I Rode My Bike Today...

Stkx66 said:
I put my 27+ wheels on my Santa Cruz Hightower. I put the SC Reserve 30 rims I took of the Hightower on the Chameleon to try out. I installed a rear caliper spacer to accommodate the rear 203 mm Dia. rotor on the Chameleon. Now I have more options to mix wheelsets.
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Careful those + tires are crazy fun on a Hightower but the BB becomes ridiculously low. You can pretty much get away with bloody murder though. Numerous times I’ve pretty much closed my eyes and somehow lived to talk about it. Definitely more work pointed uphill though.
 
BonsaiNut said:
One person's "fire break" is another person's - bulldoze three miles through the forest.

The irony is that they won't let us put a trail through there. Ok to run bulldozers... but mountain bikes? Oh, the environmental tragedy!
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That's some funny sh*t...cause it's true.

Same chit right across the street from me. 400 homes built and trails now closed cause it's all of the sudden sensitive area. WTF, they think we're idiots and don't notice the houses?
 
herzalot said:
Nice runs Tony! Looks like the Sport course had plenty to keep it entertaining - chunk, drops, rollers, berms, a couple of climbs - and that wall.. You were really moving on your final run.

I miss my Fontana days. On practice days we rarely shuttled. The lines were too long. We just stopped at the road and went back up. Did that about 6 or 7 runs, then sessioned the bottom a couple of times before beers at the car. Fun times! Race day was another story.
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Thanks for taking a look and providing some experienced insight. Almost all of the riders were on the Expert course, so I felt I was blind to the actual race lines, and how the course measured up.

I overheard that the Enduro racers are no longer allowed to take the shuttles, which may cut down on the lines. I dont recall ever waiting for a shuttle, and would not hesitate to do this again just for practice sake.


Rode Aliso last night, wanted to grab some PRs with the new rear tire. 14.5 mi / 2800 ft
 
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San Juan Trail solo this morning. Ran into @mtnbikej and the professor at Cocktail Rock and chatted a bit before the romp back down. Temps were comfortable about two thirds through the climb, then the wind picked up and the temps dropped.
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Cocktail Rock right up there. Clouds blew out before I got there
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Has been awhile since I climbed SJT from the bottom. I thought it was in decent shape, dirt was tacky, though some ruts are wide and deep and are difficult to stay out of, and once in the rut the pedals bang on the sides. Just a few spots like that, where you can't stay up on the side out of the rut (i.e my balance talent runs out)
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Was happy I got through all the switchbacks going up (with a required break right after the necessary max effort for me to make it). Seems like they were tougher a year or two ago, or maybe the sticky dirt made the difference. One mishap going down, washed the front tire on one of the lower switchbacks and hit the dirt (no harm, no blood even). Usually I could get a foot out to catch it but damaged ankle from a crash last week made it difficult/painful to twist to clip out quick.

Another excellent mid week ride, though cut short of original plan for some of the lollipop, due to the wind. Extra bonus meeting up with J and the Prof (Can't get the Gilligan's Island theme out of my head, dangit)
 
knucklebuster said:
Cocktail Rock right up there. Clouds blew out before I got there
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Has been awhile since I climbed SJT from the bottom. I thought it was in decent shape, dirt was tacky, though some ruts are wide and deep and are difficult to stay out of, and once in the rut the pedals bang on the sides. Just a few spots like that, where you can't stay up on the side out of the rut (i.e my balance talent runs out)
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Was happy I got through all the switchbacks going up (with a required break right after the necessary max effort for me to make it). Seems like they were tougher a year or two ago, or maybe the sticky dirt made the difference. One mishap going down, washed the front tire on one of the lower switchbacks and hit the dirt (no harm, no blood even). Usually I could get a foot out to catch it but damaged ankle from a crash last week made it difficult/painful to twist to clip out quick.

Another excellent mid week ride, though cut short of original plan for some of the lollipop, due to the wind. Extra bonus meeting up with J and the Prof (Can't get the Gilligan's Island theme out of my head, dangit)
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Awsome, hero dirt at end of May!
 
Another mid'ish week morning assault on San Juan. The Professor wanted to ride, so we planned for a morning ride.

Rolled into the parking lot and saw only 2 other cars.

Temps were on the chilly side. And the wind was blowing shortly after we started climbing. I'm back on the SS now that KoKo is over....which works out well as the Professor is with either of his bikes due to warranty issues....*more on this later. I let him set the pace, and I just cruised behind him.

The trail would go from hero dirt to dry/loose/slippery by the foot. The bottom 2/3'rds of the trail has been brushed. I was able to clean all the techy spots, only missing some of the easier spots due to slipping the back tire.

As we crested into Cocktail Rock, @knucklebuster was hanging out. Good to run into you out there Dave. It was pretty chilly at this point. Bundled up a little bit for the descent. The upper 1/3rd has not been brushed and seemed extra tight today. Took me a little while to find my groove back on the hardtail....but i eventually did.

We had the trail to ourselves on the way down, so we just let'r rip.

Awesome morning on the bike.

The Professor(*Mr. Yeti Guy) has been riding my Hightower while he deals with a frame(Yeti ASR) warranty and shock/fork/wheel(Yeti SB6) warranties. The more comfortable he gets on my bike, the more and more he is liking it. Perhaps he is starting to see the light.
 
Maple Springs to 4 Corners 15.2 miles, 2,632 feet, 35 degrees

Yesterday ( Monday ) went to MS . Before setting out discovered that I need to put new sealant in rear tire due to slow leak and also install new brake pads. Always keep Park Tool PP-1.2 Brake Piston Press in car for times like this. Turned out that I only rode up to the end of the pavement 6 miles and 1100 feet. Lots of vehicle traffic was too much of a buzz kill.
Returned today ( Tuesday ) for a fresh start. Waited till 5:00 PM to start, after the strong winds calmed down. Light traffic and foggy with a bit of rain. It was starting to get cold but cane ready for that. Nice ride.

Second Guardrail
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Old&InTheWay said:
Yesterday ( Monday ) went to MS . Lots of vehicle traffic was too much of a buzz kill.
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Lots of vehicles on MS on a Monday? Anything special going on? The trail is normally dead during the week.

I myself am busy with tons of house renovation work. I got out for a quick bike on Aliso Creek trail up to Cook's Corner and back. Nothing special, just got the blood flowing.
 
BonsaiNut said:
Lots of vehicles on MS on a Monday? Anything special going on? The trail is normally dead during the week.

I myself am busy with tons of house renovation work. I got out for a quick bike on Aliso Creek trail up to Cook's Corner and back. Nothing special, just got the blood flowing.
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Now that the gate is open after a long closure I think people are making up for lost time. Been seeing groups of up to 5 jeeps or motorcycles. Plus since it got scraped many vehicles are now driving on MS that would not have before. Number of hikers and other bike riders seen almost nil except for the Thursday imtbtrails group.
 
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Dropped down from the Mission Viejo side to the Arroyo Trabuco trail, then up to Twisty Tire, the Bell Ridge flag, down Ding Dong and back. Darn near ideal conditions, we got a bit of rain yesterday so dirt was super sticky, with a few slightly muddy spots. Bright sunshine was a nice change of pace :)

On the way up the arroyo near Twisty Tire
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Goal was the Bell Ridge flag, a kind of pre-Memorial Day tribute
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Lots of people and stuff going on down there. I saw just two hikers on the way up here. Also saw (and heard) some motos going up Cadillac to STT (just out of the picture to the right across the arroyo). As long as they stay off Joplin I'm ok with that. There were also moto tracks all the way up Bell Ridge trail to the flag, no real damage done.
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There's a good bit of hike a bike up to the ridge and the dirt was extra super sticky in spots. Spent some time scraping it off before Ding Dong
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All my gloves are freshly laundered and conveniently in the garage at home, so given my propensity to banging my knuckles on things, I did makeshift knuckle guards out of extra sweat bands. Ended up unnecessary, ding Dong was surprisingly in good non-overgrown shape. A few ruts and slippery spots to make it interesting though
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Most of them are good, but this was an exceptional day to be out on the bike :thumbsup:
 
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Did a little exploring, and hit some familiar territory today. Started at trail head for Space Mountain, but went East instead of West on Los Robles. Hit the snooze button after 3 miles of mostly fire road, and went back to do an out and back on Space Mountain. Finished off with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, which I did not know existed until today. SM was as crowded as I've seen it. Don't think I'd seen more than 4 or 5 cars in the parking lot previously. Today the lot was full, with cars parked down Moorpark as well. Quick, fun ride, but no pics. 12.4 1710
 
of course, but it is getting harder to ride than it used to. Still it was great to get out, as usual. Wednesday night I was on my come back trail and the pampas grass really hid some key obstacles, today it is all gone. Somebody cleared about an acre and even cut back some rather large laurel sumac, as it was crowding the trail as well. The cut pampas grass on the slick rock made the descent sketchy but it was still grip rock.
Happy cleared trails in the big hills
 
Social Saturday with @mtnbikej , @cajun and @H2oChick ...

Something a little unusual... A Corona start with a climb up Skyline, and then across Main Divide to Eagle. This was my first time doing Skyline on fresh legs. Normally we hit it at mile 25 or 30... it was kinda nice. :p

We were caught on Main Divide by Calvin... Haven’t seen him in some time, so that was a nice surprise.

This was the first time down Eagle for Mr. and Mrs. Kaos, and I think they enjoyed it... Fun run down as always. :thumbsup:

Grub at Wahoos after... :inlove:

20 miles and 4000 feet...
 
Went out to Santiago Oaks this morning. Nice day out, good temps. Lots of hikers & riders out. Typically I can do most of my ride w/o riding “with someone”. Not today, had company on chutes, coachwhip, most of weir loop, and yucca ridge. No worries though, all smiles. At the top of deer I pulled off to let some hikers coming at me pass by. The big guy upstairs must have been keeping an eye on me. When I pulled off the trail my bars twisted. Lined her up and off I went. Saw a few snakes out in the weir loop. All too fast for my camera. But I did see a lizard on a trail post that caught my eye. 17 miles, 3000 feet, 31 yews, 19 hoots, 331 smiles, and a bucket full of sweat. Can’t wait to do it again. :thumbsup:

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We did the SART Hell Ride today, riding from South Fork back down Redlands. 37 miles and 7000’ of descent, 2700’ of climbing. Weather was high 50’s at South Fork and low 70’s in Redlands. We usually ride Heart Bar down to Angelus Oaks so this was a first for us. Amazingly fun overall. If they could build some singletrack to avoid having to ride several miles of forest service road, I’d go so far to say it’s better than PCE. I definitely had more FUN. We had 10 guys and surprisingly zero mechanicals and zero crashes of any sort.

Tons of water out there, most I’ve ever seen and it altered the trail pretty massively down at the bottom below Glass Rd.

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Faust29 said:
Social Saturday with @mtnbikej , @cajun and @H2oChick ...

Something a little unusual... A Corona start with a climb up Skyline, and then across Main Divide to Eagle. This was my first time doing Skyline on fresh legs. Normally we hit it at mile 25 or 30... it was kinda nice. :p

We were caught on Main Divide by Calvin... Haven’t seen him in some time, so that was a nice surprise.

This was the first time down Eagle for Mr. and Mrs. Kaos, and I think they enjoyed it... Fun run down as always. :thumbsup:

Grub at Wahoos after... :inlove:

20 miles and 4000 feet...
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That looks like a fun one. Later in the year, when I have the free time and can get out for that long (maybe September), I'd love to do that. Along with the usual B*-M'way loop. :thumbsup:
 
mtbMike said:
We did the SART Hell Ride today, riding from South Fork back down Redlands. 37 miles and 7000’ of descent, 2700’ of climbing. Weather was high 50’s at South Fork and low 70’s in Redlands. We usually ride Heart Bar down to Angelus Oaks so this was a first for us. Amazingly fun overall. If they could build some singletrack to avoid having to ride several miles of forest service road, I’d go so far to say it’s better than PCE. I definitely had more FUN. We had 10 guys and surprisingly zero mechanicals and zero crashes of any sort.

Tons of water out there, most I’ve ever seen and it altered the trail pretty massively down at the bottom below Glass Rd.

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Ohh, that's some good riding! I need to get out there!
 
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