For 30 years, a peak Thanksgiving tradition
Partygoers bike, run and hike to hilltop potluck
Bicyclists buckled their helmets, tightened the straps of their cycling shoes and double-checked that their homemade baked goods, storebought confections and alcoholic beverages were safely packed to survive the 4-mile uphill trek to a Los Gatos summit for an annual Thanksgiving Day potluck on Thursday morning.
The loosely organized tradition — which has roots dating back roughly 30 years — brought more than 100 local bicyclists, hikers and runners to the Kennedy Trail in the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve, and through steep, weaving up dirt trails roughly 2,000 feet to the top, overlooking the region.
By 8:30 a.m., dozens of cyclists at the trailhead were filing past rangers with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, wishing the park rangers “Happy Thanksgiving” and thanking them for keeping participants safe and keeping the area clean. Some people riding electronic bicycles were turned away at the start by rangers, who pointed them to a sign prohibiting e-bikes on district lands. Participants stretched, snapped selfies and fist-bumped friends and relatives as they rolled through the trailhead. At the summit, people gathered to break bread — and share homemade tamales —with one another and relish their feat.
Richard Jacinto, 59, told The Chronicle the annual gathering started organically and has grown every year, with the exception of last year, when the coronavirus pandemic canceled the festivities. He’s been participating since the
early 2000s and called the annual gathering an ad hoc social event that people “just know to show up” for every Thanksgiving morning. Among the items riders have brought in recent years are lechón (roasted pig), tamales, turkey, mashed potatoes, beer kegs and more.
With a lightweight collapsible table affixed to his backpack, plus a flask and homemade “stuffing balls” made of chorizo packed in his backpack, Jacinto said he made sure to prepare food that would “work well cold and you can easily haul.”
Three friends who mountain-bike together in the Bay Area region settled on packing three turkey drumsticks, one for each of them, to scarf down once they reached the summit to celebrate, said Los Gatos resident Michael Nguyen, 36. His friend Tim Wong, who was ringing in his 36th birthday, said he was expecting his first Turkey Day ride to be like a “party on wheels” and said he hopes the event turns into a new tradition. Their friend Tony Tren, 41, of Morgan Hill, packed a box of powdered miniature doughnuts from Safeway.
“Thought it’d be fun to go out and get some exercise in before I stuff myself,” Tren said with a smirk.
With a GoPro strapped to her chest, Los Gatos resident Mallorey Gatti, 34, said she frequently completes longdistance rides of 8 to 20 miles every weekend, but said it was her first time completing the Thanksgiving ride. She brought canned rosé wine for the occasion.
“I think it’s just a big victory to be able to wake up early on Thanksgiving morning, spend time with friends and do something that’s kind of hard — we’re going up a couple thousand feet in the morning,” Gatti said. “I think that’s really cool.”
Richard Mitchell, 63, of Santa Clara was welcomed by a chorus of people shouting “Sparky!” when he rolled through the trailhead on his Ibis HD3 bicycle, outfitted with a horned lizard affixed between the handlebars. Mitchell, known by his nickname in the local biking community, said he has done the steep ride to the top of the summit for 30 years.
He’s missed one or two rides since the tradition started, but said the holiday gathering is a community staple that he considers a fellowship.
He said the road is “super hard to climb” on his bike and the views are beautiful, but it’s the people who make the ride so special.
“You can see views of Oakland, you can see the Bay Bridge, you can see San Francisco. Today is going to be epically clear,” Mitchell said. “And of course, we see all of our friends . ... It’s hard. If you go up this hill, you’re going to face some hardships. And we all know that, and that’s why we’re here.”
“We’re going up a couple thousand feet in the morning. I think that’s really cool.” Cyclist Mallorey Gatti on the Sierra Azul Open Space potluck