On Saturday, April 22, MCBC teamed up with the Marin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and the NorCal High School Cycling League to take 35 nature loving mountain bikers on a Wildflower Ride on Mt. Tam. It was a day of discovery, and boy did we hit the jackpot! Everywhere you looked the landscape was awash in pink, blue, red, orange, yellow and bright green. We observed 80 different native and rare plants on a 20 mile ride around Mt. Tam.
A big “Thank You!” to ride leaders Bruce Homer-Smith from the Marin Chapter of the Native Plant Society, Joe Breeze from the Marin Museum of Bicycling, Christina Toms from NICA and conservation professional Phil Greer.
We wanted to pass along some plant- and bike-related resources that might be of interest:
- PlantId.net! One of our ride leaders, Bruce Homer Smith, has already assembled a web page featuring the more than 50 species we saw on the ride. Bruce’s site makes it easy for wildflower rookies and pros alike to identify native plants and wildflowers: http://plantid.net/Article/PlantList.aspx/?PlantList=Bicycle+Botany
- OneTam Peak Health: Here’s a link to a report, which describes the health of ecosystems on Mt. Tam and includes maps of past fires on the mountain: http://onetam.org/peak-health
- From Bombers to Bicycles: Next Thursday, April 27th, the Marin Museum of Bicycling (with ride leader Joe Breeze!) is hosting a fascinating talk on the history of military plane crashes on Mt. Tam. Registration is only $10: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-bombers-to-bicycles-tickets-33255992569
- Statewide CNPS Mountain Biking Chapter: If you’re interested in signing the petition to form this chapter, please contact ride leader Christina at christina.toms@gmail.com.
- Learn more about our ride partners at:
- Marin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society: http://www.cnpsmarin.org/
- NorCal High School Cycling League: http://www.norcalmtb.org
- Marin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society: http://www.cnpsmarin.org/
A special thanks to Good Earth Natural Foods for donating the pre-ride snacks and to the Marin Municipal Water District for premitting the ride on their watershed.
The wildflower mountain bike ride on Mt. Tam was such a big success, we anticipate this will be the first of many docent-led nature-oriented mountain bike rides in Marin.