I Rode My Bike Today...

scan said:
I see you're throwing out these Strava stats more easily now!
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Only with the irony or silliness with which it was intended. We took a long time on the Hillyer section the first time with inspection, recon, re-dos etc. So cutting ten minutes off of that wasn't really much of an achievement! Still not going to make my numbers public. One @DangerDirtyD obsessed with STRAVA "cuppies" is enough!
 
herzalot said:
Only with the irony or silliness with which it was intended. We took a long time on the Hillyer section the first time with inspection, recon, re-dos etc. So cutting ten minutes off of that wasn't really much of an achievement! Still not going to make my numbers public. One @DangerDirtyD obsessed with STRAVA "cuppies" is enough!
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Now imagine that ride at night….sooo fun.
 
herzalot said:
OK fine. Here goes...

With the day off, crappy surf forecast and a whopping three rides under my belt in November, I jumped at @Faust29 's suggestion that Monday would be a good day to finally give Chilao a try. I tried coming up with every excuse not to go, but alas, the dog had her flea bath and haircut on Saturday, and I don't own a cat to perm, so my excuses were running low.

First run down Mt. Hillyer was more about recon and trying sections. I am very apprehensive when I ride a trail the first time. No, I didn't attempt the infamous "spine" because, well... because I don't have one. I did successfully navigate a couple of micro-spines above and below the main attraction. On run #1 a certain chute caused me to pause and inspect. The one in @SnakeCharmer 's photo. It looked fine except it went straight into a giant boulder. It requires an awkward right then hard left to navigate. I gave it a try and on run #1, I didn't make the move. Came to a stop, then tipped over trying to get a foot down on the low side. No harm no foul. On run two I ran it successfully.

On run one, we went left and added an upper section of Silver Moccasin. That was pretty darn fun. Then the lower section with chunky switchbacks. I chased Pat (@redwoods ) on that section with hartail Steve hot on my heels. I kept up with Pat until about the second of the 6 switchbacks. I dabbed a couple of them, and Pat flew on out of sight.

Run #2 was more successful, as one would expect. I cleaned everything on Hillyer without hesitation. In fact - I cut 10 minutes off my STRAVA time! Again I chased @redwoods down the Silver Moc switchbacks and again, I held onto him until after the second switch back, but this time, I cleaned them all. Hot Dawg Steve (@Stkx66) caught me from behind an I made him tiptoe around some of the switchies slower than he would have liked, but he was gracious about it.

I have to thank all of the group but especially @SnakeCharmer for hanging back with me on the fireroad and paved road climbs. I proved my continual boasting about being a slow climber and he hung back and kept me company. @Faust29 was an awesome guide and shuttle driver. He's always stoked to ride and loves showing the goods to the newb. Pat is a fast, talented, and always-stoked rider and was the only one to give The Wall a try on the second lap. I think he needed about ten more pedal strokes to clean it on his sprightly 38 lb Rocky Mt. And Hot Dawg Steve just loves to put his extensive moto experience to use on any trail. He rides loose and fast.

There. You asked for it!

Bikes are fun! Riding with great guys on a gorgeous 60° day in the mountains is extra-fun! 17.5 mi / 2550'
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Fair enough and a nice report. One of these days, someone is going to teach those climby mountain people a lesson or two. Not me, but someone. :Roflmao Sea level FTW.
 
herzalot said:
OK fine. Here goes...

With the day off, crappy surf forecast and a whopping three rides under my belt in November, I jumped at @Faust29 's suggestion that Monday would be a good day to finally give Chilao a try. I tried coming up with every excuse not to go, but alas, the dog had her flea bath and haircut on Saturday, and I don't own a cat to perm, so my excuses were running low.

First run down Mt. Hillyer was more about recon and trying sections. I am very apprehensive when I ride a trail the first time. No, I didn't attempt the infamous "spine" because, well... because I don't have one. I did successfully navigate a couple of micro-spines above and below the main attraction. On run #1 a certain chute caused me to pause and inspect. The one in @SnakeCharmer 's photo. It looked fine except it went straight into a giant boulder. It requires an awkward right then hard left to navigate. I gave it a try and on run #1, I didn't make the move. Came to a stop, then tipped over trying to get a foot down on the low side. No harm no foul. On run two I ran it successfully.

On run one, we went left and added an upper section of Silver Moccasin. That was pretty darn fun. Then the lower section with chunky switchbacks. I chased Pat (@redwoods ) on that section with hartail Steve hot on my heels. I kept up with Pat until about the second of the 6 switchbacks. I dabbed a couple of them, and Pat flew on out of sight.

Run #2 was more successful, as one would expect. I cleaned everything on Hillyer without hesitation. In fact - I cut 10 minutes off my STRAVA time! Again I chased @redwoods down the Silver Moc switchbacks and again, I held onto him until after the second switch back, but this time, I cleaned them all. Hot Dawg Steve (@Stkx66) caught me from behind an I made him tiptoe around some of the switchies slower than he would have liked, but he was gracious about it.

I have to thank all of the group but especially @SnakeCharmer for hanging back with me on the fireroad and paved road climbs. I proved my continual boasting about being a slow climber and he hung back and kept me company. @Faust29 was an awesome guide and shuttle driver. He's always stoked to ride and loves showing the goods to the newb. Pat is a fast, talented, and always-stoked rider and was the only one to give The Wall a try on the second lap. I think he needed about ten more pedal strokes to clean it on his sprightly 38 lb Rocky Mt. And Hot Dawg Steve just loves to put his extensive moto experience to use on any trail. He rides loose and fast.

There. You asked for it!

Bikes are fun! Riding with great guys on a gorgeous 60° day in the mountains is extra-fun! 17.5 mi / 2550'
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I near teared up! :cry:
Great report Amigo!
I wish I was capable of being there with you on my turf!
Chilao is an awesome experience and so wish I could have been there to experience it with you. I hope and expect the aftermarkets to more than give me the capability to return to that level of cycling Hooliganism! Well done! :thumbsup:
Oh… And I know @redwoods is one fast Mo-Fo! I have been blessed to ride with him many times! :thumbsup:
 
Faust29 said:
I have proof that there were special guests at Chilao!

I haven't had much coffee yet, but I managed to pull out the Christian Camp DH and upload it... For you sea level guys, this is just the extra credit DH. Notice how crowded our mountain trails are. You can keep your sea level! :p

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For the most part ... it looks like you had trouble keeping up with sea level guy on your own turf. :Roflmao
 
Obsidian said:
For the most part ... it looks like you had trouble keeping up with sea level guy on your own turf. :Roflmao
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He did not have much trouble keeping up - and he has no rear springy stuff... My one skill from being an Aliso rider is I can go fast in a straight line over chunky stuff. Throw in some tight turns, slow-speed chunk or exposure and I am back to the kiddie pool! No exposure on this ride, and plenty of straight ahead blasting with small steps and entertaining rocks. But also slow-speed chunk at the beginning and tight switchbacks at the end. Fun to push on skills I don't have.
 
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herzalot said:
He did not have much trouble "keeping up" - and he has no rear springy stuff... My one skill from being an Aliso rider is I can go fast in a straight line over chunky stuff. Throw in some tight turns, slow-speed chunk or exposure and I am back to the kiddie pool! No exposure on this ride, and plenty of straight ahead blasting with small steps or entertaining rocks.
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I just like talking Sh!t. Nobody really wants trouble from those SS mountain kids. :laugh:
 
Video #2! This is the first run down the Silver Moccasin switchback section... Video #1 rolls right into this section. It's the chunkiest of the 3 downhills we do out there and ends right at the cars. @Obsidian will notice that Chris was rolling through the rocks a lot faster than I was. :oops: What you can't see in the video, though, is that @Stkx66 is behind me doing track stands and catching up on his reading. :Roflmao

And as usual, I had one decent run down the switchbacks and one run with 47 dabs. At least there wasn't a face plant this time... That's a win out there.

HD Still processing... YouTube is slow today.
 
Faust29 said:
Video #2! This is the first run down the Silver Moccasin switchback section... Video #1 rolls right into this section. It's the chunkiest of the 3 downhills we do out there and ends right at the cars. @Obsidian will notice that Chris was rolling through the rocks a lot faster than I was. :oops: What you can't see in the video, though, is that @Stkx66 is behind me doing track stands and catching up on his reading. :Roflmao

And as usual, I had one decent run down the switchbacks and one run with 47 dabs. At least there wasn't a face plant this time... That's a win out there.

HD Still processing... YouTube is slow today.
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You were just showing off at 18 seconds. :Roflmao

I have followed him down rocks before and he does tend to disappear.

That looks like a pretty fun trail though. Where are all the hikers?
 
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And video #3... This is the Mount Hillyer DH, which is actually the first DH on the route. This was our second run down... I learned a new line in the beginning courtesy of @redwoods, and we figured out the location of the "tree ride" from the recent video shot up there.

The Hillyer DH is my favorite section up there... It's pretty special even by San Gabes standards. :inlove: Awesome to be able to ride it with friends who are seeing it for the first time. :thumbsup:

 
Faust29 said:
And video #3... This is the Mount Hillyer DH, which is actually the first DH on the route. This was our second run down... I learned a new line in the beginning courtesy of @redwoods, and we figured out the location of the "tree ride" from the recent video shot up there.

The Hillyer DH is my favorite section up there... It's pretty special even by San Gabes standards. :inlove: Awesome to be able to ride it with friends who are seeing it for the first time. :thumbsup:

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Love this!

Memorable sections for me:
Mini Spine on left @2:30
Chunky hard left with drop 2:43 (I tried twice on first run and failed. Picked through it clean second run - thus the "yells of success")
Chute next to the Big Boy Spine 4:30-4:38
Left Rock Ridge (Pat's Line - not Steve's) - 4:50
Boulder Blocked Chute (aka Shoulder Roll from my first run) - 5:11- 5:18 Cleaned it second run.

Honestly, the whole Hillyer section reminded me of whitewater kayaking in Class IV water - know your rocks, know the holes, know your lines, move from one drop to the next with precision and a little bit of luck.
 
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Thanks for posting the video's Faust29! I'm sitting in my chair racing every corner. I didn't take to many pics but here are 3. Good ride! I'd like to go back. :thumbsup:

F97B5C69-8451-4873-9641-FC794BCAA25F.jpeg


D5D55768-6A20-4073-AFF5-F2FCB9DD22DA.jpeg


8D601700-90A3-48FB-AD80-63F9F9229ECE.jpeg
 
Faust29 said:
And video #3... This is the Mount Hillyer DH, which is actually the first DH on the route. This was our second run down... I learned a new line in the beginning courtesy of @redwoods, and we figured out the location of the "tree ride" from the recent video shot up there.

The Hillyer DH is my favorite section up there... It's pretty special even by San Gabes standards. :inlove: Awesome to be able to ride it with friends who are seeing it for the first time. :thumbsup:

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that looks really fun!!
 
herzalot said:
@Faust29 will ride on Wednesdays, and he knows how to be antisocial when needed!

Go for it!
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Im still generally not meeting up with people outside of my household due to Covid. But if cases go way down after the (inevitable?) winter surge Ill hit up @Faust29 for some Gabes guiding, never ridden there.
Seems like i havent gone riding with you in a zillion years either
 
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A lazy Ken Burton loop this morning... It was the lazy version, because I loaded the single speed up and drove to the trailhead. Nine minutes of pedaling on flat ground would have been too much. :laugh:

I saw a couple other riders, and a couple hikers on the way to the Ken Burton saddle. There wasn't much gas in the tank, but I got to the top in decent time. There really isn't much choice with one gear. :gag: A quick break, and then down KB.

After the third switchback, the front tire seemed a little too squishy. It was at that point that I questioned whether or not I checked the sealant after swapping wheels post Frog Hollow. Oops. :laugh: I added some air and made it down just fine in cruise mode...

The Lower Gabrielino section was pretty much empty, which was a nice change. I cleaned all of the water crossings and hit all of the little extras on the way down. Fun little ride. :thumbsup:

14.5/2200
 
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