Two weeks ago we took John Michael to Woodward West for a 6 night summer scooter camp. On the way we stopped at Skypark to take a mountain bike skills lesson and stayed the night at the lovely Skyforest Inn, pretty much across the highway from Skypark.
John Michael rented a dual-suspension bike for the lesson and, after saying, all day, “I love this bike!” got it for himself. He learned the lessons better than the other adult in the class, better than kc, and much better than me!
After a second day at Skypark we drove him to Woodward West, checked him in and kc and I proceeded up the coast. Along the way, we rode in Montana de Oro State Park. It was absolutely beautiful, along the coast near Morro Bay. It was a pretty tough ride, but it was a perfect day.
We were able to stay in the house of one of kc’s colleagues who lives in Monterey so that was really nice. We did ride one day along the 17 Mile Drive of Pebble Beach. There were pretty areas, but it was a completely unwelcoming place.
We rode another day at Fort Ord – nice trails, but it was not that pretty, so we drove north to the Sequel Demonstration Forest, just southwest of Santa Cruz, and rode the “Flowy Trail Loop.” What a beautiful place – pine trees and fern forest floors with a light fog throughout. Great day.
Here he shows how to drop off a ledge.
Here he shows to to jump at the top of a hillock.
On the way back to get John Michael from camp, we stopped at the “Tehachapi Loop”, a place where trains come up or down the pass from the Central Valley of California. This “spiral loop” allows trains to flatten the grade and as they traverse it, they cross-over themselves (if long enough). There were a number of people there to see the site and hoping to see a train, some had been there previously and been disappointed. We were very lucky to be there when two trains, simultaneously, traversed the loop. It was one of the coolest engineering things I’ve seen.
After collecting John Michael from Woodward West (where he had a blast and did not want to leave.) We rode another two days at Skypark. Below are two very cool videos he made. At least watch the “Go Faster Mom!” video to hear his funny commentary.
On the Notty or Nice video you can hear him singing to himself as he goes down. I’m (far) behind him, jaw clenched, hoping not to die.
