Cogma Bikewear

April 2014 BOM – Gibike prototype

April 30, 2014/in Bike of the Month /by cogmadog

We saw this cool machine at Sea Otter. It’s a Gibike – electric/human hybrid. Designed to be an inner city commuter. At this time it’s a prototype and the inventors are looking for some investment via Kickstarter to get into production.

It’s not only a beautiful bicycle it’s also well thought out in terms of functionality. I was drawn to the swoopy lines, open crankset and single sided chainstay and front end. It also folds easily for storage with just one lever, it has a multi gear rear hub, USB charging port, non-greasy belt drive and anti-theft locks built right in. Head to their web site to get all the details right from the source.

Bloody Shins MTB Trail System – Winnemucca, NV

April 20, 2014/in Rides /by cogmadog

Coming home from Sea Otter we stopped in Winnemucca for the night. The next morning a quick Google search for MTB trails in central Nevada led us to the Bloody Shins area right outside town.

Gotta say it was a real treat to find some great MTB specific trails out where we expected none. It’s fun, swoopy and fast. Even the “green” singletrack trails are a blast.

We started out at the trailhead on the east side of town – just past the high school. From there we worked a generally counter clockwise loop hitting the Snake, Lizard and Afterthought trails while gaining elevation toward the back of the system. Afterthought is a great trail to climb – skinny, turny and designed so that there are a lot of breaks in the climb. Really nice work in trail design. The “intermediate” loop takes you out to the Lost Forest area where there were a ton of other unmarked singletrack trails crossing. Wished we had more time to explore around more.

Oh yeah, I love finding rusty shot-up cars in the desert – that’s another reason I loved this ride so much! It’s worth a stop if you’re traveling through on I-80.

Mount Tamalpais – San Anselmo, CA

April 18, 2014/1 Comment/in Rides /by cogmadog

While visiting family in San Anselmo, we had a chance to get up Mt. Tam for a quick morning ride.

Marin lays claim to the birthplace of mountain biking and Mt. Tamalpais was one of the spots where it all began. Sadly, today there are not really any trails on Mt. Tam that can be ridden legally. It’s fire road or paved road only.

We started in downtown San Anselmo right by the Yoda statue. Yep, that Yoda… From there a short couple of blocks over to Lagunitas Rd. and then up through Natalie Coffin Park. After bearing around the north/west side of Phoenix Lake you pick up the Eldridge Grade road. It takes you all the way up. Near the top the double track roughens up and becomes a bit more interesting. Lots of nice vistas and deep shade in dark patches of redwood along the way. Probably about an hour and a half of pedalling – 2000 feet or more in elevation gain.

At the top you’re rewarded with huge views of San Francisco Bay, the surrounding cities and the Pacific coastline. For us tourists it was worth a snapshot or two!

The down leg started with a cruise across the paved Ridgecrest Blvd. to where it meets Lagunitas – Rock Spring Rd. It’s a rolling dirt road at the top and ends up bombing down – steeply in spots – to Lake Lagunitas and the picnic area there. Then it was a cut-through on the Filter Plant Rd. to Fish Grade and on down to Phoenix Lake again.

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