Marin High Five
Name: Marin High Five
Start: Fairfax, California. Official start is at the beginning of Butterfield Road heading north from the intersection with Suffield Ave. Finish: The bottom of Deer Park Fire Road where it intersects with Deer Park Trail
GPX: File Here and Strava Segment
Distance: 60 miles
Description: Marin High Five is a rigorous, 60-mile loop that connects the five highest peaks in Marin County, incorporating steep climbs and boasting over 10,000 feet of vertical elevation gain. Beginning and ending in the town of Fairfax, this route is over 80% on dirt and covers some of the most scenic and remote trails and gravel roads surrounding Mount Tamalpais, which is widely regarded as the birthplace of mountain biking. The route includes old growth redwoods, ocean views, creek crossings, a technical singletrack descent and some of the hardest climbs in the area. The route is designed to be ridden on either a gravel or mountain bike. There is a 2-mile singletrack descent and several other technical segments that favor a mountain bike but much of the rest of the course skews towards a gravel bike.
Unsupported:
Men:
Para:
Supported:
Men: Jack Hogan, 4/27/24, 11:19:33
Women:
Team: Neil Johnstone, Harrison Reed ("HR") Hagan, Bill Morris, 9/7/2024, 9:08:39
Para:
Name: Marin High Five
Start: Fairfax, California. Official start is at the beginning of Butterfield Road heading north from the intersection with Suffield Ave. Finish: The bottom of Deer Park Fire Road where it intersects with Deer Park Trail
GPX: File Here and Strava Segment
Distance: 60 miles
Description: Marin High Five is a rigorous, 60-mile loop that connects the five highest peaks in Marin County, incorporating steep climbs and boasting over 10,000 feet of vertical elevation gain. Beginning and ending in the town of Fairfax, this route is over 80% on dirt and covers some of the most scenic and remote trails and gravel roads surrounding Mount Tamalpais, which is widely regarded as the birthplace of mountain biking. The route includes old growth redwoods, ocean views, creek crossings, a technical singletrack descent and some of the hardest climbs in the area. The route is designed to be ridden on either a gravel or mountain bike. There is a 2-mile singletrack descent and several other technical segments that favor a mountain bike but much of the rest of the course skews towards a gravel bike.
Unsupported:
Men:
- Skyler Taylor, 10/27/2024, 4:43:25
- Pete Stetina, 7/22/2024, 4:50:26
Para:
Supported:
Men: Jack Hogan, 4/27/24, 11:19:33
Women:
Team: Neil Johnstone, Harrison Reed ("HR") Hagan, Bill Morris, 9/7/2024, 9:08:39
Para:
Notes from the ride:
From Team FKT holders, Neil, HR, and Bill- The Marin High Five was an incredibly fun and memorable day with varied terrain, difficult climbing, and rough descents. That being said, there were also some very pleasant rolling hills and excellent single-track descents. When we looked at the route on strava and saw Jack's time, we thought we could beat it, especially if we took more "efficient" gravel bikes. We expected it would take us no more than 7 hours. Boy - were we wrong! HR had scheduled a haircut at 5pm (we were planning to start at 7am-ish). We thought we would be done by maybe 2 or 3 pm in the worst case scenario...
The day started off with a punch as we climbed up and over to Lucas Valley then proceeded up 1800 ft or so of VERY steep fire roads. After a beautiful summit and a stellar, clear view of Mount Saint Helena across Napa Valley, we descended what was probably the best single-track of the route on our gravel bikes. As we reached the bottom of the first "peak" we were already 2 hours in. Doing some quick math, I thought, "This is going to take us 10 hours!" We continued on, enjoyed the ride, got completely worked, and of course, HR missed his haircut appointment.
A couple quotes from the guys.
From Team FKT holders, Neil, HR, and Bill- The Marin High Five was an incredibly fun and memorable day with varied terrain, difficult climbing, and rough descents. That being said, there were also some very pleasant rolling hills and excellent single-track descents. When we looked at the route on strava and saw Jack's time, we thought we could beat it, especially if we took more "efficient" gravel bikes. We expected it would take us no more than 7 hours. Boy - were we wrong! HR had scheduled a haircut at 5pm (we were planning to start at 7am-ish). We thought we would be done by maybe 2 or 3 pm in the worst case scenario...
The day started off with a punch as we climbed up and over to Lucas Valley then proceeded up 1800 ft or so of VERY steep fire roads. After a beautiful summit and a stellar, clear view of Mount Saint Helena across Napa Valley, we descended what was probably the best single-track of the route on our gravel bikes. As we reached the bottom of the first "peak" we were already 2 hours in. Doing some quick math, I thought, "This is going to take us 10 hours!" We continued on, enjoyed the ride, got completely worked, and of course, HR missed his haircut appointment.
A couple quotes from the guys.
- “Definitely take your gravel bike, dude” - Neil
- "I believed and we survived. Just really hurting for a haircut right now." - HR