Bolinas Ridge Trail

Bill Bushnell – Sunday, July 1, 2001

Bolinas Ridge lies opposite Pt. Reyes National Seashore, immediately east of the San Andreas Fault where the latter rises above sea level between Stinson Beach to the south and Tomales Bay to the north about 25 miles north of San Francisco, CA. The 11.3 miles of trail itself passes through the northern region of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area from the junction of Ridgecrest Rd. and Fairfax-Bolinas Rd. in the south to Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in the north. Surface conditions include a little of everything: steep up and down, rocky, rutted, rootbound, the occasional sections of deeper dust, and even a couple of rapidly drying mud bogs. Scenery includes sweeping vistas of Pt. Reyes and Tomales Bay to the northwest and deep, dark groves of redwoods.

I had last ridden this trail in October 1993 on my venerable 1991 Bridgestone RB-T with fat slick tires. From that experience I had recalled a long, scenic trail that was so bumpy on the descents that my gloved hands became uncomfortably warm from the friction of the gloves against the palm of my hand.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to ride this trail with a couple of friends. We began at the south end of the trail and rode north. This meant we would climb about 450 feet and descend about 1650 feet on the trail.

The trail started comfortably on a soft bed of pine needles. But soon we began a series of steep uphills followed by steep downhills on a rocky, rutted surface. Somehow I managed these sections without walking, but it required all of my low gears (range 14.7 to 45.5 inches). The middle section of trail rolled more pleasantly through redwood groves before breaking out into wide, sweeping meadows for the final three to four miles of descent, often bumpy, to the trail’s northern terminus.

Overall I found the Gold Rush handled this road at least as well as I can recall my Bridgestone having handled it. In fact, I’d have to say that I was far less fatigued on the Gold Rush due to the more comfortable seating position.

From this dirt road ride and many other similar dirt road rides I have done in the past two and a half years I have been riding my Gold Rush with slick road tires I have made several observations:

1) In spite of claims to the contrary, one can exercise a fair degree of “body english” on the Gold Rush to effect changes in comfort, handling and traction on loose surfaces.

a) On steep, loose, uphills, lean back in the seat to improve rear wheel traction unless the hill is so steep you can’t get any steering traction. At some point you’ll not get enough traction in either rear or front and have to get off and walk. I know that detractors of the idea of riding a recumbent will trot this out a proof that recumbents aren’t practical (just like the one about not being able to jump curbs), but in practice there aren’t too many hills that are going to force you off, and those are usually short enough that walking doesn’t take that much longer anyway. (Because of the long wheelbase, you’re going to need large steering corrections at very slow climbing speeds under 3 mph,to keep from toppling over. If you can’t get the necessary front-wheel traction to make these corrections, you’ll have to walk. As it turns out I find I usually lose front and rear wheel traction at about the point where I’m going 2-2.5 mph on a steep and loose dirt road.)

b) On downhills, lean forward or sit upright to improve front wheel traction and visibility of the road ahead. Don’t worry about “doin’ a header”. It ain’t gonna happen on a Gold Rush unless you’re descending a cliff.

c) On bumpy downhills, sit upright but press the small of your back into the seatback just above the seat pan and lift your butt slightly off the seat cushion. The lycra of your shorts and the seat back will slide and allow the rear end of the bike to track the bumps without transmitting their full amplitude to your butt and back.

d) Steering at speed should be done primarily by leaning and shifting one’s weight. Use the handlebars only to steady the wheel to keep it from being knocked from the track by rocks, ruts or other debris. This advice also applies to road riding, especially while descending winding roads.

2) On bumpy downhills, if you can pick a clean line, it’s better to go faster than slower—to a point. The faster you go the more the bike will ride over the tops of the bumps. But, releasing the brakes should only be done when you can find a clean line to the bottom of the hill where your speed can be brought under control. A clean line is generally one that will give good traction, especially side-to-side traction. This advice also applies to any bike shod with slick tires taken on dirt. You may not be able to stop without spilling until the bottom of the short hill, so use discretion if there are other trail users about.

3) You will very quickly learn how to deal with momentary losses in traction. On paved roads a loss of traction in either front or rear wheels often preceeds a spill. On dirt a loss of traction is common and usually can be corrected.

The most effective way to regain lost traction while descending requires some preparation: When you are about to go over terrain that is likely to be slippery, start through it while applying some pressure to both front and rear brakes. When a wheel starts to lose traction, immediately release the brake of the wheel that has lost traction. This takes some practice as you must overcome your initial instinct to jam on the brakes when you feel you are losing control, and you must be quick enough to react to avoid reaching a lean angle of no return. On a Gold Rush, the required reaction time is slightly shorter than on an upright bike. When traction is regained, the brake can be applied again. Use of this technique is similar to the action of anti-lock brakes on automobiles.

When climbing the most common form of traction loss is rear wheel spin. When this happens, lean back in your seat. It helps to if you have your seat already leaned back. When riding on level or nearly level terrain, you can regain traction by a combination of steering, shifting your weight on the seat, and occasionally by putting a foot down. The latter should only be done when the surface is very loose and when moving slowly or the dreaded “leg suck” could occur.

Most of these techniques are best learned by practice and can be learned quickly. Eventually, they will become second nature.

4) Even though you probably won’t be riding fast enough off-road to benefit from the aerodynamic advantages of the body sock, the sock does improve the handling of the bike off-road (and on-road). It keeps you from inadvertently providing too much steering input and discourages overcorrecting, which can cause the front wheel to wash out.

5) In spite of an April Fool’s issue of Northern California Bicyclist many years ago that showed a drawing of an Easy Racer-like bike hopping a log, you won’t be able to hop over anything on a Gold Rush. We’re talking dirt roads here with ruts up to 6 or 7 inches deep. Keep your cross or mountain bike for the trials courses. Fortunately, there are few roads or bike-legal trails in my area cannot be ridden on a Gold Rush. These include many miles of scenic dirt roads, many of which connect to other paved roads and make possible loop rides that would not be possible if one did not consider riding on dirt roads.

The downside of taking a Gold Rush off the pavement:

1) You still need to keep a strong upper body so you can lift your bike over the gates and barricades at the trailheads.

2) You will have to come to a complete stop when you meet up with horseback riders. Those of us who ride a socked Easy Racer bike know that ordinary people have a hard enough time figuring out what we’re riding.

Horses have trouble figuring out what we are. We passed several groups of horseback riders on our trip down the trail. Each time we stopped and continued talking with the riders while the horses skittishly and nervously trotted by, keeping eyes, ears, and snouts in our direction all the while.

3) Most people on the trail will stare at you as you ride by. Some of them—espcially the horseback riders—will wonder if what you are riding is a bicycle legal for use on the trails.

4) The bike gets dirty.

Conclusion:

The Gold Rush, and, I assume the general Easy Racer design (including Tour Easy, and Ti-Rush) works surprisingly well off the pavement. I suggest that owners of these fine bikes should try taking them off-road once in a while especially if you live in an area where many interesting places are accessible by dirt road only.

My Gold Rush uses a non-stock 26” rear wheel on which I usually run a 1.4” Ritchey Tom Slick and a Primo Comet 406x37 in the front.

I can’t help but wonder how a Fold Rush with suspension would fare on dirt roads. Is the seatback support of the Fold-Rush strong enough to support the method in (1c) above? How would handling be affected by installing knobby tires front and rear? Unfortunately, my Gold Rush doesn’t have quite enough chainstay clearance for full knobbies. Perhaps Easy Racers will recognize the off-road capabilities of its bikes and provide support for 26” rear wheels, wider tires, and off-road capable suspension, a design that gives away little in on-road performance but gains by being able to be ridden easily off-road, a design to appeal to “aging” Generation X’ers.

©2004, Bill Bushnell

Included photo courtesy of Steve Prothero.

Please do not publish or distribute for profit without permission.