R Brown (4Crawler)

Made it up Charcoal Rd., in Upper Stevens Creek County Park, a few old roads farther, just short of 2000 ft. elevation and what do you know, another wrecked car!

Not only that, but signs of another one, for now just a hood and trunk lid. Need to see if I can find the rest.

I also was able to find and "follow" the trace of the old MTB trail between these old roads. In places, the trail was clear, but in other sections, it vanished beneath brush and fallen trees. I suspect this trail may have extended farther up Charcoal Rd. More exploring to do...

When I get to this is weather dependent. Last weekend was cooler than normal, but the next weekend or two are forecast to be a lot warmer. This will start waking up the ticks and the poison oak will start shooting up even more than it is now.

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1 day ago (edited) | [YT] | 5

R Brown (4Crawler)

Followed a new (to me) old road in Upper Stevens Creek County park last weekend. That road is about 1/2 mile long, parallel to lower Charcoal Road, much of it in pristine condition, but several sections of dense brush and a jumble of fallen trees that needs to be bypassed. Coincidentally, there's also a (premium) GeoCache located here as well with some interesting history on this area.

Along the way, I spotted what looked like a continuation of an old MTB trail I knew about and this weekend followed that trail and found this construction. Appears to have been some sort of platform built up in some trees, maybe 6 ft. off the ground at it's lowest point. Not sure what it was for, but it's just uphill from lower Charcoal Road.

And later, studying the USGS hill shade map, I think I see where this old MTB trail continues farther up the hill. This is an extension of the first old trail I found 3 years ago. I originally thought that first segment was it, but now have added two more segments and it seems there's still more to it.

I think the #1 rule is that MTB riders hate fire roads (too boring).The #2 rule is they hate when park officials prohibit riding down said fire roads. That's the case here, Charcoal Rd. is uphill-only for bikes and is the only bike-legal route in this part of the park. So because of rules 1 and 2, the solution was to build their own trail down the hill, parallel to the fire road. I don't think these trails get used anymore as I hear that many still ride down the hiking-only Table Mtn. trail. I, being a lowly gravel bike rider, am more than happy on fire roads. I've ridden up Charcoal Rd. several times over the years, but have never had time to stop and explore, as this is a long, steep climb with a long ride home remaining at the top.

Link to my abandoned MTB photo album:
photos.app.goo.gl/1LRX3NGdpfVqGYgFA

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1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 4

R Brown (4Crawler)

URGENT: For California residents, please contact your representatives by Monday, April 20 and ask them to oppose Assembly bill AB-1557.

In short, this bill sets out to place European type e-bike speed and power limits (16 MPH, 250W power) on all e-bikes. This will make all e-bikes that meet the federal 20/28MPH and 750W e-bike standards illegal. The bill has no research backing it up. There are no studies of the incidence of current legal e-bike safety vs. that of the "illegal" e-motos or high speed, modified e-bikes.

Enter your address on the page below to find your representatives and then click through their web page and click the Contact link:
findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

FYI the sponsors of this bill are: Diane Papan, Patrick Ahrens, Juan Alanis, Steve Bennett, Tasha Horvath, Mia Bonta, Juan Carrillo, Damon Connolly, Laurie Davies, Diane Dixon, Matt Haney, John Harabedian, Gregg Hart, Cory Jackson, & Pilar Schlavo.

Here's a sample message to get you started:
---
Hello ,

I am a California resident asking you to oppose AB 1557.

This bill would make many currently legal e-bikes effectively non-compliant and would have serious negative impacts on riders, commuters, and small businesses like local bike shops.

E-bikes are one of the most practical and accessible transportation options we have. Policies like this risk setting back adoption and harming an industry that is helping Californians reduce costs and emissions.

I strongly urge you to oppose AB 1557 or amend it to align with existing federal and California e-bike standards. Instead, how about the state enforce the existing e-bike regulations instead of passing new ones. Specifically, enforce regulations on the e-motorcycle and e-moped style vehicles with excessive power and speed capabilities. Those type of vehicles can be registered and licensed under existing moped and motor drive cycle regulations.

Thank you.
---

Bill text below:
legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1557/id/3303899

2 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 5

R Brown (4Crawler)

Wow, what a scam e-mail this one is! Is it from FIFA in Switzerland or FIFA in Canada or FIFA in Mexico?
And then this "You are advised to contact our Canadian FIFA regional Headquarters claim agent as stated below. After HE finishes processing your Payment file, HE will direct you to the bank to contact for urgent transfer of your fund to any of your nominated bank accounts."
Claims Agent: ​ Comrade Mrs. Clara Peterson <= HE?

THE QUADRENNIAL FIFA WORLD CUP 2026

FIFA headquarters
Location: Zürich, Switzerland
Address: FIFA-Strasse 20

Dear Lucky Winner/Email Owner,

CONGRATULATIONS!!! This is to inform you that your email address emerged as a Winner of an amount of US$1,500,000.00 Dollars, (One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in the NORTH AMERICAN FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 GAME PROMOTION Draw held in (MEXICO CITY) through an open Computer ballot JAVA System. This award was sponsored by CANADA , MEXICO, LONDON UK & USA Government to mark the first time ever the World Soccer event to be hosted by Four Countries. FIFA, Microsoft and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Collaboration with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to help provide financial assistance to families across the globe while working hard with so many nations to combat this world poverty pandemic.

All participants’ email was automatically entered in the draw as Microsoft collected all the Active email users globally for this promotion. Your email Address attached to Reference Number: WCD19752026 was luckily drawn to win you the prize in the category ''A''. Therefore, a Pin Number has been issued for you to claim your prize. Pin code: 633411.

For you to receive your US$1,500,000.00 Dollars (One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars). You are advised to contact our Canadian FIFA regional Headquarters claim agent as stated below. After he finishes processing your Payment file, he will direct you to the bank to contact for urgent transfer of your fund to any of your nominated bank accounts.

Canadian FIFA regional Headquarters OTTAWA Canada .
Address: CANADA SOCCER 237 Metcalfe Street,
ON K2P 1R2 OTTAWA Canada,
Claims Agent: ​ Comrade Mrs. Clara Peterson

Email: info.depclaimoffice@proton.me
www fifa world cup com, www.fifa.com
Tel:+44770030FirstNumber Tel: +1 403 770 SecondNumber
WhatsApp: +44785726ThirdNumber.

Forward the following information as stated below to Mrs. Clara Peterson
1. Full Name:
2. Address:
3. Age:
4. Occupation:
5. Mobile Number:
6. REFERENCE NUMBER: WCD19752026

Send the above information to file for your claim. Only contact the above-mentioned (Comrade Mrs. Clara Peterson) to receive your prize money. Please keep your winning Identification Numbers confidential to avoid double claims.

Yours Truthfully,
Mrs. Felicia Gabjong Moon
MEXICO WINNING NOTIFICATION OFFICER.

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 3

R Brown (4Crawler)

Took the e-bike out on a longer ride last weekend. I've always wanted to do the Welch Creek Rd. climb near Sunol CA. but it's about 25 miles ride just to get to it along with having to climb/descend one ridge to get there and do the same on the return.
Location:
maps.app.goo.gl/oP9vbDryBFccwT969
Climb:
pjammcycling.com/climb/338.Welch%2520Creek%2520Roa…

Ended up a bit over 57 miles and 5000 ft. of climbing. Good thing I had the range extender battery, as I ended up using 15Wh more battery capacity than the internal battery has.

This ride is just a bit less than going up Mt. Hamilton, which is about 4 miles longer and 200 ft. more elevation. Hope to do that ride at some point this year, I last did it on my monster cross bike in 2013.

Photos:
Nice view of Calaveras Reservoir from Calaveras Rd.
The Welch Creek Rd. turnoff
The base of the climb where it enters the deep canyon

Decent view at the top but the road just ends at a bunch of private driveways and a gate where the road continues into the adjoining Regional Preserve.

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4 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 6

R Brown (4Crawler)

Finally did the Mission Peak ride on the Salsa Tributary. I had tried this last fall but I got caught in a bad storm and had to bail out just past the Eagle Spring camp (first photo).

2nd photo is along the ridge where you pick up the Bay Ridge Trail signs.

3rd photo is the start of the descent off Monument Peak, on the south end of the ridge. Trail is just a faint path through the grass for much of the first 2 miles.

4th photo are a large rock outcrop and grove of old trees part way down the descent.

5th photo is the grass path down from that grove of trees.

6th photo ran across a wild bobcat along this trail, must have had a den there. Didn't get a photo as I figured she might have some young nearby.

46 miles total and just shy of 3900 ft. elevation gain.

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 6

R Brown (4Crawler)

A new wave of phishing e-mails, this time from "USPS Delivery Team". Note the wonderful spelling and punctuation (space comma!):

Delivery issue, please verify details ID: 72350
USPS.COM®
Winter Update: Weather conditions may affect deliver y times.
Hello,
We 're having trouble delivering a package to y ou on 24 Feb 26 08:13 UTC due to an incomplete address.
To avoid the package being returned to the sender ,p lease verify and update your delivery details using the button below:
[ Update Ad dress Now ]
Action Required: If no action is taken within 24 hours , the parcel will be returned to the sender.
Sincerely,
The USPS Delivery Team
©2026 United St ates Postal Service. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Customer Service

1 month ago | [YT] | 4

R Brown (4Crawler)

Been getting some interesting e-mails from Chinese vendors lately. I suspect they are using AI to scrape my web pages and actually reference some of the content there, unlike earlier e-mails where what they're selling has no relation to my content. Reason I suspect AI is that what they are referring to on my "4x4 build" is actually on my VW diesel pickup pages:
www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSale/ShiftLinkage.shtml
www.4crawler.com/Diesel/CheapTricks/Tachometer/ind…
vs. on my Toyota 4Runner pages:
www.4crawler.com/4Runner.shtml
They also hit all the e-mail contact links on my pages, so I get half a dozen identical e-mails with the "Hi name" changed to the match the e-mail address.

Example:

Hi webmaster,

You’ve probably seen it too — after a solid 4x4 build (like those diesel tach upgrades or shift kits you do so well), customers often ask: “How do I carry tools, gear, or gear *securely* on rough trails?”

We’re Hangzhou Case Tools Co., Ltd., building laser-cut aluminum UTE trays, canopies and storage boxes since 2006 — tested on Ford Ranger, Nissan Navara, F150 Raptor and more.

No pitch — just wondering if that’s a natural extension for your customers’ builds.

No pressure at all,
Senior Marketing Specialist

Hangzhou Case Tools Co., Ltd.

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 4

R Brown (4Crawler)

Yet more e-moto craziness, parenting fail for sure in the first incident:

A 5-year-old boy was seriously injured Tuesday after the electric motorcycle he was riding crashed into a car on a residential street in Napa County, according to the California Highway Patrol. His passenger on the e-motorcycle, a 7-year-old boy, and another 7-year-old boy on a separate e-motorcycle were also injured in the incident.

Full article:
www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/3-boys-hospitalized-af…

And another one:
A 16-year-old boy riding an electric motorcycle on the shoulder of Highway 1 in Half Moon Bay was killed Monday after running into a box truck, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
A preliminary investigation determined that the boy was traveling at a high rate of speed on the e-motorcycle before running into the box truck, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities described the bike as an electric off-highway motorcycle that does not have pedals.

Full article:
www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/16-year-old-boy-dies-i…

At least the reporters are correctly identifying these as e-motos and not e-bikes.

1 month ago | [YT] | 4

R Brown (4Crawler)

Decent rains last month along with a stretch of warmer weather has let the Periwinkle go into full bloom (1st photo).

Not sure what these yellow leaf plants are growing in with the Periwinkle (2nd photo). Google Lens thinks they are Sundance Mexican Orange, but says that's a shrub ground ~5 feet tall. These are growing down in the ground cover unless they are just starting.

However, it's done the same for the Poison Oak, which is now between knee and waist high (3rd photo)! So I think I'm done hiking off trail in the lower canyon for the season, getting a bit too spicy. Time to venture farther up the canyon...

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 6