I Rode My Bike Today...

Wednesday night Maple-Motorway with @mtnbikej morphed into a planned Sierra Peak excursion. At the parking lot, it morphed into a "hopefully I make it past Hidden Ranch" ride. It could be the pine tree in the house, or the visiting guinea pigs, but I woke up in a sneezing fit this morning... It went downhill from there. Watery eyes, sneezing, etc, etc...

The "improvements" that the county made to the first mile of Black Star with our money are a joke. Deep ruts, washouts, missing forms already... With a couple more rainstorms, the road will be quite technical. I'm guessing it won't be long before it's impassable. Then they'll have to close it for another month to improve the improvements. Maybe in the second round they'll consider the effects of flowing water... :confused: #dontfixwhatisntbroken

We were joined by @hewhodoesnotdoforums and made a very social climb to the top gate. One single speed, one geared hardtail, and one Hightower... Coming down through the encroaching clouds was quite chilly and I found myself wishing I had brought heavier gloves.

Nice night up there...

17 miles and 2200 feet... Or something close to that. :thumbsup:
 
Faust29 said:
Wednesday night Maple-Motorway with @mtnbikej morphed into a planned Sierra Peak excursion. At the parking lot, it morphed into a "hopefully I make it past Hidden Ranch" ride. It could be the pine tree in the house, or the visiting guinea pigs, but I woke up in a sneezing fit this morning... It went downhill from there. Watery eyes, sneezing, etc, etc...

The "improvements" that the county made to the first mile of Black Star with our money are a joke. Deep ruts, washouts, missing forms already... With a couple more rainstorms, the road will be quite technical. I'm guessing it won't be long before it's impassable. Then they'll have to close it for another month to improve the improvements. Maybe in the second round they'll consider the effects of flowing water... :confused: #dontfixwhatisntbroken

We were joined by @hewhodoesnotdoforums and made a very social climb to the top gate. One single speed, one geared hardtail, and one Hightower... Coming down through the encroaching clouds was quite chilly and I found myself wishing I had brought heavier gloves.

Nice night up there...

17 miles and 2200 feet... Or something close to that. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Flonase.

That is all.
 
Faust29 said:
Wednesday night Maple-Motorway with @mtnbikej morphed into a planned Sierra Peak excursion. At the parking lot, it morphed into a "hopefully I make it past Hidden Ranch" ride. It could be the pine tree in the house, or the visiting guinea pigs, but I woke up in a sneezing fit this morning... It went downhill from there. Watery eyes, sneezing, etc, etc...

The "improvements" that the county made to the first mile of Black Star with our money are a joke. Deep ruts, washouts, missing forms already... With a couple more rainstorms, the road will be quite technical. I'm guessing it won't be long before it's impassable. Then they'll have to close it for another month to improve the improvements. Maybe in the second round they'll consider the effects of flowing water... :confused: #dontfixwhatisntbroken

We were joined by @hewhodoesnotdoforums and made a very social climb to the top gate. One single speed, one geared hardtail, and one Hightower... Coming down through the encroaching clouds was quite chilly and I found myself wishing I had brought heavier gloves.

Nice night up there...

17 miles and 2200 feet... Or something close to that. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...


Yup, after my hot lap on Tuesday, I just wanted a simple cruiser ride. We settled on Sierra Peak. When I rolled into the Tree Farm @Faust29 was there with @hewhodoesntdoforums so we headed off on a social spin.

Steve wasn’t feeling so hot, so we pretty much took Sierra Peak off the menu early on.

Made Beeks without lights....chilly willy run back down.

Good times.
 
I got in a quick run at Laguna this morning. Nothing remarkable, but as I was descending Camarillo there were two guys with eBikes doing trail work. It looked to me like they were filling dirt in between some of the big rocks to make a P-Line for their P-bikes. I hate life that I did not say anything to them. I did not want to tip them off as I intended to report them to the rangers at the end of my ride, but the stinking building was closed for lunch. Then again, it might have been authorized work, who knows. Anyway, it looks like Camarillo will be easier, LOL.
 
Obsidian said:
I got in a quick run at Laguna this morning. Nothing remarkable, but as I was descending Camarillo there were two guys with eBikes doing trail work. It looked to me like they were filling dirt in between some of the big rocks to make a P-Line for their P-bikes. I hate life that I did not say anything to them. I did not want to tip them off as I intended to report them to the rangers at the end of my ride, but the stinking building was closed for lunch. Then again, it might have been authorized work, who knows. Anyway, it looks like Camarillo will be easier, LOL.
Click to expand...
I'd guess that was the LCF trail crew (could be wrong). They have the OK from rangers to use e-bikes in the park, to transport their tools, or something like that. Have seen them and their EBs a number of times in Aliso and LC. Personally, I don't care about the e-bikes, just don't want to see the trails screwed up/dumbed down...
 
Camarillo is fun on a full moon without lights.
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BTW, I didn’t ride my bike today, but I will this weekend.
 
Silverado Motorway solo up and back this morning. Been almost 7 years since I last rode it. The landscape looks much different but the trail is pretty much as I remember it... fast and loose. Climbing it isn't that bad, at least I can say I did more riding than hiking, but I took it slow and took breaks and photos (great views that are hard to look at coming down). Easier than up Trabuco (RIP) I think. All in all, up Motorway is not a bad option if you want to get up in the mountains on some singletrack but don't have enough time to do Maple-Main Divide loop. Whole thing is 7 miles, 2000 feet, took me 2.5 hours including a picnic at the top.:thumbsup:

Looking down into Silverado Canyon, Maple Springs in the shadow
20181213_083552.jpg


One dead tree. I think up there on the right is the top or close to it.
20181213_085334.jpg



At the top, Mt Baldy and the Gabes
20181213_101022.jpg

Super clear day, tho pic doesn't do it justice. Downtown LA was clearly visible at the right side of the pic on the horizon, with the Santa Monicas behind it. Palos Verdes and Long Beach harbor (with some strange plume of smoke), Irvine/Costa Mesa high rises and Catalina Island off the coast
20181213_101032.jpg
 
knucklebuster said:
I'd guess that was the LCF trail crew (could be wrong). They have the OK from rangers to use e-bikes in the park, to transport their tools, or something like that. Have seen them and their EBs a number of times in Aliso and LC. Personally, I don't care about the e-bikes, just don't want to see the trails screwed up/dumbed down...
Click to expand...

Could be. One of the guys looked familiar, but it was a gnarly section so I was pretty focused on what I was doing. They are definitely doing some sanitizing though.
 
knucklebuster said:
Silverado Motorway solo up and back this morning. Been almost 7 years since I last rode it. The landscape looks much different but the trail is pretty much as I remember it... fast and loose. Climbing it isn't that bad, at least I can say I did more riding than hiking, but I took it slow and took breaks and photos (great views that are hard to look at coming down). Easier than up Trabuco (RIP) I think. All in all, up Motorway is not a bad option if you want to get up in the mountains on some singletrack but don't have enough time to do Maple-Main Divide loop. Whole thing is 7 miles, 2000 feet, took me 2.5 hours including a picnic at the top.:thumbsup:

Looking down into Silverado Canyon, Maple Springs in the shadow
View attachment 47286

One dead tree. I think up there on the right is the top or close to it.
View attachment 47287


At the top, Mt Baldy and the Gabes
View attachment 47289
Super clear day, tho pic doesn't do it justice. Downtown LA was clearly visible at the right side of the pic on the horizon, with the Santa Monicas behind it. Palos Verdes and Long Beach harbor (with some strange plume of smoke), Irvine/Costa Mesa high rises and Catalina Island off the coast
View attachment 47290
Click to expand...

Awesome! I need to try climbing it!
 
knucklebuster said:
Silverado Motorway solo up and back this morning. Been almost 7 years since I last rode it. The landscape looks much different but the trail is pretty much as I remember it... fast and loose. Climbing it isn't that bad, at least I can say I did more riding than hiking, but I took it slow and took breaks and photos (great views that are hard to look at coming down). Easier than up Trabuco (RIP) I think. All in all, up Motorway is not a bad option if you want to get up in the mountains on some singletrack but don't have enough time to do Maple-Main Divide loop. Whole thing is 7 miles, 2000 feet, took me 2.5 hours including a picnic at the top.:thumbsup:

Looking down into Silverado Canyon, Maple Springs in the shadow
View attachment 47286

One dead tree. I think up there on the right is the top or close to it.
View attachment 47287


At the top, Mt Baldy and the Gabes
View attachment 47289
Super clear day, tho pic doesn't do it justice. Downtown LA was clearly visible at the right side of the pic on the horizon, with the Santa Monicas behind it. Palos Verdes and Long Beach harbor (with some strange plume of smoke), Irvine/Costa Mesa high rises and Catalina Island off the coast
View attachment 47290
Click to expand...
Glad you are killing it these days, Dave. :thumbsup: The weaz asked me what you're up to, so now I got some 411 for her. :) Crank on, KBuster.
 
My neighborhood haunt, Apex Park. Up a few different trails, trying to keep in the sun (read: off the ice), finally finishing the climb to Lookout Mountain in a cold wind and 30s. Down Lookout Mtn Trail, a smashworthy rocky run down to Chimney Gulch Trail. Lots of puckering ice patches and a few frozen switchbacks, fresh tire tracks skidding off trail, haha. No reckless hauling ass for me.

At the bike path I chose a little extra credit on North Table Mountain. I checked out some new dirt/rock on Water Tower/Rocky Road trails, some surprisingly sweet black chunk made it a worthy diversion. Streets back to bike path to basecamp. Oskar Blues, etc. :)
 
This is the new signage posted at Cherry Canyon. It clearly states that motorized vehicles are prohibited but in fine print below, it says that they may be allowed with permission from the land owner. o_O:rolleyes:

As I stated a few days ago, someone placed a moto sticker over the "No e-bikes" place spot on the sign. :mad:

3C8F6B36-3FBD-45AD-9157-07A29CDE3321.jpeg
 
SnakeCharmer said:
This is the new signage posted at Cherry Canyon. It clearly states that motorized vehicles are prohibited but in fine print below, it says that they may be allowed with permission from the land owner. o_O:rolleyes:

As I stated a few days ago, someone placed a moto sticker over the "No e-bikes" place spot on the sign. :mad:

View attachment 47297
Click to expand...
I'm wondering if I should go take a razor blade to that moto sticker on the sign and uncover the hidden e-bike emblem?

Should I???

Or, I could call L.A. Co Sheriff and report that the sign has been vandalized.
 
Thursday Night Blackstar Social......expected pretty cold temps tonight. Not the case....temps floated in the low 50's most of the way up. Super clear night. Temps stayed warm on the way down...even through hidden ranch it only dropped to 49*.....

However once we got back into the canyon....temps dropped. The breeze died and it was down to 42*.

Not many out tonight. Still a fun time.
 
knucklebuster said:
Silverado Motorway solo up and back this morning. Been almost 7 years since I last rode it. The landscape looks much different but the trail is pretty much as I remember it... fast and loose. Climbing it isn't that bad, at least I can say I did more riding than hiking, but I took it slow and took breaks and photos (great views that are hard to look at coming down). Easier than up Trabuco (RIP) I think. All in all, up Motorway is not a bad option if you want to get up in the mountains on some singletrack but don't have enough time to do Maple-Main Divide loop. Whole thing is 7 miles, 2000 feet, took me 2.5 hours including a picnic at the top.:thumbsup:

Looking down into Silverado Canyon, Maple Springs in the shadow
View attachment 47286

One dead tree. I think up there on the right is the top or close to it.
View attachment 47287


At the top, Mt Baldy and the Gabes
View attachment 47289
Super clear day, tho pic doesn't do it justice. Downtown LA was clearly visible at the right side of the pic on the horizon, with the Santa Monicas behind it. Palos Verdes and Long Beach harbor (with some strange plume of smoke), Irvine/Costa Mesa high rises and Catalina Island off the coast
View attachment 47290
Click to expand...

Hardcore! :thumbsup: I keep telling myself I want to try going up Motorway, but then I chicken out. That first mile has to be a bear!
 
Faust29 said:
Hardcore! :thumbsup: I keep telling myself I want to try going up Motorway, but then I chicken out. That first mile has to be a bear!
Click to expand...
I honestly thought most of you strong climbers could ride most of it. Can't be worse than dreaded hill, though a little longer.... Part of the draw is taking breaks to check out the sights anyway. Give it a try, all it can do is wear out your shoes :)
 
knucklebuster said:
Silverado Motorway solo up and back this morning. Been almost 7 years since I last rode it. The landscape looks much different but the trail is pretty much as I remember it... fast and loose. Climbing it isn't that bad, at least I can say I did more riding than hiking, but I took it slow and took breaks and photos (great views that are hard to look at coming down). Easier than up Trabuco (RIP) I think. All in all, up Motorway is not a bad option if you want to get up in the mountains on some singletrack but don't have enough time to do Maple-Main Divide loop. Whole thing is 7 miles, 2000 feet, took me 2.5 hours including a picnic at the top.:thumbsup:

Looking down into Silverado Canyon, Maple Springs in the shadow
View attachment 47286

One dead tree. I think up there on the right is the top or close to it.
View attachment 47287


At the top, Mt Baldy and the Gabes
View attachment 47289
Super clear day, tho pic doesn't do it justice. Downtown LA was clearly visible at the right side of the pic on the horizon, with the Santa Monicas behind it. Palos Verdes and Long Beach harbor (with some strange plume of smoke), Irvine/Costa Mesa high rises and Catalina Island off the coast
View attachment 47290
Click to expand...

It had never, ever occurred to me to try to climb the Motorway. :gag: Last weekend on our B*-Mway jaunt, @Faust29 and I saw someone pushing his bike up Motorway.

Now with your report, I may just have to give this a shot. :thumbsup::thumbsup::eek:
 
I managed to get out for a ride today. Went up Black Star, up to the golf ball, then played around on the firebreak between top of B* and the radio towers turn to Sierra Peak. Just cruising, not really paying attention to the time. I do that now and then. :thumbsup: 650 feet to go to hit my goal. ;)

Fun ride.
strava6738107842577979248.jpg
 
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