I Rode My Bike Today...

Faust29 said:
The 2.6 rubber at well under 20 psi is like magic... Throw in the feel of steel, and it's a pretty special ride. :inlove:
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Kinda crazy how important psi is with those high volume tires. Just a couple units makes a massive difference. I'm usually just below 20 psi here in Sedona, even with 2.3 DHF/DHR or DHF/Aggressor combos, and I'm no lightweight. Currently on 2.5s, which are nice for the deep sand wash crossings we experience this time of year. I'd consider going back to 2.3s, though. Disclaimer: Riding a full-sus Pivot Switchblade.

Haven't ridden my fully-rigid steel singlespeed here yet, but I'd be looking at those 2.6s if they can fit. I know they'd work on the front with the Karate Monkey fork. Probably maxed out at 2.4 on the rear, so maybe a Dissector would be a good choice. In any case, running wider tires on that bike would require a whole new wheelset, as the circa 2004 Mavic 719s are basically super narrow road touring hoops. Nice wheelset for its time, with Chris King hubs, laced up my Mike Curiak. Probably should break 'em down, pack up the hubs, and give him some more business at his new digs in Idaho.
 
With very limited time, as usual, I'd planned to just ride above my house this morning. But then yesterday, when driving on Las Virgenes, I spied up on the hill my favorite high speed sweeping turn having been obviously cleared. However, the trailhead had not been cleared. It had all the signs of MTB trail work. I hightailed it over this morning, and sure enough the entire bottom section is fully open for for business. Nicely trimmed and raked with sight lines for days. Woot. So stoked to have this back in proper form. MRCA was also out doing some surface work on the really dried, hard, and cracked Bark Park trail. Short but fun one today. 9.2/1239.

@SnakeCharmer , what kind of dirt serpent am I looking at here?

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buggravy said:
With very limited time, as usual, I'd planned to just ride above my house this morning. But then yesterday, when driving on Las Virgenes, I spied up on the hill my favorite high speed sweeping turn having been obviously cleared. However, the trailhead had not been cleared. It had all the signs of MTB trail work. I hightailed it over this morning, and sure enough the entire bottom section is fully open for for business. Nicely trimmed and raked with sight lines for days. Woot. So stoked to have this back in proper form. MRCA was also out doing some surface work on the really dried, hard, and cracked Bark Park trail. Short but fun one today. 9.2/1239.

@SnakeCharmer , what kind of dirt serpent am I looking at here?

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Coachwhip?
 
buggravy said:
With very limited time, as usual, I'd planned to just ride above my house this morning. But then yesterday, when driving on Las Virgenes, I spied up on the hill my favorite high speed sweeping turn having been obviously cleared. However, the trailhead had not been cleared. It had all the signs of MTB trail work. I hightailed it over this morning, and sure enough the entire bottom section is fully open for for business. Nicely trimmed and raked with sight lines for days. Woot. So stoked to have this back in proper form. MRCA was also out doing some surface work on the really dried, hard, and cracked Bark Park trail. Short but fun one today. 9.2/1239.

@SnakeCharmer , what kind of dirt serpent am I looking at here?

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That there is a Red Coachwhip, aka, Red Racer. Super fast and nasty to handle. You’d get bitten repeatedly. :eek:
 
Speaking of riding I did an Uber fast El Prieto loop this morning. No time for Brown Mtn, just zip-zip-zip, up and down. I did not a see single soul from the time I hit the dirt all the way up and all the way down and all the way through El P. :inlove:

And CRAZY amounts of animals active this morning. Even a fox!

8.02 miles, 1170’ gain

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mike said:
Spill with the deets, Tit. Looks like the east side rim. What’s the snow report? TIA.
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Pic is from Truckee near Tahoe Donner. Only saw a few riders on the trail. It has been an unusually warm few days so far--mid to upper eighties and feels warmer at altitude. Should be cooling down over the next few days and into the low seventies and high sixties. Not much snow except at the high elevations. Downieville is running, but way too hot the last few days to get out there. Rode another 12 miles today.
 
Titus said:
View attachment 75607 Pic is from jackass trail in Truckee. Really fun trails with every kind of feature. Should have taken more/better pics, but too much fun to stop.
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My brother can't stop talking about Jackass. He lives in Truckee and has for about five years. He rides there frequently. For context, he is 11 years older than me and thinks I am an amazing climber! He hates climbing, but loves little "puzzles" or features - even gimmicks - on a trail. Not jumps, air or drops, just stuff to scramble over. He also hates heat and crowds and loves trees. Jackass is his Nirvana.
 
Holy crap, I actually rode my bike today. :Roflmao Santiago Oaks. I started at about 10 AM and it was pretty crowded at first, but was fairly empty towards the end. It seemed like there were far fewer hikers than last time I rode out there, but maybe that was because I started so late.

I have not been riding much lately (today was only my sixth ride since the beginning of April o_O), so I am in pretty terrible riding shape. I kept it short today, but cleaned all the climbs, so that was encouraging.

It was also my first time on Air Yucca since the trail work, and I think I will like it once all the soft dirt firms up. I washed out three times on it today, but was taking it easy so did not crash. I caught good air on all of the new rollers they put in though. Those might as well be jumps, LOL. The first two new berms are also great.

I did five drops at the flag since it has been awhile, and five or six jumps on the little wooden jump in the pic. That thing is actually a lot of fun, as the landing is on a downhill slope and you can hit it with good speed. There are some skinnies out there too, but I panicked and jumped off, LOL. I suck at high skinnies.

I was bummed about Peralta Hills being hikers only now, as that was one of my favorite trails. Then again, I saw two off leash dogs and an eBike today and they don't enforce those rules, so what is stopping me?

Fun day on the bike. Hopefully I can actually make riding a habit again. :Roflmao

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I rode... Rolled up Lower Sam Merrill a little before 7:00. The trail was already crowded... They all probably planned to get an earlier start like I did. :p Everyone was friendly, even Covid Man. I'm not sure if it was the same Covid Man from last weekend, because the helmet was a full face affair with goggles today. His partner was carrying a bird cage on a stick. Inside the cage was another Covid molecule. They caught it. :confused: The lower elevations in the San Gabes are always interesting...

And someone killed Gumby. He was always so cheerful.
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After the ruins, the climb became a lot less crazy... There were some hikers and trail runners, but it was peaceful. The higher you go, the better the behavior. All the way to Mount Wilson for some extra credit... :thumbsup: 12.8 miles and about 4600 feet. :inlove:

Rolling back down the pavement I could see Valley Forge Trail pretty clearly. I've only ridden it once before the fire, and it was covered in down trees. It looks like the trees are all cleared, at least in the visible portions...

Dig your own way out...
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Down the front range... Following some of the local trail groups in Instagram, I learned something this week. What I call Mount Lowe East is actually Upper Sam Merrill. Oops. Mount Lowe East is the short trail that goes up to the peak at the top of the climb on Upper Merrill. Mount Lowe West drops off the other side of the peak back to the Mount Lowe Road.

There were some hikers on Upper Merrill, so I just cruised, pulling over here and there. Middle Merrill, however, was like the 405. I didn't see any other riders, but I did run into 4 separate hiking groups with over 10 hikers in each group. There were another 5 or 6 groups of two. Twice I pulled over, set the bike off the trail, and just watched them go by... After that, I just cruised on Sunset. There were some guys getting ready to roll near the top, but I didn't stop. Didn't see them again either... I did receive several "thank yous" for the bell. :thumbsup:

Down the Horse Trail and home to the waiting Jarritos.

26.5/5200

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Faust29 said:
I rode... Rolled up Lower Sam Merrill a little before 7:00. The trail was already crowded... They all probably planned to get an earlier start like I did. :p Everyone was friendly, even Covid Man. I'm not sure if it was the same Covid Man from last weekend, because the helmet was a full face affair with goggles today. His partner was carrying a bird cage on a stick. Inside the cage was another Covid molecule. They caught it. :confused: The lower elevations in the San Gabes are always interesting...

And someone killed Gumby. He was always so cheerful.
View attachment 75619

After the ruins, the climb became a lot less crazy... There were some hikers and trail runners, but it was peaceful. The higher you go, the better the behavior. All the way to Mount Wilson for some extra credit... :thumbsup: 12.8 miles and about 4600 feet. :inlove:

Rolling back down the pavement I could see Valley Forge Trail pretty clearly. I've only ridden it once before the fire, and it was covered in down trees. It looks like the trees are all cleared, at least in the visible portions...

Dig your own way out...
View attachment 75618

Down the front range... Following some of the local trail groups in Instagram, I learned something this week. What I call Mount Lowe East is actually Upper Sam Merrill. Oops. Mount Lowe East is the short trail that goes up to the peak at the top of the climb on Upper Merrill. Mount Lowe West drops off the other side of the peak back to the Mount Lowe Road.

There were some hikers on Upper Merrill, so I just cruised, pulling over here and there. Middle Merrill, however, was like the 405. I didn't see any other riders, but I did run into 4 separate hiking groups with over 10 hikers in each group. There were another 5 or 6 groups of two. Twice I pulled over, set the bike off the trail, and just watched them go by... After that, I just cruised on Sunset. There were some guys getting ready to roll near the top, but I didn't stop. Didn't see them again either... I did receive several "thank yous" for the bell. :thumbsup:

Down the Horse Trail and home to the waiting Jarritos.

26.5/5200

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On maps it's called Mt Lowe East but it is in fact also called Upper Merrill. That's how I used to refer to it until I started getting puzzled looks from some people. o_O

I suggest that we rename it Upper Mt Lowe trail. :D
 
SnakeCharmer said:
On maps it's called Mt Lowe East but it is in fact also called Upper Merrill. That's how I used to refer to it until I started getting puzzled looks from some people. o_O

I suggest that we rename it Upper Mt Lowe trail. :D
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The reason I brought it up is because the trail organizations are coordinating with the forest service to correct all the incorrect maps out there that call it Mount Lowe East and re-draw them. Pretty cool effort... That's not the only trail they are working to map more accurately. There are quite a few...
 
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Left the house on the MTB today and started for Capser's. Decided a few miles in that Harding sounded better. Not sure why, but did. So, looped around Oakley, up toward STT and around down to Harding. Started off great, then the heat snuck in. Got a little bit too warm today. Ended up running out of water just before the last climb around the corner to 4C. I decided to call it quits and head down knowing that I still had to ride through the canyon on the road all the way back home to Irvine. Solid day though with quite a few rattlesnakes and biting flies. A solid indicator that its getting warm on the mountain. 50ish miles, 5000ish feet.

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I reallly need to get back on my program.
These mid morning starts are not working for me.

Rolled from home just after 7:30. Into Oaks and Oak. Lots of people out…but I wasn’t hanging around. Up over the top and down Anaheim Hills Rd and out into Weir Cyn. Quick drop down Cliffhanger, then past a few small groups and out the horse trails.

a little bit of roadie’ism up Santa AnaCanyon to Gypsum Canyon and onto SART. Through the golf course and into Chino Hills.

up Lower Aliso, it was already warming up. Stopped at my usual spot at the bottom of Bane Canyon to get water. I kept hearing some clicking. Then out of nowhere……

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this huge tree branch broke off and fell about 30’ from me. :eek:

Back on the bike and started climbing Southridge to the Telegraph Spur….it was now quite toasty. It was a little nicer towards the top when the breeze was blowing. Down to 4 Corners and onto Bovinian. They have been clearithe single tracks hit there, but Bovinian seems kinda rough.

Once back on Southridge I was getting cooked. My original plan was to descend Diemer and climb back up Telegraph and Bovinian, then head out Rim Crest. I decided to skip the Climb back up Telegraph as it was getting hot.

so I bailed out and Rim Crest and roadied home.

yeah, I gotta get back onto my program if early morning rides. Cooler temps before sunrise.

still got in 40 / 4100’
 
Haven't had much time for riding during the last two months. Yesterday, headed over to Blackstar. The drive along Santiago Canyon Road, featured being stuck doing 45/50 miles per hour in a 55 zone behind a Corvette Stingray. o_O Tree Farm to Beeks Place. At 2 miles, passed a couple of riders clad with blue jeans and baseball caps. One was on a fat bike and the other was on a rat bike. :laugh: The farther I went the better my legs felt. :thumbsup: 17.5 / 2205

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Last minute decision to head up north today. Rode Strawberry peak loop finishing just before sunset. Best shape I've seen it in. Aside from one off camber loose section I slid off and one downed tree I was able to do ide everything. First time ever making the whole climb out of the meadow. Looked like a lot of recent trimming on gabrielino. Did a bit of extra credit down George's gap and then climbed back up to the fire station. Good switchback practice and mostly decent trail.

Going to check out what's done so far on Condor peak tr tomorrow morning then try to connect back to Clear Creek plus whatever other trouble I can get into. Come chase me down on Condor if interested to join. Likely rolling around 8. Could be earlier or later. I probably won't have cell service to check in.

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Whiting Luge Whiting for maybe my first time since the pandemic. New saddle was great. Chain rattled a little on The Luge. Not sure why. That’s about it...

Fun ride - amazing temps. I don’t think it got above 72 even though it was midday and sunny! Try that in Northwest Arkansas in June!

Bikes are fun! :thumbsup: :cool: :)
 
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Solo mellow Ken Burton loop for me today… I considered going back down Brown and El Prieto, but chose the less peopley route. I had the switchbacks to myself, and didn’t encounter the hikers until I made the turn at Paul Little.

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From there it was a carnival back to JPL…It was so crowded that I rode most of it like a pump track and kept the speed down. The highlight was the two knuckleheads who jumped off their wal-mart bikes to scream at me, thinking I couldn’t stop in time for them. I did a track stand, and said, “Easy fellers…” That was when I noticed the pads and reflectors .:Roflmao :facepalm: Isn't it time for the inside people to go back inside? I know, I know... :cautious:

I finally managed the one switchback on the lower Gab that has given me issues, as well as one water crossing that I’ve never cleaned… Wide right, cut back through the rocks… :thumbsup:

18/2200
 
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