So here's the deal; a while back, I figured that I need to exercise more. Well, I hate going to the gym and I hate running. I realized that I have a mountain bike! It was nothing fancy, but it could handle the tasks ahead, so I took up mountain biking as an enjoyable way to (try to) stay in half decent shape. Well, that was about four years and one bike ago, and now I mountain bike because I simply enjoy it. I've moved on to a full suspension bike to handle the rockier trails out here. The two trails I rode yesterday and today, however, weren't too rocky. For any of you that have not been to the central coast of California, this is a beautiful place for mountain biking. As I've been packing up my apartment to move for the next school year, I've had some time to go on some more lengthy rides than usual. Here are some pictures from the rides. The first ride was a three mile climb with a 1600 ft elevation gain. It had some brutal steep spots, which led to me walking up a lot of the trail. The downhill was worth it though! The second ride was about an 8-9 mile loop with a 1300 ft climb.

Here's the first ride, from yesterday:

From the summit at 2600 ft.
[Linked Image from farm5.static.flickr.com]
[Linked Image from farm5.static.flickr.com]
The coastal fog rolling in for the evening.
[Linked Image from farm5.static.flickr.com]
[Linked Image from farm5.static.flickr.com]
My roommate lowering his seat for the downhill.
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I think this was headed down the trail.
[Linked Image from farm2.static.flickr.com]
Back at the car, and back down below the fog!
[Linked Image from farm5.static.flickr.com]

Here are some shots from a ride we did today:

There's the fire road we biked in 3 miles on.
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[Linked Image from farm5.static.flickr.com]
A bit of what we biked/hiked up.
[Linked Image from farm2.static.flickr.com]
[img]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4708543772_e3f35f3c42_b.jpg[/img]
My bike and the trail.
[img]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4708544534_d3db210d9d_b.jpg[/img]
[img]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4707903059_37050dc158_b.jpg[/img]

Well, all in all, I've had a blast on these two trails, yesterday and today. Sorry the pictures aren't better quality. These pictures are all from my cell phone. I just didn't feel like stuffing my somewhat large camera into my backpack. Besides, I ride with a moderately small Camelback, so room is sparse for extra items.