San Juan shuttle ride okay for experienced kids?

P

Phasor

Newbie
I was thinking of shuttling San Juan trail from Blue Jay with my kids (15 yo, 11 yo, 10 yo). My kids have decent bikes and some experience. For comparison, they have ridden Thunder Mountain, Bunker Creek, and JEM trail in Utah, though they certainly had to walk some sections on those trails. They aren't shredders, but also not complete newbs. Would San Juan be okay for them or would it be too crazy? I have ridden San Juan, but it was probably 10 years ago so I just don't remember very well how technical/exposed the downhill is.

Also, I read elsewhere that there were tons of downed trees up there last month. Has anyone ridden the trail recently? Are downed trees still a big problem?
 
San Juan from Cocktail rock would probably be ok for them if they could handle Thunder Mtn, Bunker etc. Just bear in mind that its a fair distance to get to Cocktail rock from Bluejay and that would be the hard part as it is quite technical in spots. I'd say it's harder than JEM but not significantly harder. If they could handle JEM ok and don't mind walking some, it should be doable. I think the downed trees were on old San Juan, which is the northern loop option. You'd want to take new San Juan past Viejo Tie.
 
I wouldn't take someone that I love to San Juan Trail on a weekend, double that for a newer rider, triple it for a child. It's thee biggest congregation of wheelbound numbskulls in all of SoCal on Sat-Sun. Dumfuks with attitudes out of control on electricfied contraptions, riders without helmets, mobs, too fast to stop, not observing ROW. NTB on weekdays, but on WE, forget it, it's been ruined by shuttlers and straight-up kooks.
 
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I would have phrased it a little lighter :Roflmao, but sadly, mike's description is what we've seen on the weekends recently up there. Groups of 25 standing in the middle of the trail looking lost, lots of riders way over their heads, and general craziness. I love the ride from bottom to top to bottom but I avoid it on weekends.

I've probably ridden 10,000 miles with @mtnbikej . The only place one of us has actually been hit by another rider? Upper San Juan a couple months ago... Both of us with bells, and he still got taken out by a downhill rider out of control.
 
I’ve only been on the trail once but even the lower downhill segment is no walk in the park. Ruts up to your knees, exposed segments with potential for some serious hurt, etc. unless the kid was some sort of riding prodigy, I’d never take a 10 year old.
 
Well, typical for me to be the oddball but most of MY experiences recently are that it hasn't been that crowded for us. Maybe we're just lucky as most of our group can only go on Saturdays so that's when we go. I usually count the riders going UP while we're coming down from Cocktail and the last few times, there hasn't been more than 5-7 riders total....and we very, very, very rarely get passed on our way up or down so that hasn't been an issue.

That being said, I think the top portion is significantly harder than 98% of the JEM Trail due to sections of very decent trail obstacles. That being said, they can walk those sections. To be quite honest, if I was going to be concerned about anything, it would be one of them getting too confident and flying off the trail. You can really open it up out there and most people in our group have been off the trail at one point or another. Also, make sure you have a bell and YIELD for all the uphill traffic out there. Hopefully there won't be too many of them.
 
I would start early to beat the traffic a bit, not to many shuttlers out @ 07:30hrs. The kids should have some pads incase it gets a lil tough out there and it will. Make sure you let them know to walk some of the technical sections and all to stay together. Past Cocktail rock there will be a few tight switchbacks that are a lil sandy, past Cocktail rock they should slow it down a bit incase of oncoming traffic starts to show up and it will as long as the kidos have respectfull trail etiquette and you guys take your time you should be fine. You know your kids well and should know if this wont be to much for them or to long of a ride, good luck be safe.
 
Take them all up there, push their limits, and make memories that will last a lifetime! Plan with plenty of food, water, clothing, lights, and be prepared to play Hero Daddo.

If you end up needing extraction and get on the news, be sure to refer the audience to this website.:thumbsup:

We’ll defend you to Child Protection Services.
 
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