I Rode My Bike Today...

Livin' the dream in NC... 5 mile cross-country trail running in the AM, and then 12 miles of single track with my bud Nuclear Steve in the PM! 59 degrees and sun! Trails bone dry, sun through the trees... a glorious experience!

FYI... here's the map from yesterday's ride, just showin' 25 miles from my house. The road miles easy breezy. Hit those dirt pump trails in the woods however, the speed drops and the heart BPM increases!

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herzalot said:
I worked today from 7:00 am until 8:00 pm. Just like every weekday. Evidently, I've made some bad life choices compared to the rest of you. :confused: :(
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I went to work today. First day back from coronacation. All my passwords had expired and needed to be changed. Then I read some emails. I reviewed some charts. Then I talked to some people in the office.
mtnbikej said:
I went back to the Oaks this afternnoon. Yes, a staple in my riding for the last 10 years has turned into only the 3rd or 4th time in 3 months due to how peopley it has gotten. Add in the number of ebikes poaching the trails.....I have lost my desire to ride there.
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boy do I hear this...Historically maybe 70% of my rides were at Oaks, 15% road rides and 15% drive-to-trail rides. Lately I’m picking the gravel bike or driving somewhere 85% of the time.
 
buggravy said:
That seems like a deflating way to start that next stretch. Based on your enthusiasm, I'm guessing it was your partner in crime with the wet paw.
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I was staring at the scenery, and didn't see exactly where Ross crossed. When I got to it, the water was cloudy, and I couldn't see the bottom... I guessed poorly... :Roflmao

I should probably check the hubs, as they were completely submerged. :p

 
I worked until late morning today and discovered that the rain was scheduled to arrive later in the day so I decided to sneak in one last ride before it started. I had already put my bike away since I didn't think I'd be riding it for a few days, so I had to get it and my riding garb out again. :facepalm:

I reached out to @Faust29 to see if he was available for an El Prieto loop quickie. I've said it before but that trail is such a gem and we are lucky to have it in our backyard in this zone. We met up and pedaled on. The climb up was OK. My thighs got really hard and I had to stop at one point to give them a minute or two to loosen up, which they did just enough to get going again. Made to the lower saddle and threw around the idea of continuing the climb up to KB trailhead. But the wind was ripping pretty good at the saddle and I figured it could be worse higher up. Steve was good with whatever. Then he pointed out a dark, ominous cloud not far from us so we kicked it into gear and blasted down toward El P trailhead. There was a rider there stopped at the TH but he didn't seem ready to go so we plowed on. The pass through there is uplifting. Such a fun trail. I pogo'ed one of the rocky ledges at the bottom of it and nearly lost it. Then I rolled down the steep left hander ledge/switchback and almost went flying off the side, lol. We had a blast and it's always over too quickly. o_O:D

8.36 miles
1345' gain

Short but sweet, and as sweet as short gets in these parts. :cool:
 
El Moro loop under a dark sky. Not too many hikers during weekday afternoons. Down to the ocean, up through Moro Ridge, Slow N Easy, out and back on Missing Link / Fenceline and back out. Trails were in good shape. Those fireroads down in bottom of Moro Canyon feel like a highway. It is almost too easy there...o_O

With the amount of people indeed at weekends in OC, as mentioned earlier, consider going to Caspers’s. And even that park will get busy in a few years when the next phase of Rancho Mission Viejo will get built. Anyway, try it, it is quite serene now.
 
SnakeCharmer said:
I worked until late morning today and discovered that the rain was scheduled to arrive later in the day so I decided to sneak in one last ride before it started. I had already put my bike away since I didn't think I'd be riding it for a few days, so I had to get it and my riding garb out again. :facepalm:

I reached out to @Faust29 to see if he was available for an El Prieto loop quickie. I've said it before but that trail is such a gem and we are lucky to have it in our backyard in this zone. We met up and pedaled on. The climb up was OK. My thighs got really hard and I had to stop at one point to give them a minute or two to loosen up, which they did just enough to get going again. Made to the lower saddle and threw around the idea of continuing the climb up to KB trailhead. But the wind was ripping pretty good at the saddle and I figured it could be worse higher up. Steve was good with whatever. Then he pointed out a dark, ominous cloud not far from us so we kicked it into gear and blasted down toward El P trailhead. There was a rider there stopped at the TH but he didn't seem ready to go so we plowed on. The pass through there is uplifting. Such a fun trail. I pogo'ed one of the rocky ledges at the bottom of it and nearly lost it. Then I rolled down the steep left hander ledge/switchback and almost went flying off the side, lol. We had a blast and it's always over too quickly. o_O:D

8.36 miles
1345' gain

Short but sweet, and as sweet as short gets in these parts. :cool:
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Yep... Fun loop, as always. The bike was still dirty and gritty from yesterday, but she did her job. :thumbsup:

I did some roadie extra credit and ended up with 14/1600. :thumbsup:

Full El Prieto run...
 
Faust29 said:
Yep... Fun loop, as always. The bike was still dirty and gritty from yesterday, but she did her job. :thumbsup:

I did some roadie extra credit and ended up with 14/1600. :thumbsup:

Full El Prieto run...
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Great video, and thanks for posting it. What a great trail. It just occurred to me that I haven't ridden it since my first Front Range run. Gah, so many trails I want to ride right now.
 
Knew it was going to rain, so took a chance and went back to Maple Springs, hoping for better results this time. Much to my delight, the gate was closed. :thumbsup: Being 55 degrees at the parking area, left the good stuff in the backpack.

Here's a full size picture of the remodeled totem pole at the end of the asphalt. Note that the new door has been tagged a bunch since I posted a picture of it in pristine condition.
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Just past the bridge at the end of the asphalt, in the little turn out there, found a SUV with 4 flat tires. o_O
Went the 1/2 mile on dirt up to the 1st guardrails. That would be the last spot where any pictures were taken because the black clouds started rolling in a lot.

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Speaking of the 1st guardrails, you can see that they aren't what they used to be.

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Made my way up to the guardrails at the 5 1/2 mile point and stopped there to change out my soaking wet base layers and get better suited for the rain soon to arrive. 36 degrees. When I started riding again it was into fog and a strong headwind filled with dust. Was hoping it would start raining to take care of the dust and it did. Made it up to 4 Corners. I'm happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride back down in the light to medium rain working its magic on the dirt, unmolested by any motor vehicle traffic, reaping the benefits which I had been denied of on recent MS visits with the gate open. Felt like I was getting a deep therapeutic massage all the way back down. :) Get yours while the gettn' is good. :thumbsup: 14.6 / 2,740
 
Another solo Harding mission. This time from home in Irvine. I usually head south on Irvine Blvd and connect into the Serrano trail. Ride that up to Whiting and around into the canyon. Up and over passing STT, down to Harding.

The trail was uneventful today but the weather was on point. Only a light windbreaker was needed on the way down.

Through the canyon to jamboree and home. It’s a long slog with all the pavement but it hit my weekly climbing goal I’ve set for this year.

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I rode yesterday after at LCWP.

I broke out the Bronson (which I had forgot how much of a dream it was to ride)... Thought too much about turning .... Got seriously loose in a couple corners including an accidental momentary crossed up tripod... Which was cool.

It was a beautiful cool afternoon and I had a nice run down TnA...

But I new where the ride was headed...

I paid my respects at "Noel's Turn"

Treasure Every Day, Every Ride, Every Turn.

Rest in Peace Noel.


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Saw an opening in the forecast for this morning and decided to hit Daley Ranch for a quick spin since it’s mostly DG and handles the rain well. It was raining when I left the house but cleared up at the trailhead. The rain that I left the house in soon caught up to me on the trail but I was geared up properly for it. The nice thing is that I pretty much had the trails to myself.....

The sky to the east was blue, but the clouds soon caught up to me.

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Woke up at 4am. Had my coffee. Waited. Got my gear on and headed out to Zen around 8am. Arrived at 830am. Met with a buddy, Brock Norman (not related but rad last name) and a new rider Catherine.

We headed up and got a lap on Zen. Had a freaking blast hitting a sesh at a nice steep rock roller and at a tech climb. After lap one Brock had to bail but I decided to do another lap. Why your ask? Because I wanted to see if I could I guess. Catherine is in for a 2nd lap. We hit it with no real sesh this time. We get done 4 hours after we started this adventure. What a great freaking day riding my bike. Here's some pics.
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Oh, then I came home and ate this bitchen creation!

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It was buttered sourdough thrown in a skillet, cream cheese sliced up and covered, on low heat to melt inside. When done I put blackberry jam (not very sweet either) on it and some maple syrup. What a freaking delight this little gem was! It's my new favorite recovery sandwich!

Video links (they are 4-10 seconds) :

 
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I rode today......and it was wonderful.

Solo Maple Springs / Motorway.....that's nothing special.....done it dozens and dozens of times.

9:45 roll / 45* and I only saw 4 cars parked by the CLOSED gate. Yay....no traffic, no cars, no motos. Just a couple of hikers on the pavement and 2 bikes just below 4 Corners.

Was surprised by how dry it was on lower Maple Springs. Once I got off the pavement into the dirt, it was damp, but not muddy. By the first guardrail, it was wet and 37*. I was comfortable in just my sun sleeves even though the temps would drop into the low 30's up higher. About 1 mile from 4 Corners I finally started to get into the heavy drizzle, light rain. However I still stayed mostly dry. I wanted to make 4 Corners before I had to put my jacket on.

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At 4 Corners, the drizzle turned into snow flurries.....lots of them. 32*......Put my jacket and dry gloves on. Headed down the first couple drops on Main Divide....the flurries stopped and it actually seemed kinda dry up there. Yeah, I was the only 1 on Main Divide....it was soooooo quiet. About 2/3rds the way up the climb past Bedford, the snow flurries started up again. They would be with me all the way to Motorway......I had to stop a few times just to take it in and enjoy it.

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Still was pretty comfortable even though now it was right around 30*. Made it to the top of Motorway and swapped out again for a dry pair of gloves. Heading up the climb on Motorway, the Garmin showed 28*....never been up here that cold. I took it easy on the DH mostly because I didn't have my sunglasses on and was tired of getting Sh!t thrown in my eyes. The snow flurries lasted about the top 1/4 of Motorway....then it just became a steady rain. Motorway had a stream running down it the entire way. I was dry and warm at the top, by about the 1/2 way point, I was soaked and getting cold. Fortunately it was only a few mins back to the truck.

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What a great day to be on the mountain. The weather was great. The conditions were great.

17.5 / 3700'
 
Im Livin the Dream said:
Woke up at 4am. Had my coffee. Waited. Got my gear on and headed out to Zen around 8am. Arrived at 830am. Met with a buddy, Brock Norman (not related but rad last name) and a new rider Catherine.

We headed up and got a lap on Zen. Had a freaking blast hitting a sesh at a nice steep rock roller and at a tech climb. After lap one Brock had to bail but I decided to do another lap. Why your ask? Because I wanted to see if I could I guess. Catherine is in for a 2nd lap. We hit it with no real sesh this time. We get done 4 hours after we started this adventure. What a great freaking day riding my bike. Here's some pics.
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Oh, then I came home and ate this bitchen creation!

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It was buttered sourdough thrown in a skillet, cream cheese sliced up and covered, on low heat to melt inside. When done I put blackberry jam (not very sweet either) on it and some maple syrup. What a freaking delight this little gem was! It's my new favorite recovery sandwich!

Video links (they are 4-10 seconds) :

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Nice! What a fun looking line that right-hander is.
 
mtnbikej said:
I rode today......and it was wonderful.

Solo Maple Springs / Motorway.....that's nothing special.....done it dozens and dozens of times.

9:45 roll / 45* and I only saw 4 cars parked by the CLOSED gate. Yay....no traffic, no cars, no motos. Just a couple of hikers on the pavement and 2 bikes just below 4 Corners.

Was surprised by how dry it was on lower Maple Springs. Once I got off the pavement into the dirt, it was damp, but not muddy. By the first guardrail, it was wet and 37*. I was comfortable in just my sun sleeves even though the temps would drop into the low 30's up higher. About 1 mile from 4 Corners I finally started to get into the heavy drizzle, light rain. However I still stayed mostly dry. I wanted to make 4 Corners before I had to put my jacket on.

View attachment 72512 View attachment 72513

At 4 Corners, the drizzle turned into snow flurries.....lots of them. 32*......Put my jacket and dry gloves on. Headed down the first couple drops on Main Divide....the flurries stopped and it actually seemed kinda dry up there. Yeah, I was the only 1 on Main Divide....it was soooooo quiet. About 2/3rds the way up the climb past Bedford, the snow flurries started up again. They would be with me all the way to Motorway......I had to stop a few times just to take it in and enjoy it.

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Still was pretty comfortable even though now it was right around 30*. Made it to the top of Motorway and swapped out again for a dry pair of gloves. Heading up the climb on Motorway, the Garmin showed 28*....never been up here that cold. I took it easy on the DH mostly because I didn't have my sunglasses on and was tired of getting Sh!t thrown in my eyes. The snow flurries lasted about the top 1/4 of Motorway....then it just became a steady rain. Motorway had a stream running down it the entire way. I was dry and warm at the top, by about the 1/2 way point, I was soaked and getting cold. Fortunately it was only a few mins back to the truck.

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What a great day to be on the mountain. The weather was great. The conditions were great.

17.5 / 3700'
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Damnit! Throw out a night ride already! Yer' killin' me. :p
 
...and a little bit yesterday, and it was glorious! Weather perfect for the experience. Gear was dialed, except I got chain suck from my small chainring. Special thanks to GH for the awesome company and going slow to stay with me. We saw some moths, a few bunnies, night hawks, toads, and two cute bobcats you just wanna adopt and watch maul the neighbor’s pit bull.
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31/5,329’ at Marshall Canyon, Potato Mountain, Itchy-Scratchy, Webb Canyon, and back down through Marshall. Yea!
 
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Quick 7.30am spin up Maple Springs to 4 corners. Gate was closed Beautiful scenery started out cold and stayed that way in the shade. Only saw a couple of peeps on the way up but the crowds were headed up on my way down including 3 motos at speed on the paved section which surprised me as the gate was still shut. Not quite sure where they hopped onto the trail? Surely not down Motorway?
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steve447 said:
Quick 7.30am spin up Maple Springs to 4 corners. Gate was closed Beautiful scenery started out cold and stayed that way in the shade. Only saw a couple of peeps on the way up but the crowds were headed up on my way down including 3 motos at speed on the paved section which surprised me as the gate was still shut. Not quite sure where they hopped onto the trail? Surely not down Motorway?
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I saw you on my way up.

The motos can get around the gate through the creek.....their trucks were parked in front of mine down the road a little bit. Douchebags were out blazing new trails off the side of Main Divide.
 
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