right after the trail turns into fire road onto Giant Salamander-->
Go down for a bit then up Giant Salamander to the end-->
Make a left onto Timber view Fire road-->
Go until you hit Manzanita, make a left and now climb it again-->
At the top go down to Resolution again and ride Resolution-->
This time at the sign bare right onto El Corte Madera Creek (last time you went left)-->
Ride El Corte Madera Creek trail to the end and then up to the main road-->
continue to the high point and then go make a left onto Sierra Morena trail back to CMO2

Skiergirl,

If you want to hook up with a very mellow group to ride next Wednesday, we'll be meeting at the Skeggs parking lot at 5:30pm. A bunch of old out of shape guys (like me).

Where'd you move on the Peninsula? I'm in San Carlos and need to get out and ride more before the ski season starts. Last year I broke my hip in August so I had to ski myself into shape starting in December. I'm determined not to let that happen again.

I'm always up for meeting someone apres-work to ride nearby. Especially Water Dog since its right in my backyard (almost literally). I'm a slow rider with an old bike (1987 - same year I started snowboarding).

hey, any you bay area mage gonna be in Tahoe over Labor Day? If so, let's ride! I plan to do Hole In the Ground one day, possibly TRT --> Flume another day. would be fun to get a group ride up there one day. As I live in TD, 15 mins from Hole In the Ground, I would have everyone over for a post ride BBQ if we get enough interest. Let me know!

Well, I finally connected with Skiergirl for a quick ride yesterday. Here's a very brief TR.

I sometimes ride with friends who meet on Wednesday evenings for rides up around Skyline. I invited Skiergirl to join us based on this original post and she actually took me up on the offer. We were to meet at the end of Alpine Rd. in Portola Valley and then ride up the dirt portion of Alpine Rd. to Page Mill. All looked good until I realized I'd forgotten my bike shoes when I was almost there. I called one friend to tell him I was an idiot and that I'd meet the group at the Alpine/Page Mill intersection after going home to get my shoes. We met up as planned at the top of their climb and then we took off toward Russian Ridge so we could view the sunset.

Here's the group with a moonrise behind us:
Rod, Sinecure, Tom, Philippe and Skiergirl


The choice of Russian Ridge turned out to be a good one. The trails were in good shape and the lighting was fantastic.

Skiergirl looking pleased that I was wasting time taking pictures:



Coming:



And Going:



That's it for photos. We split up again at the Clouds Rest / Crazy Pete's where Skiergirl and the rest of the gang descended back to their cars and I traversed over to Page Mill where I'd left my car. We reconvened at the Alpine Inn for some snacks and beer before heading home for the evening. Overall a nice, mellow ride.

Great to meet you skiergirl. You have awesome DH skills, I can't wait to see you ski. Welcome to the Bay Area - isn't it nice having this in our back yards? Plus the truly perfect weather.

See, we do have the best weather:

Way to get out there- nice.

Fantastically photogenic as always...

Thanks R. I had a great ride and really enjoyed meeting all you guys. Will definitely go again. I'm working on my uphill skills, heh.

Also thank you to all that made Skeggs route suggestions. I've ridden the one uan suggested a couple times, will be checking out the others.

K