Black Diamond Mines BTCEB Gala Ride Saturday, September 11

[Dan'ger]

Won't someone come ride with me? Can take a few people from PH BART.

Did I mention donuts and beer?

Gala Ride second Saturday of the month starting at 9:30 am

Please join us for our monthly group ride at 9:30 am the 2nd Saturday of every month for a casually paced social group ride at one of the many great parks in the east bay. The next Gala ride is September 11th at Black Dimond Mines in Antioch. Meet at the larger parking area by the Somersville Townsite at the end of the road. There is a $5 parking fee.

This no-drop ride is fun and includes most levels - both men and women. Most importantly, we ride together and find camaraderie in the sport. Contact Mat for more info.
Rides generally last 2 to 3 hours. Ride is free and open to the public and led by experienced local mountain bikers familiar with the trails. Afterwards we regroup for beer and socializing.

Groups for ALL skill levels!
Skill Building Beginner Group
Relaxed Intermediate
Fast Paced/Advanced


View Black Diamond Mine in a larger map

[rkt88edmo]

I may try to ride in with the kids for the socializin aspect, that'll be more than enough riding for me to just get there and home.

Fingers crossed.

[08_Yukon hard tail]

I might be able to go with casual ride

[Obi]

Dan if nobody makes it have fun. Hit me up for a Sunday morning ride either here or around work.

[Dan'ger]

Dan if nobody makes it have fun. Hit me up for a Sunday morning ride either here or around work.

Don't worry about me. I'll have fun no matter what.

As for Sunday, I'll have to see what my schedule brings. I'm still trying to make a schedule to sell on of my bikes down in the South Bay/Santa Cruz area. If that happens, I might be able to work in a ride as well.

[EBrider]

I would join you since this is kind of my back yard, but had already committed to the RBR ride on Sierra Rd when this got posted. If I backed out, it might look like I was afraid.

[Dan'ger]

I would join you since this is kind of my back yard, but had already committed to the RBR ride on Sierra Rd when this got posted. If I backed out, it might look like I was afraid.

Well then, I'm just going to have to file you under the "too afraid to ride with the Gala group" folder. It must mean that we're more hard core than Leadville.

[Passenger13]

Dan, It looks like Rynie, Branden and myself will be there Sat. We might have a couple others joining as well. Looking forward to the ride.

[Dan'ger]

Dan, It looks like Rynie, Branden and myself will be there Sat. We might have a couple others joining as well. Looking forward to the ride.

Awesome! Thanks for all of your support!

[Dan'ger]

I could use some help with the routes. I'm working on the "A" ride route. Here's the preliminary:


It's been a while since I rode out there and I'm not sure if this route is feasible. The "B" and "C" rides will be within the park boundaries and I'm interested in route feedback for them as well.

*Edited map - see below

[EBrider]

I don't believe you can pop out the boundary there. SMD recently purchased some land over there, but as far as I know that is fenced off. You can ride on the dirt fire road down into Clayton, have a few beers down at the country club and ride back though.

[rockymtnrider]

Passenger13 has been coming up with a route.
Figuring a route out for the "C" group may be a little difficult. Everything is a climb from that entrance. But I think Rynie is working on something.

You need to figure a route that goes down the Ridge, down Corcoran and up the wall.
B ride maybe up Stewartville towards the ridge. Down the ridge to Stewartville Trail again turn left go all the way to the end and turn left on Old Homestead Loop, Turn left again at the Old Homestead Loop split and ride up to Accorn Trail. Climb Accorn to Ridge, Left on Ridge for a short distance until Corcoran then down Corcoran, little single track beginning and rocky descent. At the bottom you are back on Stewartville. Turn right on Stewartville and ride that back up to the top gate and turn left at the gate and down either Stewartville back or Carbondale Trail to River View and back

[Dan'ger]

Passenger13 has been coming up with a route.
Figuring a route out for the "C" group may be a little difficult. Everything is a climb from that entrance. But I think Rynie is working on something.

You need to figure a route that goes down the Ridge, down Corcoran and up the wall.
B ride maybe up Stewartville towards the ridge. Down the ridge to Stewartville Trail again turn left go all the way to the end and turn left on Old Homestead Loop, Turn left again at the Old Homestead Loop split and ride up to Accorn Trail. Climb Accorn to Ridge, Left on Ridge for a short distance until Corcoran then down Corcoran, little single track beginning and rocky descent. At the bottom you are back on Stewartville. Turn right on Stewartville and ride that back up to the top gate and turn left at the gate and down either Stewartville back or Carbondale Trail to River View and back

As for the A ride, you may be right EB. There is a gate there. There is also a working easement to access the public and private radio equipment at the top of Kreagor Peak. There is a fire road on the other side of a gulley next to that creek. If I had more time, I could recon it better.

Does anyone know for sure? Sputnik?

*Edited map - see below.

[rockymtnrider]

the route you drew what way are you traveling?

[Dan'ger]

the route you drew what way are you traveling?

My intent for both maps is to start out westward. The B route crosses the park on ridge before heading south and returning on the Wall of Death. I may want to change the A route to incorporate the Wall of Death as well.

[Passenger13]

Dan, the B route has one problem. After heading out west and taking the Black Diamond Trail, you can not access the Ridge Trail (the trail that goes east is the Chapparral Loop and is closed to bicycles- it eventually connects to the Ridge). You must continue on the Black Diamond Trail towards Rose Hill Cemetery, descend towards the parking lot then climb up Stewartsville Trail to the RIdge. The ride looks good, but it is more of an A ride in my estimation.

[Dan'ger]

I still don't have a "C" route but here's what I've got now. Thanks for all of your input and I welcome any more you might have.

I have incorporated "The Wall" and Corcoran (in the downhill direction) into both the A and B rides.

Higher resolution maps are available on my Flickr account. Guest pass link: https://flickr.com/gp/dan-ger/2b4c35

"A" Ride:


"B" Ride:


"C" Ride



I'm open to suggestions.

[Passenger13]

The A and B rides look good, the C ride is way too steep. The Lougher Loop is very steep and the trails are barely maintained out there. I have tried to ride there once and it was brutal. A good C ride would be to ride Stewatsville to Ridge, down Acorn to Old Holmstead Loop and back to the start via Stewartsville (up the wall) and return to parking lot. I think that Rynie was going to help with C group and she can gage the group and make any changes on the fly as needed. The A loop I gave you can take either the North Portal or Old Holmstead Trails to get back to Stewarstville Trail. I should have said to take the Old Holmstead Trail, but that is something we can discuss in the morning. What time should we meet?

[wg]

Based on these routes, about how long are the A and B rides? Time/miles? I'm still juggling family schedule so trying to see if I can make this.
Thanks

[cohenfive]

dan i'm going to try to make it tomorrow morning--my wife is working and my son is playing in a golf tournament.....and am also curious about how long the 'a' and 'b' rides are. i've only been on my bike once in the past four weeks (briones a few days ago) so i might be more slothlike than usual...but you know me, whatever the terrain is, i eventually will get there. i'd prefer to do a longer ride to push myself back into shape a bit if i'm not going to get dropped. i've only ridden bdm once a few years ago so don't really remember much about the place.

[oparks]

Based on these routes, about how long are the A and B rides? Time/miles? I'm still juggling family schedule so trying to see if I can make this.
Thanks

All three rides start at 9:30 and all try and end at Noon. (If one group stays out too long they miss the after snacks and drink.) So no matter what ride you're on, time wise they're all pretty much the same.

[Dan'ger]

The A and B rides look good, the C ride is way too steep. The Lougher Loop is very steep and the trails are barely maintained out there. I have tried to ride there once and it was brutal. A good C ride would be to ride Stewatsville to Ridge, down Acorn to Old Holmstead Loop and back to the start via Stewartsville (up the wall) and return to parking lot. I think that Rynie was going to help with C group and she can gage the group and make any changes on the fly as needed. The A loop I gave you can take either the North Portal or Old Holmstead Trails to get back to Stewarstville Trail. I should have said to take the Old Holmstead Trail, but that is something we can discuss in the morning. What time should we meet?

I'm aiming to be there by 9am.

[Berkeley Mike]

I'm a course marshal and photographer at Miguel's XC race. Actually I'll look much like I did at the JMP trailwork.

Last time I did this with El Mulo and we had a great time.

[sputnik]

"A" ride bonus track on the West end:

https://www.petefagerlin.com/video/ftbragg_redux.wmv

Just sayin'...

[EBrider]

Nice video.

What happened to the last section? Just wondering.

[sputnik]

Nice video.

What happened to the last section? Just wondering.

Pilot error. Battery died after all of the back and forth.

[desmo13]

Good ride and times today Dan and the BTCEB. Thanks for making our boring painful weekley training area fun! I will get pics up later.

[desmo13]

More here: https://desmo13.exposuremanager.com/..._gala_bd_mines

[Berkeley Mike]

Was there any beer left over?

[Dan'ger]

Was there any beer left over?

Yes. It's in my garage in the cooler. There's some ice left too.

[Entrenador]

Yes. It's in my garage in the cooler. There's some ice left too.

Nice rig, Dan. BTW -- you look tall on that Tall Boy -- hard to tell it's a big wheeled bike in that photo. OT -- Rides like crap, don't it?

[Dan'ger]

Nice rig, Dan. BTW -- you look tall on that Tall Boy -- hard to tell it's a big wheeled bike in that photo. OT -- Rides like crap, don't it?

If it make you feel better, I'll tell you how much it sucks

[Dan'ger]

Thanks for the pictures, route assistance, group guiding and everything else! I certainly couldn't have done this alone and I do appreciate everone's efforts to make it as spectacular as it was!

I thoroughly enjoyed riding yesterday and seeing everyone who came out for the BTCEB Gala Ride. I tracked the B ride using my Android phone and the 'mytracks' application. Subsequently, I uploaded the .GPX to MTBguru.com. http://www.mtbguru.com/trip/edit/15239-black-diamond-mines-b-group

After many years of a trusty Garmin GPS and using the Garmin websites, I have learned that there are viable alternatives. I especially like MTBguru because if you take a bunch of pictures, you can also upload them and they will be placed on the map automatically based on time stamp.

Full-on geospacial geekwad overload!

So, does anyone have the A and C ride track?

[omanwurmi]

After watching sputs video, it really hurt to miss that ride, but I just figured at the time the Black Diamond ride was short-term benefit, trailbuilding at JMP was long-term benefit. Can we schedule that ride again soon? It should be easy, Dan, because you now have all the good route maps.

[Dan'ger]

After watching sputs video, it really hurt to miss that ride, but I just figured at the time the Black Diamond ride was short-term benefit, trailbuilding at JMP was long-term benefit. Can we schedule that ride again soon? It should be easy, Dan, because you now have all the good route maps.

Good on ya for going out to JMP. Considering that BDM is not all that far from my house I could see making another trip some time. Not sure how many weekends I'll have free between now and the green season. BDM turns to muck once it starts raining.

I'll have to rework all of the maps for next year as the consensus it that it's better to start from Contra Loma to take advantage of the swimming area and better picnic areas. Although considering the ease of multiple loops from where we started and the shaded picnic area that we used I think it was all pretty good.

At any rate, there are things I would do differently for the A and B routes. I think the B route needed just a little more distance. The A might have needed a couple of extra miles as well. C seemed perfect except that The Wall seemed to be extra hard. Perhaps we need a D route that doesn't include The Wall.

[cohenfive]

really fun ride gang, and thanks and kudos to dan for putting it all together, supplying yummy treats, etc...weather was perfect, and bdm was what you would expect...lots and lots of climbing with fun descents. i stunk from lack of time in the saddle but enjoyed everything nonetheless. here are a few pix from the day, thanks again dan and btceb!!

1. abandoned barn at the entrance to the park
2. down we go!
3. you made the wall!!
4. our leader enjoying himself