Riding with Mendo Bike Sprite

After reading the article and seeing the pictures in Bike Magazine about riding on the “Lost Coast”, I was intrigued. Then realizing Fort Bragg was about 3 hours north of San Francisco, where I had an upcoming trip, I knew I had to ride there. I called Amy from Mendo Bike Sprite, a guide company very similar to Durango Mountain Bike Tours (in business two plus years, great customer service, founded on a philosophy of sharing and promoting the local trails to more people). Amy was so accommodating, she set me up with a sweet Ibis Mojo, and even offered up a place to stay. My trail guide for the day was Jesse Stafford, a co owner and life long Mendo Coast resident, one of the cats responsible for building many of the trails in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest. That guy can RIP and is a cool dude. We had a tremendous time shreddin amongst the red woods and ferns. The trails had great flow and the elevation gain, while significant, seemed minimal. We rolled off about 35 miles and 4,600 feet the first day before stopping at Casper Beach for some well deserved IPA’s. Then we hit up some bonus single track after that with an additional 5 mile loop. I had so much fun I asked Jesse if he wanted to ride more the next day, and of course his answer was “hell yeah”. We ripped off another 14 miles and 2,000 feet on yet another new section of trails before I had to drive south back to San Fran and the airport. There is still SO MUCH more to ride, I can’t wait to get back. I’m looking forward to Jesse, Amy, and the the rest of the Mendo Bike Sprite group coming to Durango so I can return the favor.