Talk To Me About Soquel.

[rideit]

So, I will be staying in Aptos, looking for a good 3 hour ride suggestion. I have a truck, is it feasible to drive to the ‘top’ (I know there is climbing after that), and ride to Aptos, and take an Uber back to my truck, or is the trailhead in the middle of nowhere?
Can anyone suggest a route?
Anyone want to ride March (29th, I think).
Thanks!

[TahoeJ]

Trailhead is in the middle of nowhere, about 35-40 mins from downtown Aptos. It would be cheaper and easier to use the local shuttle service. And really, it's easier and a better use of your time to just drive up there and do a loop, because from the bottom of Flow or Braile you still have to climb back out of there to the main road. You can also do a full loop (the trails leading to Flow are pretty fun) and then do a short climb and do Flow again or Braile your second time.

Here is your standard Flow loop: https://www.strava.com/activities/1668424867

At the bottom you can cut back around more directly and do it again, but I only did one lap this time.

[mcski]

Nice strava lap name

[rideit]

Ok, so if I take the shuttle up there at 10:30 (last shuttle), would I then ride back down to my hotel in Aptos?

[mcski]

Not sure about the appeal of getting back to Aptos by bike. I also think you'd get more riding out of driving and doing a couple laps in demo forrest proper and then driving back. Much better use of your time.

[TahoeJ]

Not sure about the appeal of getting back to Aptos by bike. I also think you'd get more riding out of driving and doing a couple laps in demo forrest proper and then driving back. Much better use of your time.

Yes, exactly. People do ride back down the road into town, but that's kind of sketchy IMO.

[evdog]

Camped at New Brighton once and the ranger in the entrance booth there told us about some riding up the hill. Did a lap up that one day and then then the next drove over to Demo, did a few laps and then climbed over the ridge and did the same descent again while our 3rd guy drove the truck back. Demo laps plus that ride back to town might eat up a lot more than 3 hours. I'd probably agree just do some laps at Demo.

[kungpow]

If you could bang out Ridge trail to Flow then up to Braille and back down, climb out to the car in ~3 hours that would be a killer ride! I don't know your fitness level and that would certainly be lots of pedaling time, but you could say you've done Demo proper! The flow trail is super fun, every few months I find myself itching to go ride it. Top to bottom without stopping is harder than you might think. Braille as the name suggests, bumpy and tech! Have fun!

[TahoeJ]

^^ I usually do the Ridge to flow loop in under 2 hours, and I'm not crazy on the climbs or anything. So Pretty sure that's do-able in like 2:30-40 or so, maybe less. So a bit over three hours with driving both ways. But close enough?

Camped at New Brighton once and the ranger in the entrance booth there told us to ride up the fire road in Nisene and look for a singletrack off the left near the top. Then take every right turn on the way down. He also said keep an eye out at the bottom when you get back on the road in case a ranger sees you exiting. Did that as a lap one day then the next drove over to Demo, did a few laps and then climbed over the ridge and did the same descent again while our 3rd guy drove the truck back. Laps plus that descent might eat up more than 3 hours. I'd probably agree just do some laps at Demo.

First rule of fight club (open secret, but still). They've been patrolling out there more and more from what I hear.

OP - there's actually a chance I will be down there on March 29th. My wife has a work thing down there that week. I'll let you know if it pans out. Friend went last week and conditions are good... moss on the berm tops (which goes away when it all dries out so it's a good indicator).

[rideit]

Thanks for all of the tips. Sounds like I will just drive up there and find some good loops. Since it seems like I have the right audience here, does anyone know if Auburn trails will be rideable April 5th?
I will be with my 11 YO son, who is good technically, but doesn’t have much fitness. Are there any shuttle rides that would accommodate a 1.5-2 hour downhill-ish ride that would be fun for both of us? He rides dh at Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee, Steamboat, Vail, etc.
thanks again!

[Andeh]

Thanks for all of the tips. Sounds like I will just drive up there and find some good loops. Since it seems like I have the right audience here, does anyone know if Auburn trails will be rideable April 5th?
I will be with my 11 YO son, who is good technically, but doesn’t have much fitness. Are there any shuttle rides that would accommodate a 1.5-2 hour downhill-ish ride that would be fun for both of us? He rides dh at Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee, Steamboat, Vail, etc.
thanks again!

Trailforks will have all the legal trails at Soquel in it. FYI, Sawpit is closed. I was just there a couple weeks ago, conditions are good. 2 laps (Flow + Braille) was 20.1 miles, 3,370 ft.

Given the amount of rain and snow the Sierras have been getting, I'm guessing Auburn will be super rutted but rideable then. For 1.5-2 hours of technical downhill, you could shuttle him on the fight club trails at UCSC (drive him up to the Empire Grade gate and meet him at HWY9), or he could do a bit of pedaling and you could ride together. The climbing there is really easy. Finding your way around first time will be tough. Or you could go up to Pacifica. The climbing up to Boy Scout there is really easy and I see kids there walking their DH bikes up all the time. Pedaling you can do a lap in like 20 minutes. If you go higher up to ride gnarlier stuff, that will mean a lot more pedaling and/or walking.

[LightRanger]

Thanks for all of the tips. Sounds like I will just drive up there and find some good loops. Since it seems like I have the right audience here, does anyone know if Auburn trails will be rideable April 5th?
I will be with my 11 YO son, who is good technically, but doesn’t have much fitness. Are there any shuttle rides that would accommodate a 1.5-2 hour downhill-ish ride that would be fun for both of us? He rides dh at Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee, Steamboat, Vail, etc.
thanks again!

Auburn rideable then more likely than not. Depends on weather later this month. But it almost never snows there these days, so it's just a matter of waiting a few days after any rain.

California Expeditions runs shuttles on the moto trails around Georgetown. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fonXkqywe5M https://reviews.mtbr.com/dream-ride-...own-california Not too far from Auburn. I guess they used to run shuttles on Culvert/Confluence Trail in Auburn(?), but, IMO, Auburn isn't really a great place to shuttle. Basically there's that one trail that you'd repeat and it's not that long. Edit: Looks like ~900 foot drop over three miles. Culvert-Confluence is definitely fun, but not my idea of being worth shuttling.

Granite Bay drains fast(lots of... granite in the soil) and has super fun trails in my shit rider opinion, but more XCish without a lot of vert and not worth your time if Auburn is an option.

[rideit]

I heard that Soquel Flow trail is closed due to recent rains...anyone have beta?
Can anyone line out a solid plan B ride there or In Santa Cruz?
Thanks!

[TahoeJ]

I heard that Soquel Flow trail is closed due to recent rains...anyone have beta?
Can anyone line out a solid plan B ride there or In Santa Cruz?
Thanks!

Pretty heavy storm last night (and right now) so a closure for a few days seems highly likely. You may want to check out Wilder Park just on the north side of SC right off highway 1 - which has some fun trails that likely drain better than up in Demo. A local might be able to give you a better suggestion, but that's one possibility at least.

[Andeh]

Yes, I got an email earlier this week from MBOSC alerting that CalFire has temporarily close Demo due to the amount of rain. The HWY9 stuff by UCSC drains OK. Some of the flatter stuff across Empire Grade tends to hold water. I might go down there this weekend but not sure - have to work on the house 1 day.

[jtran10]

Will be around town in mid September and hoping to pull off the Aptos shuttle to Demo, ride demo, back down the "fire road" to Aptos afterward. I saw the beta above, but if anyone has anything more substantial they wouldn't mind sharing would happily accept a PM (or tour guide on 9/20).