I Rode My Bike Today...

@Stkx66, great reptile shot, TFPU. :thumbsup:

@SnakeCharmer: Kind of unfair to complain about being bikeless when multiple generous riders here offered up temporary replacements. :stop: What did you dig up on the steerer extender? :rolleyes:


Back to posting your ride. Thanks to those doing that – you are bouying me. I hope to have a worthy entry soon...

PS: @Fueledbyex8: I forgot to mention how your last report was over the top. Nice run down!!! :thumbsup:
 
@mike,

It’s going to be a new fork or a newer/used fork. That frame requires a separate fork. I’m shopping...

Yes, some have offered loaner bikes and that is appreciated but I need to focus on getting my own bikes working. I do however, feel a need to practice my right to freedom of speech so I am gonna moan and grumble as needed.

Seeing/reading incoming RRs waters my souls as much as it can do under the current circumstances and for that, I am thankful.
 
Voodoo Tom said:
Dropper post makes that lower descent mucho more funner. Come ride it again and use one of my bikes.:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Dropper post wouldn't have helped. It resulted from chocking (aviation term for those not familiar, it's the parking bumper thingie to stop the aircraft from moving) the front wheel against one of those pesky rocks sticking up on a switchback near the end.

Physics won out...when the bike's forward motion stopped, I didn't. :facepalm:
 
Unremarkable standard Oaks lap, except for the KTM EXC-F that was rolling down the weir canyon fire road. At the turnout halfway down chutes I stopped to watch him try to get past the gate at the bottom. He rode around the bushes for a while, then laid his bike in the brush and scouted around for a few minutes. I was kinda hoping for a Great Escape Steve McQueen jump over the barbed wire, but no such luck. Kinda just tractored through somewhere.

When he got to the bottom of Chutes, a nice cyclist directed him to the exit. I caught up to him at the creek, he turned into Irvine park and rolled out past the guard shack. Caught up to him again at Jamboree & Santiago.

Based on his reconnaissance of the exit, I surmise he came in from somewhere else...

only one other motorized bike on the trail today, plus lots of like-new full-suspension 26ers
 
Another twilight ride. Rode out of my driveway into the street and back into the driveway again. The 29er has a new Stans carbon steel rear axle. And now we are ready to roar. Its been a mean 2 weeks on the 26er. I am going to miss the 42x11 gear, miss it dearly
Happy trails on the big ring
 
Runs with Scissors said:
Dropper post wouldn't have helped. It resulted from chocking (aviation term for those not familiar, it's the parking bumper thingie to stop the aircraft from moving) the front wheel against one of those pesky rocks sticking up on a switchback near the end.

Physics won out...when the bike's forward motion stopped, I didn't. :facepalm:
Click to expand...
the reason I ride hard tires, had enough of physics, motion and compressionable air in my tires. Normally I see that in s_l_o_w motion. I experienced the this quite a few times the last two weeks. The 26" wheels do not always roll over things the 29er can.
Happy trails again
 
20200508_174158.jpg

Mt Islip summit...IIRC, highest legal trail in the San Gabriels (though I've heard someone say he would try Baldy soon?)

Got to joke with a fellow summiteer that I'd left my skis in camp and chose bike for the summit push. :whistling: Islip Ridge is in nice shape, brush is minimal, bugs will be a problem from now until November.
 
All right, 2nd ride on the Fuse today.
Pulled into Oak Mesa at 5:30 to ride freshly reopened Marshall Canyon. Empty parking lot, took my time waiting for some light to come out. trails to myself all the way to the top. Started seeing a bit of activity up on the way back. By the time I passed the fork at the bottom of Coyote Run, I was seeing large groups on the way up and in. Definitely no social distancing going on there.... Parking lot was completely full when I got back at 7:30.

So, 2nd ride on the fuse. Starting to get into the groove, still fiddling with seat height, but I think I got it now. No PR's, but most of my fastest times here are when the downhills were in much better shape. As for climbs, I was sucking a lot of wind. Definitely not in the best cardio shape right now, and allergy season doesn't help, I tend to get a bit short of breath this time of year.

What I did notice today... way more confidence on loose rutty gravely sections.
Once again, way more stable on the faster/steeper downs. Theres one part on coyote going down to the first switchback that gets more torn up every time I'm there. While it doesn't ever really give me trouble, I always felt on the edge of losing control. Today was much more stable .

IMG_20200509_063717.jpg
 
Derkderkall said:
All right, 2nd ride on the Fuse today.
Pulled into Oak Mesa at 5:30 to ride freshly reopened Marshall Canyon. Empty parking lot, took my time waiting for some light to come out. trails to myself all the way to the top. Started seeing a bit of activity up on the way back. By the time I passed the fork at the bottom of Coyote Run, I was seeing large groups on the way up and in. Definitely no social distancing going on there.... Parking lot was completely full when I got back at 7:30.

So, 2nd ride on the fuse. Starting to get into the groove, still fiddling with seat height, but I think I got it now. No PR's, but most of my fastest times here are when the downhills were in much better shape. As for climbs, I was sucking a lot of wind. Definitely not in the best cardio shape right now, and allergy season doesn't help, I tend to get a bit short of breath this time of year.

What I did notice today... way more confidence on loose rutty gravely sections.
Once again, way more stable on the faster/steeper downs. Theres one part on coyote going down to the first switchback that gets more torn up every time I'm there. While it doesn't ever really give me trouble, I always felt on the edge of losing control. Today was much more stable .

View attachment 64788
Click to expand...
There's something to the current MTB geometry. I wouldn't want to go back!
 
Did the same route as last Friday: Warm Springs trailhead, up 38, Loch Leven, SART, back down WS. This was a last-minute decision, as I was hoping to do trailwork this morning. Apparently I'm not a good member of my community, and slept in. But at that point, might as well go for a spin. Weather is a touch cooler, so decided on the 20 miler I did last weekend. I love getting on the SART, and this is a good way to get there with minimal driving. Started at 9:00, so was 73F out and sunny on 38. That sapped some energy from me, so ended up with a slow LL climb. Stopped and took a break about every 10 min/1 mile. Bridge. HAB. Waterfall. Benches. Finally hit the second gate and the last spin up to the store. At that point I counted 20 bikes and 5 hikers. It was busy that morning! Looks like I missed a few IMTBers that were also out there! Grabbed a Mexi-Coke, hung out and watched the bustling store. Probably got the Rona from the can opener there. Immediately onto the singletrack by the store that everyone skips, and then SARTastic time! Not a single person on it between the store and Warm Springs. Except for the derpoids that placed their privacy-potty right in the effin' middle of it at Thomas Hunting Ground yellow post sites. Dumb-asses. Slow, mellow cruise with a few more stops and pics. No chances need by taken solo-riding on the SART! Couple trucks and a couple hikers (crazy) on Warm Springs before the Morton Peak cutoff. A fine day out!

20/3,200/4

Favorite spot on Loch Leven:
49875694841_f01d2b5f5b_b.jpg


180 panorama of the Constance Peak section of SART:
49875161343_8f7d7e6bdb_h.jpg


This one's got it all: The trail in front of me, Warm Springs Rd, Morton Peak, and even Santiago/Modjeska saddleback in the far distance.

49875694356_743acb5e0a_b.jpg
 
Cyclotourist said:
Did the same route as last Friday: Warm Springs trailhead, up 38, Loch Leven, SART, back down WS. This was a last-minute decision, as I was hoping to do trailwork this morning. Apparently I'm not a good member of my community, and slept in. But at that point, might as well go for a spin. Weather is a touch cooler, so decided on the 20 miler I did last weekend. I love getting on the SART, and this is a good way to get there with minimal driving. Started at 9:00, so was 73F out and sunny on 38. That sapped some energy from me, so ended up with a slow LL climb. Stopped and took a break about every 10 min/1 mile. Bridge. HAB. Waterfall. Benches. Finally hit the second gate and the last spin up to the store. At that point I counted 20 bikes and 5 hikers. It was busy that morning! Looks like I missed a few IMTBers that were also out there! Grabbed a Mexi-Coke, hung out and watched the bustling store. Probably got the Rona from the can opener there. Immediately onto the singletrack by the store that everyone skips, and then SARTastic time! Not a single person on it between the store and Warm Springs. Except for the derpoids that placed their privacy-potty right in the effin' middle of it at Thomas Hunting Ground yellow post sites. Dumb-asses. Slow, mellow cruise with a few more stops and pics. No chances need by taken solo-riding on the SART! Couple trucks and a couple hikers (crazy) on Warm Springs before the Morton Peak cutoff. A fine day out!

20/3,200/4

Favorite spot on Loch Leven:
View attachment 64790

180 panorama of the Constance Peak section of SART:
View attachment 64791

This one's got it all: The trail in front of me, Warm Springs Rd, Morton Peak, and even Santiago/Modjeska saddleback in the far distance.

View attachment 64792
Click to expand...
TFPU! But...I was hoping for a shot of the cidiot shitter in the trail. :geek:
 
I rode today with a few hooligans...and we missed another.

@Obsidian and @herzalot were chomping at the bit to pop that SART cherry. So we planned this earlier this week, then someone decided to bail on the ride. :rolleyes:

Myself, The Professor, @Obsidian , @Faust29 and @rossage met up at the Middle Control Rd turnout. We rolled back down and did the little climb to the top of the Post Office Loop. Tried to keep the pace social. Weaving in and out, up and down. Apparently someone fixed the washout/HAB that used to be near the falls.

Short run down MCR then started climbing up SART proper. Temps were still nice at this point. A little bit of traffic on the trail. Before too long, we reached Glass Rd. We made the call to drop down Glass Rd. and climb up Seven Oaks Rd. to South Fork. The climb was a little shorter and a little less taxing....this would be a good call later on.

We did run into the washed out road, but it wasn't an issue.

Before long we made it to South Fork. Across the road to the campground to investigate whether the water was on or not.......NOT!!!! The water is currently off.

Some of us dipped in the creek to cool off.....the water was ice cold. After a short break, onward and upward'ish we went. Again, I tried to keep the pace social and comfortable. We would get spread out from time to time.

Short break again at Glass Rd. Then we continued on. Stopped again an the next big bridge....it was getting toasty and a dip in the creek was a nice solution. Before we knew it we hit the last section of fast and flowy to MCR. The only thing left was the slog up MCR back to the cars. This is where the group blew up. Ross and I pulled away, Steve and Josh were in the middle and Clint went into survival mode. It was really toasty on MCR. Ross pulled away, I didn't have anymore chase in the legs. I stopped once again at the waterfall.

Finally made it back to the truck, Ross was already there....Steve rolled in shortly after I did, Josh was a little ways back and needed a Coke handoff to complete the ride. Clint made it up shortly after. He said he was fighting cramps. So the call to climb Seven Oaks Rd. was the right call earlier.

Temps were warm, the trail was good if not a little loose, the bugs weren't an issue. Good to ride with the guys. Everyone had fun.....I think. :cool:

Good ride.

30 / 3450'

C7AB5EAB-9908-45BB-A4F3-3682F85FB853.jpeg
 
mtnbikej said:
I rode today with a few hooligans...and we missed another.

@Obsidian and @herzalot were chomping at the bit to pop that SART cherry. So we planned this earlier this week, then someone decided to bail on the ride. :rolleyes:

Myself, The Professor, @Obsidian , @Faust29 and @rossage met up at the Middle Control Rd turnout. We rolled back down and did the little climb to the top of the Post Office Loop. Tried to keep the pace social. Weaving in and out, up and down. Apparently someone fixed the washout/HAB that used to be near the falls.

Short run down MCR then started climbing up SART proper. Temps were still nice at this point. A little bit of traffic on the trail. Before too long, we reached Glass Rd. We made the call to drop down Glass Rd. and climb up Seven Oaks Rd. to South Fork. The climb was a little shorter and a little less taxing....this would be a good call later on.

We did run into the washed out road, but it wasn't an issue.

Before long we made it to South Fork. Across the road to the campground to investigate whether the water was on or not.......NOT!!!! The water is currently off.

Some of us dipped in the creek to cool off.....the water was ice cold. After a short break, onward and upward'ish we went. Again, I tried to keep the pace social and comfortable. We would get spread out from time to time.

Short break again at Glass Rd. Then we continued on. Stopped again an the next big bridge....it was getting toasty and a dip in the creek was a nice solution. Before we knew it we hit the last section of fast and flowy to MCR. The only thing left was the slog up MCR back to the cars. This is where the group blew up. Ross and I pulled away, Steve and Josh were in the middle and Clint went into survival mode. It was really toasty on MCR. Ross pulled away, I didn't have anymore chase in the legs. I stopped once again at the waterfall.

Finally made it back to the truck, Ross was already there....Steve rolled in shortly after I did, Josh was a little ways back and needed a Coke handoff to complete the ride. Clint made it up shortly after. He said he was fighting cramps. So the call to climb Seven Oaks Rd. was the right call earlier.

Temps were warm, the trail was good if not a little loose, the bugs weren't an issue. Good to ride with the guys. Everyone had fun.....I think. :cool:

Good ride.

30 / 3450'

View attachment 64794
Click to expand...

It was a lot of fun, and thanks for playing trail guide. That is definitely a ride I would not have wanted to try and figure out solo. :eek:

Best part of the ride was that I don't remember seeing a hiker in the entire 30 miles. If they were out there they were few and far between. That was a nice change compared to Orange County riding recently.

LOL, yeah I was definitely in survival mode climbing up that fire road at the end. I had nothing left for that climb, but finally made it. Ending rides with climbs is no bueno. :bang:
 
Great day in the saddle... Even though we were missing a man. :thumbsdown:

For some reason I had it in my head that we were only doing 20 miles or so. I packed up two bottles, and figured that would be enough. Oops. I went into conservation mode right out of the gate and ended up bumming some from @mtnbikej at South Fork. :oops: He offered more at the bottom of Middle Control Road, but I thought I had enough to get to the top. I lost the ability to make saliva halfway up... :p Three sodas and some beef Jerky and I was right as rain... :D

I thought the trail was in great shape overall and I really dug the new bridges. :thumbsup:

Fun day... 31 miles and 3500 feet.

Don't lay your bike on the derailleur side... :stop: :p Oh wait...
IMG_1735.jpeg
 
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Yeah man, that was a great SART ride! I jumped on this at the last minute and I wasn't disappointed. Great group that stuck together until the final climb exploded us. The extra miles on the road bike are really paying off so I was able to finish strong.
I've said it before, but it deserves repeating. This trail is in the best shape I have seen it in years.
I say, get some!
 
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