Neil and Phil's Autumn Annadel ride

Neil in front of the Annadel State Park trail map, ready for the climb.

A few months ago, Neil and Phil drove up north to ride Annadel State Park, one of the most technical and fun mountain bike trails in the Bay Area. Annadel is popular among local riders for providing the kinds of long rock gardens, jumps, and other challenging trail features that aren’t as easy to find closer to home in the East Bay. Any time we make it up to Santa Rosa to ride Annadel, it’s a treat.

Neil and Phil met local Cycle Monkey friend Jake at the trailhead. Neil chose to ride his Lens Sport Lunch Box, a 29er trail bike set up with a Rohloff hub. Neil built up the 150mm travel bike specifically for aggressive riding, with sturdy rims and a laid-back seating position. It’s the bike he takes when he’s able to make it up to Tahoe and big mountain trails in Colorado, Utah or other parts of the Southwest.

Neil's Lens Sport 29er trailbike with 6 inches of travel.

Big Mountain Riding: Neil & Xan's Tahoe Trip

Neil (right) and Xan before heading down the trail.

Neil and Xan loaded up the van early one morning this fall to do some riding around South Lake Tahoe. Henry, a friend of Xan's, joined us for the trip. The goal was to ride the famed "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" trail, officially called the Saxon Creek trail. This would be Xan's first ride on his new white Rohloff-equipped Ventana Zeus, a 160mm travel trail bike with 650b wheels. It was also an opportunity for Neil to get away from the office and have some fun after a busy summer. Neil brought his Lenz Sport Lunch Box, a 150mm travel 29'er, which has proven to be a very capable bike over the past few years.

The bikes all loaded up and ready to go.