After a hard day of trail work, SF Urban Riders led a Sunday off road Adventure through McLaren Park. Accompanied by the IMBA trail care crew, the purpose was to educate the fellow riders about the impending Trail Projects in the Park and how those relate to the needs of the cycling community.

Not only did we have Jason and Inga, but lots of the folk who had attended the training and trail work on Saturday came along for the ride on Sunday. In total our group had 27 riders of good spirit and ability. 

We gathered at the Crocker Amazon skatepark. While we waited for the stragglers (you know who you are) we took a leisurely circuit on the Pilarcitos cyclocross course, stopping to take in the view of San Bruno Mountain where we would later be riding. Once we had the full crew we set off for the grind up South Hill Blvd. and then a circuit of lower San Bruno Mtn. County Park. We stopped off for a break and photo-op at a vista point looking north back at Crocker Amazon.

Coming out of the park, we crossed Guadalupe Canyon Parkway and took a nice bit of single track/fireroad back toward the Cow Palace. That short stretch took its toll on the hardware, with one broken frame and one flat tire. Fortunately, when you’re on bikes some kind of entertainment is always at hand. A long stretch of freestanding curb served as a skinny to challenge the waiting riders.

We finished the ride back to Crocker Amazon with a high speed pavement section down Carter Ave and then set off over to the adjacent McLaren Park. We followed a clockwise route around the park, first up to a vista point at the water tower, then on trails to the Jerry Garcia amphitheater, and then back up and over Mansell to the old BMX track. The track’s heyday was in the 1970 – 80’s. The big sweeping berms are still there, but long gone is any family activity which was so prevalent during its BMX days. 

As we pedaled north parallel to Mansell, we looked down on the web of singletrack that has built up over the years on the hillside above the Gleneagles golf course. It looks inviting, but we’re not headed that way today. Instead we continue on until the roadside trail pinches in at the quarry above the water tanks.

Here we found a secluded bicycle play spot with drop offs, some jumps and a few bermed turns. Not everyone was up for this sort of riding, but we soon had six or seven riders trying out the features. One of our woman riders (Becky) took the lead on a big drop, followed by some of the seasoned freeride hands and then several other riders slowly worked through the visualization process and took the plunge. One rider went a little too big on the lower hip jump and landed “off by inches”. The result was a bit dramatic, but after a careful inspection by a wilderness first aid responder in our group, he was back at it in no time.

From the quarry, we proceeded down a nice bit of singletrack to the main path and back over to Crocker Amazon. That was about it for the ride. It was great to share it with our friends.

It certainly won’t be the last day we get together to enjoy the flow, friendship, and beauty that comes from riding a bicycle through trails and trees.  Stay tuned to this site for mention of upcoming group rides and events.  Thanks to Ruedyshots for the keen eye and swift shutterfinger.