I Rode My Bike Today...

herzalot said:
Not to be argumentative but getting used to the bike is not my primary objective. Loving it more than my previous bike would be the target.

DW link bikes have a great pedaling platform, but are also plush on the downs. The first modern DW I rode was a Mojo HD 3 (27.5). It was surprisingly plush. I am not really noticing any issues with the back of the Firebird, suspension wise. Seems fine at the moment. I'll let you know once I get the front dialed.

I don't have any problems with the switchbacks on Camarillo (Lizard doesn't have any). No matter what, a 6 1/2' long bike with similar geometry will not be as easy to handle as a 6' long bike in tight spaces.

I do appreciate the encouragement, and I will continue to tweak the bike, but my objective is to love it more than my Tracer. I don't really think it's this bike per se, it's probably the breed (long travel, slack 29er).
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It’ll work out. You’ll get used to it. :D
 
Redman said:
Today! Finally made the drive out to Greer Ranch and I was not let down. I parked along the road that parallels the freeway. Which apparently isn't such a good idea, word from the locals is lots of break ins. I got lucky, no crime to report at the end of my ride. I didn't know where to go as I started pedaling. Followed two guys for a while. They stopped ahead of me after about 3/4 mile. I rolled up and asked for directions. Both responded at the same time, "we were going to ask you the same thing". So, we started pedaling again eventually catching up to another rider. Asked him which way to go and he said keep going right at any forks until you get to the top. I broke away from the group and pedaled onward and upwards. Passing a trail head that had a bike frame on the trail post (this would be Jumping Mouse as I later found out. Kept going on single track that eventually got really overgrown and you could tell had not been ridden in some time. FAK, to far in to turn back, pushed through and made it to a fire road. Just then, the guy that told me where to go whizz's by. Then another dude, we'll call him Ebike #1. Jumped in behind them and followed them to the bottom of Jumping Mouse that empties out after some fun S turns in a creek bed. Directions guy was done with his ride and Ebike #1 offered to show me some of the other trails. Followed him around to the south side???? Along a fire road that eventually turned into ST after paralleling some fencing near some houses. Before I knew it we at the top where Overdrive & Distortion start. Ebike #1 skipped out about halfway up and headed towards Insidious as I later found out. Thanks dude for the directions and tips to navigate this wonderland. At the top I wanted to go down Distortion, which I thought I did. Nope, it was Overdrive I ended up on. Oh well, no worries today is all about new dirt. Down Overdrive and back over to jumping mouse since I knew how to get there. Jumping Mouse from the top this time. What a hoot that trails is, good sized jumps and a few of them you hit going pretty fast. After the mouse I headed back over to Distortion, this time I figured out EXACTLY where it starts. All the way to the bottom and back up to hit Overdrive a 2nd time. Then back to that Jumping Mouse for another go. Such a fun trail although I missed a few turn offs each time down. At this point I want to get back over to Distortion for one more go. Earlier in the ride I thought I saw some riders cutting across via ST to get over to the south side where Distortion is. A saw an off shoot ST and went for it. 100 yards in it starts to get overgrown. 200 yards in starts to get REALLY loose and unrideable. 300 yards in I'm in a full on chute and HAB'ing up up and up. After what seemed like an eternity, I could see an out cropping of rocks at the peak not to far off in the distance. HAB for at least a 1/4 mile FULL ON chute 65*in most places all the way up. Rounding the corner to my right, I come around a huge rock and then I see a trail post w/ signage. Once I got closer I could see it reads Insidious . Took a break for a bit and scoped the first to big drops/rolls. Pretty gnarly looking and definitely intimidating looking. Went for it and made it down w/o any dabs. Back up to Distortion for one more run. I was WAY slower up and down. Still had a ball and wished I had more gas in the tank. By the end of my ride I wound up seeing close to a dozen Ebikes. Ebike #2 at the top of Overdrive informed me that this place is Ebike central since there are no Rangers to worry about. All the Ebikes I saw were Intense's. The last four I saw were two dads and their two groms going up to Overdrive. I could hear them coming from half a world away. When they got close I pulled over to let them pass. The little groms were probably pre-teen and moving up the trail in at a stupid pace. They were bombing back down before I even got to the top. yay Ebikes. At the top trail heads there were always at least a few guys sitting there before dropping in. The majority of them were like me, their first time. It was kinda funny asking and getting asked for directions multiple times, yet having no clue.
I can't wait to go back! Next time I'll be sure to hit the few other trails I didn't get to today. This place is legit IF you like this type of riding. Easy ups and fun downs that keep you on your toes. Lots of jumps, berms, rock rolls, chunk, tech. Although most of that is on all of the downs. All the climbs were mellow with very few technical sections. The few that were there were not very long. I could only imagine how fun this place could be if you know the trails well. I didn't really push it on any of the downhills as it was my first time.
Just under 24 miles, 3400', a pool's worth of sweat and a shiat ton of hootin and hollerin!!!!! Greer Ranch I'll be back.

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Such a fun place with great bang for buck/climb to descend ratios!
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Squatch and Smashy: 1:20 at Exploration then 45min at Skypark (I WILL talk bout that one this time :sneaky:). Arrow, Jumpline, Sleigh-Playground, Jumpline.

Two flying Squatches were seen...one secondary to a loose corner and lazy technique on Explo and one toward the bottom of Jumpline...no wounds!

epic times
 
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Yesterday I talked to my buddy Tony into going over and checking out the segment for an upcoming JRA challenge ride which includes 2 gravel and one MTB segment. Vince told me it was pretty steep but WTF? 24.9% grade on a gravel bike? No thanks. I couldn't even clean it on my MTB. If that's part of the actual route I will probably opt out.
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Today I wanted to take Jennifer down Gas Pipe. She hadn't ridden it yet on her new bike. I rode from home and took the fire roads over to Palo Comado, hit Bones, back up Palo to Sheep Corral then down Sulphur to the parking lot where Jennifer had parked. She left about 20 minutes before I got there and had already started climbing Palo Comado. I ended up getting to the Lookout about 3 minutes after her. From there it was across Sheep Corral then down Gas Pipe, Las Virgenes, up Pump Hill, across Baleen and back to the parking lot. Jennifer did great on Gas Pipe. At one of the sections, which is actually the toughest for me, I stopped to pull out my phone to get a couple pics of Jennifer. By the time I was ready to take the picture she was already standing next to me. I followed her a few times and she has the use of her dropper post down. Now if I could only get her to ride more.
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buggravy said:
Argh, today goes in the shoulda stayed home file. Was going to ride tomorrow morning, but got suckered into an afternoon ride by cloud cover and 70s at noon (and a better half that was jockeying for the morning slot to go for a trail run). By the time I got to the trailhead at 2:30 the clouds were gone and it was 87, but still pleasant enough. Went to the Cheese for convenience in hopes of stacking some miles before dark, but started on a different route. Climbed Ridge Connect which I had not done in months, and my lungs were on fire by the top (though I was able to look back to less than a year ago when I simply couldn't make it to the top without a couple breaks, or a HAB). Maybe the air quality was worse than it seemed, or maybe I just blew myself up on the initial climb, but I felt hoarse and worked after that, and just never found a groove. When I got to The Wall I got reinvigorated feeling like I had it dialed, and this would be the third time in as many attempts to clean it. Had a weird bobble on the run-in that cost me some momentum, and when I tried to clear the first big ledge my momentum was toast. My rear tire slipped out with the left pedal down stroke, and I started to topple down the ledge to the right. With no where to get a foot down I thought I could roll but ended up foot first at the bottom and hyper extended my knee, slammed my hand, and then rolled. I'm trying to pretend I didn't hear and feel a pop, but there were a lot of sensations all at once, so maybe that it was just a joint crack, like a knuckle cracking. Got up and could immediately tell the knee was a little jacked, but could more or less walk and pedal. Calling the ride wasn't even a question, but had to decide between the shorter and more treacherous route, or the longer tamer route. Went with the latter. As I was pedaling down Cheseboro Canyon babying my right side I'm sure I was pedaling weird, and ended up with a big pedal strike with the left pedal that threw me off to the right. I instinctively planted my right foot, and the knee just collapsed under me, and down I went again. Made it back to the truck without any more events. As of right now I'm walking with a limp, but I can walk. Coming down stairs sucked, but pain is only moderate otherwise. Pain on the outside and back of the knee, that was radiating down to the top of my foot but that part seems to have stopped. Swelling isn't too obnoxious, but it does feel pretty fluidy and puffy around my knee cap, and there's a weird clicking when I push on my knee cap. Anyway, fingers crossed that it's just a badish sprain. My gut tells me that's it.
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Oh no...

If it's any consolation, though, I read the crash description to my wife. She still thinks we're all nuts...
 
UPSed said:
Yesterday I talked to my buddy Tony into going over and checking out the segment for an upcoming JRA challenge ride which includes 2 gravel and one MTB segment. Vince told me it was pretty steep but WTF? 24.9% grade on a gravel bike? No thanks. I couldn't even clean it on my MTB. If that's part of the actual route I will probably opt out.
View attachment 59211

Today I wanted to take Jennifer down Gas Pipe. She hadn't ridden it yet on her new bike. I rode from home and took the fire roads over to Palo Comado, hit Bones, back up Palo to Sheep Corral then down Sulphur to the parking lot where Jennifer had parked. She left about 20 minutes before I got there and had already started climbing Palo Comado. I ended up getting to the Lookout about 3 minutes after her. From there it was across Sheep Corral then down Gas Pipe, Las Virgenes, up Pump Hill, across Baleen and back to the parking lot. Jennifer did great on Gas Pipe. At one of the sections, which is actually the toughest for me, I stopped to pull out my phone to get a couple pics of Jennifer. By the time I was ready to take the picture she was already standing next to me. I followed her a few times and she has the use of her dropper post down. Now if I could only get her to ride more.
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Go Jennifer! :cool:
 
LCWP Redux...

I changed the Firebird to the "high" setting before riding today. Steepens the head angle to 65.5 and the seat-tube angle 1/2 degree also. Raises the BB to a lofty 13.9". I liked the bike better in this setting for all-around trail riding.

Up Willow, but I had to do a derailleur adjustment after the first steep pitch. I guess the geo change also changes the effective chainstay length, which impacts derailleur settings a little. Got that sorted out and up I went. Once I got past the steepest section, I really started to notice how well this bike pedals. I pushed a much bigger gear than I normally would, and this on 29er wheels. Legs felt great. Bike felt great.

I wanted to do the exact same trails I did yesterday so I had a fresh comparison between the two geometries. But yesterday was only 2228' of climbing, so I decided to add a detour to Rattlesnake to do some more chunk testing. I had a bit of a struggle on Rattlesnake getting bounced off line a couple of times. When I got to the bottom, I noticed I had about 1.25" of the shock still unused. That's not right. Should use almost all of it on a run like that. Oh crap, I left the switch in the "trail" position. I called myself many choice names. Well, better push back up and try it again. I actually tried riding up the last bit of the trail, which is pretty challenging. I did better than I thought I would. At the top, I made sure the shock was full open, then went again. Good run, but still not as plush as I was expecting. Looked and still had about 3/4" of shock stanchion unused. I let out some air. I wonder if there are spacers in there? It seems extremely progressive.

Then back up to Lizard. Fun run on Lizard. I made sure to drop my hands to the inside more on the turns to take advantage of the edge of the tires. Better. That and the adjusted geometry. Very fun, but still not as plush as my Tracer. Still needs work.

Up under the 73 for a run down Camarillo. I was a bit smoother through the switchbacks and chunk today than yesterday, despite there being some traffic on the trail (they were out of the way). Fairly successful on the punchy climbs of Stagecoach.

So as I returned to the Willow lot, I had to assess whether or not I could make another trip up Willow to the top of the park for a run down T and A. It's about another 1000' and I was at nearly 2000' already - some of it very leg intensive. Oh what the hell. Rest a bit, then head up the hill. I made it to about 50 vertical feet short of the top of T and A when I cramped suddenly and thoroughly. I had to stop. Rest. Walk. Stop. Sit. Push. Stop. Got to the top and put on the elbow pads for the ride down.

Solid run down T and A. The slight adjustments to air pressure in the suspension helped a bit, as did the geometry, but as I was exiting the trees into the final descent, my legs were just about to seize. Rolled to a stop by the fence and there they go! Even the relatively flat road ride back to the car involved a stop for uncramping. God I hate me.

Great day on the bike. I really hope I can get the suspension dialed in without spending a ton of money. I did order a Luftkappe ($100). My experience with that device in my Tracer's Factory 36 was very positive. It really does smooth out the first 2-3" of travel. As many of you have said, the bike will become the new normal, and only if I take the Tracer back out will I discover if it's truly better, worse or too close to tell.

17.6 miles - 2917' Bikes are fun! :thumbsup: :cool: :)
 
Seven Oaks SART loops today. My buddy from work finally has his bike dialed in, so seemed like a good solid ride to see what it could do. His first time up there, and he LOVED it. Can't blame him, as conditions were primo. Nobody else on the trails at all. We parked at the 7 Oaks bridge, climbed the road to Glass, then road SART to MCR. Sloggy climb up that, and the gnats were out in force. Of course I didn't have my Camelbak w/ my net in it... Quick stop to top off water at the post office, then climbed the fire road to the upper SART section. That's getting pretty rugged, but a lot of epic fun. Finally hit the main PO loop, and just cruised that magnificent section to Cold Creek crossing, where we took a break. Then climbed out of the valley back up to MCR (more gnats!!!) and back down to the car. 18 miles, 2,200 ft, and 3.5 hours... he may be hooked!

https://www.strava.com/activities/2839331175

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Post ride we spent some time dialing in his suspension. Dropped psi significantly in fork and shock, so he pretty much has a whole new bike now. Will have to go back up and see the differences!
 
herzalot said:
LCWP Redux...

I changed the Firebird to the "high" setting before riding today. Steepens the head angle to 65.5 and the seat-tube angle 1/2 degree also. Raises the BB to a lofty 13.9". I liked the bike better in this setting for all-around trail riding.

Up Willow, but I had to do a derailleur adjustment after the first steep pitch. I guess the geo change also changes the effective chainstay length, which impacts derailleur settings a little. Got that sorted out and up I went. Once I got past the steepest section, I really started to notice how well this bike pedals. I pushed a much bigger gear than I normally would, and this on 29er wheels. Legs felt great. Bike felt great.

I wanted to do the exact same trails I did yesterday so I had a fresh comparison between the two geometries. But yesterday was only 2228' of climbing, so I decided to add a detour to Rattlesnake to do some more chunk testing. I had a bit of a struggle on Rattlesnake getting bounced off line a couple of times. When I got to the bottom, I noticed I had about 1.25" of the shock still unused. That's not right. Should use almost all of it on a run like that. Oh crap, I left the switch in the "trail" position. I called myself many choice names. Well, better push back up and try it again. I actually tried riding up the last bit of the trail, which is pretty challenging. I did better than I thought I would. At the top, I made sure the shock was full open, then went again. Good run, but still not as plush as I was expecting. Looked and still had about 3/4" of shock stanchion unused. I let out some air. I wonder if there are spacers in there? It seems extremely progressive.

Then back up to Lizard. Fun run on Lizard. I made sure to drop my hands to the inside more on the turns to take advantage of the edge of the tires. Better. That and the adjusted geometry. Very fun, but still not as plush as my Tracer. Still needs work.

Up under the 73 for a run down Camarillo. I was a bit smoother through the switchbacks and chunk today than yesterday, despite there being some traffic on the trail (they were out of the way). Fairly successful on the punchy climbs of Stagecoach.

So as I returned to the Willow lot, I had to assess whether or not I could make another trip up Willow to the top of the park for a run down T and A. It's about another 1000' and I was at nearly 2000' already - some of it very leg intensive. Oh what the hell. Rest a bit, then head up the hill. I made it to about 50 vertical feet short of the top of T and A when I cramped suddenly and thoroughly. I had to stop. Rest. Walk. Stop. Sit. Push. Stop. Got to the top and put on the elbow pads for the ride down.

Solid run down T and A. The slight adjustments to air pressure in the suspension helped a bit, as did the geometry, but as I was exiting the trees into the final descent, my legs were just about to seize. Rolled to a stop by the fence and there they go! Even the relatively flat road ride back to the car involved a stop for uncramping. God I hate me.

Great day on the bike. I really hope I can get the suspension dialed in without spending a ton of money. I did order a Luftkappe ($100). My experience with that device in my Tracer's Factory 36 was very positive. It really does smooth out the first 2-3" of travel. As many of you have said, the bike will become the new normal, and only if I take the Tracer back out will I discover if it's truly better, worse or too close to tell.

17.6 miles - 2917' Bikes are fun! :thumbsup: :cool: :)
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I have that same shock, and similar linkage (as far as I can tell). When I switched over to Smash mode I noticed that I too was leaving a good bit of travel on the table, but my PSI were as low as I dared run, and I was over 30% sag. Even had the second smallest of the 5 available volume spacers in. A small low speed compression adjustment made all the difference. Also, at least on my shock, there is about 5mm of visible stanchion even when the shock is fully compressed.
 
buggravy said:
I have that same shock, and similar linkage (as far as I can tell). When I switched over to Smash mode I noticed that I too was leaving a good bit of travel on the table, but my PSI were as low as I dared run, and I was over 30% sag. Even had the second smallest of the 5 available volume spacers in. A small low speed compression adjustment made all the difference. Also, at least on my shock, there is about 5mm of visible stanchion even when the shock is fully compressed.
Click to expand...
Hey -that's a good point. All of my shocks to date have used all of the stanchion. I should let the air out and see where maximum compression ends up.
 
herzalot said:
LCWP Redux...

I changed the Firebird to the "high" setting before riding today. Steepens the head angle to 65.5 and the seat-tube angle 1/2 degree also. Raises the BB to a lofty 13.9". I liked the bike better in this setting for all-around trail riding.

Up Willow, but I had to do a derailleur adjustment after the first steep pitch. I guess the geo change also changes the effective chainstay length, which impacts derailleur settings a little. Got that sorted out and up I went. Once I got past the steepest section, I really started to notice how well this bike pedals. I pushed a much bigger gear than I normally would, and this on 29er wheels. Legs felt great. Bike felt great.

I wanted to do the exact same trails I did yesterday so I had a fresh comparison between the two geometries. But yesterday was only 2228' of climbing, so I decided to add a detour to Rattlesnake to do some more chunk testing. I had a bit of a struggle on Rattlesnake getting bounced off line a couple of times. When I got to the bottom, I noticed I had about 1.25" of the shock still unused. That's not right. Should use almost all of it on a run like that. Oh crap, I left the switch in the "trail" position. I called myself many choice names. Well, better push back up and try it again. I actually tried riding up the last bit of the trail, which is pretty challenging. I did better than I thought I would. At the top, I made sure the shock was full open, then went again. Good run, but still not as plush as I was expecting. Looked and still had about 3/4" of shock stanchion unused. I let out some air. I wonder if there are spacers in there? It seems extremely progressive.

Then back up to Lizard. Fun run on Lizard. I made sure to drop my hands to the inside more on the turns to take advantage of the edge of the tires. Better. That and the adjusted geometry. Very fun, but still not as plush as my Tracer. Still needs work.

Up under the 73 for a run down Camarillo. I was a bit smoother through the switchbacks and chunk today than yesterday, despite there being some traffic on the trail (they were out of the way). Fairly successful on the punchy climbs of Stagecoach.

So as I returned to the Willow lot, I had to assess whether or not I could make another trip up Willow to the top of the park for a run down T and A. It's about another 1000' and I was at nearly 2000' already - some of it very leg intensive. Oh what the hell. Rest a bit, then head up the hill. I made it to about 50 vertical feet short of the top of T and A when I cramped suddenly and thoroughly. I had to stop. Rest. Walk. Stop. Sit. Push. Stop. Got to the top and put on the elbow pads for the ride down.

Solid run down T and A. The slight adjustments to air pressure in the suspension helped a bit, as did the geometry, but as I was exiting the trees into the final descent, my legs were just about to seize. Rolled to a stop by the fence and there they go! Even the relatively flat road ride back to the car involved a stop for uncramping. God I hate me.

Great day on the bike. I really hope I can get the suspension dialed in without spending a ton of money. I did order a Luftkappe ($100). My experience with that device in my Tracer's Factory 36 was very positive. It really does smooth out the first 2-3" of travel. As many of you have said, the bike will become the new normal, and only if I take the Tracer back out will I discover if it's truly better, worse or too close to tell.

17.6 miles - 2917' Bikes are fun! :thumbsup: :cool: :)
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Bigger wheels.......are you running the same psi? Might wanna drop that down a little bit. Will help out. Just a thought.
 
So I hadn't ridden since Tuesday due to a cold I picked up.....I was hoping it was just the crappy weather, but nope.

Yesterday @horsebikerider and I headed to Whiting for an easy afternoon spin. She took the SS, I wasn't feeling 100% so I took the Hightower. I spent the entire 8.5 miles watching Suz pull away....when i could see her. Otherwise, she was too far ahead of me. Which was great, she cleaned Mustard on the SS. She beat me to Mark's Bench. The only time I caught her was on the DH's, after she waited for me.

I was happy I got out......

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We did run across some deer at the bottom of Serrano Cow....they didn't seem to bothered by us rolling up on them.
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Today, I knew I didn't have the legs/lungs/energy for the B*/Motorway ride.

I waiting this afternoon and headed out. Thought about heading over to Chino Hills, but decided at the last minute to do a Whiting/Luge loop.

Borrego was crowded, otherwise the rest of the the ride was quiet.

Head and lungs were still a bit stuffy. Just took my time. However didn't stop. The only time I put a foot down was to go over the moto barrier on STT. However the climbs felt like my brakes were locked up, my wheels were square, tires flat, and I was tied to a tree.

As I rolled back into 4 Corners saw a couple walking their accessory pet....let them know that they walked right by the sign that said "No Dogs".

At the end of Live Oak I made the left turn and checked out Coyote Brush Trail....it has finally reopened...and someone rode a moto on it, you could see the tracks. Turned down Line Shack and hit Live Oak again....only to run into a guy and a girl at the other end heading up it....on ride share scooters....yeah, those are totally legal there.

Got 19 / 3000' on a day I didn't feel that great.

Still good to get out.
 
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