Sunday, May 10th, 2009

MTB & Climbing: A Two Sport Day

My friend Jeanne and I are both in the market for a new mountain bike with around 5″ of travel. We spent Saturday trying out various bikes at Santa Teresa County Park where Trail Head Cyclery is holding a demo weekend. The two husbands were there too. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to test ride bikes. I know because I did out and back on Rocky Ridge 7 times on various bikes including my own and two other demo bikes I rented somewhere else. I’m bummed that I still could not make up my mind despite the attractive discount offered at the demo event. Mainly, two bikes high on my list did not show up with my size.

Anyway, on Sunday morning, per our brilliant plan, the two husbands drove down to Pinnacles first thing in the morning for some rock climbing. Jeanne and I went back to Santa Teresa Park to get on a couple of more bikes. She actually ended up making payment for a bike right then and there. We then carpooled down to Pinnacles and found the guys at the Monolith a little after noon. We still got a few climbs in.

We spent quite some time on Cataract Corner (5.12a). Man, it’s hard!  Following is our friend Iztok leading it.