I Rode My Bike Today...

Perfect day at oaks. Start w dessert. Hawk. Waited for first timer on hawk to show him the easier line. Conditions excellent. Wind blew all the dust away. Then chutes. Cactus. Yucca. Fast and flowy. Back up to deer then who put some fun little kickers in barnam?? To cactus again. Finish w mo dessert. Peralta. Everything was fast and grippy. Fun as heck!!! EBike crewss all over the place. Big game J sighting. Tony sighting. Miss that guy. Used to be my main riding partner.
Good times w regular crew plus one. Board n brew. Yumm
 
I’ve been having some back issues again and haven’t ridden for a couple of weeks. I was supposed to ride PCE today with @mtbMike , @pdqmach26 and a few others but unfortunately had to bail out on that. Rode Lake Hodges today with a couple of friends. About as tame as can be and still be on dirt but I was happy to just be able to pedal again. Back is tight but no pain. 13.74 miles/846 feet.

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San Gabes Gravel Grinder...Trying to get reacquainted with the Chameleon. She's been neglected lately. San Gabes gravel is something I wouldn't ride a gravel bike on. o_O Up the pavement from hell and up the Mount Lowe Road. I turned a decent single speed pace to Markham Saddle, and then chilled from there. Slow steady climb to Mount Wilson, a loop around the telescopes, and a decent break. Then down the Toll Road. I wanted to see what shape it's in before I climb it again. Let's just say it won't be going in the regular rotation anytime soon... Maybe not until the Cosmic Cafe opens again, and I have some incentive. Extra credit near the bottom on the Eaton Canyon Trail. Steep and rutted... Lots of hikers headed to the falls at the end.

27/5200

Some new Slides before and after the tunnel...
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Little snow at Mount Wilson... And temps in the upper 30s.
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All that opens (hopefully) in April...
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San Gabes gravel... At least they were cleared and lined up nicely.
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Just a new pebble... Didn't hang here long. There were still rocks coming down.
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Fire Trucks might not be getting up this way... About 2 miles of this.
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Back on PCE today with a group of 9 others including @pdqmach26, Heart Attack Matt, Wrong Way Winters and a few others. Weather was cloudy and 45 degrees at the top at 8:45am and the clouds never went away. It was probably 65 degrees tops when we finished. For those looking to get out there anytime soon, the sand wash might have been the hardest packed we'd ever ridden it. After coming down HBV, we split into two groups with 1/2 going the "standard" route and 1/2 of us going out on Cathedral which I had never done. That trail probably even has more exposure than Art's Johnson and it's a much longer route overall so you get more dirt.

* Side note: We had 10 riders in our group, all on actual mountain bikes. Of ALL the other riders we saw during the day, 15 were on mopeds and 8 were on mountain bikes.
 
Thanks for the update Mike. I will be out there Thurs. The weather is perfecto!

mtbMike said:
Back on PCE today with a group of 9 others including @pdqmach26, Heart Attack Matt, Wrong Way Winters and a few others. Weather was cloudy and 45 degrees at the top at 8:45am and the clouds never went away. It was probably 65 degrees tops when we finished. For those looking to get out there anytime soon, the sand wash might have been the hardest packed we'd ever ridden it. After coming down HBV, we split into two groups with 1/2 going the "standard" route and 1/2 of us going out on Cathedral which I had never done. That trail probably even has more exposure than Art's Johnson and it's a much longer route overall so you get more dirt.

* Side note: We had 10 riders in our group, all on actual mountain bikes. Of ALL the other riders we saw during the day, 15 were on mopeds and 8 were on mountain bikes.
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Stkx66 said:
I did a sit n spin in Quartzsite, Az. Freezing temps to start. I decided to make it into a loop and ended up on a ATV trail with a lot of loose rocks banging off my rims. Pedal strikes too. I eventually hung a righthand turn and headed straight across the desert cherry picking my way through various rock gardens to make it back. 20 miles/ 500 elevation.

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I spent a week in Quartzite one night. :Roflmao My 15 minutes I spent filling up at the Love's there last night was 15 minutes too much for me. Total sketchville.
 
scan said:
No mechanicals or flats?
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Only ME with a 1/2” sidewall on the fun, rocky DH section about 3 miles before the sand wash. I posted in the Reviews section that I used a Stan’s Dart to plug it and it held for 19 miles. I’m sitting in my garage as I type this debating if I want to change the tire or just throw more sealant into it. It was a half worn out Maxxis Dissector tire just for the record.

EDIT: I decided to leave it and add more sealant since I ride that bike locally 98% of the time. If I was going back to ride PC, I'd definitely change it.
 
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I got out yesterday......

I just needed some mileage. Suz took my truck, so I'd be relegated to riding from home. No problem.....I rolled through the Oaks and out to Santiago Canyon. There was an Over the Hump race going on, so I stopped by for a quick visit. Got to see a few friends, then continued on to Blackstar.

The sh!t show at the bottom of the canyon is in full effect. I pushed through.....unfortunately the hikers have figured out they can get to the falls from the top without dealing with the traffic on the singletrack....so instead of the hikers stopping at the turn, we now have to deal with them another mile up the road.

Once you drop into Hidden Ranch.....it's peaceful. I didn't feel all that great on the way up. My plan all along was just to go to Beek's and turn around. I got to Beeks' at 23 miles, tapped the gate and turned around. Decided to go down Booby Trap....loose, fast and fun.....plus lots of new ruts. Back through the sh!t show and out to Sanitago Canyon.

The breeze picked up which meant a head wind.....grrrrrrrr.

Back through the Oaks and home. Legs were feeling it towards the end. However, I did what I wanted to do.

Ended up 45 /4000'
 
Committed to Maple Springs / Motorway with @theProfessor this morning.

Wasn't sure how I was gonna feel after yesterdays spin.

We were starting late due to him having child obligations. This would mean that we were gonna have to deal with traffic on Maple Springs.....and we dealt with a lot.

Josh wasn't feeling all that great most of the ride.....I wasn't feeling all that great the first few miles. It was warm and breezy. Sucked in a lot of dust. We weren't anywhere close to fast up to 4 Corners, but that was fine.....we were doing a social ride.

Good thing once we passed 4 Corners, the traffic let up a lot. Not absent, but the trucks and jeeps were gone, only motos to deal with. Unfortunately the mountain was full of as*holes on motor vehicles. Motos threading the needle to get past us without any warning. Then we ran into a group of about 20 motos.....WTF???

Finally at Motorway it was once again peaceful. We just cruised down. Motorway is beat. It's really rough. It's really fun, but it is not running very fast.

My legs finally showed up just before we got to 4 Corners....and I felt surprisingly good the rest of the ride. Maybe I'm finally turning the corner.

Good to get out.

17.5 / 3750'
 
Haven't been very motivated to get up early lately. Mostly because of the dark and the cooler temps (temps don't actually bother me after I get started, but just an excuse to be lazy really). Kids went down for early naps Sunday at noon, so I made the most of it. Been riding a lot from home lately, just up through the hillside wilderness preserve (lower clamshell). Hardest part is climbing Ridgeside Dr. to get to the actual trailhead. After that it's a scenic fireroad climb up to the "sunset bench". From here there's a short steep singletrack drop in down to the 14 switchbacks from hell. Then it's on to the firebreak for a little while, short punchy climb then another steep bumpy downhill.

The firebreak continues with another short climb then a less steep, but more bumpy descent back down to the fireroad. Quick gradual climb from here to the start of the last downhill. There's a few options here, can do a short climb to another steep loose switchback filled descent, (official trail) but I usually take the middle "improvised" singletrack that bypasses the fireroad with waterbars. Can hit another singletrack shortly after this one rejoins the fireroad (which is what I've usually been taking), or follow the fireroad around the bend for another short punchy climb, and hit a different s/t. When with the seond option this time, this little section is short, but has a little more elevation to play with on the way down.

After that,... I was at the Western Gate/Trailhead and rolled down the street to my house.
 
El Moro from Ridge Park. I hadn’t ridden Lizards since probably October, and I wanted to do a before/after with my memory fresh. I suppose it could use a few well placed shovelfuls of moist soil here and there. We shall see what happens.

BVD wasn’t as bad as feared, but I was expecting Camarillo, so I feared the worst.

Emerald Canyon has been graded too, so the ebikes have nothing but smoothness on which to pass me.
 
Aliso this morning. It was pretty chilly when I started ... 48 degrees. I warmed up quick going up cheater Cholla. :gag:

Twice each on Lynx, actual Cholla, Rockit & Mathis. Once down Meadows. I planned on doing Mentally Sensitive, but it got pretty windy at TOW and I did not want to risk it so settled for Meadows. It was not windy at all in the rest of the park, just a slight breeze. :cautious:

Lots of old lady hikers out ... weekends are definitely better for the eye candy, LOL. However, weekdays are definitely better for no giant crowds and no massive group rides. There was one dude inexplicably walking 7 dogs at once and not small ones either. There is no reason for that, but at least I passed him on a fire road.

Good fun, and a great morning to be on the bike. :thumbsup:

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All I've been able to do lately is sporadic short lunch time loops from the house so haven't bothered posting anything. Today was supposed to be no different until I got partway up Modjeska Grade and could spy eye searingly bright neon colours up on the start of STT. When I finally got up there lo and behold what appeared to be two fine fillies re-creating oz aerobics 80's style resplendent in neon leotards and tights with mtbs. No idea what they were up to but I did appreciate one doing a bizarre lunging walk next to her bike while her mate recorded it all as I ride by.
Of course today was the day I forgot to bring the go-pro so unfortunately no pictures :facepalm:
 
I rode from Glamis North Hot Springs to Salvation Mountain/ Slab City near Niland, Ca today on unimproved roads. Salton Sea. Cool temps. The Ripley peddled well. I had to fend off 2 pit bulls and one small ankle biter dog. Leaving East Jesus road the male pit came after me but he was older and just when he went to clamp down on my foot and pedal the owner called him off. I wasn't worried- just dogs doing their job. I'm glad I rode today- tomorrow there is expected to be a lot of wind. 39 miles/ 500 elevation.

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Dude says “come on up… we’ll do a mellow ride. 10 miles and 2000 feet…”

At 4000 feet, I got a little suspicious that I was punked by The Fire Road Bandit! He was a machine! :cautious: I think we did circles until he found a climb I couldn’t clean. I cried "Uncle!" :laugh:

Fun day… Ending with tacos and a Greek coffee to enjoy on the drive home. :inlove:

22.2/4250

P.s. I almost gave some firemen wounds to treat… And a show. :whistling:

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