Repack on my coaster klunker

[J-wagon]

Hi all, some highlights of family road trip time in Fairfax, CA, home of Repack DH. I rode it first time, 1936 Snyder Rollfast badged fastback klunker singlespeed coaster brake only.

First of all, Fairfax is a great place to visit! 👍👍 Small town, lots of character, good Earth vibe, very hilly area, lots of young families, Marin Museum of Bicycling. It's like a cycling equivalent of a ski town. Lots of road and mtb riders on any given day. Lots of local school age kids zipping around town on ebike, e-scooters. Neighborhood homes on some very steep streets.

Here highlights of my Repack ride route:

From town, rode up Bolinas Rd, passed by Gestalt Haus (biker bar) with awesome Repack tribute bench mosaic artwork 👍👍

Climbed asphalt Bolinas Rd about 4 miles to Azalea Hill / Pine mountain fireroad. Ave grade 5%. Took about 35 mins or so. My klunker is geared for climbing (18t skiptooth front, 10t rear)👍👍👍

If you are set up tall geared like the og klunker DH time trial racers, shuttle up to Azalea drop off would be better.

From Azalea, more climbing up Pine Mtn Fireroad looks similar as in pics from 1970s/80s. About 2 miles of alternating mild inclines and steep, rocky segments (worst is 15% grade) until reaching Repack trailhead (officially Cascade Cyn Rd). On Strava, first part labeled "Oh sh*t climb." Along the way, abundant bluish green Serpentine rocks (state rock of California), looking back is beautiful view of San Rafael bay and mt tamalpais East peak.

Serpentine rocks:

Eventually Pine mountain fireroad becomes San Geronimo Ridge Rd. After about one hour climbing with some steep rocky HAB sections, I reached Repack trailhead 😊😊

Then the downhill!
The opening sprint is flat and requires pedaling. Then the DH begins! Wow, some sections are steep, 15% grade 😯, I had my weight back on the coaster pretty much the whole time. Wow, some sections got squirrelly. Took me about 15 mins. No crashes.
The internet videos don't really capture how steep it is.

At the bottom, I smell burning grease and burned finger touching hub. Was braking so hard and long that grease oozed, was freshly packed blue marine grease but turned molasses color. Heat even creeped onto rear dropouts, parts of chainstay, seat stay warm to touch.

In my opinion, those og riders were super fearless and skillfull. Even with later addition of hand brakes their sub 5 minute times are super fast !!!

 

[J-wagon]

I also rode Repack couple more times on my Specialized HT 29er. Second time 8 min 45 sec, third time 7:45 (I took a poor line choice and hit a dead tree on edge of trail, stopped in time to avoid injury). Interestingly it was right after switch back #2 camera corner, on the repack map there is dead tree label but I doubt it same tree.

My strava marked my dead tree incident:

 

[KingSized HD]

GREAT pics and story, thanks for sharing both. I always wondered if the Repack route was still open to riders so thanks for that info too! Very kool.

 

[J-wagon]

Yup, for sure rideable, highly recommended if interested in klunker history, mtb origin story. Especially since marin museum of Bicycling is there too. During my time in Fairfax was able chat with museum docents and repack riders Charlie Kelly and Ross Parkerson (see pic).

I also had planned to ride the xc route referred to as Alan Bonds "Enduro" race. Charlie said he was responsible for marking the enduro route, ironically on race day he got little bit lost. Says now the exact route lost to history/overgrowth and portions non designated.

 

[Miq]

Great posts @J-wagon ! Thanks for all the work putting the pics, maps, and story together for us. Really enjoyed seeing this.

 

[mrg]

Ya, great place all around,hope you ate at Gestalt Haus, walk in and hang your bike up!, can get crazy on the weekend with all kind of bikers including the weekend spandex warriors ( ON YOUR RIGHT!! ) riding over the bridge from SF.

 

[Houndsworth]

Great review! Marin is famous for great off roading, there are roads and trails for all skill levels. The Marin Museum of Bicycling is also the home of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. It's a must-visit place for bicycle fan, off or on road. They feature a nice pictorial history of how the hobby/sport/business started, right here at the food of Mt. Tamalpais. Also there are many antique, classic, road race, regular, folding, and military bicycles on display.

Not trying to distract from Repack and Fairfax, but on the museum,I want to say I was there last week talking to curator and mountain bike pioneer Joe Breeze about me volunteering to help create a special display in 2024 around BSA Airborne folders. This will be to commemorate the 80-year anniversary of two big battles during the Second World War where they were used. During the massive Normandy invasion June 6, 1944 they were used by British parachute and glider infantry at drop and landing zones behind the invasion beaches, while commandos and Canadian infantry waded ashore, many carrying bikes through the surf. In September 1944 during the push towards Germany through the Netherlands by the British Army, many bikes were used by the airborne troops who attacked Arnhem to seize the big bridge over the Lower Rhine before the retreating Germans could blow it up. This was the Market Garden operation, aka "A Bridge Too Far" after the epic film, by that name. The bicycle tactic was, the troops were generally landed where the Germans were not, so bicycles were used to quickly get near their objectives. Of course, when the bullets started flying the bikes were discarded! I'll be loaning two of my BSAs, mannequins, and photos for the display. The museum owns an early model folder.

 

[J-wagon]

Cool. I saw their bsa folding bike. If I visit again in June 2024, I'll check out your special display 80th anniversary.

I also hope museum might have a 50th anniversary Repack 2026 event, with Repack tribute ride. If so, I would go to that for sure! 👍👍

 

[DrRumack80]

Incredible photos, documentation and trip. You did it in style too. Smoking the rear hub is priceless!

The museum is on my list to visit.Thanks for sharing!