Mountain Biking the San Francisco Bay Area: A Guide to the Bay Area's Greatest Off-Road Bicycle Rides (Regional Mountain Biking Series) [Paperback]

Lorene Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004 | Series: Regional Mountain Biking Series

This handy guide offers more than 80 rides from the birthplace of the mountain bike revolution; from the top of Mount Tamalpais to the redwoods of Big Basin. Ride legendary Repack, Annadel State Park, Mount Diablo, Wilder Ranch, Henry Coe State Park, and El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve. Mountain biker, triathlete, and author Lorene Jackson offers tidbits on local history, wildlife, and points of interest to make this more than just a trail guide to the best mountain bike rides in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, including rides in the North Bay, South Bay, East Bay, and San Francisco Peninsula.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Experience the birthplace of the mountain bike revolution. The amazing wide-open spaces around the San Francisco Bay Area provide mountain biking souls with an escape from the urban landscape. You’ll find breathtaking vistas and a range of trails from easy family trips to epic singletrack. No matter where you are in the Bay Area, a trailhead is nearby, including rides in the North Bay, South Bay, East Bay, and San Francisco Peninsula.
From the top of Mount Tamalpais to the redwoods of Big Basin, local mountain biker Lorene Jackson outlines more than sixty of the area’s best rides, including the legendary Repack, Annadel State Park, Mount Diablo, Wilder Ranch, Henry Coe State Park, and El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve. Insider tidbits on local history and wildlife make this more than just a trail guide. You’ll get the inside track on the best time of year to ride, local events and attractions, and tips on riding with kids. Also included:

• detailed ride descriptions
• easy-to-read maps and elevation profiles
• at-a-glance ride specs, including ratings for physical and technical difficulty
• tips on riding and trip preparation

Wherever you ride and whatever your skill level, let Mountain Biking the San Francisco Bay Area be your guide to this mountain biking paradise.

About the Author

Graduate school in environmental health at UC Berkeley brought Lorene Jackson to the Bay Area and she never left. Gradually moving up the ranks of cross country racing, she has won the expert division of her age group at the NORBA national races. More recently, she can be found racing mountain bike triathlons. This trail guide has been an excuse to lift her head up from the training rides, explore new trails, and smell the wildflowers. She is a native Californian and mother of three sons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Falcon; 1st edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762727152
• ISBN-13: 978-0762727155
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #69 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Cycling > Excursion Guides

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Bay Area Mountain Biking Resource!, September 17, 2004

By 

Torv Carlsen (San Anselmo, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mountain Biking the San Francisco Bay Area: A Guide to the Bay Area's Greatest Off-Road Bicycle Rides (Regional Mountain Biking Series) (Paperback)

If you love moutain biking in the San Francisco Bay Area, then this book is your new best friend!

Detailed maps, great photos and tons of great rides that will challenge and inspire you as well as leave you breathless (both figuratively and literally). This book's detailed descriptions of where to catch the trails and navigate some of the best mountain biking in the world is a must for both locals and visitors to the birthplace of mountain biking. I especially loved the Marin trails section because it opened my eyes to some rides I didn't know about which have now become some of my favorites. And if you love single track riding, then Jackson will take you on some of the most harrowing rides you can imagine -- I've got the scabs and scars on my knees and thighs to prove it!

Buy this book!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the Rider, the Wannabe, and the Curious, September 28, 2004

By 

David R. Ray - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mountain Biking the San Francisco Bay Area: A Guide to the Bay Area's Greatest Off-Road Bicycle Rides (Regional Mountain Biking Series) (Paperback)

Mountain Biking the San Francisco Bay Area is what the title says it is and much more. Lorene Jackson has tackled a huge subject (argueably the area with the largest number of mountain biking options in the country) and covered it well, providing the rider with all he/she needs to know before hitting the trail. But she does more than that. Beyond describing the ride, the terrain, and what's of interest, she makes each ride enticing.

Beyond offering detailed descriptions of 40 rides around the Bay Area, plus 17 more "Honorable Mentions," she provides much background material and information that will equip the novice and intermediate rider to be prepared and assured of a pleasureable experience.

But what I enjoyed most was her breezy enthusiasm that will draw many armchair riders to actually get on a bike and head for the mountains. Lorene Jackson and this book should spread the mountain biking "gospel" beyond it's current circle. I can't wait for her book on Lake Tahoe rides!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Wonder Again Where to Find Good Dirt, November 21, 2004

By 

Le Coureur - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mountain Biking the San Francisco Bay Area: A Guide to the Bay Area's Greatest Off-Road Bicycle Rides (Regional Mountain Biking Series) (Paperback)

As a serious S.F. Bay Area cyclist for over 40 years I approach any guidebook to my "back yard" with a certain degree of skepticism, as in "What new can you possibly show me?" I was delighted to find that Ms. Jackson did indeed show me some new mountain biking delights I'd overlooked, but along the way I learned even more new tidbits about what I supposedly already knew. Almost every featured ride has "enrichment" far beyond the necessary trail and topographical stats. No doubt the author learned things from her literary predecessors, which is as it should be, but there is also no doubt she has written the currently definitive off-road guide for mountain bikers of this region. The miracle of the S.F. area is that 5 million people can live so close to so much open space. It is no mean feat to review it all personally, provide directions that are simultaneously explicit and open ended, and simultaneously appeal to the first time rider and a "show me" old time rider such as myself. But Ms. Jackson has done this much, and more. I mean her guide book is not only that, but a fun read as well. Imagine!