I Rode My Bike Today...

mike said:
Total score with the kitty sightings! (Kitty sighting you, vice versa :cool:). TFPU! :thumbsup:


You mellow riders are flat putting it down...in the heat??? Burlosis!!!!!!!!!! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

It was kinda funny... In the morning it was really chilly. I saw 46 on the GPS screen, and there were people everywhere. All kinds of trail users- runners, hiking clubs, large groups of bikers, kids, etc... And everyone was friendly. When we were climbing out of Old Emerald later in the day, we noticed that we had the place to ourselves as the temp hit 97 briefly on the screen. Not a soul to be seen! Except us... :D :oops:

#WrightwoodTempSwingPractice
 
Oh yeah! Prepare to be dazzled...

I rode my bike today. 3 ups, 3 downs (5-O, R-I, Lynx). No crashes. My new bottom bracket was amazing (i.e. didn't notice anything).

Nearly 10 miles and almost 1500' :eek: :thumbsup:

I did spend a total of 30 minutes trying every trick I know to get my rear brakes to stop rubbing. I am generally a master at this task, but couldn't get it right today. So that either means my pads are shot or my frame is cracked. I'll go with the former.

72° sunny, light breeze. Hard to tolerate such conditions. :cautious:

That is all. Bikes are fun! :cool:
 
Headed out with the intent of hitting the ski lifts at Baldy (from Cow Saddle) and maybe tacking on Top of the Notch. Totally forgot that it's a red flag day and GMR would be closed.

So I just rode up GMR and down MTT, instead. Fantabulous couple of hours on the Sutra.

It's really hard to remember not to chase the rabbits. :unsure:

strava1475670868305619072.jpg
 
Last edited:
As expected Jennifer woke up wanting to do a hike. Surprisingly she told me I could just do my own thing as she was going to her mom's for breakfast at 9:30 and then going to Costco.
Being the giving husband that I am :whistling: I suggested I ride with her to the trailhead so I could maximize my ride time as I do most of my rides from home and maybe meet her at mama's for breakfast.
It was the perfect plan. I started off kinda hard then backed it off until I warmed up. I decided to hit as many climbs as I could and leave myself enough time to get to breakfast.
At one point I ran into Jennifer on her way back to the truck. I told her I'd do one more out and back then meet her at mama's. Of course after knocking out that segment I decided to throw in a little more. Not a lot of miles but plenty of elevation.
Made it to mama's just in time for breakfast.
20191013_105244.jpg
IMG_20191013_135920_018.jpg
 
I left the house with every intention of doing a quick luge loop. When I dropped into O'Neill, though, I really didn't feel like climbing Live Oak on cold legs. Going up Quail in the morning yesterday was brutal. I recovered, but the gaskets were really strained for a few minutes. :p :oops: So... I hung a left and went down the Arroyo towards Ladera Ranch. Then I got the bright idea to explore an old trail that used to be there. The key words are "used to be". Everything was going great... until it wasn't. :p Knee deep mud, poison oak, submerged rocks, overgrowth, and who knows what else. It's going to take a while to clean the Hightower after that... :thumbsup:

After I managed to climb out of the muck, I found my way back to the Arroyo Trail... Nothing exciting after that. Just a mellow spin to stretch the legs after yesterday. The good thing was that the rest of the water crossings weren't an issue. I just walked through them and enjoyed the cold feet. :D

This was the mellow part... It didn't last.
IMG_2701.jpeg


And this is where I was when I got a text from @Cyclotourist saying he was in town... He should have brought a bike! :p
59268526745__D5EAD82C-8F45-400C-9EA4-72F80BECE322.jpeg


I always swing by to see the turtles at the end...
IMG_2706.jpeg


Screen Shot 2019-10-13 at 2.09.49 PM.jpg


IMG_2704.jpeg
 
UPSed said:
As expected Jennifer woke up wanting to do a hike. Surprisingly she told me I could just do my own thing as she was going to her mom's for breakfast at 9:30 and then going to Costco.
Being the giving husband that I am :whistling: I suggested I ride with her to the trailhead so I could maximize my ride time as I do most of my rides from home and maybe meet her at mama's for breakfast.
It was the perfect plan. I started off kinda hard then backed it off until I warmed up. I decided to hit as many climbs as I could and leave myself enough time to get to breakfast.
At one point I ran into Jennifer on her way back to the truck. I told her I'd do one more out and back then meet her at mama's. Of course after knocking out that segment I decided to throw in a little more. Not a lot of miles but plenty of elevation.
Made it to mama's just in time for breakfast. View attachment 58708 View attachment 58710
Click to expand...
Omg that bacon:inlove:
 
Faust29 said:
I left the house with every intention of doing a quick luge loop. When I dropped into O'Neill, though, I really didn't feel like climbing Live Oak on cold legs. Going up Quail in the morning yesterday was brutal. I recovered, but the gaskets were really strained for a few minutes. :p :oops: So... I hung a left and went down the Arroyo towards Ladera Ranch. Then I got the bright idea to explore an old trail that used to be there. The key words are "used to be". Everything was going great... until it wasn't. :p Knee deep mud, poison oak, submerged rocks, overgrowth, and who knows what else. It's going to take a while to clean the Hightower after that... :thumbsup:

After I managed to climb out of the muck, I found my way back to the Arroyo Trail... Nothing exciting after that. Just a mellow spin to stretch the legs after yesterday. The good thing was that the rest of the water crossings weren't an issue. I just walked through them and enjoyed the cold feet. :D

This was the mellow part... It didn't last.
View attachment 58714

And this is where I was when I got a text from @Cyclotourist saying he was in town... He should have brought a bike! :p
View attachment 58716

I always swing by to see the turtles at the end...
View attachment 58715

View attachment 58712

View attachment 58713
Click to expand...
Turtles!!! :thumbsup:


Work in progress continues on La Pistola. Today the new shock got a proper test on Lloyd's Loop.

IMG_2859.jpg



Flat FR and uphill ST riding impressions were favorable. Small bumps gone, good traction, but maybe a bit more active than expected in the frame's Plush mode. We tried it in Crush mode, which firmed it up nicely.

We topped out and pointed the bikes down, the Pistola still in Crush. Good but maybe not the full coil magic on this torn-up moto-bike trail strewn with rocks. Back in Plush, she was happier. At the bottom for the cruise back, we gave it a couple of low-speed compression clicks and left it in Plush.

We'll play more with it, but right now I can say this was a great investment. Improved performance up and down. And the flats are more comfortable. Unreal climbing traction, if a tad more energy needed to keep in the groove. The 130 Solo-air fork in this setup is as good as you would expect, but the 150 Pike Ultimate will take it to a new level.

So far so great, she loves the new gear. The vindication feels awesome, but mostly just glad the lass has a bike she likes ripping on. :thumbsup::geek::inlove:
 
Last edited:
Ended up having a smallish window to ride this afternoon. For whatever reason, maybe inertia, I just wanted mellow (actual mellow, not OC singlespeed mellow), and wanted to explore a little, so I set off to Las Virgenes Open Space to just pedal around. Lots of unmarked single tracks that I'd never ridden with a heaping helping of steep, but nothing technical. Went over to the Ahmanson Ranch side that I'd never been to before, and found the site below which I never knew existed (and still don't know what it is or why it's there). As I was about to leave I decided to climb England and come down Ireland. I had not done that climb up England since my second ride after getting back in the game in February. I distinctly remember having to stop thrice, not just to catch my breath, but to lay my bike down, sit with my head in my hands, and try not to puke. While it is still a beeyotch of a climb, it was an uninterrupted and uneventful affair. That was good for perspective. For anyone thinking of hitting Ireland it's overgrown as all hell. Don't ride it unless you have arm protection, and if you do have arm protection still don't ride it because it pretty much sucks. I'll be happy when that one returns to glory, because I was flooded with memories today of bombing across that ridge being surrounded by green and views for days. Nifty little ride with nothing overly exciting, but there's just something fun about roaming around somewhat unfamiliar territory. Also, maybe due to fears of poor air quality (air was great with a S/SW breeze), it was a total ghost town out there. That didn't hurt either. 13.25, 1650.

F7342560-5412-4185-8A72-9C30882F17D4.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Faust29 said:
I left the house with every intention of doing a quick luge loop. When I dropped into O'Neill, though, I really didn't feel like climbing Live Oak on cold legs. Going up Quail in the morning yesterday was brutal. I recovered, but the gaskets were really strained for a few minutes. :p :oops: So... I hung a left and went down the Arroyo towards Ladera Ranch. Then I got the bright idea to explore an old trail that used to be there. The key words are "used to be". Everything was going great... until it wasn't. :p Knee deep mud, poison oak, submerged rocks, overgrowth, and who knows what else. It's going to take a while to clean the Hightower after that... :thumbsup:

After I managed to climb out of the muck, I found my way back to the Arroyo Trail... Nothing exciting after that. Just a mellow spin to stretch the legs after yesterday. The good thing was that the rest of the water crossings weren't an issue. I just walked through them and enjoyed the cold feet. :D

This was the mellow part... It didn't last.
View attachment 58714

And this is where I was when I got a text from @Cyclotourist saying he was in town... He should have brought a bike! :p
View attachment 58716

I always swing by to see the turtles at the end...
View attachment 58715

View attachment 58712

View attachment 58713
Click to expand...

While attempting many of the historic and cultural activities in the RSM area, I did miss out on the lakeside turtle viewing!
 
Full Moon tonight, so @horsebikerider and I headed out to Blackstar to take advantage of it. We rolled at 4:45 and it was pretty quiet out there.

Suz set the pace on the SS....I followed. She just plugged along. Only 1 stop near the top....I thought she was gonna get it....next time. :thumbsup:




We continued on to the Doplar Ball. We can't recall if this was the first time on the SS for her or not.

Well we got up there too early, the moon wasn't gonna rise for a while. It was on the chilly side with the breeze blowing, so we headed down.

Suz had a light, I didn't...but it wasn't a problem.

As we were loading up, the moon crested over the ridge.

Still a great night on the mountain.

This ride also put me over 500k' of ascent for the year. As Suz put it, "you better pick it up if you wanna get yer million feet this year". :facepalm:

3C2A57EB-122F-44A2-8A75-E8F1E9F1FE42.jpeg
A55307F0-8A08-454C-8ED5-D1D2E6CCA38B.jpeg
 
Have not ridden in two weeks. First week because I didn't have the opportunity. Second week due to too much heavy lifting at work finally caught up with me Pinched a nerve. Ouch! F...! Sharp pains... I'm still nowhere near 100% but Vince wanted to ride Greer so off we went. We arrived, Vince bolted out to the trails. Later dude! Took me some time to get ready. Could barely get on the bike. Figured I'd just pedal the fire road a couple of times. Managed the FR until the end no problem. Chatted with a hiker there who said he's like to get into MTB. Bikes are expensive... Greer probably not the best place to learn. We witnessed a biker go down hard yelling in pain. His buddy was quick to tend to him. Shouted over to see if he needed help but it looked like he got the situation under control. Be careful, are you sure you want to get into MTB? After departing with the hiker I felt good enough to climb up the ST to the first view point. I don't really know the names of the trails. Saw Vince bombing down across the way. I carefully took the first ST down and back out. Luckily no one saw me walk a chunky section I'd normally blast through, I do have a reputation to uphold you know. Climbed the FR one more time then rolled back down to the truck. That's enough for me, just happy to pedal. Surprisingly I felt much better physically. Back at the truck I receive a text from Vince. He flatted and crashed, or, crashed and flatted. Now doing the walk of shame. Nothing serious thankfully. I think his rear rim is now toast though. Fun day on the bikes.
 
Grego said:
Have not ridden in two weeks. First week because I didn't have the opportunity. Second week due to too much heavy lifting at work finally caught up with me Pinched a nerve. Ouch! F...! Sharp pains... I'm still nowhere near 100% but Vince wanted to ride Greer so off we went. We arrived, Vince bolted out to the trails. Later dude! Took me some time to get ready. Could barely get on the bike. Figured I'd just pedal the fire road a couple of times. Managed the FR until the end no problem. Chatted with a hiker there who said he's like to get into MTB. Bikes are expensive... Greer probably not the best place to learn. We witnessed a biker go down hard yelling in pain. His buddy was quick to tend to him. Shouted over to see if he needed help but it looked like he got the situation under control. Be careful, are you sure you want to get into MTB? After departing with the hiker I felt good enough to climb up the ST to the first view point. I don't really know the names of the trails. Saw Vince bombing down across the way. I carefully took the first ST down and back out. Luckily no one saw me walk a chunky section I'd normally blast through, I do have a reputation to uphold you know. Climbed the FR one more time then rolled back down to the truck. That's enough for me, just happy to pedal. Surprisingly I felt much better physically. Back at the truck I receive a text from Vince. He flatted and crashed, or, crashed and flatted. Now doing the walk of shame. Nothing serious thankfully. I think his rear rim is now toast though. Fun day on the bikes.
Click to expand...
Cycling is therapeutic. Your muscles warm up and then things tend to loosen up a bit. Glad to hear that you found some degree of relief.
 
Grego said:
Have not ridden in two weeks. First week because I didn't have the opportunity. Second week due to too much heavy lifting at work finally caught up with me Pinched a nerve. Ouch! F...! Sharp pains... I'm still nowhere near 100% but Vince wanted to ride Greer so off we went. We arrived, Vince bolted out to the trails. Later dude! Took me some time to get ready. Could barely get on the bike. Figured I'd just pedal the fire road a couple of times. Managed the FR until the end no problem. Chatted with a hiker there who said he's like to get into MTB. Bikes are expensive... Greer probably not the best place to learn. We witnessed a biker go down hard yelling in pain. His buddy was quick to tend to him. Shouted over to see if he needed help but it looked like he got the situation under control. Be careful, are you sure you want to get into MTB? After departing with the hiker I felt good enough to climb up the ST to the first view point. I don't really know the names of the trails. Saw Vince bombing down across the way. I carefully took the first ST down and back out. Luckily no one saw me walk a chunky section I'd normally blast through, I do have a reputation to uphold you know. Climbed the FR one more time then rolled back down to the truck. That's enough for me, just happy to pedal. Surprisingly I felt much better physically. Back at the truck I receive a text from Vince. He flatted and crashed, or, crashed and flatted. Now doing the walk of shame. Nothing serious thankfully. I think his rear rim is now toast though. Fun day on the bikes.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you're on the road back... :thumbsup:

And Vince destroyed a wheel? I have a hard time believing that one... :Roflmao
 
mtnbikej said:
Full Moon tonight, so @horsebikerider and I headed out to Blackstar to take advantage of it. We rolled at 4:45 and it was pretty quiet out there.

Suz set the pace on the SS....I followed. She just plugged along. Only 1 stop near the top....I thought she was gonna get it....next time. :thumbsup:




We continued on to the Doplar Ball. We can't recall if this was the first time on the SS for her or not.

Well we got up there too early, the moon wasn't gonna rise for a while. It was on the chilly side with the breeze blowing, so we headed down.

Suz had a light, I didn't...but it wasn't a problem.

As we were loading up, the moon crested over the ridge.

Still a great night on the mountain.

This ride also put me over 500k' of ascent for the year. As Suz put it, "you better pick it up if you wanna get yer million feet this year". :facepalm:

View attachment 58727 View attachment 58728
Click to expand...
That first pic is :thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Met my buddy at Cook’s this morning for a STT/Old Camp/Luge ride. We were the only ones in the parking lot, and only saw a few hikers the whole ride.

Original plan was to start and finish through Whiting but he was playing hooky from work for the morning and had to be done by 11am-ish. I’m actually glad we didn’t add Whiting, or at least my legs are.

Such a beautiful morning out there, very peaceful. I was able to take it all in with how slow I was climbing. :coffee::D

D1923F31-AA29-422E-B862-D4CFA05017E7.jpeg


E8A7C999-DA95-48A1-8550-13166AD15749.jpeg


Shared a pitcher of beer at Cook’s after:
D99D909C-1F42-4E8F-95B8-6346AE57C33B.jpeg
 
Cornholio said:
Met my buddy at Cook’s this morning for a STT/Old Camp/Luge ride. We were the only ones in the parking lot, and only saw a few hikers the whole ride.

Original plan was to start and finish through Whiting but he was playing hooky from work for the morning and had to be done by 11am-ish. I’m actually glad we didn’t add Whiting, or at least my legs are.

Such a beautiful morning out there, very peaceful. I was able to take it all in with how slow I was climbing. :coffee::D

View attachment 58731

View attachment 58732

Shared a pitcher of beer at Cook’s after:
View attachment 58734
Click to expand...
It was quite a spectacular morning! Glad you got out there to enjoy it. However, I do have to ask about the 2 beer mugs with the pitcher being that your buddy had to go to work..:whistling:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top