I Rode My Bike Today...

I met @scan and his buds this morning for a Brown Mtn/El P ride. I am out of a good sleeping pattern lately so I did not wake up feeling rested and therefore, I had nothing in the tank for the climb. My heart rate kept getting too high so I stopped several times on the way to the KB trailhead. But I was starting to come alive at the turnaround so I blasted down the mountain at a fair clip. Lots of traffic on the trails today. Almost crashed into people a few times. Thank God I wasn't clipped in otherwise it could have been ugly. El P has had some improvements made and some sanitizing done :mad:. The reroute that has you rolling down the middle of the creek for a spell is silly. @scan went down there due to the slipperiness but he seemed to be OK. Fun ride with some great guys even though I was slower than an elderly lady in a wheelchair on the climb up.

I rode from home so I ended up with 25.07 miles, 2710', and 1700 calories.
 
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Maple to Motorway Social Ride... @cajun , @H2oChick , @mtnbikej and @singlespeedrider . The Fullerton High School e-MTB club was also out in full force! Way to set an example for the kids... :facepalm:

Motorway is pleasantly overgrown. Lots of colors... And a wonderful hiker felt we needed large rocks in the middle of the trail every 25 feet or so for the last mile. No problem to go around them at slow speed, but still a dick move. If we had been hauling ass, that could have been bad... Older guy, no shirt, scowl instead of a smile... I have him on camera, because I had it running and didn't realize he was the culprit. Maybe a poster at the bottom of the trail. :cautious:

Maple Springs Lady Bugs (Video Link)...

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Motorway a little overgrown...
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17 miles and 3800 feet... :thumbsup:
 
SnakeCharmer said:
I met @scan and his buds this morning for a Brown Mtn/El P ride. I am out of a good sleeping pattern lately so I did not wake up feeling rested and therefore, I had nothing in the tank for the climb. My heart rate kept getting too high so I stopped several times on the way to the KB trailhead. But I was starting to come alive at the turnaround so I blasted down the mountain at a fair clip. Lots of traffic on the trails today. Almost crashed into people a few times. Thank God I wasn't clipped in otherwise it could have been ugly. El P has had some improvements made and some sanitizing done :mad:. The reroute that has you rolling down the middle of the creek for a spell is silly. @scan went down there due to the slipperiness but he seemed to be OK. Fun ride with some great guys even though I was slower than an elderly lady in a wheelchair on the climb up.

I rode from home so I ended up with 25.07 miles, 2710', and 1700 calories.
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Good riding with you @SnakeCharmer. We were going back and forth on where we were going to ride and then almost went our separate ways. Then I told him about some friends were going to do El prieto and he was on board.
Perfect weather, and no snakes :thumbsup:

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Headed out this morning for a casual spin this morning.

Plan was to meet up with @cajun @Faust29 and @H2oChick for a Maple Springs / Motorway loop. While waiting for the others to arrive..... @singlespeedrider pulled in.

So the 5 of rolled. I got about 1 minute up the road when I realized I had forgot my helmet..... D'oh!!!! Turned back to retrieve it....then spent the next 10 mins chasing down the group. I was in no rush. Kay was out front, Steve and Mark pushed up the pavement and Greg and I cruised.

The ride up the dirt went by pretty quick. Short break at 4 Corners. Bugs were a little more active there today. Warm but not hot. W

We made good time over to Motorway. Mark led down....interesting to follow someone else down....different line choices.

Fun day with the gang.
 
Did a quick last minute lap this evening. Don't act like you're not impressed with the mileage or the elevation gain...:whistling: Getting back to my regular pace again but washed the front tire about 15 feet from the last roller on TnA. Saved it and didn't go down so all is well. Also, saw a hot runner chick yielding spandex at the top before I dropped in.:eek:

Edit: TnA for those who don't know actually stands for Tito and Andy not cakes and bombs. :gag:

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Edit Edit: Decided to add the video since I edited it anyways...:rolleyes:


 
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tbarnesarc said:
Did a quick last minute lap this evening. Don't act like you're not impressed with the mileage or the elevation gain...:whistling: Getting back to my regular pace again but washed the front tire about 15 feet from the last roller on TnA. Saved it and didn't go down so all is well. Also, saw a hot runner chick yielding spandex at the top before I dropped in.:eek:

Edit: TnA for those who don't know actually stands for Tito and Andy not cakes and bombs. :gag:

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Glad you didn't fall, but really disappointed that you didn't take "creeper" pics of the yoga pants occupant to share with us!
 
Vince had to take his S.A.T.'s on this SATurday.:confused: This gave me the opportunity to do a big solo ride. Had a few routes in mind so set out to do so. 8:30 start meant I'd be in the sunshine. Cruised up Skyline, seems to be my go to climb to the CNF. Across Main Divide with it's glorious views. Walked a couple usual sections. Just past Pleasants Peak where it's shady there is a gnat infestation. Keep mouth closed! Down Motorway was slow. Lots of hikers about along with some large rocks on the trail.:cautious: At the bottom it's decision time. Bag the peak? Maple/MW/ B*? Maple/MD and back? Hmmm. Didn't want the ride to end with just B*so up Maple Springs I went. The sun was out and bearing down on me. I don't do good in the heat. Slowed the pace to a crawl. The bike started to creak somewhere around the crankset. Stopped to check it but nothing I could do, everything was tight. Continued up at a snails pace. Cars, trucks, hikers with dogs all over MS. Really annoying on top of the heat so I said F-it and pulled the plug shortly after the end of the pavement. Ah yeah, much better going DH. Stopped at the store. Probably drank a half gallon of water. Up B* was still slow. Put some chain lube on the chainring/crank interface. That stopped the creak.:thumbsup: Thought about heading out to Sierra , maybe even Coal for a second. Nope, I'm done. Down Skyline and out-a-here. Shorter ride than I wanted to do but still a great day on the bike.

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Rode the same old humdrum stuff, but a few things to report.

  1. Never clean your bike. Every time I clean my bike, my next ride is filled with an annoying creak or two. :mad: Todd cleaned his bike too, and had almost the exact same creak.
  2. Rock-It is always fun - except when you lock your fork before riding it. :bang: It's been so long, I just automatically turned the dial to full open, except it was full closed. By the time I was convinced "hey, this fork feels like Sh!t today" I wasn't in a position to take a hand off the bar and turn the knob. I stopped at the little climb midway (but after all the tasty rocks) Yup. locked. :facepalm:
  3. Meadows is hard to ride right now because it is so overgrown. 8-10 ft high mustard as someone else mentioned. Some of the typical asshats who frequent the park have made a new shortcut that circumvents about 6 turns. I'm afraid this line is going to be more tempting to more riders if we don't get out there and weed whack!
  4. Coyote Run is open again! :thumbsup: I was surprised at how little the trail was impacted by the fire and the fighting of same. It's amazing how a little singletrack like that can be so much more enjoyable than the long, flat-ish fireroad (Wood Canyon) that we've been using since the fire.
  5. I had to pause while climbing Cholla. That's the second time in my life I've ever stopped, unless I slipped a tire. Oh, I did that too. :oops:
  6. Lynx was fun! :cool:

Great to be back on the bike. A little anemic today, but I can fix that. Todd was good company as always. 15 mi, 2200'
 
Straight up awesome day today. Palo Comado up to China Flat, back down to Sheep Corral and Chesebro, and PC back to my start at Smoketree. Made it all the way from my truck at Smoketree all the way up PC to the turn for China Flat in right at 40 minutes with no huff and puff breaks. No great feat for most, but a milestone for me. Only got passed once, but passed several. First time doing the loop around China Flat, and it was extraordinarily pleasant, for lack of a better word. Tame riding, but just a super neat place, and I love that exploratory feeling of seeing a place for the first time. Saw a couple great shade trees to stop for fuel, but just didn't feel like I needed it today, so made a mental note and kept trucking. At the top of the first hill on SC a 3ft rattler was easing out on to the trail to sun itself, but turned back when I approached. Yeah, they creep me out, but it's also a privilege to see one. (he was camera shy, but if you give it the where's Waldo treatment you can kind of make him out in the bush) Made good time down SC. That stretch from PC to Chesebro is my favorite, and though I was cooking (for me) the familiarity with the trail allowed me to also look around more and take it in. That section really feels like you're on another planet. Had my first proper trail dart on SC when I lost the front tire in the loose stuff. It was a proper test of the fortitude of my newly repaired shoulder, which took the impact like a champ. Nice to get that rite of passage out of the way as well. Headed down the Cheese, and found The Wall completely empty when I got there. Further down the trail I yielded to a couple guys coming up that stopped to ask about my bike. Got to geek out on bikes for a few minutes, and share GG stoke with a couple friendly riders. 14ish miles with lots of gas in the tank the whole way, no HABs, and some cool human and nonhuman encounters. Bikes are fun!

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Today was supposed to be a recovery ride but once I got up onto Albertson I decided to drop into Cheeseboro. I hit Hidden Treasure, Sheep Corral, Bones, Palo Comado and Norway. Saw a beautiful California kingsnake on Albertson on my way home. Lots of butterflies too. It was a beautiful day.

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Oh yeah. I don't know what Jennifer thinks I do on my rides but I received this text on my new Wahoo. Pretty cool feature.

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Aliso today. First time there in years. Did a similar route as hertz. Meadows was a bushwhacking adventure, Coyote was fun (and unusually void of traffic, assuming many still think it’s closed?) Cholla sucked for me, Rock-it was fun. That little climb midway through it sure has changed a lot since I was last there. Weather was nice’n’cool with a 7:30am start.

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Last evening I rode for the first time in a week. I was back east and they do not mtn bike, only roadies. I saw there was a butterfly migration. When I went out they were bedding down for the night on the single track. I felt sorry for them as they would see me about 15 feet away and start to fly which would start a big cloud of butterflies as I herded them down the trail.
Happy Papillon trails
 
da big hills said:
Last evening I rode for the first time in a week. I was back east and they do not mtn bike, only roadies. I saw there was a butterfly migration. When I went out they were bedding down for the night on the single track. I felt sorry for them as they would see me about 15 feet away and start to fly which would start a big cloud of butterflies as I herded them down the trail.
Happy Papillon trails
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I once plowed through a herd of frogs on a San Gabes night ride. Some looked before they leaped... Squishy speed bumps.. :whistling:
 
I got out this afternoon.....

Gotta admit, I only did so out of obligation.

Today was the last ride for me before we roll for Kokopelli on Thursday.

The plan was to keep it short and take it easy today....which is not me...so I wasn't rally into it. Not to mention that I forgot my gloves.

Quick loop at Whiting. First time on Borrego/Mustard since late last year. Lots of hikers out.

Was done in an hour, which today was fine.
 
Last Sunday morning practice for the HS mtn. bike team. It was a great route, but the fast pace was tough for me. I just tried to hang on! That resulted in lots of PRs for the ride! Was riding the lizard as I figured it would be a shorter/slower ride through the wash. Well that wasn't the right call!
Some fantastic new dirt, especially a segment in Wildwood State Park that is like riding in a forest. Perfect outing!

25/35 https://www.strava.com/activities/2345010762

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mtnbikej said:
I got out this afternoon.....

Gotta admit, I only did so out of obligation.

Today was the last ride for me before we roll for Kokopelli on Thursday.

The plan was to keep it short and take it easy today....which is not me...so I wasn't rally into it. Not to mention that I forgot my gloves.

Quick loop at Whiting. First time on Borrego/Mustard since late last year. Lots of hikers out.

Was done in an hour, which today was fine.
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First your helmet then your gloves? You better make a checklist for Kokopelli!
 
Derkderkall said:
Marshall canyon this morning with a lot of other bikers, hikers and horses.

Good Samaritan mode. Helped food a flat with my CO2 at the Top of sidewinder. Took a family photo at the gazebo. Now back to kicking puppies and shoving grannies.
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Last Friday was my first time in a while down Sidewinder...the downed trees discourage me from riding it because my Strava times are compromised. What fun is a moderate pace if to get there requires climbing? Charging the unobstructed sections is moot if there’s no way to know what I’m feeling on the downs is a PR or controlled apprehension. Likewise with Rollercoaster...this is poopie, but it could be worse.

Here’s to a successful fire season...

Who wants to play “what is @mtnbikej gonna forget for Kokopelli?”
 
mtnbikej said:
Headed out this morning for a casual spin this morning.

Plan was to meet up with @cajun @Faust29 and @H2oChick for a Maple Springs / Motorway loop. While waiting for the others to arrive..... @singlespeedrider pulled in.

So the 5 of rolled. I got about 1 minute up the road when I realized I had forgot my helmet..... D'oh!!!! Turned back to retrieve it....then spent the next 10 mins chasing down the group. I was in no rush. Kay was out front, Steve and Mark pushed up the pavement and Greg and I cruised.

The ride up the dirt went by pretty quick. Short break at 4 Corners. Bugs were a little more active there today. Warm but not hot. W

We made good time over to Motorway. Mark led down....interesting to follow someone else down....different line choices.

Fun day with the gang.
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Glad I changed my mind and decided to ride Maple Springs. Thanks for letting me poach your ride.
 
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