China Camp - Tour of the Bay Part 2

Today, I went to China Camp State Park near San Rafael for the first time. I had a race scheduled today but it got postponed to February 13th due to the recent weather and then I was thinking about doing the "Grasshopper Adventure Series #1 - Old Caz" which would involve 50 miles of pavement, dirt, and a creek crossing. I know I can do 50 miles but I have my first road race tomorrow so I want to save my energy and the creek is really high, so it would just be a human chain crossing at waist high water, so yeah, I think not.

I called this "Tour of the Bay" because I've been trying to get out and do more recreational/training rides on my mountain bike instead of my road bike. Part 2 because I consider Skeggs (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21263911) my first venture into recreational mountain biking in a while. I'm not sure how many parts this tour will be but I do know I want to hit Water Dog, Annadel SP, Skyline, Henry Coe SP, Mt. Diablo SP and Tamarancho, all within 1 hour driving distance. I'll keep you posted on how this tour goes!

The trails at China Camp consist mostly of fireroad and pretty smooth "singletrack" although there was a good amount of room to pass people, which I did :) The conditions of the trails were pretty good considering all the rain we had in the past 2 weeks. They were wet and parts were muddy, I ended up with mud all over my face before even going a couple miles.

It was basically a good climb up to an elevation of 634' where you had an awesome view of the San Francisco Bay and also a good spot to stop and take pictures and eat before decending.

There were a handful of switchbacks which I looked forward to since I need the practice, especially the ones were I turn left, ugh! I saw a few hikers and a handful of mountain bikers on the trail, saying hello to all, most people responded back, one guy didn't, jerk? LOL! I told one fellow mountain biker it was my first time out here and he seemed excited for me like he was reminiscency about the first time he came here.

Overall, I had a great time and the weather was great, it even drizzled slightly but I enjoyed it as I strolled through the tree cover of the forest and got water and mud splashed in my face. It made for a fun cleanup afterwards. I'll go back when I have time and maybe run the loop in reverse and maybe twice!

Here is the link of the route on Garmin Connect: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23572065
9.40 miles, 1000 ft climbing, not as hilly or technical as Skeggs but still fun.