Recomended Trail/Bike Rental
 

Hi guys. Im from Buenos Aires, Argentina and im planning a trip to California on MAy. Im going to San Francisco and then south through the Pacific Coast Highway to LA. Stay there some days and then going to Vegas. I always like to ride when i travel, but this is a special trip for me because California is where MTB begun and I must ride some trail while in California. What trail would u recomend that meets this criteria:

1) Awesome, im gonna take one ride, it should be a s stunning as possible
2) Not too far away from the pacific coast higway or Cali 1, between San Francisco and Los Angles.
3) Bike rental nearby. A nice bike. duesnt have to be a 16 pound racing beast but not a huffy either
4) Have some wife disposal facility such as a beach, a mall, chippendales, or whatever would make my beloved wife busy for some 6 or 7 hours (you guys cant volunteer on this one!)

Any data will be useful! Thanx a lot!

You should post here, if you haven't already: http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/forum.php

Socaltrailriders is a good place to post... in the meantime depends on where you plan to ride and what you plan to do... I can recommend Orange County and riding in El Moro/Laguna Coast Wildnerness/Serrano/Bommer (views of the ocean - miles or trail - wife can shop in Laguna beach or hang out in Newport Beach). SUggest you do some research and have a plan as to what you want to do - narrows thinsg down abit.

A shop in OC that rents good bikes is The Path. Thery have a website [thepath.com]. They also advertise on SCTR.

If you are intent of riding in LA... then there the Santa Monica Mountains or Sycamore Canyon - Malibu. Can't help you with bike rentals...

Another good website mountainbikebill.com - he has alot of ride reports, trail photos descriptions etc.

I always think it is funny when reading about who the Father of MTB was. That being said the first group that started modifying bikes and putting road components on them, sharing ideas and building frames and testing them against each other normally as a group had one place that was considered "A Test" > That was MT Tam. http://www.marinfattire.com/Mt_Tam_Trails.html. Velo Club Tam is without a doubt the springboard for modern day mountain biking. They rode Mt Tam

There are so many trails between San Francisco and LA that choosing one that is the "best" is like asking who is the most beautiful blond in the history of Hollywood actresses or not would start a similar type of debate. Very few can or would argue that Mt Tam is not holy ground nor without merit as a "must do" ride. Mt Tam is steeped (yea so had to throw that word in somewhere) in history and meets your criteria.

While married, old, 600 miles away and fat I very much appreciate the offer to take care of your wife. However she would find me far less interesting than a day to herself with a credit card in downtown San Francisco.