Mountain Bike Guide Books at less than 1/2 price!

Extremeline Productions is now selling "damaged" books for less than half of the cover price. These books might have blemishes, dents, dings, folds, marks, and/or be tweaked in some way. Nothing major! Just some surface damage - which happens the second you toss the book into your dirty camelbak anyway.

These slightly damaged copies of Mountain Biking Santa Cruz are $6.95; and Mountain Biking Mammoth are $7.65. Happy Trails!

Lance Armstrong on mountain biking in Santa Cruz!

Check out this MBOSC (Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz) blogpost on Lance. This is great PR for the mountain biking movement in Santa Cruz: The original link is here:

Article is originally written by Mark Davidson, president of MBOSC

Lance loves Santa Cruz Trails!

When I went to Washington a few months ago, the American Airways in-flight magazine had a one page fitness article on Lance Armstrong. The sidebar had a bit on "Top Cycling Spots" and I was overjoyed to see that he mentions Santa Cruz as an "absolutely great place for mountain biking" and "frankly, for my money, you can't go wrong."

I had heard rumors of Lance's visit to our town so I contacted a friend at Giro to get the story. A couple of years ago, Lance visited San Francisco to meet with some corporate partners. He paid a visit to Santa Cruz and brought along his mountain bike. He was doing a for an autograph and meet and greet session with Giro employees - who were a major sponsor of Lance. Then he snuck off for a ride with the Senior VP of Marketing at Giro and a couple of other people. According to my source, the pace was brisk on the climbs and Lance was flying on the descents as well.

Lance Armstrong is one of the only nationally recognized cyclists in mainstream America. Having him mention Santa Cruz as a "Top Cycling Spot" for mountain biking is a huge PR win. This little statement from a world renowned cycling champion in a throw away magazine is pure gold.

Santa Cruz and Mammoth in New Bike DVD

Top Soil 2 is a new mountain bike dvd with footage from Santa Cruz, Mammoth, and other great locations in the West.

This is what people are saying:

Top Soil 2 is the sequel to the Aptos Productions’ Top Soil online video diary, which has been viewed by nearly one million visitors. Top Soil 2 is a recipe of local talent, progression and humour. Watch the young riders of Aptos, California Cameron Mccaul, Evan Turpen, Jamie Goldman, Greg Watts, and many more as they ride their best for the cameras pushing themselves and the sport to a higher level. Top Soil 2 is shot in various parts of North America and places across the globe following the world’s top riders as they compete in contests and races.

Top Soil 2 will only be available on DVD and includes the full length original Top Soil in the bonus features as well as crash section, Red Bull Reezride 03 and more…

Scenes shot in Aptos, Crankworx, Mammoth US Open, Cowan's back yard and many more.

Sick riding from the likes of the McCaul Brothers, Jamie Goldman, the Watts brothers, Ryan Howard and SO MANY MORE!

Sick riding from the likes of the McCaul Brothers, Jamie Goldman, the Watts brothers, Ryan Howard and SO MANY MORE!

Here's a preview:

New Santa Cruz Bike Park

Hey BMXers & freeriders, Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation now has a new Bike Park! Thanks also to the Bicycle Trip for funding the park. Some features include a bowed 8' high wall ride and 2' and 4' jumps.

Its right across the street from the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf (35 Pacific Avenue). Its open from 9 a.m. to sunset daily and all bike riders must wear a helmet and safety pads. Skateboarders, in-line skaters and scooters are not allowed in the Bike Park. The Bike Park will be closed during rainy or wet conditions.

Eventually a Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center will be built on this site, and the bike park may be moved to a permanent location. The descision depends on the city parks department.

Photos from the Parks & Rec website, courtesy of Susan Harris.

Coast Dairies - new epic singletrack?

The coastal Coast Dairies land and Sand Hill Bluffs in Santa Cruz is now officially public land and managed under California State Parks. This includes 13 miles of incredible scenic northern Santa Cruz coastline!

According to the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz website:

* State Parks will receive the approximately 400 acres coastside of Highway One and the historic Laguna Inn that may one day be the site of a visitors' center. State Parks will oversee the public's use of the popular beaches and will manage agricultural leases on the coastal side.

*The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will receive approximately 6,000 acres on the upland portion of the property, including the grasslands, redwood forests, and lands leased for grazing and the cement quarry.

*The local non-profit group, Agri-Culture, will acquire the agricultural land inland of Highway One that was in agricultural production when the Trust for Public Land acquired Coast Dairies & Land Co. (CDLC) and its property in 1998 (approximately 550 acres).

This is all exciting news and a great victory for public land, but has anyone heard if there has been any progress in allowing bikes on trails?

Legal Freeride Stunts in California?

It seems like almost every freeride trail in California is either illegal (hidden) or in a paid bike park, such as Mammoth. Thank goodness, there actually is a jewell hidden in the redwoods. A trail network packed with epic singletrack, jibs, a plethora of log rides, jumps, and relatively steep terrain. Its called Soquel Demonstration Forest, which borders the Forest of Nisene Marks in the Santa Cruz area. If you are anywhere near this area of central California, you'll want to spend some time on these trails.

Here's a youtube video depicting a portion of the trails and some of the log rides, etc. Its a bit cheesy and poor quality, but gives an idea of the area:



Find plenty of trail maps and descriptions of the rides in the "Demo Forest" here!

The first pic (up above) is girl hucking a tree stump on the Braille Trail...she's riding a Santa Cruz Bullit. And a glimpse of someone riding a skinny: