Nor Cal Riding areas

[jrsturn]

Where are they? I live in Antioch and have been riding Carnegie for the last year. I rode Prairie City 15+ years ago, can't remember if it's worth the drive. I believe the Hangtown track is privately owned and not accessible to to the public, I'll check on that. I once rode at an area with a little lake, possibly Foresthill? I can't remember where these areas are and now my kids are old enough to go and have bikes to boot. Any of you willing to share a good day trip spot? An overnite would be great too provided there's water nearby for the wife to soak a line. Thanks for the help, Larry.

[Macho393]

Larry go to [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] and pm a guy named John Lorenz. He will tell/show you some places.

[char393]

There's another member on here, goes by tirebiter, from your area. You might want to shoot him a PM as well.

Seems to me they spend a fair amount of time at a place called Cow Mtn? I've seen pics...looks like a great riding spot.

[yz250guy]

Antioch is East Bay, right? I used to live in Santa Rosa, CA and spent a lot of time riding Cow Mountain(Ukiah area), Forrest Hill (off of I-5, near Williams) Carnegie, Penny Pines (in between Ukiah and Williams, near Clear Lake) and Hollister Hills.(Near Gilroy, CA) Honestly, Hollister is one of the best places I have ever ridden. They have real bathrooms and hot showers, not sure if they have fishing or not. They have overnight camping and tons of trails, a GP track, and a couple small motocross tracks. All of the trails are one-way and marked very well with regards to skill level required. It is worth the drive. (about an hour south of San Jose, near Gilroy, CA)

[jrsturn]

Thanks for the tips, folks. Yes, Antioch is East Bay. We're heading up to Prairie City Friday morning. It's about half the size of the park we usually hit but you never know what you'll find. I'm going to have to plan an overnighter down to Hollister before the weather become too unagreeable. I've also heard of a place called PiPi valley? I think it's Placerville-ish. Any info? Thanks again. Larry

[yz250guy]

Not sure about PiPi, but I have a couple buddies who rode a place called clear creek. I believe they did an enduro out there. Said the place was HUGE! Anyway, good luck.

[Chadm89]

Originally Posted by jrsturn

Thanks for the tips, folks. Yes, Antioch is East Bay. We're heading up to Prairie City Friday morning. It's about half the size of the park we usually hit but you never know what you'll find. I'm going to have to plan an overnighter down to Hollister before the weather become too unagreeable. I've also heard of a place called PiPi valley? I think it's Placerville-ish. Any info? Thanks again. Larry

I hope you check this before you leave. I'm in Lodi, and I'll be at Prairie City tomorrow (Friday). I ride out there a lot.

I plan on being there at around noon. I drive a blue chevy stepside and my bike is a 2002 YZ125 with 366 on the plates. My gear is all black and red. I'll be riding the Prairie City practice track, so look for me and come say hi when you see me.

We'll shoot the, uhm... stuff, and I'll tell you about the local tracks. I just rode Hollister 3 weeks ago with my racing club so I can tell you all about that track.

If you can't find me or whatever, my cell is (209) 613-9079.

[char393]

Originally Posted by Chadm89

If you can't find me or whatever, my cell is (209) 613-9079.

Excellent... hope you don't mind a call at 2 am.

[Chadm89]

Originally Posted by char393

Excellent... hope you don't mind a call at 2 am.

I don't mind certain kinds of calls at 2 AM, but I hardly think that'd be proper, Char.

[jrsturn]

Originally Posted by Chadm89

I hope you check this before you leave. I'm in Lodi, and I'll be at Prairie City tomorrow (Friday). I ride out there a lot.

I plan on being there at around noon. .

Dang it, didn't see this til' this morning. Thanks for the invite tho, Chad. That would have been cool. We left there about 1pm anyway, just in time for the dust filled hurricane to come thru!

Tirebiter, Thanks for the links. I'm going to dig thru them this evening and see if I can get something planned soon.

As dry as it was, the kid was still able to bring half the place home on his bike.Hahaha.

That's a good boy, wash Daddys bike too!

[Chadm89]

Well I hope you had fun.

I got there at around 11:30 and was already packed up and on my way out by 1:00.

I don't know if you rode the practice track or not, but it was in especially crappy shape. Dry as a bone, hardpacked like concrete, no good lines through the corners (which were either completely flat or had ruts up to your footpegs), jump faces all bombed out...

I couldn't get any decent traction anywhere. The way it was hardpacked with powder on top made me feel like I was riding on a buttered baking sheet. My back end tried to wash out every time I got on the gas out of a corner. After a few laps I realized I wasn't really having any fun and that all I was accomplishing was shredding my rear tire. So after a few laps, I loaded up and left.

I sure hope they get out the machinery and do some track maintenance before next weekend. I did like the whoops they put in, though. That was a nice addition to that section.

Anyway man, shoot me a PM or something if you're going to head out that way again.

[jrsturn]

Originally Posted by Chadm89

Well I hope you had fun.


I don't know if you rode the practice track or not, but it was in especially crappy shape..

I went down once, my buddy once and my son twice. Two broken clutch levers, one jaw/headache and a bit of road rash and we had our fill as well. That will be my last trip up there. Highlite was spotting two very nice bucks along with 5 doe. Obviously they are used to seeing humans falling around them! I'll shoot you a pm next trip to Carnegie.

[Jim Howell]

I've been riding in the Nor-Cal area for 18 years now, and have been to alot of different areas. Hollister SVRA is a good place to go. They have overnight camping year-round, with flush tiolets in some areas and showers only in one of the camping areas. Almost all of the trails are one-way. They have several tracks there, MX, vintage MX, TT, 100cc and under kiddy track And miles of trails as well. Clear Creek is another place. This is further south of Hollister, off Hwy 25, or King City off of Hwy 101. If your pulling a trialer over 12', Hwy 101 is the way to go. Clear Creek is BLM land, so its primative camping. Just out-houses. The EVO's have been all over this place & keep trying to close it down, so make sure you stay on permanent trails. One other place in the south bay is Metcalf county park. This a day use only area, with one-way trails, a MX track and a 100cc & under area. Very small place. If your into Motocross, you have Club Moto in Livermore, at the bottom of the Altamount Pass. There's Sand Hill in Baron, a more vintage style MX track. Not too far from you in Antiock. If you go to Hollister be sure to get a state map off all the riding areas in California. You get this at the front range post. Have fun.

[Chadm89]

Originally Posted by jrsturn

I went down once, my buddy once and my son twice. Two broken clutch levers, one jaw/headache and a bit of road rash and we had our fill as well. That will be my last trip up there. Highlite was spotting two very nice bucks along with 5 doe. Obviously they are used to seeing humans falling around them! I'll shoot you a pm next trip to Carnegie.

To be fair, the track isn't usually that bad. Ordinarily they water it at least a couple times a day and they do maintenance on it before it gets that bombed out. I think the biggest problem was that they ran a 2-day race on it last weekend and they didn't prep it after that.

I only went to Carnegie once. The track conditions were exactly the same. It was dry, hardpacked and bombed out. I asked a park worker if they planned on getting the water truck out there at all and she told me they didn't even have one (or it was on loan to another place). I figured I'd never go back.

Did I happen to go out there on the worst possible weekend?

[jrsturn]

Originally Posted by Chadm89

Did I happen to go out there on the worst possible weekend?

I've not been there on a weekend yet and not seen a water truck making rounds. I don't know if that even made sense! Yes, they run water trucks at Carnegie. The main track is usually a bit rough but is quite a bit longer than the one at Prairie City and the surrounding area is superior as well. Lots of trails, hills for riders of all abilities, and room to explore. There is also a store that has just about anything you could need for your bike or your belly. I believe the overall acreage is double the size of Sac and not all chopped up into sections. We went up there to see if the grass was greener...it wasn't.

[Chadm89]

Originally Posted by jrsturn

Lots of trails, hills for riders of all abilities, and room to explore. There is also a store that has just about anything you could need for your bike or your belly. I believe the overall acreage is double the size of Sac and not all chopped up into sections.

Honestly, I never ride trails or hillclimb or anything like that, so the track is the only thing which matters to me. From the sound of it, I went out there at the worst time and didn't get a fair feel of the place.

I'd be willing to give it another try sometime. Be sure to let me know next time you plan on heading out there and I'll meet up with ya!

[jrsturn]

Originally Posted by Chadm89

I'd be willing to give it another try sometime. Be sure to let me know next time you plan on heading out there and I'll meet up with ya!

Will do.

[Chadm89]

Hey man have you ever been to Sandhill MX in Livermore?

I'm thinking about meeting up with a couple of my OTHG buddies out there this weekend. Shouldn't be too far for you.