I Rode My Bike Today...

First one up Hazard Peak trail this morning. Just like last time a couple months ago, I got a few hundred yds. up the trail and asked myself if I locked the car. Just like last time, I rode back down and found that I hadn't. So that was my warm-up I guess. Got myself up the trail, thankfully dry this time as Monday was a soaker, and came back down to Canyon View. Wasn't 25 yds. down when coming up the trail is an e-biker with a sled dog on a long leash attach to his stem. Auxiliary power for when a motor is not enough I guess. Dog was friendly, wrapped its leash around my bike saying hi. Only stop needed for the rest of the morning.

Picked up my wife and went to check out See Canyon. Nice back there, but everything was closed for the season. Oh well, went to check out Port San Luis. Had never been. It's OK. Nothing special, free RV parking along the road if you're into that.

Wife's nephew has just arrived at the SLO airport from Phoenix to join us for the rest of the day. Morro Bay for lunch at The Galley, then up to Cayucos, then wind our way to Paso, Halter Ranch. He's never been to Central CA before. So it should be fun. Planning on dinner later in Paso at Della's Wood-Fired Pizza. It is outstanding!

Headed home in the morning tomorrow.
 
blixet said:
Wife's nephew has just arrived at the SLO airport from Phoenix to join us for the rest of the day. Morro Bay for lunch at The Galley, then up to Cayucos, then wind our way to Paso, Halter Ranch. He's never been to Central CA before. So it should be fun. Planning on dinner later in Paso at Della's Wood-Fired Pizza.
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Airport!?!? Who knew? Love the area!!! You know you're missing the Thursday farmer's market in SLO? Firestone grill is a great restaurant too in SLO!
 
Shout out to @scan for the report on Nicholas Cage at the bottom of Sullivan Ridge. That prompted me to look it up, and it's one of the few trails I hadn't ridden in the area, and getting to it meant getting some solid miles on the single speed. It really is a gem, and there are a lot of fun jump lines en route to it on the single tracks that parallel Sullivan Ridge. The grind back up Sullivan from the bottom is a thing, but I made it uninterrupted, and a PR at that. In fact there were a lot of uphill PRs today.

Hit Farmer's Ridge and MG trail on the way out. I've always loved the way those trails feel like you're in another world, even though Dirt Mulholland is a stones throw away. MG is probably the only trail I can think of in the Santa Monicas with legit exposure.

I hope I'm not harping on single speed too much, but for myriad reasons it is really motivating me to get out on the bike more frequently and regularly, which I'm grateful for. Good day on the bike. 25.2/3341

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buggravy said:
Shout out to @scan for the report on Nicholas Cage at the bottom of Sullivan Ridge. That prompted me to look it up, and it's one of the few trails I hadn't ridden in the area, and getting to it meant getting some solid miles on the single speed. It really is a gem, and there are a lot of fun jump lines en route to it on the single tracks that parallel Sullivan Ridge. The grind back up Sullivan from the bottom is a thing, but I made it uninterrupted, and a PR at that. In fact there were a lot of uphill PRs today.

Hit Farmer's Ridge and MG trail on the way out. I've always loved the way those trails feel like you're in another world, even though Dirt Mulholland is a stones throw away. MG is probably the only trail I can think of in the Santa Monicas with legit exposure.

I hope I'm not harping on single speed too much, but for myriad reasons it is really motivating me to get out on the bike more frequently and regularly, which I'm grateful for. Good day on the bike. 25.2/3341

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Sullivan ridge climb sounds good on a SS, steady and not difficult with gears. Glad you checked out nic Cage! I'm curious as to why a SS would motivate you vs a geared bike!? (From a rider that doesn't SS)
 
Stkx66 said:
Any other bike damage Mikie? I watched the video. That was a really hard hit and you're running 2.6 tires? How about your shock?
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Thanks Hawt Dawg!
I went over the bike. All good. I did blow some oil out of the rear shock, however.
I know this will toss some controversy out on the Hooligan network, but I finally attached the ShockWiz to my rear shock to figure out the best config. I run my suspension WAY too soft based on what I rode in California. In Arkansas the bike set up would be way different and I haven’t bothered until now to tweak it.

I’m confident that when I hit the flat of that Huck, I totally bottomed my suspension beyond necessity.

In addition, I would like to tune my suspension to be more “Poppy” to better ride these tabletops out here. I think it’s way too fluffy and I work too hard to try and clear them. To the point I get myself into trouble trying to get the lift on the take-off.
 
scan said:
I'm curious as to why a SS would motivate you vs a geared bike!? (From a rider that doesn't SS)
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It's a few things. The most obvious and expected thing is the need/desire to build and maintain fitness. The first few rides took me back to when I first started mtb, and simply didn't have the level of fitness to (somewhat) comfortably do the longer and tougher rides. It's a similar feeling, and it's motivating me to push to that next level.

Second thing is everything is new again. I look at familiar trails in a different way, and it's also prompting me to explore more areas that, frankly, can feel a little mundane on a plush, geared bike. This was also somewhat expected.

This next part might sound kind of woo woo, hippie dippy, but it has been the most pleasant surprise of this new endeavor. There is a real elevated connectedness, both with the bike itself, and the mind/body connection of the rider's role in the process. I feel like I'm making pretty quick progress, which outpaces an actual fitness gain. I think it's more of retraining the brain that, when it gets hard, I don't NEED to shift gears. I can just increase my output, and the body can handle/adjust to it. And going down, since you can spin out quickly, and thus can't rely on pedaling for speed, it renews the focus on maintaining momentum, and really getting proper angles and weighting through turns. Again, just a very elevated level of overall engagement, and less relying on the bike. The experience, and the progress, has been really intoxicating so far.

And I'm sure, like with anything new, there is a honeymoon phase, and I am in the midst of it.
 
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buggravy said:
It's a few things. The most obvious and expected thing is the need/desire to build and maintain fitness. The first few rides took me back to when I first started mtb, and simply didn't have the level of fitness to (somewhat) comfortably do the longer and tougher rides. It's a similar feeling, and it's motivating me to push to that next level.

Second thing is everything is new again. I look at familiar trails in a different way, and it's also prompting me to explore more areas that, frankly, can feel a little mundane on a plush, geared bike. This was also somewhat expected.

This next part might sound kind of woo woo, hippie dippy, but it has been the most pleasant surprise of this new endeavor. There is a real elevated connectedness, both with the bike itself, and the mind/body connection of the rider's role in the process. I feel like I'm making pretty quick progress, which outpaces an actual fitness gain. I think it's more of retraining the brain that, when it gets hard, I don't NEED to shift gears. I can just increase my output, and the body can handle/adjust to it. And going down, since you can spin out quickly, and thus can't rely on pedaling for speed, it renews the focus on maintaining momentum, and really getting proper angles and weighting through turns. Again, just a very elevated level of overall engagement, and less relying on the bike. The experience, and the progress, has been really intoxicating so far.

And I'm sure, like with anything new, there is a honeymoon phase, and I am in the midst of it.
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Good to hear. Other than the fitness aspect , I have never heard SS riding described in those ways.:thumbsup:
 
Ummm, I rode my bike today. First ride after last Thursday’s whoops drop without a parachute. Shoulder was tender but didn’t hurt! Yay.

Combo ride with Miss CJ, check out the shoulder, try to get my GoPro better aligned, and big breath… ride #1 testing ShockWiz on my rear shock to tune for Arkansas.

California chudder (breaking bumps) into corners in NWA is not an issue. I can only suggest that they build huge berms out here so even with scrubbing speed, mtb’ers out here hit the berms hard satisfied with the speed they carry into them. I hated the breaking bumps in California so I would run my Hightower on “Fluffy” mode.
I’ll make a thread on my ShockWiz testing elsewhere but wanted to toss in some info. This is the I Rode My Bike Today thread.

We had a down pour early yesterday morning so I was concerned about the trails today. However, it was hero dirt and the rocks were dry, so they were like riding on sand paper.

Miss CJ enjoyed her ride as she is training to do a 5k with some ladies at Church.

An out and back cruiser, Mt. Fitzgerald is our second favorite we both can ride and enjoy. I video’ed 90% of the ride before the battery died on the GoPro but needs editing anyways. I’ll get that done asap.
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My ShockWiz recommendations:
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Nailed it with the recommended factory setting recommendations. Only thing was I did not go with my riding weight, just my street clothes weight. So apparently the added Sag worked to my advantage. I was stoked how much better the bike felt and handled.

Oh! And @Y-not , the new SQ lab 611 saddle on the Hightower was glorious! :inlove:
 
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Cyclotourist said:
Beating the heat by spending the weekend in San Clemente. You know what that means... San Clemente Single Track time!
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Love how you can just ride and ride and ride and never really get lost out there. You can take the wrong turn and end up doing a lot of bonus climbing though!

Brought the boy's bike along, and he does GREAT on anything pointed downhill. Coming back up... well not so much so :)
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Dood! Picture Slot Machine, and your kids are "grown-ups"! Somebody call time-out!
 
Rode my local Turkey Mountain again this morning. First ride back on clipless. The first 45 minutes or so were sketchy for me, there are some short rocky climbs I unclipped and walked. I got the hang of it eventually. The chunky downhill was awesome on them, no worries about my feet slipping off of the pedals. I just want to ride harder now.

When I first started riding in So Cal, on clipless, I tended to chickenfoot the downhills. I just didn't have the full confidence I do now. However I seemed to have swapped since then. I can charge downhill over rough rocky chunk but there are short "climbs" that are rocky and rooty. If you don't charge ahead its easy to get caught up on a square rock and come to a complete stop. That's where I seem to be chickenfooting it now. I just need to be more confident in line choice and powering up. I had no problem doing a lot of them on flats, just need to keep the power on! By then end of my ride I was feeling a lot better but just ran out of gas in general. The techy riding out here takes a different kind of riding fitness, Mikie knows I'm sure! At this point I'd love a 3000+' fireroad climb over the repetitive rocks. Just getting my miles in here is a chore! 15.6/1240' No pictures, I was having too much fun riding.
 
Extended lower front range (San Gabriel Mountains) ride this morning, earlyyyyy, to beat the heat. The route would be a lollipop made up of Fern TT, Brown Mtn FR, Ken Burton, Gabrielino, and then back down into civilization. Ran into Hanz, who was surveying the trails at the KB/Gab junction to see what needed to be done today before the MWBA crew arrived. Passed by them afterward heading upstream as I was heading back down. Crazy crowds heading up to the waterfall this morning. Big, long strings of hikers, causing traffic jam gridlock at the creek crossings. Made it back down in one piece. Wonderful ride, felt good the entire time. I saw nobody at all on the grind up Brown Mtn FR and on KB until the bottom at the Gab junction, which made for a Zen-like, soul watering, blissful, stress reliever section of my ride today. 13.2, 2K'

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Bommer Canyon open access today. Started @ 7:30 at Quail and it was super foggy and cool. As soon as my tires touched the dirt, the sun suddenly came out. :Roflmao It was a pretty toasty and wet ride. Also, some unusually good eye candy out today ... almost giving milf park a run for the money. :speechless:

I did Cattle Crest, Fox Run, Rabbit Run and East Fork. I thought about climbing and dropping Ridge Route to hit all of the usually "off limits" singletracks, but was out of water so called it a day. Other than a giant gaggle of hikers standing in a corner on Cattle Crest and a slow eBike towards the end of East Fork, I was unbothered by other people. :thumbsup:

Really good ride despite the heat and humidity. One of the few times I have ridden Bommer and not completely exhausted myself. I sort of regret not getting Ridge Route in, but there is always next time. :cool:

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First time I have ever been able to get a picture of one of these guys. They usually warp off the trail instantly, unlike rattlesnakes which DGAF.

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SnakeCharmer said:
Extended lower front range (San Gabriel Mountains) ride this morning, earlyyyyy, to beat the heat. The route would be a lollipop made up of Fern TT, Brown Mtn FR, Ken Burton, Gabrielino, and then back down into civilization. Ran into Hanz, who was surveying the trails at the KB/Gab junction to see what needed to be done today before the MWBA crew arrived. Passed by them afterward heading upstream as I was heading back down. Crazy crowds heading up to the waterfall this morning. Big, long strings of hikers, causing traffic jam gridlock at the creek crossings. Made it back down in one piece. Wonderful ride, felt good the entire time. I saw nobody at all on the grind up Brown Mtn FR and on KB until the bottom at the Gab junction, which made for a Zen-like, soul watering, blissful, stress reliever section of my ride today. 13.2, 2K'

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I rode El P. today and there was (no joke,) a group of hikers (probably a church group,) about 50 people long heading up it. I ended up finishing with another rider and we were both flabbergasted at how inconsiderate it is of people to roll that unbelievably deep on a popular trail, on a weekend!

Sure enough, when I got down to the JPL lot to do a little more riding along the wash there was a giant tour bus parked right there.

On the plus side, the climb and most of my ride before El Prieto was empty. Save for running into the McGuires! They were getting a ride in before joining the trail work. I let them know about @Mikie 's planned Wrightwood ride and they asked about you, @DangerDirtyD . I told them you were still a weirdo.
 
Sasquatch9billion said:
I hiked Golden Eagle and there was (no joke,) a group of bikers (probably a church group,) about 50 people long heading up it. I ended up finishing with another hider and we were both flabbergasted at how inconsiderate it is of people to roll that unbelievably deep on a popular trail, on a weekend!
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Change a few words and it's the infamous iMtbtrails Gold Eagle ride with @Mikie ! ( pic on the left of the header t the top of the site ).
 
Obsidian said:
Bommer Canyon open access today. Started @ 7:30 at Quail and it was super foggy and cool. As soon as my tires touched the dirt, the sun suddenly came out. :Roflmao It was a pretty toasty and wet ride. Also, some unusually good eye candy out today ... almost giving milf park a run for the money. :speechless:

I did Cattle Crest, Fox Run, Rabbit Run and East Fork. I thought about climbing and dropping Ridge Route to hit all of the usually "off limits" singletracks, but was out of water so called it a day. Other than a giant gaggle of hikers standing in a corner on Cattle Crest and a slow eBike towards the end of East Fork, I was unbothered by other people. :thumbsup:

Really good ride despite the heat and humidity. One of the few times I have ridden Bommer and not completely exhausted myself. I sort of regret not getting Ridge Route in, but there is always next time. :cool:

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First time I have ever been able to get a picture of one of these guys. They usually warp off the trail instantly, unlike rattlesnakes which DGAF.

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I always scurry over to Strava when I see you ride Bommer Canyon.
Sasquatch9billion said:
I rode El P. today and there was (no joke,) a group of hikers (probably a church group,) about 50 people long heading up it. I ended up finishing with another rider and we were both flabbergasted at how inconsiderate it is of people to roll that unbelievably deep on a popular trail, on a weekend!

Sure enough, when I got down to the JPL lot to do a little more riding along the wash there was a giant tour bus parked right there.

On the plus side, the climb and most of my ride before El Prieto was empty. Save for running into the McGuires! They were getting a ride in before joining the trail work. I let them know about @Mikie 's planned Wrightwood ride and they asked about you, @DangerDirtyD . I told them you were still a weirdo.
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The McGuires know what’s up.
 
Danimal said:
Change a few words and it's the infamous iMtbtrails Gold Eagle ride with @Mikie ! ( pic on the left of the header t the top of the site ).
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That's when we met Sara! She and her friend encountered our huge group and were none too happy about it. But somehow both had their best assets on display, so I personally was very apologetic about our rudeness - all while trying to maintain eye contact!
 
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