BTCEB Virtual Gala Rides are here!
In the era of Covid we can’t do our normal Gala rides but we’re reaching out to provide some incentive to get out and ride and give you some possible routes to explore. To that end we bring you A Separately Together Gala Ride. They way it works is we’ll provide three curated rides with increasing difficulty similar to our regular Gala rides (A, B, and C hardest to easiest).
The inaugural December virtual gala ride is at Crockett Hills Regional Park. Crockett Hills offers great views, single track, low technicality, and a few steeper but shorter climbs. Those climbs get easier the more you do them. Really, they do.
The best way to participate in this month’s ride is head over to the BTCEB Strava Club. If. you are not yet a member of our Strava club, please give us a day or so to approve you. Membership in the BTCEB Strava Club is open to the public.
Over on Strava we are testing out some functionality to provide for ride tracking and possible promotional giveaways on future virtual gala rides. To help us get prepped for possible giveaways on future virtual gala rides we ask that if you haven’t already, please allow us to track your progress on your upcoming rides.
For your rides to appear in our club leaderboards on the BTCEB website you will need to provide authorization (aka opt-in) for the BTCEB Strava Club to collect data on your rides. By joining the BTCEB Strava club any other members of the Strava club will be able to see your logged activities. By opting in to BTCEB collecting your rides activities we will be able to also publish them individually or in aggregate on our website or in social media posts. BTCEB will not use your ride activity days for any other purpose.
Even if you don’t want to participate in any of the social media aspects of the Virtual Gala Ride we encourage you to get out and ride any! Everyone should be able to enjoy these rides:
The December 2020 Virtual Gala Ride at Crockett Hills features group A, B, and C routes each listed as separate ‘events’. Similar to the format of our regular group Gala Rides the A, B, C designations indicate the difficulty of the rides (hardest to easiest). You can do any or all of the routes. And you can ride them as many times as you wish.
Crockett Hills offers great views, single track, low technicality, and a few steeper but shorter climbs. Those climbs get easier the more you do them. Really, they do.
Route Details:
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Route A 14 miles https://www.strava.com/routes/2765654593853007102
Route B 13 miles https://www.strava.com/routes/2766006947117804690
Route C 6 miles https://www.strava.com/routes/2765633319081391358
Route descriptions and turn by turn instructions provided further down this message.
For navigation on your favorite device you can download .gpx or .tcx files from these routes on Strava (even with a free membership). See your device Help for details. Strava paid subscribers can navigate on the phone app.
Ride Overview:
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The routes climb up Edwards Loop and then take Soaring Eagle to the middle of the park where the C route heads back and limits the climbing required. A & B routes continue south down Sugar City, to Tree Frog & Warep climbing back Big Valley & Two Peaks. The A route adds Goldfinch trail at the south end.
Ride safely, share the trail, Say Hi!, use a bell and/or call out to other trail users, slow when passing, yield to uphill traffic, hikers, dogs, and equestrians. Yield the trail to oncoming pedestrians; there’s no choice when we’re going the same direction. Maintain social distancing and have a face covering readily available to use when needed. And even with all that don’t forget however your ride goes, it’s probably better than whatever else you would have been doing.
If you’re not already a dues paying member please consider joining BTCEB.
BTCEB advocates for more, better, and closer trails, provides support to area middle & high school MTB programs, does trail work in Joaquin Miller, Crockett Hills and other parks, and offers the monthly Ride Like a Girl and Gala Rides. You can join at www.BTCEB.org by clicking the Join button on the home page.
Have a good month, enjoy the routes. Tag @bicycletrailscouncil on Instagram or MTBRider on Facebook with your favorite picture from your ride.
Ride Notes:
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All rides start at 1300 Crockett Blvd, Crockett, CA 94525 – Crockett Ranch Staging Area
All trails are bi-directional so watch for oncoming traffic.
Turn by Turn (distance/description):
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0 mi. Start from gate at south end of Crockett Ranch Staging Area
Head up Edwards Creek (fire road). At 0.3 mi you’ll climb a shorter steeper pitch
C routers – this will be the hardest climb you’ll do. Walking it is common and OK.
0.4 mi. Turn left and go up Edwards Loop (singletrack) Enjoy the climb through the trees. Watch for and call out to downhill traffic.
1.0 mi. Turn right at junction with Wood Rat trail (singletrack)
1.1 mi. Veer right stay on Wood Rat and go through tunnel (singletrack)
1.1 mi. Go straight on Soaring Eagle (singletrack)
2.7 mi. Veer right and continue on Soaring Eagle (singletrack)
2.9 mi. Turn right continue on Soaring Eagle (singletrack)
2.9 mi. Continue to picnic tables on asphalt pad – C route Turnaround
C Route turns around at this point & returns same as it came: Retrace path to trailhead via Soaring Eagle, Wood Rat, Edwards Loop, Edwards Creek. C routers will be all downhill from here. Yippee! Watch for uphill traffic and use your bell as you descend Edwards Loop trail.
3.0 mi. A & B routes continue south over through gate on Sugar City (singletrack)
4.5 mi. Turn left on to Big Valley (fire road), head west through valley
5.0 mi. Left through fence opening at corral then immediate right up Back Ranch Loop (fire road)
5.2 mi. A route veers right on Back Ranch Loop (fire road)
B route turns hard left and grinds up on Tree Frog Loop (fire road)
5.6 mi. Top of ridge, turn left before gate and start down Goldfinch (singletrack)
6.3 mi. Turn right on Tree Frog Loop (fire road) and begin grinding up
A & B loops are the same from this point forward
B loop milage will be 1.1 miles less than A loop
6.6 mi. Fire road climb complete! Turn right on Tree Frog Loop (singletrack)
5.5 mi. B route mileage
8.3 mi. Continue straight/veer right over diamond blocks as Tree Frog Loop transitions to Warep (singletrack) You may not even notice the Tree Frog branch to the left.
7.2 mi. B route mileage
9.5 mi. Turn right on Big Valley (fire road) immediately after passing corral
8.4 mi. B route mileage
10.3 mi. Turn right before gate on Two Peaks (singletrack). Enjoy some of the best views.
9.2 mi. B route mileage
10.9 mi. You’re back at the picnic tables. All climbs completed. Left on Soaring Eagle and retrace path to trailhead via Soaring Eagle, Wood Rat, Edwards Loop, Edwards Creek.
Link to EBRPD trail map https://bit.ly/2HXECLO
If you’re looking for some food after your ride consider supporting the following local businesses. Let them know mountain biking is a good thing and a good thing for the town.
- Lucia’s Craft Sandwich Shop 611 2nd street (good coffee also)
- Judy’s Place (Salvadorean) 1207 Pomona Avenue
- Four Corners Pizza N Pasta 628 2nd street
The town plaza at Pomona & 2nd is good place to eat take out outdoors and Judy’s has outdoor patio seating.
