Welcome!
We are San Jose Mountain Biking
Our group’s purpose is simple. We want to get people out riding whenever and wherever possible. As the Organizer of SJ Mtb, I’m dedicated to helping people get out on the bike more often. I don’t care if you ride every day of the week or just a few times a month. I don’t care if you only ride with us or if you ride with lots of different groups. Mountain Biking for me isn’t a popularity contest, it’s a way of life. We’re not out to have the most members, nor are we interested in telling people who to ride with. My team of organizers and I have one simple goal: Try our best to provide you all with the absolute best rides. My team is made up of people from all walks of life from all over the Bay Area. We have Organizers representing nearly every part of the Bay including… the South Bay, East Bay, Peninsula, Santa Cruz and even the Central Valley and we all love to ride and share the ride with others.
Our rides will range from After-work social meetups and workouts to full on epic rides. We ride everywhere, including places that are off the radar of other groups. We ride all the local favorites, i.e. Fremont Older, Arastradero, Santa Teresa, Alum Rock, etc. as well as all the popular spots further outside our immediate area. Some of our favorites include Demo Forest, El Corte de Madera, Fort Ord, and the Many State parks nearby. We’ve also ventured to Tahoe, Downieville, Boggs and many more. As the years progress will undoubtedly be adding even more exciting and fun places to our ride portfolio.
All of our rides will follow a no-drop policy. If you show up for a ride we’ll make sure you get out with us. Don’t worry about coming out and slowing people down. That sort of fence sitting will never get you out with a group. Come on out with us and we’ll look out for you. No one will be left behind on our rides. To ensure our members know what they’re getting into from the start we have adopted a ride rating system very similar to that used by groups such as ROMP and MTBR. Our system is fairly detailed and aims to give you a complete picture of what to expect. Everything from pace (how fast we’ll be riding) to distance and elevation is covered. Of course every one of my Organizers has a personality all their own, as you’ll see by the various styles of rides posted. I’ll do my best to add details to those rides that lack enough information for members, but I don’t require my Orgs to post rides my way or no way. I give them all the freedom to post as they like. That’s what makes us great. We’re a team of different individuals that have come together to provide you all with the very best mountain biking experience.
The basic ride rating formula is as follows:
Difficulty and Pace (D and C being beginner friendly and social)
Technical difficulty – between 1-10. This rating is fairly subjective as everyone has had different experiences at the same trails. The important thing to remember about this rating is to just ask if you’re unsure.
Physical difficulty – similar to the tech rating this is a 1-10 rating that takes into account a ride’s pace distance and gain.
Mileage – pretty straight forward here. This is simply how long the ride will be.
Gain – this is the total ascent during the given distance. It’s calculated by taking the sum of all climbing done during a ride.
If you ever have questions about our rating system or anything else regarding one of our rides please feel free to email me. I’m always willing to help a fellow rider, especially ones just getting started. We may not be the biggest group in the Bay but we are the best. I will always go out of my way to make my members feel welcome and appreciated. I also promise to never kick you out for not making it to a ride, I understand things happen. If you have idea to help SJ Mtb become even more awesome let us know. Our forum is updated and checked regularly and we're always looking to be better. Want to lead a ride in your area? Just ask. I'm always looking to get more people involved in the group.
Above everything else I just want people to get out and ride.
-David B.
Organizer
San Jose Mountain Biking
