MountainBikeMarin.com is your free online HD video guide to mountain biking in Marin County, CA.

From the lowest tree top canopy covered valleys to the steepest grades and highest elevations, including some of the best panoramic views in the Bay Area, CA. We have captured end to end footage of all the off road bike legal trails, fire roads and fun Marin County has to offer in amazing HD video quality!

A little bit about Marin…

Marin County is one of the original 27 counties of California, created February 18, 1850. Marin is less than twenty percent developed. Most land is permanently designated as open space, State Parkland, park-like watersheds or National Recreation Area. Overlooked by Mount Tamalpais and bordered by the San Pablo Bay and San Francisco Bay to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the west, Sonoma and Napa wine country to the north and across the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco to the south. Marin and the slopes of Mt. Tam are thought by many to be the birthplace of the Mountain Bike. You can learn more about the history and roots of mountain biking in Marin by watching the great feature length documentary film called Klunkerz by Bill Savage.

The idea behind Mountain Bike Marin…

Necessity being the mother of invention, I found myself feeling unsatisfied with trail maps and ride guides I was able to find online. While some offered great information, there was always something missing that only felt fulfilled after getting out there and seeing it for myself, detail. Really, how steep is this grade, is this trail very shaded or exposed meaning it is time for sunscreen, is this road paved, gravel, groomed or gnarly, rutted, rocky and technical terrain? What could help me prepare and be properly, not overly equipped for my next mountain biking adventure? Video! but I couldn’t find many.. And the few that I did were not of the trails I wanted to see and very shaky, pixelated and low quality. What is a technology minded twenty something year old mountain biking enthusiast to do? Get to work.. I felt inspired, rather compelled to pay homage to the county where I grew up and the mountain biking community. I would build a complete and comprehensive online video guide to the bike legal off road adventures Marin County, the birthplace of mountain biking, has to offer.

There were many challenges in getting this project off the ground. Coming face to face with the same issues that resulted in many other videos being distorted, shaky and with awkward or obstructed points of view. Think about the last time you recorded a video of any kind while holding the camera in your hand, even the slightest movement made the image shaky. Now think about what it would look like while traveling on a bike, at speed down a rutted and rocky fire road. While researching, designing, fabricating and testing various types of cameras, camera mounts and stabilizers I shot over 1oo test videos! Once I found the winning balance of image stability, point of view and video quality, I was ready to ride. All videos featured here at Mountain Bike Marin were shot during the spring / summer months of 2010.

Dedication and special thanks…

This website is dedicated to my parents and my friends for without whom, it would not exist. Dad, for having embraced the sport of mountain biking in Marin in its early days and getting me on a bicycle nearly as soon as I could walk, for my first 5 speed red Schwinn mountain bike and for always inspiring me to go farther and faster. Mom, for always giving your all while supporting and encouraging me in everything I’ve done including cycling and helping me fix and maintain various bikes and parts I’ve broken over the years. My friends for helping me rekindle my passion for cycling (and outdoor fun in general) after a five year hiatus, inspiring and encouraging me every day and even while I disappear into the mountains to spend time with my bike and the amazing places it has taken me.

A special thanks to the Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC) and their incredible “Marin Bicycle Map” that helped introduce and guide me through many new cycling routes while creating this website.