I Rode My Bike Today...

This morning Jennifer and I rode over to the foothills near Rocky Peak. We ran into a few friends when we got to the trailhead so we decided to join them. Little bit of fire road and a little bit of singletrack and some picture taking. Oh yeah. Jennifer found some mud too. Her bike has officially been christened. :D

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Finding new trails, jumping gaps and rolling rocks at Sycamore. Timed the weather perfect. Good in the morning then chilly wind and light rain just started when we were done. Fun social ride with Ricky24, Bobby C, Ray, Ryan and Vince. Phone pics do no justice, should of been there. Get some!

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Grego said:
Finding new trails, jumping gaps and rolling rocks at Sycamore. Timed the weather perfect. Good in the morning then chilly wind and light rain just started when we were done. Fun social ride with Ricky24, Bobby C, Ray, Ryan and Vince. Phone pics do no justice, should of been there. Get some!

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Looks like BFR? I once went to the top of that thing, peered over the edge, said no dice, and rode away. You’re demonstrating great form! Nice
 
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Grego said:
Finding new trails, jumping gaps and rolling rocks at Sycamore. Timed the weather perfect. Good in the morning then chilly wind and light rain just started when we were done. Fun social ride with Ricky24, Bobby C, Ray, Ryan and Vince. Phone pics do no justice, should of been there. Get some!

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Y'know, someday you need to let me know when you're headed out there. o_O
 
So, we rode the Luge yesterday after seeing so many people heading there the day before. We thought this was a good sign, and surely the trails must have dried out if so many people are out there. Well, not so much. Should have trusted my better judgement. It did rain A LOT after all. What a muddy mess. STT was in pretty good shape for the most part, but the Luge is one big muddy mess from the top on. It was nothing more than sliding down though mud and ruts. Really, it needs about a week after the rain stops to dry out. Not worth it for now. Should have brought an inflatable raft to canoe down the Luge. It could use some trail work for sure. Oh, and when you climb out after the Luge, there is now a flying creek you have to go though. That was actually pretty neat to see.
 
Beautiful morning in the Santa Ana's.....albeit, frosty. No really, it was 30* when we rolled from the cars, and quickly dipped down to 28* on my Garmin. Ice on the pavement about 1/2 way up.

@Faust29 and I cruised up. 37* at 4 Corners. We knew @Derek13 was out ahead of us....he was waiting at 4 Corners.

Fair amount of ice and snow on the first 2 drops down on Main Divide.

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Wet sections of Main Divide were much more....moist, thus more mud today.

Still a fun romp down Motorway. Even with all the ruts and rocks, it is getting faster, but drying out and getting slippery.

Fun ride today.
 
Yep... I rode the squishy devil again today with @mtnbikej and @Derek13 . The VW said 34 at the start, and that seems about right. There was frost on the bushes not far inside the lower gate, and the Garmin quickly dropped into the 20s. We saw a good amount of ice even on the lower pavement section. I'm not sure why @herzalot likes those Minions so much... Couldn't even hold a straight line on pavement going uphill! Sliding all over the damn place... :p :whistling:

The ground was really crunchy in spots once we hit the dirt, and turned into a nice white crunchy layer before Four Corners... And again after Four Corners. :thumbsup:


What the SAR team was investigating the other day...
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Well, that's cool...
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We cleared a few rocks at the bottom of Motorway...
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Can’t believe I finally get to post in this thread. Took the new and improved shoulder, and the new bike out for their maiden voyages. Both performed perfectly. Started in familiar territory, and then peeled off to a section I haven’t hit before. Mostly fire road climbing with a couple single track connector trails. Lots of water, lots of mud. At least 5 water crossings, mostly in the bottom section which meant I had to do them twice. Couple portaged, and a couple more forded. The single track sections were fun, but in pretty gnarly shape, with ruts that could swallow you whole. Got the bike appropriately dirty. Pace was abysmal, and I HAB’d more obstacles than I care to admit, but it felt so good to be out. Between today and riding deep powder on my snowboard last weekend I feel like I’m back.

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buggravy said:
Can’t believe I finally get to post in this thread. Took the new and improved shoulder, and the new bike out for their maiden voyages. Both performed perfectly. Started in familiar territory, and then peeled off to a section I haven’t hit before. Mostly fire road climbing with a couple single track connector trails. Lots of water, lots of mud. At least 5 water crossings, mostly in the bottom section which meant I had to do them twice. Couple portaged, and a couple more forded. The single track sections were fun, but in pretty gnarly shape, with ruts that could swallow you whole. Got the bike appropriately dirty. Pace was abysmal, and I HAB’d more obstacles than I care to admit, but it felt so good to be out. Between today and riding deep powder on my snowboard last weekend I feel like I’m back.

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Welcome back to the world of the riding. :thumbsup:
 
buggravy said:
Can’t believe I finally get to post in this thread. Took the new and improved shoulder, and the new bike out for their maiden voyages. Both performed perfectly. Started in familiar territory, and then peeled off to a section I haven’t hit before. Mostly fire road climbing with a couple single track connector trails. Lots of water, lots of mud. At least 5 water crossings, mostly in the bottom section which meant I had to do them twice. Couple portaged, and a couple more forded. The single track sections were fun, but in pretty gnarly shape, with ruts that could swallow you whole. Got the bike appropriately dirty. Pace was abysmal, and I HAB’d more obstacles than I care to admit, but it felt so good to be out. Between today and riding deep powder on my snowboard last weekend I feel like I’m back.

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Feels good, I bet... :thumbsup:
 
Well... after riding Maple Springs / Motorway a lot recently, I decided to go back to my old standby - Harding Truck Trail. BIG mistake.
(1) It was crowded. It was crowded like Memorial Day weekend crowded. It was crowded like Memorial Day weekend and Michael Jackson had risen from the dead to give a free concert at Laurel Springs crowded. Of course - once I was past Laurel Springs I saw one other person... but until then it was nasty.
(2) It was wet. It was muddy. Even the mud was muddy. There were mud puddles and mud flows and landslides of mud. I started thinking about how Eskimos have 500 words to describe different types of snow, and was wondering how many new words I could come up with to describe the different types of mud on Harding Truck Trail.
(3) It was cold. I started seeing snow on the sides of the trail at 3000 feet. Snow on the trail starting about 3500 feet. Nothing but snow at about 4000+. But it wasn't "snow" like snow flakes. It was little balls of ice that looked like styrofoam stuffing from cheap stuffed toys. Very weird - because it wasn't that slippery, and it didn't compress or leave tracks very readily. It was somewhat akin to riding on fine crushed ice.

The air rolling down the flanks of Modjeska was brutally frigid. Not much wind, but this passive cold air flow dripping down the side of the mountain through the trees. Like creepy from the grave cold air. At least, that's what it feels like when I am hanging out around open graves... with my bike.

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Following up on @Faust29 and @mtnbikej post. I played the role of hare while the hounds followed 15 minutes behind. I cheated and parked at gate though. Excellent solo spin up to four corners in the ice and cold. Only my second time on this loop so I don’t know any other condition, but it is somehow chunky, slippery, and hero at the same time. Full ice from bottom to top. Great ride.
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Maple Springs to 4 Corners Evening Ride:

Today was a day to put to a test my newly acquired SealSkinz Knee High Waterproof Socks. Was not expecting a lot of weather ( Ha Ha ) so did not set out fully geared up. Wore light leggings with the socks and Gore tex boots, normal shorts, Light insulated jacket with a couple of base layers. Did however stuff a few goodies in the backpack just in case.
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Started out at 54 degrees at the Visitor Center Parking Area. Rode through maybe 10 water crossings and numerous fields of mud, dirt and rocks on the so called paved segment of Maple Springs. When I got to the first guardrail ( 3150 ft. elev. ) it was 32 degrees and it started snowing. Lasted 15 mins.
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When I got to 3700 feet I started seeing patches of ice with snow and those little " Bonsai Nuts " on top. :D At 4000 feet it became continuous up to 4 Corners.
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When I got to 4 Corners , the sun was setting and it was now 22 degrees.
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The socks handled the elements well. they're keepers. When I got back down to my car it was 27 degrees. Car had a coating of ice on it.

We OCers, can for a while, somewhat liken ourselves to the denizens of the more northerly territories of the Kingdom. :)
 
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Grego said:
Finding new trails, jumping gaps and rolling rocks at Sycamore. Timed the weather perfect. Good in the morning then chilly wind and light rain just started when we were done. Fun social ride with Ricky24, Bobby C, Ray, Ryan and Vince. Phone pics do no justice, should of been there. Get some!

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I’m working my way over to the trail in the last pic. I have a little clean up to do on Terry’s wall and I’m planning on cleaning up the berms and doubles for that trail this week.

However, trailwork may be a little delayed. While riding today I ended up with a shovel in my rear wheel and ripped off three spokes
 
I decided to ride Black Star today to try and get my legs back, turned around at Hidden Ranch after getting muddier than I planned. I didn’t want to deal with anymore mud, especially since each crossing on the way up is another crossing on the way down.

It was really nice out there and other than a couple usual unavoidable mud spots the ground was in good shape. I was in no hurry and wandered around a bit at stops along the way.

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Cornholio said:
I decided to ride Black Star today to try and get my legs back, turned around at Hidden Ranch after getting muddier than I planned. I didn’t want to deal with anymore mud, especially since each crossing on the way up is another crossing on the way down.

It was really nice out there and other than a couple usual unavoidable mud spots the ground was in good shape. I was in no hurry and wandered around a bit at stops along the way.

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Well.....hopefully the sunshine today will dry it out by this afternoon. :unsure:

And welcome back to the world of riding your mtn bike. :thumbsup:
 
buggravy said:
Can’t believe I finally get to post in this thread. Took the new and improved shoulder, and the new bike out for their maiden voyages. Both performed perfectly. Started in familiar territory, and then peeled off to a section I haven’t hit before. Mostly fire road climbing with a couple single track connector trails. Lots of water, lots of mud. At least 5 water crossings, mostly in the bottom section which meant I had to do them twice. Couple portaged, and a couple more forded. The single track sections were fun, but in pretty gnarly shape, with ruts that could swallow you whole. Got the bike appropriately dirty. Pace was abysmal, and I HAB’d more obstacles than I care to admit, but it felt so good to be out. Between today and riding deep powder on my snowboard last weekend I feel like I’m back.

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Nice! This is awesome Matt!!!!
 
buggravy said:
Can’t believe I finally get to post in this thread. Took the new and improved shoulder, and the new bike out for their maiden voyages. Both performed perfectly. Started in familiar territory, and then peeled off to a section I haven’t hit before. Mostly fire road climbing with a couple single track connector trails. Lots of water, lots of mud. At least 5 water crossings, mostly in the bottom section which meant I had to do them twice. Couple portaged, and a couple more forded. The single track sections were fun, but in pretty gnarly shape, with ruts that could swallow you whole. Got the bike appropriately dirty. Pace was abysmal, and I HAB’d more obstacles than I care to admit, but it felt so good to be out. Between today and riding deep powder on my snowboard last weekend I feel like I’m back.

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Awesome! I was in the area as well. I tried to stay away from the mud for the most part. Glad you got out.
 
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