Today I decided to try my hand at biking in Henry Coe. I've been thinking about this all summer, but summer is not a good time to do anything too strenuous at Coe. Today, on the other hand was perfect. The projected high for Gilroy was 61, although cooler in the morning, and sunny all day.
I loaded up the car and headed out. Despite being Black Friday, the roads were pretty empty at 9 am. There was a bit of a line of traffic outside the Gilroy outlets, but I avoided that simply by staying in the through lane.
I had brought warmer clothes just in case, but although it was a little chilly in the shade, it wasn't too bad in the sun. And Henry Coe is known for having lots of sun.
Henry Coe also has a reputation for kicking the asses of cocky bikers, so I made sure to search out the easiest route available in Coe. In particular, I made sure that I'd be going up on the way in so that when I got tired, I could go (mostly) down to get out. The best fit was Coit Road. An easy paved section runs just outside the park from the Hunting Hollow parking area to the Coyote Creek entrance. You can open the map in a separate window if you want to follow along. Hunting Hollow is at the lower left.
The paved part is lined with trees, so it remained rather chilly along here. I kept my speed down to avoid excessive windchill. This was good practice for later; I had all day and I didn't want to tire myself out by attacking the hills too fast.
After re-entering Coe, Coit Road turned into a well graded dirt fire road. The road started rolling up and down a bit more, but continued to follow the creek and thus not gain much altitude. A couple of miles in it finally turned uphill. Even there, the hills weren't killer, and I never needed to go to first gear.
Part way up the hill is Coit Camp, which I guess is a horse camp, judging by the corral. (The Coit Camp Corral might make a good name for a Country & Western band. Do they go for that sort of thing?)
As you can see, the camp also has a luxury outhouse and a picnic area, so it made a nice spot to stop and have an energy bar. Apparently I wasn't bothering the woodpecker that was working on the shady oak above my head.
A little further up is an old pond that must have been dammed by a rancher before the state turned it into a park. It's been a dry summer.
After a last slog uphill, I reached a ridge where Coit Road meets Mahoney Meadows Road and turns right. The ridge is mostly gentle rolling hills, but it does climb to its highest point about 1500 feet above where I parked. I was still feeling reasonably fresh, so I turned onto Wasno Road (another fireroad), then onto the single-track Kelly Lake Trail. This initially rolls along the top of a ridge, eventually giving me the best view I'd get of the area that burned this September (in the far distance).
After that it was almost straight downhill. I might not have great uphill skills, but I have pretty good downhill control. I wouldn't recommend this route for most bikers, though. Kelly Lake isn't visible until almost the bottom of the hill.
It was around 12:15 when I got to the lake, about 2 hours and 20 minutes after setting out, which meant that it was a good place for lunch. The cattails were a bit drier than they'd been earlier in the year.
I took Coit Road back up to the Wasno Road intersection. This was a far gentler climb that the route I took down, but it was still 600 feet of up, with portions that needed first gear. My thighs were starting to feel the burn by now.
Turning left on Wasno Road, I retraced part of my earlier trip (a nice downhill portion), then turned right onto the single-track toward Domino Pond. The other parts of the trip was worthwhile on their own, but this was definitely the highlight of the ride. Mostly gentle downhill, with a few steeper downhills and short uphills, all with a good flow for coasting. It might be a bit narrow for some, though.
Past the Rock Tower turnoff, the trail turned uphill for a bit, then trended down again after joining Cattle Duster Trail. After turning onto Grapevine Trail, the downhills got steeper, and rock inclusions made some parts decidedly technical. I was proud to get all the way down and across the dry, rocky streambed at the bottom without putting a foot down.
Partway down was this small pond with makeshift bridges. Luckily the board didn't shift as I rode across.
I still had a little energy left, so rather than rejoin Coit Road right away, I turned left onto Anza Trail. This was single-track again, but trending uphill. Without much room to swerve for balance, I had to get off and push on a couple of steep parts, but probably for less than 50 feet total. The uphill trend was still quite tiring, though, so I was quite glad to pass Jackson Trail and start downhill again. This part was clearly more of a hiking trail (wider, and buried under leaves in places), but it still had a nice flow.
Finally a quick drop from Woodchopper Spring brought me back to Coit Road. After one last short uphill, it was downhill just about all the way back to the car.
I wasn't sure if the long weekend would bring out more people, or if the shopping season would keep them away. As it turns out, I didn't see anyone at all from the time I left the parking lot until I was almost back to the paved road. However, I did see a few groups starting from just inside the park and then along the paved road. Sometimes I forget that some people like to start out when it's hottest. On the other hand, cool air flows downwards, and I was distinctly chillier once again. I got back to the car at about 2:40.
Gilroy was a nightmare of crazy shoppers, but fortunately I only had to get through a couple of lights to get to the highway. The highway was busy, but not slow.
I am tired.
