On the weekend of Oct 13-14 Janet Reade, Jay Golien and I camped in the local Cuyamaca Mtns. We had a great time just relaxing and being at camp on Saturday. On Sunday Jay and I got up early to do the “Cuyamaca Poker Ride,” a 15-mile Mountain Bike ride on the trails of Rancho Cuyamaca State Park. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the event go back into the parks Interpretive Center to be used to build and maintain the trails in the park.

Neither one of us had been riding much before the event and had a long tiring climb to start the route. After struggling a bit we found our rhythm. The 15 miles had a great mixture of fire roads and single track while saving the technical sections for the last mile or so. There were five stops along the ride where riders picked a card to add to their poker hand. Jay ended up with the second best hand of the day with four 7’s and a 2. He won a Julian Apple pie, dinner for two at Casa de Pico and various other schwag.

The event is held every October. It would be awesome to have an A16 team of Mtn. Bikers next year!

Ben  Reade,  currently  the  Merchandise  Coordinator  at  Adventure 16,  has  worked  in  the  outdoor  industry  for over  10  years  in  various  capacities.  He  enjoys  many  outdoor  activities but excels  at  cycling  and  disc  golf.  Ben  has  over  100  solo  summits  of  Cowles  Mt.  and  has  bicycled  most  of  the  California coast.