I Rode My Bike Today...

Quick afternoon ride at El Moro with a buddy. Lizards, Boat, Cow, Old Emerald down and up & Fenceline with the requisite fire roads to connect. I’m really liking this new Ripley! 13.1 miles, 2,170 feet.

8633F0A3-9084-48DC-ABE1-81CCFF915C51.jpeg
7853AF9E-4244-4367-9ECB-ABCB7696A9F5.jpeg
 
Parked at Trail's End off Chapman, unloaded the Kona, rode to Beek's Place. Caught @Grego just past the B* gate and rode up to Beek's with him; the wind through the canyon had slowed me down and I was a couple minutes late to the party. Great climb, wind sucked, it was howling at the top so I turned around. @Grego said he was continuing on to at least Hagador on his Pushme-Pullyou contraption. :thumbsup:

Good ride, not fast. Lots of folks out "hiking" and taking up the entire 15+ foot width of B*. o_O Oh well, I wasn't in a hurry. Luckily I had a tailwind for most of the ride out of the canyon back to Trail's End. 32 miles and 3,300 feet of gain. Bikes are fun!!

20180127_114753.jpg


upload_2018-1-27_14-10-56.png
 
Yep! I left the Treefarm at 10:15 as planned. No sign of @Runs with Scissors but as soon as I hit dirt I hear a comment, "Nice contraption". Yay, company, it was Mark. We cruised with a nice social pace. About half way up B* I get a text from @Faust29 , they're already at Beeks and moving on. :confused: Well at least I don't have to worry about slowing them down now. ;) We continued to Beeks. Seemed to go by quickly. At Beeks the wind was crazy. I tried to send as text to Steve to check the wind further up but the phone would not connect. Mark was not planning on Motorway so he went back down B*. Thanks for joining Mark, great riding with you again! My contraption was working well and I still had energy so I committed to at least Hagador. For the most part the wind died down imo so once past the old Hag there was no turning back. Great views on Main Divide. Motorway was especially interesting on the full rigid. Don't get me wrong, the bike looks like it has a suspension fork on it but trust me, it's rigid. :poop:. All in all a good day on the bike.:thumbsup:.
IMG_1694.JPG
 
Last edited:
I did a local tour of Verdugo Mountain. Climbed La Tuna, rested at the lookout, then headed East along the motorway. There is a way down that I have always wanted to try but until the recent fire here, the fire road was completely grown over. Well, not anymore. It was just plowed this week. I had no idea what I was getting myself into but it didn't take long to see. It basically drops, and I mean drops, down the face of a steep mountainside. Multiple sections of easily 30 degrees or steeper for 100s of feet. Loose and chopped up but not as squirrely as it looked. It was both scary as hell and fun as hell at the same time. I walked a few of the sections but it's completely doable for the guys with Brahma balls. Someone had already plowed the way down on two wheels so I followed those tracks as much as I could. It is hero dirt and it seemed to cradle my tires as I descended.

11.81 miles
1985'
944 calories

The OTB guys (hello @Luis) should add this descent to their Verdugo Mountain rides. The junction is just East of the Skyline intersection on the motorway. It dumps you out in Whiting Woods.

There is already some wildflowers starting up along the motorway and I saw waves of migrating Painted lady butterflies. Too early for that and it is concerning because there is no Thistle growing for the bflies to lay their eggs on. Nature is so confused! :eek:

IMG_3716.JPG


IMG_3728.JPG


IMG_3729.JPG


IMG_3732.JPG
 
Last edited:
Grego said:
Yep! I left the Treefarm at 10:15 as planned. No sign of @Runs with Scissors but as soon as I hit dirt I hear a comment, "Nice contraption". Yay, company, it was Mark. We cruised with a nice social pace. About half way up B* I get a text from @Faust29 , they're already at Beeks and moving on. :confused: Well at least I don't have to worry about slowing them down now. ;) We continued to Beeks. Seemed to go by quickly. At Beeks the wind was crazy. I tried to send as text to Steve to check the wind further up but the phone would not connect. Mark was not planning on Motorway so he went back down B*. Thanks for joining Mark, great riding with you again! My contraption was working well and I still had energy so I committed to at least Hagador. For the most part the wind died down imo so once past the old Hag there was no turning back. Great views on Main Divide. Motorway was especially interesting on the full rigid. Don't get me wrong, the bike looks like it has a suspension fork on it but trust me, it's rigid. :poop:. All in all a good day on the bike.:thumbsup:.
View attachment 35895
Click to expand...

We didn't do the math so well! Sorry we missed you out there!

We rode a little today. http://www.imtbtrails.com/forum/thr...017-vq-and-cc-thread.5296/page-16#post-117220
 
I had to attend the annual USFS, all day, mandatory volunteer training in Corona today. I considered a couple after-meeting ride options and chose to check out Coal Canyon, since it's maybe my favorite fire road climb in the Cleveland. I was pleasantly surprised by its condition, seeing as the Canyon Fire went through the lower part of it. Wind was howling and alternatively hitting me from all directions, which made the climb even more interesting.

Temps were good, views were outstanding, and I had just enough time to get to the top of the main ridge (that connects to Sierra Peak) and back down to my truck at Green River before dark. Saw two hikers with their dog, but otherwise had the whole climb and descent to myself. Ribbons of headlights and tail lights lit up the 91 as I descended, and there was a strong headwind to buck back up the bike path to the truck.
 
First ride on dirt this year. I met a cool group of friends of friends but had to cut it short towards the top of mtt so I could get to a child’s birthday party. Down at the rock garden towards the end I saw a big group of cairns that looked cool and was thinking of stopping for a picture just as I otb’d. As I was falling my handle bars twisted and I realized I was about to impale myself through the neck...
I thought “ if I’m found dead by some foraging hippies this will be the saddest death ever.”
The bar ended up thumping me just below the the neck.

2D5C75E9-F85F-4E72-A068-141DCC6C8BC6.jpeg
 
Sasquatch9billion said:
First ride on dirt this year. I met a cool group of friends of friends but had to cut it short towards the top of mtt so I could get to a child’s birthday party. Down at the rock garden towards the end I saw a big group of cairns that looked cool and was thinking of stopping for a picture just as I otb’d. As I was falling my handle bars twisted and I realized I was about to impale myself through the neck...
I thought “ if I’m found dead by some foraging hippies this will be the saddest death ever.”
The bar ended up thumping me just below the the neck.

View attachment 35922
Click to expand...

Too close for comfort! Glad the hippies were denied the find...

o_O :eek: :poop: :eek:
 
Sasquatch9billion said:
First ride on dirt this year. I met a cool group of friends of friends but had to cut it short towards the top of mtt so I could get to a child’s birthday party. Down at the rock garden towards the end I saw a big group of cairns that looked cool and was thinking of stopping for a picture just as I otb’d. As I was falling my handle bars twisted and I realized I was about to impale myself through the neck...
I thought “ if I’m found dead by some foraging hippies this will be the saddest death ever.”
The bar ended up thumping me just below the the neck.

View attachment 35922
Click to expand...
Yikes! :eek: That's gnarly and waaaaaay too close for comfort. o_O
 
Runs with Scissors said:
I was just amazed that you guys were at Beek's at 11:00 am. 5 hours for Harding, Eagle, Skyline to Beek's! :eek:
Click to expand...

And we actually left about 15 minutes late... But it never felt like we were pushing. We took it really easy up Harding, and then made good steady time for the rest.

Eagle was in great shape, except for some of the loose turns. You would really like that one.
 
kioti said:
I think I would, too. Gotta check it out. Maybe a Bedford/Eagle loop.
Click to expand...

Starting from the Corona side, that is probably the "easiest" loop... Another option would be an out and back. @singlespeedrider has climbed it a bunch of times- including yesterday.

You'd have the miserable little HAB at the beginning to gain legal access to the trail, but then it's a smooth climb...
 
Faust29 said:
Starting from the Corona side, that is probably the "easiest" loop... Another option would be an out and back. @singlespeedrider has climbed it a bunch of times- including yesterday.

You'd have the miserable little HAB at the beginning to gain legal access to the trail, but then it's a smooth climb...
Click to expand...

I don't mind a little HAB, so that's a good option. I'm thinking B/E loop to see 'em both on one ride, so far I've only ridden Skyline on that side. I also wanna try Indian Truck Trail, but I'm not sure about Coldwater or East Horsethief. :eek:

Definitely on my exploration list is Sycamore and points south and east.
 
kioti said:
I don't mind a little HAB, so that's a good option. I'm thinking B/E loop to see 'em both on one ride, so far I've only ridden Skyline on that side. I also wanna try Indian Truck Trail, but I'm not sure about Coldwater or East Horsethief. :eek:

Definitely on my exploration list is Sycamore and points south and east.
Click to expand...

I've gone down Bedford... And the thing that struck me was that there was a fair amount of "up" at the beginning of the downhill, but then it was just twisty fire road. Indian Truck Trail is a tough climb. My memory may be clouded, because that was a really long day, but I'd rank it at least as difficult as Harding to climb. Probably worse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top