For a sweet sampler of mountain-bike rides with coastal views, head to Wilder Ranch State Park in Santa Cruz. With over 30 miles of well-marked trails, this former dairy farm is a destination for mountain bikers of all abilities. Beginners and casual riders can take the wide and easy Bluffs Ride, a 4-mile (one-way) cliffside path that leads to several beaches including a fern grotto. For mountain bikers who want some ups and downs with sections of swooping singletrack, point the wheels inland to the grassy hills and redwood forests of the Wilder Ranch Loop and Englesman Loop trails. More experienced riders can whoop it up on toothpick-tight trails like Old Cabin, Wild Boar, and Zane Gray Cutoff. With so much variety, bikers can create a route all their own. That's fat!

TIP: For some tasty Mexican grub after your ride, head to Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz, where El Palomar makes its corn tortillas fresh and its margaritas strong. This place is consistently voted best Mexican food by the local weekly newspaper. Olé!

Wilder Ranch is north of Santa Cruz, immediately west of Highway 1, about a mile past the Western Drive stoplight. There are plenty of loop options with multiple linking trails, so riders should pick up a map at the visitor center before heading up either the Wilder Ranch Loop or Englesman Loop trails. Call the park at 831-423-9703 to see if maps are available (they were out last week). If not, pick one up at a sports store or bike shop in town.

El Palomar, 1336 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz; 831-425-7575.

Mike's Bikes, the Bay Area's premier bike retailer, wants to help you find the answer to this summertime question: what's your bike personality?
This week's bike personality: The All-Purpose Adventurer.

You want it all: Rocky trails, gravel paths, and coastal bikeways. You like comfort and flexibility when riding the rolling hills in China Camp and think fat tires are perfect for a Sunday afternoon spin around Golden Gate Park. The sights, the sounds, the feeling of being in the woods on a bicycle is your cure-all for stress. Yes. You want it all.

Sound like you? You're "The All-Purpose Adventurer." And the Mike's Bikes ride for you: the Cannondale F6. This jack-of-all-trails can take on whatever you feel like throwing at it. Reliable and strong, the Cannondale F6 is also lightweight, with a Rock Shox suspension fork that gives you confidence taking on the singletrack in Marin or the wide fire roads at Wilder Ranch. And you'll love the lockout, allowing you to turn off the suspension on your way to the trail. Dependability is the name of the game with the Cannondale. So go ahead: take on any terrain. Double-dare.

Mike's Bikes has six stores in Northern California: Sacramento (916-446-BIKE), San Rafael (415-454-3747), Sausalito (415-332-3200), Berkeley (510-549-8350), San Francisco (415-241-BIKE), and Palo Alto (650-858-7700).