Shuttlesmith Adventures & Party Bus

I was planning for something to do for our vacation in northern California coast. I found out about the shuttle service and decided to give Dave a call to book for a ride.
It was a double birthday celebration for myself and my girlfriend and also our third anniversary so I want to do something that we both love. She loves outdoor, I love mountain biking.
Dave picked us up on his new shuttle bus from the bike store. He was very knowledgeable about the area and gave us a guided tour around the town as he driving up to our drop off point. The drive was about an hour long and very scenic. Dave was very friendly and funny.
Dave gave us a printed map of the trail and gave us pointers for our ride down back to our car at the bike store. The ride down was gorgeous. It was our first time riding through the Redwood forest and it was magnificent.
Unfortunately, one of my pedal broke off about 1 mile into the trail. Uphill was a struggle since I had to walk my bike, but coasting down was so much fun.
I will definitely plan another trip to ride the Redwood forest again, this time with more people and hopefully no equipment malfunction

Right on time at 4am! Consistent service every time! Dave is the man for getting you to the start line every time, attention to detail is his specialty!

I went with a group of friends to take Dave’s mountain bike shuttle up to the Demonstration Forest for the day. Unfortunately there was an incident on the ride up when my front rim melted due to an accident placing the bike in front of the exhaust of the truck we rode in. Needless to say I was really bummed and thought my day was over but Dave went above and beyond to drive me back down, let me borrow the rim off his own bike, and drive me back up to meet my friends. I ended up having a great day of mountain biking thanks to Dave’s help. He also refunded me for the ride and paid to replace my rim.
I definitely recommend Dave’s shuttle service for anyone mountain biking in Santa Cruz

Dave goes out of his way to make sure you have a great time biking in Niscene Mark and Soquel Demo Forest.

Dave and Shuttle Smith saved the day in Aptos. He was 120% helpful on all aspects of Mountain Biking, Dinner Spots, and even what to do with ourselves during the rest of our stay in Aptos. My friends and I will ABSOLUTELY be back to Shuttle Smith Adventures when we’re in Santa Cruz! Don’t think twice about Shuttle Smith…

Shuttlesmith Adventures is awesome. Dave is a great guy and made the shuttle to the Demo forest area quick, painless and informative. Super easy way to get dropped off for a great day of mountain biking. Dave’s really good with all the back country history on the way up the hill and he’s great about going over the trails with you at drop off. Thanks for the ride Dave!

Dave is a rockstar. When our bike we rented from epicenter broke a chain, he helped us get back in shape and sent us off. We had a great time and will definitely be back next year!

Dave shuttled a bunch of us «Girls Rock» mountain bikers up the hill to Soquel Demo Forest last weekend. He was prompt, friendly, funny and had a bunch of interesting factoids about the area that he shared with us. I’m looking forward to using him for a wine tour in the near future!

So I was riding solo at Demo Forest and totally got lost and ran out of water before I even found the trail I was looking for, ran into Dave and he really helped me out. Took me under his wing, gave me water and I had the ride of my life. I would absolutely recommend spending a day with Dave he will make you feel right at home and make sure you have a great ride!

Zero stars out of five! ( Unilocal made me do one star). I’ve never used Shuttle Smith, not because I’m opposed to shuttling or mountain biking, but because I’m opposed to Shuttle Smith encouraging his patrons to ride hiking trails (off limits to bikes) in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.
Shuttle Smith has also been spotted shuttling riders on a high profile trail on private property near Bonny Dune (without the property owners’ permission). This is really bad for Santa Cruz-​based mountain bike riders.
I could also mention the dozens of lost riders I’ve seen throughout the years in Nisene. They all say the same thing – «Shuttle Dave said the singletrack trails were easy to spot and follow». (They’re not easy to spot or follow because they’re renegade trails and off limits.)
Shuttle Smith should operate out of Morgan Hill.
–Dain, Santa Cruz, CA

If you like riding mountain bikes and live in the area this is a MUST DO. Did the shuttle three times, met some great people doing it, will do it again (many times). Dave is awesome, the shuttle itself is a blast. Once at the top, you’ll have a little pedaling to do and several options down Demo forest (which you’ll have to climb back up) or trails going down directly to your starting point, for those who don’t want to do any climbing. The trails are awesome (a little more on the advanced side, but mostly anyone can go — you can always avoid technical and take fire roads).
Do yourself a favor: book a shuttle, you will not regret it!

Shuttle Smith is a great way to start your ride! Dave is a hilarious guide up the mountain and will even get you going on the trail if he is riding that day! I had been off the bike for a few months so the nearly 30 miles really hurt. However, when I got to my truck Dave had shot me a text to check on the ride and next thing you know I was sitting down having a beer around the corner with him. He quickly shoved some food my way (must have looked like I felt) and had me regale the story of the day. The agony, the blown tire, the freezing ride back to town, all with a big grin on my face. Highly recommend his services.

We booked the ride at seascape resort. Got to Epicenter bike shop. Shop was real helpful getting bikes ready. Dave and his friends provided lot of information. Made it entertaining going up the mountain. Ride was awesome. Thanks to Dave for making the trip memorable. Will definitely do it on next trip.

Dave was on time, funny and knows his stuff. You get driven all the way to the top of Naisene Forrest but have to peddle up a warm up 2 miles. For beginners this will be your first challenge for intermediate riders this is a great warm up and for Advanced riders just hammer through it. When you reach the top you have the option of playing in Demo Forrest or riding down for 1 or 1.5 hours on some wicked single-​track and fire road or simply just fire road. The First single track is found 100 feet to the left from the top overlook bench and junction area into Demo Forrest. Overall it was awesome and I would for sure do it again but would do this with doing Demo half day and descending to end. Packinng some snacks are key becuase you want to make sure to go tk Aptos BBQ pit after

Had an amazing experience our driver was an extemely friendly guy. Highly recommended great service.

Awesome biking area and regional experience — all provided by your colorful guide Dave.
Dave hooked me up with a local guide to suit my busy family schedule. Admittedly I had been out of the saddle for 2 – 3 months so took a while for the bike lungs to get back, and with a pressing time deadline I couldn’t hit the backside trails of Demo, but had a 2.5 hour blast down the front side trails.
An added bonus is Dave pointing out the local food and history which for me being an Ozzie transplanted in the Bay Area was a whole new world opening up outside of the mainstream sights off Hway1 in and around Santa Cruz.
Cant wait to get back and check out the Demo side — already been back to Aptos for the BBQ!

DAVE IS AWESOME!
I’ve been shuttled a dozen times by him but this last time I went I brought my brother and sister in law to try getting them into MBing, before dave even picked us up I got a ticket for speeding, and my sister in law fell down and scraped pretty bad, and on top of that… the bike rental shop was closed (too early). So needless to say the day was looking a little grim.
Then…Dave came to the rescue! He let us use his own bikes for the day and even gave me a brand new tire for my personal bike (had a hole in the old tire), the day started a little lame but it definitely ended great thanks to Dave. He’s extremely knowledgeable and very fun to talk to.
Also his shuttle is BAD ASS

I received a groupon gift for 2 hour mountain biking 101 class with Dave. It was a great class, well worth the regular price of $ 100.
Dave is super friendly and knowledgeable. I’ve been riding for 2 years sporadically but I couldn’t really do jumps or technical downhill. After 2 hours I was riding around the dirt pump track and going through the mini cross country loop outside the bike shop that included two drop offs/​jumps that I would have never previously attempted. By the end of the lesson I could hop over obstacles (small logs, etc), do small jumps, not be afraid of going fast and braking hard and most importantly had learned how to fall the right way if I had to. Dave is a really good teacher and seems to know everyone in Aptos. I would recommend this class to anyone that is just starting out or has been riding for a while but lacks the basic skills needed to tackle more fun trails.

Dave is an outstanding guy! I bought a groupon not knowing what I was in for. Dave checked out our bikes and made sure we had helmets and plenty of water before the ride. On our way up to the top of the hill he stopped and pointed out a few cool sights. I had so much fun I went and did it again the following weekend. He is extremely knowledgeable in biking and trails and offers tons of different shuttle tours or will even ride with you and show you new trails. I highly recommend this guy.

Dave is AWESOME. Super great guy, full of tons of local knowledge, as well as just cycling knowledge! I am from socal and it was my first venture up to Santa Cruz and Dave showed me and my buddies a great time. He really went above and beyond just shuttiling us and really made us feel welcome! Cant say enough about how rad Dave is and how much better our trip was because of Shuttle Smith Adventures!