P
Paul Macintyre
Guest
The plan was to ride the four Regional Parks that run along the tops of the hills that separate
Richmond, Berkeley and Oakland from the unwashed masses of Eastern CoCo County. Then turn around and
ride back again. We have been enjoying unusually clear weather in the Bay Area for the last week so
it bode well for some spectacular views from the ridge tops. The ride would consist of some of the
finest fire roads that Wildwood, Tilden, Redwood and Chabot Regional Parks have to offer. About
fifty miles of dirt and ten miles of connector roads, with plenty of long steep climbs. I hooked up
with Mark an old river rafting buddy and two of his friends at the El Cerrito BART Station at
9:30AM. We rode through Richmond to the Wildcat Creek trailhead and started the long climb through
Wildcat and Tilden to the top of the Seaview trail. I was a little disappointed that the air quality
had decreased some in the past few days but the views were still impressive. There was an offshore
fog bank so we couldn¹t see the Farralon Islands but the bay was spectacular with views of Napa,
Marin and San Francisco to the north and west. To the east was a fine view of Mt. Diablo and you
could just make out the snow capped Sierras through the haze. I was starting to get concerned that
our pace was to slow for us to make it back by sun down. We road around Volmer Peak and got on
Grizzly Peak Rd. for a short road ride to connect with Redwood Park. One of the guys was pretty beat
by now so we stopped to eat and reassess the ride. After eating we all agreed to continue on to the
half waypoint then see how we felt. The West Ridge trail in this direction is a fun steep down hill
run and a nice pay off for all the climbing we had done. There are some steep technical sections
that are a hoot and a short narrow section that¹s also fun. Unfortunately the downhill was over all
to soon and we faced a long climb up the McDonald trail into Chabot Regional Park. When reached the
top of the ridge it was apparent that we were reaching the limits of our endurance as well. We had
been riding for 5 hours and not reached the half way point and there was only 4 hours left before
sundown. After a long rest we decided to ride down to the lake then bail out to BART and take a
train home.
Stats: 1 rigid, 2 hard tails, 1 full susser, 4 parks, 25+- miles, 1 flat, 0 crashes
Paul
Richmond, Berkeley and Oakland from the unwashed masses of Eastern CoCo County. Then turn around and
ride back again. We have been enjoying unusually clear weather in the Bay Area for the last week so
it bode well for some spectacular views from the ridge tops. The ride would consist of some of the
finest fire roads that Wildwood, Tilden, Redwood and Chabot Regional Parks have to offer. About
fifty miles of dirt and ten miles of connector roads, with plenty of long steep climbs. I hooked up
with Mark an old river rafting buddy and two of his friends at the El Cerrito BART Station at
9:30AM. We rode through Richmond to the Wildcat Creek trailhead and started the long climb through
Wildcat and Tilden to the top of the Seaview trail. I was a little disappointed that the air quality
had decreased some in the past few days but the views were still impressive. There was an offshore
fog bank so we couldn¹t see the Farralon Islands but the bay was spectacular with views of Napa,
Marin and San Francisco to the north and west. To the east was a fine view of Mt. Diablo and you
could just make out the snow capped Sierras through the haze. I was starting to get concerned that
our pace was to slow for us to make it back by sun down. We road around Volmer Peak and got on
Grizzly Peak Rd. for a short road ride to connect with Redwood Park. One of the guys was pretty beat
by now so we stopped to eat and reassess the ride. After eating we all agreed to continue on to the
half waypoint then see how we felt. The West Ridge trail in this direction is a fun steep down hill
run and a nice pay off for all the climbing we had done. There are some steep technical sections
that are a hoot and a short narrow section that¹s also fun. Unfortunately the downhill was over all
to soon and we faced a long climb up the McDonald trail into Chabot Regional Park. When reached the
top of the ridge it was apparent that we were reaching the limits of our endurance as well. We had
been riding for 5 hours and not reached the half way point and there was only 4 hours left before
sundown. After a long rest we decided to ride down to the lake then bail out to BART and take a
train home.
Stats: 1 rigid, 2 hard tails, 1 full susser, 4 parks, 25+- miles, 1 flat, 0 crashes
Paul
