Marin Bikes Blog

Forest City, CA, which sits in between Downieville and Alleghany,  was founded in 1852 at the height of the Gold Rush and once boasted a full time population of 1,400 residents.  Its remote location and relatively high elevation(4,489 ft.) made living in this area difficult, but sitting at the headwaters of the Oregon Creek Watershed made it ideal for mining. Today,though, the town is basically abandoned. The haggard remnants of a general store, dance hall(also the town’s museum), church, school house, cemetery and a a handful of decrepit old houses-some in better repair than others- are the only reminders of this town’s once prosperous past. Well, that and the red rocks that went from the back end of the Dance Hall/Bar to where the only brothel in town once stood. Don’t be fooled by Forest’s empty,  run down look because, upon closer inspection, you will find that there is a vibrant population of 40 plus seasonal residents-with the exception of one hardy family who live year round- who are, so to speak, reinventing the wheel when it comes to utilizing one of mining’s not so polarizing legacies: flumes, skid tracks and trails!!

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Marin dealers from all over Northern California converged yesterday at our Novato headquarters to get a sneak peek at our line of 2011 bikes. The day started off with a discussion about our marketing efforts, specifically how we are trying to support  our dealers by being present at many local events, dealer sales incentive programs and concluded with a detailed discussion of our 2011 bike line. For those of you interested in seeing the full line of  2011 bikes , please click here. The most productive and informative part of the presentation was the dealer feedback we got about our 2010 bikes and  comments and questions about our parts spec and color choices for the 2011 line. All in all it was a great day spent talking about something we all love: BIKES!

Boy Wonder-Marin's high flying ace

Never  one to let any grass grow beneath his tires, AT decided to bust out his Marin Team DH at last weekend’s Northstar downhill  race and, although he hasn’t raced that discipline in over 5 years, ended up 16th out of 34 riders. Not bad considering he threw in a couple of “suicides” on the last few jumps for some style points. Must’ve been all the pointers I gave him when we rode together in Whistler….NOT!!  Check out the GoPro video of AT’s run.

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When it comes to our new Quad DH, a bike that boasts 250mm of travel, I feel like a proud papa showing off  his newborn. I soak up  the attention and never get tired of talking about it, especially when others are doing the talking for me! Check out this video link to hear what Shaums March had to say about his pimpy new Quad DH. Don’t drool too much when you see his gold accessories!

After a busy week at Crankworx in BC, where our Quad DH was unveiled for the first time to rave reviews, some photos of the mountain slaying steed are starting to trickle in. For those of you not familiar with cycling satirist Stevil, the brains and brawn behind All Hail the Black Market, I give you his latest posting, which just happens to show our  Quad DH being ridden by an ex pro roadie. Go figure!

Horace Greely, the great American newspaper editor who helped make the New York Tribune one of the most influential newspapers of the mid 1800s, is credited with coining the phrase ” Go West, young man, go West and grow up with your country.”  This notion, along with the idea of Manifest Destiny, for better or worse, depending on how you view it, was the driving ethos behind American expansion and exploration during this formative period in our nation’s history. Tomorrow I will, along with  my good friend Austin McInerny and world renowned photographer Scott Markewitz, embark on a five day bike adventure on portions of the Bay Area Ridge Trail that harkens back to the days of our nation’s early growth. The BART trail system, first conceptualized by East Bay Regional Park District manager William Penn Mott, Jr. in the 1960s, is designed as a multiuse ridgeline route that will connect public parklands and watersheds of the Bay Area greenbelt that circle San Francisco Bay. Our plan is to ride as much of the 325 miles of existing trails as possible-with the aid of various modes of public transportation and shuttles-to highlight the history of BART’s development,  to address the challenges that could impede further growth and trail connectivity,  and to demonstrate the value and importance this amazing resource has for  the over nine million people who call the Bay Area home. Check back for daily updates on our blog, Facebook and Twitter. Now it’s time for me to heed the eternal words of Horace Greely, finish packing up, and get ready to go north, south, east and west as Austin and I tackle something that has never been done before.

Although I am a Whistler rookie  I can truly say, without reservation, that this is one of the best places I’ve had the pleasure to experience  in my 15 plus years of riding. With everything from world class downhill runs(of which I timidly sampled) to technical,pine shrouded single track, Whistler has everything a rider could want, and then some. I found myself in the much envied position on Thursday-our second day here-to experience the “and then some” that Whistler has to offer  when I got invited on an industry heli drop ride with eleven other lucky individuals.

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