I Rode My Bike Today...

I hadn't ridden in 9 days since riding with Mikie & IMTB riders at Tapia. I had the day off today but still ended up at work dealing with xyz. I drove to Quail Hill off the 405. It was 85-90 at 11:15 am. I climbed the first steep hill, sitting peddling for the first 2 water drain berms and standing and peddling for the remainder of the climb. I made it past the bridge to the first spot of shade at the first switchback and was thirsty even though I had consumed plenty of water. If I'm hiding in the shade now.... I got a bad start and decided it wasn't smart to push it in the heat. .71 miles. Courtney and I have a rule that if you don't make it past 4 miles don't bother recording on Strava.
 
Stkx66 said:
I hadn't ridden in 9 days since riding with Mikie & IMTB riders at Tapia. I had the day off today but still ended up at work dealing with xyz. I drove to Quail Hill off the 405. It was 85-90 at 11:15 am. I climbed the first steep hill, sitting peddling for the first 2 water drain berms and standing and peddling for the remainder of the climb. I made it past the bridge to the first spot of shade at the first switchback and was thirsty even though I had consumed plenty of water. If I'm hiding in the shade now.... I got a bad start and decided it wasn't smart to push it in the heat. .71 miles. Courtney and I have a rule that if you don't make it past 4 miles don't bother recording on Strava.
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Dude! That climb is horribe when it's cool out... :gag: :facepalm: Good call on pulling the plug. Live to ride another day... :thumbsup:

That bridge is where @mtnbikej and I found the hiker lying down dehydrated in the middle of the trail. That guy was close to having a really bad day...
 
After recently eating sh*# on the mtnb, I did an easy ride along the coast today. Nice escape from the heat and the computer. Gravel bikes are cool.
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I met @SnakeCharmer a little after 6:00 near the beginning of the Lower Sam Merrill Trail, and we headed up... There were only a couple other trail users at that hour, and we had the climb pretty much to ourselves. This would be the theme for me today. :thumbsup: Well... Solitude and lots of fresh bike and Moto tracks. :cautious:

At the top of LSM, I suggested taking a detour to the ruins. It was worth it.

Santiago Peak & Drugs are Bad.
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Maybe in the sun, but it felt a lot cooler at this point...
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Gratuitous bike shot... JPL visible below.
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Snake Man and I took the connector over to the top of Sunset, and parted ways. He would head down and I would continue up. Snake was the last person I saw on the climb and I had the whole place to myself. Although I had my headphones in the bag, I opted for the sound of crunching dirt. :inlove: No PRs were in danger, and I stopped here and there, which is something I don't usually do solo. My ride window was partially closed today, so I opted for the front range and not the Gabrielino... Next time.

The last little stretch of the climbing...
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I took a decent break at the end of the uphill. Found a nice sized rock, sat down, and texted with the wife for a bit... It was too nice up there today to hurry. :inlove:
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Upper Merrill bit me today... As I was approaching the first left hand switchback, I took a flying babyhead to the big toe. This toe hasn't been right since I did the same thing a couple years ago on Main Divide. Suddenly the large toe box in my Pearls did not feel so roomy... If there was anyone else on the mountain, they may have seen a guy hopping around on one foot and yelling bad words.

Looks totally stable.
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A little detour in Middle Merrill... I didn't think this trail went anywhere, but it's on my GPS map. Hmmm... Looks like it drops back to the fire road. I'll explore the whole thing someday. :thumbsup:

Heading back to Middle Merrill
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Down Sunset, and then Horsey...

22/4600

Bikes are fun!
 
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Two laps around the FLOOP today. Nothing exciting to report. But, can we all agree that the FLOOP should be done clockwise? There’s only a couple DH sections and today I ran into people climbing both of them on both laps. Haven’t seen that before just the occasional wrong way rider by the lake or between homes. Thoughts?

Really doesn’t bother me much but I’m curious what others think. :)
 
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Queued up for the drop on Animal Trail, Prosser area.

This area is moto legal. Before Animal I started checking out Animal Crackers but aborted. Kind of ripped up, not excellent biking. I had no horsepower today but still gratelful to get out on a beautiful evening.


PS: @Faust29, my sympathies to your toe and you!!!!!! Rocks hurt! Hope it's not a setback.
 
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JordanHMay said:
Two laps around the FLOOP today. Nothing exciting to report. But, can we all agree that the FLOOP should be done clockwise? There’s only a couple DH sections and today I ran into people climbing both of them on both laps. Haven’t seen that before just the occasional wrong way rider by the lake or between homes. Thoughts?

Really doesn’t bother me much but I’m curious what others think. :)
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On a Thursday it's pretty much open season. Sunday morning, yeah...clockwise or stay on the off side.

But everyone should expect the unexpected on the FLoop. I've ridden it the "wrong" way more than once.
 
mike said:
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Queued up for the drop on Animal Trail, Prosser area.

This area is moto legal. Before Animal I started checking out Animal Crackers but aborted. Kind of ripped up, not excellent biking. I had no horsepower today but still gratelful to get out on a beautiful evening.


PS: @Faust29, my sympathies to your toe and you!!!!!! Rocks hurt! Hope it's not a setback.
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I think it'll be good as new... It's just a nice shade of deep purple right now... :thumbsup:
 
I've ridden the loop CCW a couple times on weekdays, just for a change, it's like a different trail. The Mormon church downhill before Euclid should be climbed on the other (pedestrian) side of fence, otherwise just avoid oncoming bikes same as all the other trail users, lots of walkers going CCW.
 
JordanHMay said:
Two laps around the FLOOP today. Nothing exciting to report. But, can we all agree that the FLOOP should be done clockwise? There’s only a couple DH sections and today I ran into people climbing both of them on both laps. Haven’t seen that before just the occasional wrong way rider by the lake or between homes. Thoughts?

Really doesn’t bother me much but I’m curious what others think. :)
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On the very rare occasion I ride the FLOOP, I usually ride to the dam area and then turn around. It is more fun clockwise, but one lap is not enough and I don't like riding the road from the golf course to the courthouse, so I just turn around and ride it in reverse. I have never had anyone say anything to me about it.
 
Rolled from the house and hit the JPL parking lot a few minutes after 7:00... I only passed one other rider and a few hikers before the first saddle. :thumbsup: I rolled through without stopping and kept on going to the Ken Burton trailhead. There was another rider there and we shot the bull for quite some time. There seemed to be a steady stream of riders coming up Brown at that point, so I made the game time decision to drop down Ken Burton instead. I had it all to myself... :inlove:

There were hikers on the lower portion of the Gabrielino below the dam, but that's normal... I was still able to play on all the little features and clean the creek crossings. :thumbsup: I enjoy that section even with the hikers...

The newly built Flow MK4 on the front feels really nice... I have no idea how it will hold up compared to the ARCs and the DT Swiss rims, but time will tell. :thumbsup:

19/2300

Bikes are fun!
 
I’m up in SLO Town for the weekend. Two rides in so far. Both short but I’m gonna take what I’ve got the time to take. :cool:

On Friday, I climbed Cerro San Luis (Madonna Mtn) and dropped Rock Garden. It’s a chunkfest DH that Ive been wanting to do for some time now and it did not disappoint. :thumbsup:

Today after breakfast, I headed over to Irish Hills and it was glorious! The continuous chunk climbing there is wonderful and then the return back down it just seals the deal. I passed by some fellow riders and several hikers.

Life is good. :)

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SnakeCharmer said:
I’m up in SLO Town for the weekend. Two rides in so far. Both short but I’m gonna take what I’ve got the time to take. :cool:

On Friday, I climbed Cerro San Luis (Madonna Mtn) and dropped Rock Garden. It’s a chunkfest DH that Ive been wanting to do for some time now and it did not disappoint. :thumbsup:

Today after breakfast, I headed over to Irish Hills and it was glorious! The continuous chunk climbing there is wonderful and then the return back down it just seals the deal. I passed by some fellow riders and several hikers.

Life is good. :)

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SLO is a cool town and a really fun place to ride--Irish Hills is a blast. I have a buddy who lives up there so I get up there a few times a year. Heading up in Oct.
 
Wrightwood is back on the menu.
@scan texted me and said, “What about Wrightwood on Saturday?”
Say no more.
@Voodoo Tom and I made the commute to meet scan and @Sasquatch9billion at Jackson Lake at 8:00 am. Ugh! 8:00 am…:gotnothing: That means a 5:00 am alarm clock.

Hitting up a Subway, we were there a couple minutes early! :thumbsup:

Doing the usual suspects but now adding Table Mountain broadens the loop capability.
We cruised the day, found a stray named Art at the Leprechaun Trailhead and convinced him to go ride Table Mountain with us instead. Completing that and back at the Ranger Station at the Summit across the street from Mountain High, scan and Sasquatch decided to peel off and drop Fault Line back to the vehicles. Voodoo and I committed to escort Art back to his vehicle and then climb up and drop the ridge back down on top of Boy Scout, which we did. The day was magic! The weather the best I had ridden in in a long time.

The 4 of us snagged grub and brew at The Yodler and it was perfect!
Fantastic day in the saddle, thanks guys!!!

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Yup, I did. 22 days since my last ride. I think I put down a whopping 6.3 miles and 1078 feet! About 1/4 water bottle consumed.

Surf and Turf today however. I had a good session with about 8 well-ridden waves this morning. No black eyes. No sharks. I'll take it! :thumbsup:
 
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I rode today, tijeras creek, machete and water works and back. Machete is getting more chunky, and still fun. After yesterday afternoons rain the whole ride was straight up hero dirt :thumbsup::). Ah...so nice without any dust and the sand kinda packed.

Not a lot of peeps out, so good ride without any delays. Felt slow and in cruise mode , but according to Strava I got a few PRs. Go figure.... I'll take it but question the accuracy. ;)
 
Danimal said:
I rode today, tijeras creek, machete and water works and back. Machete is getting more chunky, and still fun. After yesterday afternoons rain the whole ride was straight up hero dirt :thumbsup::). Ah...so nice without any dust and the sand kinda packed.

Not a lot of peeps out, so good ride without any delays. Felt slow and in cruise mode , but according to Strava I got a few PRs. Go figure.... I'll take it but question the accuracy. ;)
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What was your time on Waterworks today? So far, @GnastyGnate has the pole position.
 
SnakeCharmer said:
I’m up in SLO Town for the weekend. Two rides in so far. Both short but I’m gonna take what I’ve got the time to take. :cool:

On Friday, I climbed Cerro San Luis (Madonna Mtn) and dropped Rock Garden. It’s a chunkfest DH that Ive been wanting to do for some time now and it did not disappoint. :thumbsup:

Today after breakfast, I headed over to Irish Hills and it was glorious! The continuous chunk climbing there is wonderful and then the return back down it just seals the deal. I passed by some fellow riders and several hikers.

Life is good. :)

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Love those IRish Hills!!
 
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