Neil and Phil's Muddy Santa Cruz Trail Riding Trip

Neil at the Demo Forest trail map. 

This Thursday, Neil and I headed down south early in the morning to ride the famed trails of Santa Cruz. We were itching to get out on a proper ride and had been watching the weather all week, waiting out a rain storm for a chance to hit the dirt. There was no rain in the forecast Thursday, but with the storm the day before it looked like we’d be hitting the mud instead. That was fine by us. Some of the most grin-inducing rides we’ve ever had have been in the sloppiest conditions imaginable.

We decided to ride Soquel Demonstration Forest State Park (A.K.A. Demo Forest), which we prefer to the trails above the UC Santa Cruz campus because of the abundance of jumps, steep berms, and other trail features it offers. We drove through the San Jose morning traffic, pulled onto Highway 17 through the Santa Cruz mountains, then drove down a little country road, eventually parking on the side of the road in a secluded section of the woods. Stepping out of the car, we realized everything in the forest was dripping wet, we were surrounded by puddles, and it was breezy and overcast. We thought this should make for some interesting trail conditions.

One of the few flat sections of trail.