Mid-October Coastal Central California Trip
The Mrs. and I have the 2nd and 3rd weeks of October off and I'm thinking of heading south from the Bay area to about Montana de Oro SP or Pismo Beach and then back. We've been up the Nor Cal coast a few times, but this will be the first time south of SF and I'm looking for any worthy riding spots to consider along the way. We'll be driving from Bozeman and back, camping in our truck and will probably bring our older 5" 26'r trail bikes unless there's a compelling reason to bring our newer longer travel 29'rs. We get lots of riding in here in MT/ID/WY and this trip is not biking focused, but we do have bikes to bring...Thanks for any and all info!
Mid-October Coastal Central California Trip
Well, the small pumptrack in Aptos closed a while back, I’m not sure if the mega huge jump line dirt track is still going .... still, if you are from Bozeman, then riding in Santa Cruz, Soquel and Aptos in October will be a real treat! Redwoods, flow, jumps, lots of vert, and feeling like a fucking hero because you are climbing at sea level vs at 9000’ elevation. You can get some awesome vert in Soquel Demonstration forest and UC Santa Cruz trails ... if you are cool with breaking the law ask some locals to show you other less than legal stuff.
Also, north of SC by about 40 miles is Pacifica, which has some chunky steep ass gnar (and a shit load of poison oak).
Actually now that I think about it, SC and Aptos have shitloads of Poison Oak as well as it peaks in late October before falling down over the winter —- learn how to identify it, and just assume you’ve gotten it all over you after a ride. Pretend you are covered in “invisible engine grease” everywhere that is exposed - use a rag soaked in water and dish soap, and wipe down HARD with a lot of friction. Watch some YouTube videos on cleaning urishiol and you’ll be okay.
I don’t know if there is really any legal bike-tailored riding between Aptos and SLO.
Near Monterey there is Toro State Park, lots of vert can be had with scenic views but the riding is more fun in SC/Aptos in my opinion. Coe has endless miles of seldom used single track, see if it’s not too far out of the way. TahoeBC knows those trails really well - I never made it that far because I just couldn’t get enough Annadel and Aptos when I lived down there.
Enjoy the golden state!