Today, I decided to try mountain biking at Santa Teresa County Park in San Jose. The park is nearby, and I was surprised to learn I had never been there.
I got up early in the morning and researched all of the trails. There are a lot of different trails at Santa Teresa, and it's easy to get lost. I followed the recommendations posted by the MTB Project.
Starting at the North end of Santa Teresa County Park, near Joice Bernal Ranch, I parked my van and started riding on the Joice Trail. Once on the trail, I took a left to get onto the Norred Trail. I didn't expect Joice to be so steep. The ascent was quite challenging. Fortunately, it did not last long, and I was quickly on the Norred trail, which is far more level.
I shot a video on my GoPro Hero3 Black for parts of the ride here:
Once the Norred trail ended, I switched to the Mines trail. Mine's trail is partially paved, but it was still very steep in places, and I had to do the walk of shame. Mine runs past Santa Teresa's parking lot, where there is a Y intersection.
I took the left and climbed steeply up to the Hidden Springs trail, followed by the Coyote Peak trail. These very steep trails eventually led me to the famous Rocky Ridge trail.
This is the very top of Santa Teresa and affords a beautiful view of the surrounding valleys.
Rocky Ridge is quite rocky and requires some technical riding skills. There are lots of rocks to jump over. A full-suspension mountain bike is necessary here to deal with the jarring.
After Rocky Ridge ended, I continued onto Mine Road, heading North/West toward Bernal Hill Loop. After the loop, I took Joice's trail back to the parking lot.
This ride was fun, with steep ascents, beautiful scenery, and a few joggers.
Despite the hugging and puffing on some of the steep ascents, I enjoyed the trail. A map is essential because there are so many trails here (some unmarked).
I got up early in the morning and researched all of the trails. There are a lot of different trails at Santa Teresa, and it's easy to get lost. I followed the recommendations posted by the MTB Project.
Starting at the North end of Santa Teresa County Park, near Joice Bernal Ranch, I parked my van and started riding on the Joice Trail. Once on the trail, I took a left to get onto the Norred Trail. I didn't expect Joice to be so steep. The ascent was quite challenging. Fortunately, it did not last long, and I was quickly on the Norred trail, which is far more level.
I shot a video on my GoPro Hero3 Black for parts of the ride here:
Once the Norred trail ended, I switched to the Mines trail. Mine's trail is partially paved, but it was still very steep in places, and I had to do the walk of shame. Mine runs past Santa Teresa's parking lot, where there is a Y intersection.
I took the left and climbed steeply up to the Hidden Springs trail, followed by the Coyote Peak trail. These very steep trails eventually led me to the famous Rocky Ridge trail.
This is the very top of Santa Teresa and affords a beautiful view of the surrounding valleys.
Rocky Ridge is quite rocky and requires some technical riding skills. There are lots of rocks to jump over. A full-suspension mountain bike is necessary here to deal with the jarring.
After Rocky Ridge ended, I continued onto Mine Road, heading North/West toward Bernal Hill Loop. After the loop, I took Joice's trail back to the parking lot.
This ride was fun, with steep ascents, beautiful scenery, and a few joggers.
Despite the hugging and puffing on some of the steep ascents, I enjoyed the trail. A map is essential because there are so many trails here (some unmarked).
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