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Church of the Wheel (COW) is a group of people that try to get out and ride their mountain bikes as much as possible. Most rides occur in the Eureka/Arcata area, and sometimes in McKinleyville or north from there. Other areas are explored when members are travelling to outside areas. Over time images from members will be placed here for all to see. The best rule of the "COW" is that if a crash happens, the involved party MUST stay put until their picture has been taken. This is a real drag if you happen to have crashed into a mud puddle six inches deep!!!





(Not So)Current Riding News

Summer/Fall, 2001:

More riding in McKinleyville along the ridge before Fieldbrook. Went up to Little Bald Hills trail that exits from Jed Smith park. That is a nice loop if you like some road included, or you can just do an in-and-out. There is the new Bigfoot Bicycle Club in town. They offer rides for all levels, including a road ride from Revolution Bicycle shop on Wednesday at 6PM. Other riding includes the Bigfoot race course over on PL land in Freshwater, the Red Gate from Kneeland to Jacoby Creek, and of course the old Tish Tang course over past the golf course in Willow Creek.


Summer/Fall, 2000:

More riding in McKinleyville along the ridge before Fieldbrook. Eric Almquist has developed a large number of trails on the Essex end of the area. Some out back riding along the S. Fork of the Trinity river was had. The main trailhead starts at the end of S. Fork Rd. past the Surprise Creek river access. It is a hairy ride along narrow trails perched on the edge of deep canyons. At some points if one was to go over, there would be no recovery without helicopters! An attempt to ride Lost Man Creek was made except a bonehead member forgot his wheel at home after putting his bike on the car rack. Nonetheless, we made up for it with a long ride out in McVille. Liscom Hill Rd, near Blue Lake, offers a very challenging climb with a fun wander along the top of the ridge to northern Fieldbrook or Crannell. Wow, this place is GREAT!


Fall/Winter, 1998:

Lots of riding in the Arcata forest these days as there is WAY too much mud everywhere else. The most popular ride is to take 14 up and cross over on 8, and then continue up 11 to the top and down Jane's creek trail. Some times a variation is added up 13 and another loop back around to the top of Jane's...


Summer, 1998:

Lots of riding east of McVille on Simpson Timber property. Most of us aquired passes that allow riding after 4:30PM and weekends from the office in Korbel. There are some really great trails over in the Essex Lane area. The best new trail is called 'Side Winder'. It has three variations: direct, scenic, and nature trail. All three variations are on the technical side, and you had better watch out as branches have a tendancy to jump out and grab your handle bars during jumps. (Ouch!!)

Spring, 1998:

Most riding has been in the Arcata Forest due to wet and muddy conditions in other areas. Lately it has been drying out a bit, so rides east of McVille have been going on more often. Unfortunately, the last ride east of McVille had a pretty bad accident. Tk tried to catch a bit of air and ended up on his head. He requested that no pictures were taken as he was in much pain, and the troops had to be called out. 25 Arcata volunteer fire department people and an ambulance arrived on the scene and haul his dust ass about a mile out of the woods. Recovering from a fractured vertibra quickly, he should be back on the dirt in another month or so.

Riding Areas of the North Coast



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