The season is ending soon (we’ll be gone for two weeks), so I decided to write a report before it’s too late. I’ve gotten so much (friendship, practice, lessons) from these rides that it’s past due for me to show my appreciation in writing. …more…

Christine and Erin led a ride at Tamarancho in Marin. There were thirteen of us total who showed up.  The ride is pretty much a loop, and we went the “easier” way.  Still, there are quite a few sections, either due to roots, pointy rocks, or rounded rocks, that are challenging to most of …more…

This was an announcement from PTB newsletter.
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What: Women’s ride at Water Dog Lake Park in Belmont followed by dinner & drinks at Passion Trails Bicycles
Where: Passion Trails Bicycles, 415-C Old County Road, Belmont. …more…

I had to take a pause and put my cup down on the 50-foot walk from the break room to my desk this morning because my fingers could not bear the burning pain from carrying that cup of warm water. Every finger tip is glowing red with unusual fullness. …more…

We climbed five pitches on the Rostrum and six pitches on Kor-Beck; hence, incomplete (as the title suggested).
Maybe we are getting old because getting an early start seems to get harder and harder. When we arrived at the top of the Rostrum at 8am, I thought for sure I would see a line of cars. …more…

Following are a few hill climbs that I, or Erik, have personally ridden and have data for. I use a Garmin Edge 305. For distance and elevation measurement, the accuracy depends on the GPS system, the terrane (tree coverage), and the weather (cloud coverage). …more…

Following is my post to MTBR.
Last year, I posted A (very) slow rider's Downieville XC report here. In response to the generous encouragement I received, I promised I would come back. A promise is a promise is a promise. I did. So here I am again to report back. …more…

I confess: I’ve been lazy.
Not so lazy that I haven’t been riding Arastradero, but too lazy to write about it. After a few weeks away, Mei rode with us tonight. In her gentle way she gave me a small dose of guilt: “Has the group been riding? I haven’t seen any ride reports. …more…

On Saturday, we slept in as what most people did on the day after July 4th and did not pull into Hunting Hollow parking lot until almost 11. The sun was already cooking the ground by then. Perfect for heat training at Coe. Two riders returned from their ride of the day while we were gearing up. …more…

The weekend didn’t start out well. When we were about to board our shuttle on Saturday to Packer Saddle for a downhill run, I realized that I forgot my riding shorts at home. I had to spend $50+ on a pair of most uncomfortable MTB shorts (Mens’ Small was the closest I could find and they …more…

Friday:
We took a three o'clock shuttle to Packer Saddle and did a DH run: Sunrise, Butcher Ranch, 2nd Divide. Sunrise is a very flowy single track. There is almost no obstacles. Butcher Ranch has some technical sections. You can see in this youtube video how the rock garden topples many racers. …more…

When Erik and I topped out on the Downieville Classic Cross Country (XC) course at Packer Saddle on our third day of riding, it was a very pleasant surprise to see and chat with a couple of divas, DH Jill and Heather. Four divas were still on the climb and they were going to wait, so we said goodbye …more…

Wrote following report to a friend.  Posting here because I feel good.
=========================
Here is my progress:
2006: Oracle 5K 26:45 / 8:38 (off the couch, right after Siebel acquisition, never ran before, sore for a few days after)
2007: Oracle 5K 24:41 / 7:58 (3rd female; ran once a week …more…

[Note: This was my post on MTBR, where I learned about this event.]
8AM at Coe HQ? That’s just too early! But Erik said since we had so much fun on our last ride (note: my only Coe ride), we should give something back. That makes sense. …more…

[Note: Below was my ride report sent to the dirt divas.]
All I did was I asked, “So, Janet, you are not riding, but you are still writing the ride report, right?” “No, but Mei, you are writing it.” *kicking myself* Why did I ask? Okay, here is my assignment. …more…

One nice thing about riding close to home is when we found out that Erik forgot his camelpak at home, he could drive home to fetch it while I rode around the parking lot doing my drills. It was meant to be a short ride on the last day of our long weekend, so we just went around the perimeter clockwise …more…

It’s a long awaited three-day weekend, so normally we would have taken the opportunity to go somewhere that we otherwise couldn’t get to on a regular weekend. However, the weather in the Sierra looks crappy, the traffic in and out of the Bay Area sounds daunting, plus the gas price is …more…

It was two months ago, I made my first ride to Water Dog and immediately fell in love with that little city park. I went back twice during lunch breaks by myself, but I felt a little lonely. Plus, both times I saw an old man, once with a big stick in his hands, on the trails. …more…

Erik and I had been away from real climbing at Yosemite for so long (two years?) and were itching to get back on some multi-pitch climbs. We were having a hard time picking one though because his favorite, the Rostrum, was still closed in order to provide privacy to a few big birds making babies, and …more…

I’m taking a Written Communication Skills class for ESL Speakers at work. The first feedback my instructor gave me on my assignments was “wordy.” Knowing my problem doesn’t necessarily mean I know how to fix it. But it enables me to warn you — this is going to be a long …more…

Not having time to pack on Friday before work, so we decided to leave on Saturday morning. It’s been a while since we visited Yosemite last time, and I had forgotten how long of a drive it was. We didn’t arrive at Ron and Liz’s Yosemite Blue Butterfly Inn until past ten. …more…

We are thinking about doing a road trip up to British Columbia mid September with climbing at Squamish and mountain biking at Whistler.  Following are just a few links I found about climbing at Squamish . I’m collecting them here so I do not repeat the effort later.
 http://www.tradgirl.c …more…

I’ve already posted my ride report yesterday. Today I made sure I had my camera in hand all the time.
Here is our group at Denny’s for breakfast on Sunday morning. Ryan whom Jeff and I rode with went home last night. Erik came down at 1:30 in the morning after work and went back to work …more…

I patted myself on the back — I did it, the Sea Otter Mountain Biking Recreational Ride (aka MTB tour).
I have to confess though my motive in signing up for the ride was not pure. Erik had ridden at Sea Otter a few times. Last year when he quit riding there (not interested any more), his …more…

I know there is a reason why people say it’s important to build a relationship with the LBS (Local Bike Shop). My LBS is Passion Trail Bikes. I met Jill at PTB and heard about this underground group of female mountain bikers — the Dirt Divas. (Oops, did I say underground? …more…

Because we returned home very late from yesterday’s ride, we had a late start to the Pinns this morning. Having had to stop at Mud’s work did not help either. It was a short day for us at the Pinns because we wanted to get home at a reasonable hour to get important stuff done such as …more…

Once at Purisima and once at Skeggs (aka El Corte De Madera) on the same day.Our mountain bike ride started in the afternoon from Skeggs Point parking lot. After turning off Skyline, we took the Purisima Creek Trail down, a sweet fire road, to the bottom. …more…

The day started out dicey — cloudy, gusty, with occasional drizzles. In the afternoon, there was more sun and it warmed up a little. Finally, the day ended being spectacular.F4, Mud, and I were joined by the Landshark family at Discovery Wall. …more…

Today, a jogging partner suddenly said to me in the middle of a run, “You breathe in a 3-3 pattern eh?” He is an avid runner and a fast one too. He usually does a 2-2 pattern. That question prompted me to look into breathing patterns in running. A quick search turned up following references. …more…

It is a beautiful day. I can’t believe that we almost decided to stay home this morning when we woke up an hour after our alarm went off. It felt so comfortable to just lie in bed and maybe even go back to sleep for a little longer. But since we told Uncle Stinky on the forum that we would be …more…

Yesterday, I signed up for the Mountain Bike Recreational Ride (aka tour) at Sea Otter Classic 2008. From what I heard, Sea Otter is a big event in bicycling. Last year, we went to the Expo the last day. Along with all the vendor booths, there were some competitions such as free riding and BMX’ing …more…

[Note: this TR was first posted to the forum.]
I’d heard so much about Mount Hamilton, so I got really excited when Delbomber and Mud made a plan to ride it this Sunday. However, this morning when I got up at 5:30am, the excitement was replaced by anxiety.

39mph gust (at 6:18am) on Mount Hamilton? …more…

[Note: This TR was first posted to the forum.]

JT is a friend of mine whom I met at Lynn Hill Climbing Camp three years ago. Ever since then, we have kept in touch. He became a close friend of Lynn. Over the past couple of decades, he has climbed all over the place such as New/Owens/Red River Gorges, …more…

[Note: This was first posted to the forum.]
It was a lucky day for us because we found parking at the East side Visitor Center even though it was past 11am when we arrived there. We went straight to the Monolith. Mud led Cantalope Death (CD) and ran another lap on it before he got on Yo Mama Stepped …more…

[Note: This report is first posted to the forum. ]
The ride is actually called The Webcor San Jose King-of-the-Mountain Ride. It starts from San Jose City Hall, but only the climb on Sierra Road is timed (using timing chips the riders wear on their left ankles). …more…

This TR was first posted to the forum.
We didn’t think that we would make the ride — we slept in too late in the morning and we are expecting guests in the afternoon. Oh, too bad, I guess we’ll just have to relax at home then. …more…

This TR was first posted to the forum.
We were the first car there and last car to leave.

But that’s not because we spent the whole day climbing.

However, we were not slacking either.
No wet kiss is allowed on Wet Kiss.
Mike A now-whats on Cantalope Death. …more…

First, my brief report posted to the forum:
Not the best weather (rained and strong wind by the ocean), but it could have been worse.

Course Map (not to scale). The run mostly goes through SF Golden Gate Park

Butt shot not just happens when climbing. …more…

Climb at Pins on Saturday and ride Hamilton on Sunday.
That’s what would have happened if it had not turned out to be another rainy weekend. Instead, Strom went to work on Saturday, and I sank into our couch whole day and worked on my website. …more…

[Note: This trip report was first posted to the Pinnacles Forum.]
F4, Squiddo, Strom, Debby and I piled into F4’s car and we arrived at the upper parking lot on the west side around 8:15am. Wow, we were the first car there! A few minutes later, Mike A. showed up. …more…

[Note: This report was first posted to the Biking Forum.]
When I can’t climb vertically on the rock…
It was perfect day for riding. The loop goes for about 67 miles and 8000 feet. Next time, we’ll try to start earlier and throw in Old La Honda.

My friend Casey went to climbing in China this summer. While there, she sent out two emails describing her experiences. With her permission, I posted her emails to our forum. If you click on that link, you’ll see some pictures of the climbing area she visited. …more…

[Note: I wrote this report after the race. I posted it both on MTBR and our Biking Forum.]
I can see the finish now. A few hard pedals, I’m there! I probably have let out a scream or two in excitement. The support staff tears off the bottom portion of my bib. It is a great feeling. …more…

[Note: This is my trip report posted on the forum.]
Another fun day! Strom and I camped near Bear Valley and met up with Delbomber, Nick, YETITIME, and my friend Melissa (I climbed with her three years ago). Uncle Stinky swang by and said hi. …more…

[Note: We hooked up with Uncle Stinky and he gave us a MTB tour of Bear Valley. I posted this TR on the forum.]
An awesome tour indeed. Uncle Stinky (Jeff S.) is great! To us, he is a god-send. The MTB guidebook in the sports shop is sold out. The trails in the area are more than confusing. …more…

Erik was acting weird. He took out his camera and snapped a few shots of the highway, the cup holders in the car, and the dashboard etc. (see his photo gallery). When I started wondering about his sanity, he let out a statement that made me almost drive into the central divide: “Today is the …more…

Tim, Dave, and I had been talking about going climbing at Owens River Gorge and had even made plans, but well, plans can fail, and they did. This weekend, I had planned to climb with Debby in Yosemite Valley. But on Thursday, Tim and Dave informed us we were going to Bishop. There went OUR plan! …more…

All I know is this place is somewhere in Northen California. I was blindfolded, spun several times, and led through bushes and trees. When my eyes are finally uncovered, I am standing below a straight crack in a beautiful corner. The rock is granite that is familiar to me. …more…

Yes, I did it again, and better
Remember how excited I was when I did it last time? after two unsuccessful attempts, finally I managed to get up Generator Crack. However, I had to start off the tree because I couldn’t figure out how to get up the first five feet or so. …more…

Actually Astroman is perfect the way it is — it doesn’t need improvement. But we do, and we did improve. Erik and I got back on the climb again this Saturday. We both did better than last time. I only fell at the Boulder Problem. I’m not a boulderer! …more…

How many hard 5.11s can one handle in a weekend?
Let me make it clear: That was Erik’s idea; I had nothing to do with it. I was too normal to come up with such a crazy idea — “Me, up Astroman? This weekend? You must be kidding. …more…

Oh, my gosh! I was on the brink of freaking out. Well, maybe not that bad, but I did toss and turn for more than two hours on Wednesday night worrying about this trip. East Buttress of El Cap is a long route. The crux move on the route is rated 5.10b, my limit in leading trad at this point. There is 5. …more…

Lucky Weekend
by Debby
My good friend Mei and I decided to go climbing together for the weekend. As was typical, we agreed on the weekend, but didn’t bother to finalize any details about location, time, or anything else. Thursday night, we decided that we should go up late on Saturday (so …more…

It normally takes me two hours to pack neatly for a weekend’s trip. If I simply pile everything in the trunk without evaluating what’s really needed for the trip and what should go into which bag, it can take as little as half an hour to finish. …more…

It is not looking promising. I need a climbing partner for this weekend, but I’ve been crossing out one name after another on my list. Erik will be on a wall, Bill wants to leave on Thursday, Debby needs to pack for Burning Man, Nate is leaving for Beijing, Hamid found a partner while I was …more…

Erik had to work this Saturday, so we made an extended day trip to Yosemite — drove out of the bay area on Saturday evening and returned on Sunday night. The trip was short but the route was long — we climbed a 15-pitch route: Chouinard-Herbert on Sentinel Rock. …more…

Yes, I did it!

I had tried to toprope Generator Crack twice starting off the tree. Despite the best effort I could give at the time, I probably made three feet of progress the first time and five feet the second time before being shutdown by the crack. …more…

On Saturday morning, when my climbing partner Allen and I headed out for the The Third Pillar of Dana, I was aiming for speed. But the plan was soon doomed when Allen decided to “just relax a bit and enjoy” when we arrived at the plateau. …more…

I was still recovering from the trip to Wyoming and Colorado, so it was a nice change to get on a relaxing rafting trip. I was invited to this trip by my friend Stan. When I rode up with Roy, Phil, and Rich, we naturally formed a team to fill a four man raft. The trip was organized by White Water Adventures. …more…

“I can’t find a hold anywhere.” What do you mean? There’s a hand stack right there!
– Odub, Album Offwidth, thats me
What has happened to this woman in front of me? She has the tan of the rich people on Miami beaches, but the scabs on her nose, cheek, and forehead are …more…

It all started from a message on a climbers’ Internet forum, SuperTopo — this guy, going by username climberweenie, expressed interests in training for a physically demanding classic climb, Steck Salathe (SS), and was looking for a partner. I responded to him before I regretted. …more…

Man, that was the best climbing trip I’ve ever been on!
When I think about this weekend’s trip to the Needles, I somehow have a cartoon of Hamid bubbling out those words with excitement. They are my words, but they sound best coming out of Hamid’s mouth — if you know him, …more…

Debby informed me that it was my turn to write a trip report, so here I am, pulling my hair out. It suddenly feels hard. The trip was too uneventful. Don’t get me wrong. The trip was fun. In Alex’s word: “Great climbing, great company and awesome food! Can’t ask for more. …more…

What make a climbing trip perfect?
Compatible climbing partners
Climbing abilities match (or not as you get to follow hard routes or do more leading)
Personalities complement each other (or match)
No need to turn on the radio in order to fill in the uncomfortable silence in the car
When one did not …more…

It’s been a couple of weeks since the camp. This trip report is overdue. For the past few days, I have been feeling like someone in debt. Not that I owe anyone this TR, but the memories of the camp are so fond that I feel guilty if I do not put it down and share with others — those who …more…

It was not an easy decision. Going to the week-long camp required taking time off from work, and five days is one third of my yearly vacation quota, but I really wanted to join the camp to spend some time with the legendary climber, whom I had admired since the very early stage of my climbing history. …more…

Can you have it all?
I had committed to this trip more than a month ago. But as the date approached, the knot in my stomach grew bigger and bigger. It would be my first time taking a trip in a private plane. I had known Tim, the pilot as well as one of my regular indoor climbing partners, for a …more…

This Saturday, I went to Castle Rock with Hal, whom I met at Pinnacles last weekend. Not being able to raise Robert on the phone, we left Palo Alto around 10:30 AM. It was a late start by my standard, but Hal’s driving made up for it. …more…

After two nights of partying and hanging out with friends, I was ready to get out. Mike from the gym has one more seat in his van, so I happily hopped on. On Sunday, Mike, Kent, Charlie, and I left the bay area around 6:30 AM and found ourselves at the Discovery Wall at 9:00 AM. …more…

It’s been a while since last time I put up a trip report. I did climb, but only got too lazy to type. We went to Gold Wall a few times and Jailhouse once — all were short trips. Sometimes, we went to Gold Wall with friends and there was lots of chatting and socializing; but sometimes …more…

Next time if you wonder why Allen is ___ (you fill it the blank), just remember that he was born on Halloween and hopefully that would explain everything for you. A group of friends are coming out this Sunday to Grotto for climbing, for Holloween, for his birthday, and for partying. …more…

By Friday, my back was hurting so much that I planed to read my book at the campsite over the weekend while Allen climbs with other friends. It started with me rolling on two tennis balls on Tuesday. The exercise was recommended by a friend and was supposed to help loosen up those tight muscles in …more…

I spent Saturday afternoon at Lost World climbing with Slate and Erik. It was overcast and drizzled a little, so we ran laps on Peaceful Warrior (5.10d, thin crack) and Green Monster (5.12a, sport, I had to hang on this one) that are on an overhanging wall sheltered from the rain. …more…

I had been having a knot in my stomach for a few days - ever since Allen brought up we should go to Cookie Cliff this weekend. Cookie is famous for its hard crags, but am I up for it? Well, up for it or not, we spent two days — two afternoons since we had late start on both days — there. …more…

This is the theme of the gathering at Royal Robbin’s Cabin on Pinecrest Lake. There is abundant wine brought by Lani and her hunsband from their winery. I don’t drink — I lack the enzyme for alcohal — but seeing people, their faces glowing, pouring all kinds of wine glass …more…

It’s 4:40 AM on Saturday, Sept 4. We wake up to a cloudless and windless morning at Big Pine Campground. I guess it’s a GO then. Yesterday, the High Sierra was blanketed by threatening and discouraging low clouds. We decided to play it by ear — if the weather would get better …more…

On Saturday morning, we arrived at Bunny Slopes at 11 am. Surprisingly, there was only one party on the right side, and we went left. Wild in the Streaks (5.7) was supposed to be easy, so I picked up the sharp end (i.e. I took the lead). Looking up, I couldn’t see a bolt until 40 feet up, which …more…

No, I was not on this trip…it was just too hardcore for me. Allen and Steve attempted it and finished a good half of the traverse, but they ran out of time. From what I heard, the approach took 6 hours. The heavy packs they were carrying made moderate climbs at the high altitude feel much harder. …more…

On Friday, I cheerfully announced to Allen, “Supertopo says the approach to West Ridge of Mt. Conness is very confusing, but don’t you worry, because I’ve received beta from four sources.” Intimidated by the warning given by Supertopo, I had asked Gary and Ed, whom I met on …more…

It turned out to be a perfect weekend. I do not use the word “perfect” casually, so there is no doubt that this weekend was perfect.
It first started out with me driving all by myself on Friday evening after work for four hours from the Bay Area to Tuolumne Meadow Campground to meet Allen …more…

It is the Memorial Day weekend, which means I have an extra day off, which means I can watch a movie on Friday night and still climb. Troy is the movie we watched and I almost cried my heart out over Hector’s death. Hmmm…I can be pretty silly sometimes. …more…

Having Friday off, Bill, Janelle, and Allen headed to the Valley on Thursday night. On Friday, they enjoyed themselves at Pat and Jack’s Pinnacles where Allen found a diamond ring sitting on a tree branch. Later he posted a note at Camp 4 which reads: “Found Ring! …more…

The weather was too nice, so we had to get out of the house. How about Yosemite? Allen and I jumped on Serenity Crack. The first two pitches were a foot killer. The pin scars provided nice finger locks, but my feet were screaming at the crack. …more…

It was the beginning of May and the weather in the Valley was wonderful. On this beautiful weekend, I climbed with Ricardo the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral and Super Slide. Unfortunately, only later did I find out that Super Slide was “off limits due to peregrine closure. …more…

Day 0 (4/10/2004): Gathering at Flagstaff and Preparing for put-in at Lee’s Ferry
Day 1 (4/11/2004): Mile 0 to Mile 8. Camp at Badger Creek
Day 2 (4/12/2004): Mile 8 to Mile 20. Camp at North Canyon
Day 3 (4/13/2004): Layover
Day 4 (4/14/2004): Mile 20 to Mile 38. …more…

So far the climbing I have been doing is called free climbing, where you only use your hands and feet to gain elevation while the rope and gear only serve as a safty backup just in case you fall. There is another category of climbing called aid climbing, where you would have to or choose to use gear …more…

Jon, Allen and I check out Consumnes River Gorge on a nice day. We meet Dave at the crag. He is a very friendly guy. We take it easy for the whole day, but still I get plenty of climbing in.

Mei leading Dinkum, a short 5.9 finger crack. She’s not as flexible as it looks here. …more…

Sunday 11/23: driving out of Bay Area
Monday 11/24: sport climbing at Dogg Wall
Tuesday 11/25: Geronimo, 4 pitches, 5.8
Wednesday 11/26: Crimson Chrysalis, 9 pitches, 5.8
Thursday 11/27: short trad stuff at Straight Shooter Wall and Brass Wall
Friday 11/28: Levitation …more…

One night in the dark
This is the first trip report I have ever written. Didn’t mean to make it so long, but the words just kept flowing out of my finger tips. Ricardo wrote a trip report on his 7 day solo ascent of Zodiac for his first big wall. 7 days, and his trip report has only about 4110 words. …more…

Ahh… This weekend was perfect. By perfect, I mean it was really perfect. The weather in the valley was perfect — not cold nor hot. The climbs we did were awesome. And most importantly, we got chance to hang out together!
On Saturday, Allen and Steve sent Astroman, one of the best and …more…

Does it look fun? Or does it look scary? Well, check out a local climbing
gym and find out for yourself!

Allen working on a hard boulder problem

Mickey’s Beach is a nude beach — officially called “clothing optional beach.” Sunset is always beautiful.

I spent a steaming hot day with Steve, Florence at Reed’s Pinnacles and Generator Crack.

Florence on Stove Grove at Reed’s Pinnacles

Florence hugging a tree after struggling in Generator Crack

Steve high on Lunatic Fringe at Reed’s Pinnacles

Mei attentively belaying. …more…

It is my birthday. So doing a climb that I’ve heard so much about and have always wanted to do sounds like a perfect idea for this special day! Snake Dike is an easy climb on the side of Half Dome (note: it’s not the same as the hikers’ cable route). …more…

Following are my old photo reports. These were from the early days of my website when I didn’t write much.  But they marked the beginning of my outdoor adventures.

May 24-26, 2003
Climbing: Lover’s Leap

Apr 5 and 6, 2003
Climbing: Gold Wall and the Grotto

Feb 16, …more…