I Rode My Bike Today...

mtnbikej said:
I'll never forget the enduro bro who basically wanted my Luge Strava time before he'd let me go in front of him. Never did I think I'd have to provide my Strava resume out on the trail.
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I would have just told him I don't have an Strava account, and watched his reaction. Then I would have said "If it's that imp0rtant to you, by all means go first. I'd hate to see the impact on your ego if someone had a faster time. I wouldn't care either way, because frankly, you don't matter to me that much."

Strava is such a jacked up social media platform. So many people use it only because they have to compare their dick to everyone else out there. Guess what - if you have to look, yours is smaller.
 
BonsaiNut said:
I would have just told him I don't have an Strava account, and watched his reaction. Then I would have said "If it's that imp0rtant to you, by all means go first. I'd hate to see the impact on your ego if someone had a faster time. I wouldn't care either way, because frankly, you don't matter to me that much."

Strava is such a jacked up social media platform. So many people use it only because they have to compare their dick to everyone else out there. Guess what - if you have to look, yours is smaller.
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I’m satisfied with my reaction and answers....I let my riding do the talking.

Don’t poke the bear........ :Barefoot:
 
Quickie El P loop this morning with a couple of the boyz. We were planning to pedal up to KB trailhead but none of us were feeling it today so we pointed the bikes down toward El P and enjoyed the magic of that trail on our pass through. Interesting weather today. The wind picked up when we reached the lower saddle. Cloudy/foggy/windy. Its whipping up pretty good here in the Crescenta Valley.

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JordanHMay said:
do tell
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I had a pretty heated discussion with a former world class racer... The discussion was quite one-sided, as I was gasping for air, and she was barely pedaling. When I was able to regain enough wind to ask a question (flattish spot at mile 4.5), it was simply, "What gives you the right to ride that where it isn't allowed?"

Feigned ignorance after that...

There was a lot more to it, but it's probably better left on the mountain...
 
High clouds and misdemeanors... No not political. Had to poach my local trail, again, since it has been nominally closed from the past couple of months. Parks and Rec making a career out of a 4 day job. Today they were actually there with tools in hand. Not working mind you but surely cogitating. Anyways, had a blast this cool, cloudy morning. Not too many bipedal hominids out and I was able to let 'er fly. Really enjoying getting the suspension dialed in on the Runted, revalved Pike and the McLeod. Down to 65/112 L/H psi and only 4 clicks CW from closed rebound. It is eating up the section I lovingly call DT for Danny Trejo (picture a close-up of his face and overlay that on the trail). Great place for checking out trail chatter and small bump performance. Clouds thinned on the way home to let the blue through and all is right with the day so far.
 
BonsaiNut said:
I would have just told him I don't have an Strava account, and watched his reaction. Then I would have said "If it's that imp0rtant to you, by all means go first. I'd hate to see the impact on your ego if someone had a faster time. I wouldn't care either way, because frankly, you don't matter to me that much."

Strava is such a jacked up social media platform. So many people use it only because they have to compare their dick to everyone else out there. Guess what - if you have to look, yours is smaller.
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This reminds me of Patrick Roy.

What do the females compare?
 
First one of these.....a typical Aliso weekday quick ride for me. Cheater Cholla, Lynx, Cholla, Rock-It. Pretty empty out there, glad I went when I did, the wind is crazy now. My monarch RT shock felt terrible....it's convincing me I need (want) a new bike. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm enjoying the Cholla climb more and more, which makes me think I need that Transition Spur.....but then I wonder how those little Sid's will handle Rock-It, Car Wreck, T&A etc.
 
Yep... As Snake Man says above, we rode today. The plan was for a Ken Burton loop, but one of the group (me!) was dying on the climb. The last few days have killed me- watery eyes and sneezing like a fool. I made the call to head down Fern and El Prieto. That was probably the right call with the wind... The guys came with. :thumbsup:

After chasing @Luis on the Enduro last week, this run down Fern on the single speed was pretty embarrassing. I stopped 3 times to dry my eyes... :cry::cry: :Roflmao El Prieto is always fun... On the first couple switchbacks at the top, I looked up to see Ross covered in a shower of swirling leaves in front of me. Yeah... Bailing was the right call. And we had the chance to do our good deed for the day. The hard right hand switchback had a new cheater line. Knuckleheads. Maybe the three guys I saw on DH bikes the other day who were skidding through every feature and walking the slightest uphill sections? o_O

I'd like to blame the hikers, but there were bike tracks... :thumbsdown: The weird part is that the shortcut is harder than the switchback. o_O
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Fun ride... Even if it was the short version. :thumbsup:

8/1400
 
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98muted said:
First one of these.....a typical Aliso weekday quick ride for me. Cheater Cholla, Lynx, Cholla, Rock-It. Pretty empty out there, glad I went when I did, the wind is crazy now. My monarch RT shock felt terrible....it's convincing me I need (want) a new bike. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm enjoying the Cholla climb more and more, which makes me think I need that Transition Spur.....but then I wonder how those little Sid's will handle Rock-It, Car Wreck, T&A etc.
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Solution - Brunch Ride version of the Revel Ranger. Replace the Sids with Pike and Super Dee, beef up a few other places and there ya go. Do it all.

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I rode my bike today... eight miles to and from the trails on pavement, and then 17 miles on single track in the State Park. OMG those pump trails destroy me. 17 miles 2000 feet on the dirt, 25 miles total spinning.

What a passive stretch of the trail looks like:

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After a few hours of a constant light rain yesterday, I knew I had to get back out there today. There’s a local group that I was going to ride with but 30 degrees at 8:30am was not motivating. I ran some errands, went to a Western Collectibles show at the convention center and then came home and rode at Granite Basin. An easy, gradual climb to a challenging, rocky connector trail then on to some chunkity chunk (think Boy Scout trails in Hurricane) action. So much goodness it should be a crime.

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I went back to the Luge today for a couple of laps. I wanted to get out sometime during the week with all the rain we are supposed to get over the next couple of weeks. I started just before 7 AM and it was just perfect weather out there, and more importantly, minimal people. Nobody at the flag on either lap and only one hiker coming up the Luge on my first lap, but he was well out of the way.

It's a shame what the fire crews had to do to STT as it is so boring now. Not that it was ever exciting, but now it remands me of climbing up Blackstar. I mixed in the super steep extra credit climb on my second lap, and the downhill off that is pretty good. Well, at least better than a fire road. A very relaxing, non stressful Luge ride FTW.

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What started as a consolation ride, ended up being a pretty stellar outing. Was shooting for a different ride that I imagine will soon make an appearance in this thread, but ultimately needed to not be out of cell service for a large chunk of the day, so I headed to the Cheese. Decided to shake it up a little by starting from the actual Chesebro Canyon trailhead, which I had literally never done in all my times ridding the Cheese.

Once in the canyon I started following my usual route up C'bro, Sheep Corral, and Palo Comado, but this time headed over to the Hidden Treasure and Norway loop that I hadn't done in a couple months. Both are in excellent, firm shape right now. Rains slightly roughed up the chunk on HT in a nice way. Cleaned the full climb up Norway, aside from the two boulders that I can't even cleanly push my bike through. Cleaning the climb isn't particularly notable in terms of tech, but there are some close quarters maneuvers, and lots of heavy, purposeful breathing. I did clean the really tight left switchback for the first time. I'd kind of forgotten what a strenuous, but thoroughly enjoyable climb that is.

From there I wasn't sure if I was going to head to Dead Cow or Suicide, but was feeling good and decided to take another crack at Suicide. Right off the bat I walked the entrance again. It bottle necks into an all but guaranteed OTB if you don't get your line just right, and the wobbly rock that you have to roll at the top is now two wobbly rocks. That was an easy pass, but still a buzzkill way to start. Overall though, I really chipped away at the features I walked last time, and the remaining ones mainly come down to getting familiar and making sure I'm on the right line to start. The one that will keep me awake tonight is the toilet bowl section. I see the line, and can see myself riding it, but just couldn't summon the huevos today. A failed attempt would likely end in suckitude, but I'll have to suck it up soon and do it or it's going to gnaw at me. Overall, I'm super pumped on Suicide, and it has added a new kick ass dimension to my Cheese routes.

The new starting point today meant eliminating my favorite stretch down Gas Pipe, and descending C'Bro. Though not an even trade, I'd forgotten how fun the canyon can be to descend, and it was a nice change up today. Beautiful, quiet, and fun day to be out. 25.8/3,641

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Obsidian said:
I went back to the Luge today for a couple of laps. I wanted to get out sometime during the week with all the rain we are supposed to get over the next couple of weeks. I started just before 7 AM and it was just perfect weather out there, and more importantly, minimal people. Nobody at the flag on either lap and only one hiker coming up the Luge on my first lap, but he was well out of the way.

It's a shame what the fire crews had to do to STT as it is so boring now. Not that it was ever exciting, but now it remands me of climbing up Blackstar. I mixed in the super steep extra credit climb on my second lap, and the downhill off that is pretty good. Well, at least better than a fire road. A very relaxing, non stressful Luge ride FTW.

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I was going to say... Everyone is complaining about STT. Why not take the alternate line that starts right at the gate off Modjeska Grade? It’s definitely more challenging...
 
buggravy said:
What started as a consolation ride, ended up being a pretty stellar outing. Was shooting for a different ride that I imagine will soon make an appearance in this thread, but ultimately needed to not be out of cell service for a large chunk of the day, so I headed to the Cheese. Decided to shake it up a little by starting from the actual Chesebro Canyon trailhead, which I had literally never done in all my times ridding the Cheese.

Once in the canyon I started following my usual route up C'bro, Sheep Corral, and Polo Comado, but this time headed over to the Hidden Treasure and Norway loop that I hadn't done in a couple months. Both are in excellent, firm shape right now. Rains slightly roughed up the chunk on HT in a nice way. Cleaned the full climb up Norway, aside from the two boulders that I can't even cleanly push my bike through. Cleaning the climb isn't particularly notable in terms of tech, but there are some close quarters maneuvers, and lots of heavy, purposeful breathing. I did clean the really tight left switchback for the first time. I'd kind of forgotten what a strenuous, but thoroughly enjoyable climb that is.

From there I wasn't sure if I was going to head to Dead Cow or Suicide, but was feeling good and decided to take another crack at Suicide. Right off the bat I walked the entrance again. It bottle necks into an all but guaranteed OTB if you don't get your line just right, and the wobbly rock that you have to roll at the top is now two wobbly rocks. That was an easy pass, but still a buzzkill way to start. Overall though, I really chipped away at the features I walked last time, and the remaining ones mainly come down to getting familiar and making sure I'm on the right line to start. The one that will keep me awake tonight is the toilet bowl section. I see the line, and can see myself riding it, but just couldn't summon the huevos today. A failed attempt would likely end in suckitude, but I'll have to suck it up soon and do it or it's going to gnaw at me. Overall, I'm super pumped on Suicide, and it has added a new kick ass dimension to my Cheese routes.

The new starting point today meant eliminating my favorite stretch down Gas Pipe, and descending C'Bro. Though not an even trade, I'd forgotten how fun the canyon can be to descend, and it was a nice change up today. Beautiful, quiet, and fun day to be out. 25.8/3,641

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You should have some company when you decide to charge the suicide gnar. Respect on the pursuit!
 
buggravy said:
What started as a consolation ride, ended up being a pretty stellar outing. Was shooting for a different ride that I imagine will soon make an appearance in this thread, but ultimately needed to not be out of cell service for a large chunk of the day, so I headed to the Cheese. Decided to shake it up a little by starting from the actual Chesebro Canyon trailhead, which I had literally never done in all my times ridding the Cheese.

Once in the canyon I started following my usual route up C'bro, Sheep Corral, and Polo Comado, but this time headed over to the Hidden Treasure and Norway loop that I hadn't done in a couple months. Both are in excellent, firm shape right now. Rains slightly roughed up the chunk on HT in a nice way. Cleaned the full climb up Norway, aside from the two boulders that I can't even cleanly push my bike through. Cleaning the climb isn't particularly notable in terms of tech, but there are some close quarters maneuvers, and lots of heavy, purposeful breathing. I did clean the really tight left switchback for the first time. I'd kind of forgotten what a strenuous, but thoroughly enjoyable climb that is.

From there I wasn't sure if I was going to head to Dead Cow or Suicide, but was feeling good and decided to take another crack at Suicide. Right off the bat I walked the entrance again. It bottle necks into an all but guaranteed OTB if you don't get your line just right, and the wobbly rock that you have to roll at the top is now two wobbly rocks. That was an easy pass, but still a buzzkill way to start. Overall though, I really chipped away at the features I walked last time, and the remaining ones mainly come down to getting familiar and making sure I'm on the right line to start. The one that will keep me awake tonight is the toilet bowl section. I see the line, and can see myself riding it, but just couldn't summon the huevos today. A failed attempt would likely end in suckitude, but I'll have to suck it up soon and do it or it's going to gnaw at me. Overall, I'm super pumped on Suicide, and it has added a new kick ass dimension to my Cheese routes.

The new starting point today meant eliminating my favorite stretch down Gas Pipe, and descending C'Bro. Though not an even trade, I'd forgotten how fun the canyon can be to descend, and it was a nice change up today. Beautiful, quiet, and fun day to be out. 25.8/3,641

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I freaking love that suicide trail! I would always use that to rain for my Enduro races. Nice job! The entrance is a bigger. I did it finally one day and then it was easy but that first go can be intimidating. Nice report.
 
I rode my bike today with my daughter because she wanted to go ride. She ate it twice but was fine. We were hitting an intermediate trail called claim jumper. We rode it yesterday but in reverse so climbing it. Today She learned about speed checking. She scared the Sh!t out of herself with the second crash and it bent her rear rotor. I'll fix it tomorrow because no doubt she'll want to ride lol. I came home and hit the order button on the elbow and knee pads I had sitting in the cart from an hour before our ride. I guess that was telling lol. We limped the bike home after I bent the rotor back enough. This pic is from the end of the ride so all smiles for miles still!

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I rode my bike today... @buggravy was not able to join, so it was a twosome for the Super Strawberry epic. The shuttle dropped us off (double masked and well ventilated!) at Clear Creek.

I've done this route on the Hightower and on the single speed, but I've been riding the Hightower too much lately, so... The overloaded single speed got the call today. Two bottles, saw, windbreaker, kitchen sink, etc. But with everything on the bike, I skipped the pack. :thumbsup:

It was low 40s for the beginning of the climb up the Josephine Fire Road. On the single speed, that means a jersey is enough... :Roflmao Even Ross was pulled over at mile 1 to shed some layers. Josephine is 2.5 miles and 1250 feet. It's not a pleasant climb, unless you like that sort of thing. :whistling:

After Josephine, it's 8 miles of single track, mostly exposed, to Red Box. The Meadow is probably the halfway point, and it was still covered in snow. Fortunately, it's packed down enough that it's mostly rideable now. There were a few spots that the rear tire was more of a rudder going downhill. :thumbsup: The temps were in the low 30s through the meadow...

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The descent to Red Box was the only spot we saw people on the trail today. There were two small groups of hikers headed to Strawberry Peak...

There was a group of shuttlers unloading at Red Box- full face helmets, big bikes, etc... We saw them at Switzers a short time later. I don't think they continued on. We took the time to stop and remove a few branches that were blocking the trail. On the fast section, after the hard right turn, we encountered a downed tree at mach chicken speeds... Going off trail on the high side kept me from taking out Ross... :D Oops. :oops: Although I like the Specialized Slaughter on the rear, it does not have a lot of stopping grip. :whistling:

The Gabrielino... I haven't done the section from Switzers to the bottom of Ken Burton since the end of June. We opted more for the front range, and then it became overgrown, and we weren't sure about the downed trees. It was a riot, and it felt really good to be back on it. :inlove: Even though it's not far from civilization, the entire section of trail feels like you're off the grid. Not a soul. Rugged riding, exposure, landslides, etc...

:inlove::inlove::inlove:
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While stopped at the landslide, Ross noticed the old bit.
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The rock we rolled off went a looooooonnnnnggggg way down. :eek:
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There were a couple trees down, but nothing too bad... We had a blast all the way to Ken Burton and then on to JPL... As we were riding the road back home, I heard the call of tacos. We made a detour. :D

Absolutely epic day on the bike. This one needs to go back in the regular rotation... You missed a good one, @buggravy .

28/3000
 
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