Go for a cruise and enjoy the sunshine!

If a relaxed pedal with amazing views is what you are after Wilder Ranch is your ride.  Located on the coast just a few miles from downtown Santa Cruz, this area is truly a favorite among locals and visitors.

With the number of trails available and variety of terrain from smooth fire roads to spurts of singletrack you can customize your experience at Wilder Ranch. The reward is great, amazing coastal views, without having to invest a lot of time or energy.

Be aware that with the popularity of this path and easy access it does become congested so be ready to yell “on your left” quite frequently especially if you come on the weekend. However, don’t let that discourage you, this is a favorite for a reason, the views can’t be beat. I like to make this pedal a bit longer by starting at the wharf and riding alongside West Cliff Drive stopping for a bit to watch the surfers. Visitors might want to check out the Santa Cruz Dream Inn on West Cliff that way you can ride right out the door, not to mention enjoy a stunning post ride view.

Advanced riders who crave fast technical singletrack, are ready to climb and equipped with a full-suspension bike will appreciate the legendary free ride and cross-country destination known as the Demo. Located in the forest of Nisene Marks is the Soquel Demonstration Forest Mountain Bike Trail, located just south of Santa Cruz, in Aptos, home to the Annual Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival. Earn that pint at the end of the day by riding the Braille Trail one of the downhill sections off the Ridge Trail.  With lots of great drops, banks and obstacles this playful downhill won’t disappoint.

Looking for a way to skip all that nasty uphill and get after the downhill, well we can make that happen. Shuttle Smith Adventures offers daily bike rides to the top of the Forest of Nisene Marks. When you finish the ridge ride in Soquel you will have 15 glorious miles of downhill through the Redwoods ending back in the Aptos Village.

If a destination ride is what you are after check out Skyline-to-the-Sea trail, which lands you at some amazing waterfalls. Located in California’s oldest State Park, established in 1902, Big Basin Redwoods State Park consists of over 18,000 acres with some of the largest redwoods south of San Francisco.

A moderate to ambitious beginner will be fine on this not too technical ride. The 11 mile out and back is the only portion of the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail that allows bikes, however when you arrive at the Berry Creek Falls Trail it’s simply a short half mile hike to the falls.

Happy Riding!

Local surfers waiting for waves at legendary Steamer Lane.

We’ve extended our contest and made it even bigger!!!

**Entries will now be accepted through Sun. May 20, 2012 and voting will be open until Fri. May 25, 2012**
**MORE PRIZES!! We added a second prize and increased the prize for the Editors Choice Award!!**

Enter our “Most Cruziest” photo contest! Show us the photo you think depicts the essence of Santa Cruz the best and get your friends out to vote! Whether it’s the beach, the redwoods, the food or just your favorite place, post it here and let everyone see Santa Cruz the way you do!

Entries are accepted Tue. May 1, 2012 – Sun. May 20, 2012. Voting will be open through Fri. May 25, 2012. By submitting a photo to our contest, you agree to the rules and conditions as set forth by the Santa Cruz County Conference & Visitors Council.

Grand Prize is a (2) night stay at the Seascape Beach Resort (plus s’mores on the beach!) , 4 all-day Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk passes and (1) gift certificate for a Capitola Village restaurant.
Second Prize is a (2) night stay at the Comfort Inn Santa Cruz, 4 all-day Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk passes and a gift certificate for Capitola Village.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Editors Choice award wins (4) all-day passes to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk! Just think, your photo could win you a nice little mini-vacation in Santa Cruz! So hurry and enter and spread the word to your friends to come vote for your photo!

The “Most Cruziest”  is the first in a series of photo contests.  Other themes will include “Food and Drink” and “My Perfect Summer”, so check back often to see when those contests begin!

Looking towards Cowell’s Beach on a beautiful afternoon.

It’s a beautiful day at the Harbor!

Word on the street is there’s a very cool exhibit coming to UC Santa Cruz, one that fuses the ancient Japanese art of origami with mathematics. After reading the Sentinel’s article and the UC Santa Cruz News, I’m joining the buzz among parents excited for this unique opportunity to be wowed and learn alongside our children. In other words, I can’t wait!

The exhibit, which runs April 8 thru June 16 at the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery at Cowell College, will feature the original works of world renowned origami artists with the focus being on computational, or math, origami. In fact, it is a tribute to the late David Huffman, UCSC Professor of Information Science and a pioneer of mathematical origami, who also invented the code for the very familiar and practical JPEG. Yes, we owe the .jpg to him!

Computational origami relies on mathematical algorithms to denote where and when to fold on a piece of paper.  These algorithms create unbelievable works of art from a simple square!  In a recent interview with Good Times, Robert J. Lang, a physicist and origami master, said, “Paper just has a really neat geometry.  It has very simple rules; you’re just not allowed to stretch or tear the material – what can you make?  It’s pretty tantalizing and also quite deep mathematically; it’s quite tricky to figure out the answers to these problems.”

Now, I’m no stranger to origami. It happens to be our family tradition to decorate our Christmas tree with paper cranes and let me tell you, it remains a challenge every year just to remember how to make the first one. Imagine creating realistic faces, animals, insects, and abstract sculptures under these simple rules: Transform one square of paper by folding. No scissors. No tape. No glue.

The origami exhibit is inspired by the award-winning documentary film Between the Folds. If you have a chance to watch it beforehand it will only make you anticipate this exhibit more. Plus, it stars many of the origami masters who will be at the exhibit’s opening reception on April 8, including Erik and Martin Demaine, Robert Lang, and Brian Chan, along with the works of the late origami wizard, Eric Joisel.

Origami wizard? Why did I not know this was a choice to the age-old “What do you want to be when you grow up” question? Thanks to this exhibit, my kids can consider one more career.

Origami: Art + Mathematics opens with a free artists’ reception at the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery on Sunday, April 8^th from 12:30-6 p.m.  The exhibit will be up from April 8^th to June 16^th.  For more information and gallery hours, call 459.2953.

“3:45″ – Oil on wood by local artist F.J. Anderson