I Rode My Bike Today...

These boys just keep adding more and more...ohh yeah!:
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This is looking UP the new trail off Insidious:
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ridinrox said:
I was exploring @kioti, how'd you know?? :p

You would be so impressed w their trail building skills Jim.... UNBELIEVABLE and a hell of a lot of fun!!
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Well, you've explored with me in Black Star, why should it be any different on the other side? And I'd love to see those trails, maybe I can make it over for a tour in a few weeks.
 
Did anyone else get out on their bike in the dirt today?

Was a little limited on time so did the routine Whiting-Luge loop with @coolbreeze . Cool and overcast and a few raindrops on STT but the dirt was near perfect. Not many hikers in Whiting (maybe the "rain" kept them away?), but the ones we did come across were friendly and jovial. Were 10 - 15 bikers at the flag above the luge from different groups, all chatting away. A group of gals were headed up to old camp. All us guys went down the luge :unsure:

Luge was in excellent shape. I think @kioti mentioned he and Jeff, Boaz and another did some work recently. Seems like the brake bumps were cleaned up and berms beefed up. That and that tacky dirt made for a great ride down. Thanks Jim and crew! Almost no hikers or bikers going back through Whiting either, kind of unusual for a weekend, but will take it, tons of fun.

Oh yeah, talked to a guy in Whiting on a full sized strider, really, 24" rear wheel, 26" front with a suspension fork, disc brakes front and rear, he looked to be having fun and almost beat us up Borrego :bang:, flinstoning away, then took off down Cactus. love it!:thumbsup:
 
herzalot said:
I did...
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As did I. Whiting x2 with extra credit. Señor Herz and a couple friends along for the ride too.
Largest group of hikers in Whiting on Berrego I've seen. About 8000 kids, all friendly, and one thought it was funny to block the trail. haha, just track stranded until he moved.
Fun fast, and did I say fun? The company was pretty good too.

@knucklebuster, We must have missed each other by just a short bit. Rode the Luge last weekend, it is in good shape. Better shape than I.
 
Ok, here's the story of my triumphant return to the dirt. I had my hand surgically repaired with a plate and 4 screws on April 6, and rode today - May 7.

I half-jokingly texted my friend Taylor (tbarnesarc from STR fame) to see if he wanted to accompany Danimal and me for two laps in Whiting. He's never ridden Whiting but surprisingly, he said "sure - pick me up." So I did, and we met up with Danimal and his friend Jeff at the Wahoos lot at 9:05 am (established meet time 9:15). Off we went. I was quite tentative, but since I rode a little with my daughter and wife last Saturday, I knew I would be ok.

To my surprise and delight, my hand never hurt, and I seemed to have plenty of strength in it. I don't want to risk the screws backing out if the bones haven't grown firm around them, so I did not subject them to much beating. But by my second lap, I was almost back to my normal speeds.

Adding two trips up and around cattle pond and one trip to Mark's bench I estimate around 2000' of climbing and 12 miles or so. I was smiling so wide the entire ride that my cheeks hurt when I was done. The bike was flawless and it was fun to be back riding.

Words cannot express how fortunate I feel.

Here are Taylor, me and Danimal at the exit of Live Oak trail in Whiting:

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I waited til the afternoon to go out. Figured I would give it a chance to dry out a bit.

Left the house with the plan of going through the Oaks then head to Blackstar up to Beeks and back the same way. Hadn't been out to Blackstar since they graded the road, and I was planning to pass through there tomorrow, so I figured I'd go out for a little recon.

I was in the sunshine on the way to Oaks....but could see the black clouds out at Sierra Peak. Everything was dry...there were some puddles in Oaks, but the trails were dry. Santiago Cyn Rd. was dry as well, so I pushed on. Dropped down past Irvine Lake and all of a sudden the road was soaked...car were driving with their wipers on. Hmmm....I'm already out here, so worst case scenario, I turn around at Blackstar. It was not currently raining, but appears as though it had just been raining quiet a bit.

Turned onto Blackstar Cyn Rd. and the water was running across the road by the Tree Farm....that's not good. I'll turn around at the gate. Got to the gate, saw all the cars parked there and thought maybe it's not that bad. Decided I would keep pedaling until it started to get too bad. Finally hit the dirt and it was soft and spongy, so I kept going. Along the bottom of the canyon it got very wet and soupy....so mud really wasn't an issue. There were a couple of spots I questioned it. Made the left turn at the end of the canyon and started to climb. The road had been graded from here up. I'll go to the 1st Cattle gate....Hidden Ranch was a definite No Go, as I know that is where the brownie mix mud is. I made it a few hairpin turns up before the tires turned into powdered donuts. At this point I made the call to turn back. The ride back down the canyon was on the slower side. Once back in the canyon, I was crawling down the road. Still had to ride home, so I couldn't just blast through all the muddy soup. I am really surprised by how many people were out hiking in those conditions.

Back at the gate the road was dry. Rode back throught Santiago Cyn and did a quick loop through Irvine Park before heading home....under blue skies.

Riding in the mud killed the legs. Felt Like I rode way more than I actually did.

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Yup. Best behind the bars pic ever.

Fun ride today. Took the Pivot. Mentally, 5 Oaks, stair steps, out to Nix and back, and climb home.

Wanted to climb willow and drop Waimea, but ran out of time.

Really tough to ride the lines that I was riding on the Bronson with the Magic Marys, on the Pivot with the xc race tires. I think I am going to grab some beefy 29er tires for my spare wheels and see what the Pivot's limits are. That should be fun!

Almost bought the farm on stair steps. I kept waiting for the tires to catch a few drops after the water fall... They didn't. I chose bush, rather than sideways slide over a drop. I should have locked it up, leaned the other way and released... Next time.

Dirt was okay, but I started at 1:30 and the dirt was already dry. Nix was in unbelievably good shape. PR'd 5 Oaks. Just grabbed a good line and went with it.

24 ish miles, 3800 feet of climbing. Not crazy crowded in Aliso. Only one other rider group in LCWP.

https://www.strava.com/activities/568921425
 
Reunited with Tom the Bomb and Redwoods today at Palm Springs. New dirt for me. From the Imax up Dunn, Down Hahns, back up Dunn again and down Art Johnson. Dunn was crazy steep at the beginning. Thankfully we only did that part once. Hahn and Art J's singletrack were amazing, fast flowy and some exposure. Really fun. Just got to keep an eye out for small cacti plants trying to grab you as you ride by. No mechanicals or crashes, well except at the end while riding through the neighborhood to get beck to Imax. Front wheel caught in a gutter and washed out almost sent me into a telephone pole. Great ride great company. Got to do this again. 20 miles / 3740'.

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Grego said:
Reunited with Tom the Bomb and Redwoods today at Palm Springs. New dirt for me. From the Imax up Dunn, Down Hahns, back up Dunn again and down Art Johnson. Dunn was crazy steep at the beginning. Thankfully we only did that part once. Hahn and Art J's singletrack were amazing, fast flowy and some exposure. Really fun. Just got to keep an eye out for small cacti plants trying to grab you as you ride by. No mechanicals or crashes, well except at the end while riding through the neighborhood to get beck to Imax. Front wheel caught in a gutter and washed out almost sent me into a telephone pole. Great ride great company. Got to do this again. 20 miles / 3740'.

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Yah Greg great riding with you today. Good stuff!
 
slomosapien said:
Went up to Rim Nordic to practice for their upcoming XC series. Weather was perfect, trails were in great shape and lung needed recalibration. Put in 17/2500. The boys free hub seized just before the decent bachance to the parking area on our second lap. Fixie to the bottom. Good times were had.
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That symptom happened to me twice and I removed the chain to make it out. I was lucky I had mostly gravity propulsion by that point of the ride. Sometimes I bring a spare bike with me in case a poopie mechanical occurs. The boy must be pushing 1,600 watts like @mike and I do. We need parts made of iron that weigh almost nothing. I wonder what it's like to ride MTB on the moon. I guess it would be called MTB.
 
DangerDirtyD said:
That symptom happened to me twice and I removed the chain to make it out. I was lucky I had mostly gravity propulsion by that point of the ride. Sometimes I bring a spare bike with me in case a poopie mechanical occurs. The boy must be pushing 1,600 watts like @mike and I do. We need parts made of iron that weigh almost nothing. I wonder what it's like to ride MTB on the moon. I guess it would be called MTB.
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He does crush the pedals climbing. Would have been nice to have a spare, we had a shuttle planned to hit a few downhill runs after training was over.
 
I rode my (friend's) bike today for some climbing, some trail work, and some minor sessioning. I'm back to working a short section of the STT for two-way fun. Fixed some berms and filled some ruts. Rode it 3 or 4 times to check the work. The idea is that any up and down trail can be fun in either direction and it's a blast bombing down the STT back to Modjeska. Which is exactly what I did after I stashed my tools in the bushes. The Ripley is super smooth at speed and I managed to catch some pretty good air (for me) on a stealth jump I like.
 
kioti said:
I rode my (friend's) bike today for some climbing, some trail work, and some minor sessioning. I'm back to working a short section of the STT for two-way fun. Fixed some berms and filled some ruts. Rode it 3 or 4 times to check the work. The idea is that any up and down trail can be fun in either direction and it's a blast bombing down the STT back to Modjeska. Which is exactly what I did after I stashed my tools in the bushes. The Ripley is super smooth at speed and I managed to catch some pretty good air (for me) on a stealth jump I like.
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Be careful Jim. This riding thing you've discovered recently might be addictive!:eek:

In all seriousness, it's great to hear that you are riding regularly. To say that you've earned it would be an insulting understatement. :thumbsup:
 
slomosapien said:
Went up to Rim Nordic to practice for their upcoming XC series. Weather was perfect, trails were in great shape and lung needed recalibration. Put in 17/2500. The boys free hub seized just before the decent bachance to the parking area on our second lap. Fixie to the bottom. Good times were had.
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What kind of freehub?
 
After Mother's Day Brunch...I couldn't decide where to ride. I finally decided to head down by the coast for a quick spin. 3:40 start meant that I my window to ride was much shorter.

Got passed by a guy in flip flops and no helmet riding an ebike at the top of the first climb on Quail. o_O

Felt like crap for the first 30 mins. Finally warmed up. Willow hurt a bit today. Went down Rattlesnake for the first time in years. When did it get so trashed? o_O

Going back up No Dogs, I slipped a pedal on a climb and cracked my knee on the bar....got a charlie horse from hell. Had to walk a little bit to try and shake it off. It started to swell up pretty good, but I still had a ways to go to get back to the truck.

Ended up being pretty quiet out there.

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