what's the deal with Blackstar?

Sidewalk said:
every time I see pictures it looks like non exciting trails
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By all means, stay on MTT... we don't need extra traffic :) Most bikers will never see the trails in these photos :)

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Sidewalk said:
Thanks. I hear of a few trails here and there along that area, but every time I see pictures it looks like non exciting trails. I'll do some planning in the near future. Especially since it is cooling.
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West face of the Santa Ana's (and the OC in general) have several destination options not mentioned above. Listen to and follow @mike; having said that, if you find yourself on a ride with him, and he lets you go first, you'd better drop your saddle.
 
Cougar said:
I would contend that The Luge is a better night ride than Blackstar for Santa Ana night riding. But I think that just comes down to the demarcation between those that like The Luge and don't like The Luge. :)
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I'll give you that one, but only if it's the full Old Camp run. Just the Luge is too short for a night ride!

And STT out and back is even better at night, but you'll probably disagree. :p
 
DangerDirtyD said:
You'd be surprised. Joplin is nice. Glad to see you ventured away from Harding.
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I venture away from Harding all the time! This week I rode Harding, Blackstar and Aliso Creek :) I've been to Santiago Peak twice this year (so far) down Motorway three times, up and down Holy Jim and Maple Springs numerous times, etc. I also ride Whiting all the time, and Aliso / Wood Canyon regularly.

I get around :) I just tend to ride Harding for my Sunday morning workouts. I don't ride it all the time, however. 17 times so far in 2017... so about twice a month. I have to admit I love the views... @mtnbikej and @Faust29 ride Blackstar every week... plus bonus rides. I'll bet they've put a lot more than 17 rides into that trail this year :) (Divert attention from my Harding fixation)
 
Runs with Scissors said:
That's ^^ the famous... or infamous ...Warren!!
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I think he's still around here... somewhere....

Runs with Scissors said:
I've done Harding exactly once. If I didn't have a specific plan for the next couple of months, I'd ride it and hit the peak this weekend.:cool:
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What specific plan? :) I wouldn't mind a ride to the peak, but it would be better to wait until after the first rain...
 
BonsaiNut said:
I venture away from Harding all the time! This week I rode Harding, Blackstar and Aliso Creek :) I've been to Santiago Peak twice this year (so far) down Motorway three times, up and down Holy Jim and Maple Springs numerous times, etc. I also ride Whiting all the time, and Aliso / Wood Canyon regularly.

I get around :) I just tend to ride Harding for my Sunday morning workouts. I don't ride it all the time, however. 17 times so far in 2017... so about twice a month. I have to admit I love the views... @mtnbikej and @Faust29 ride Blackstar every week... plus bonus rides. I'll bet they've put a lot more than 17 rides into that trail this year :) (Divert attention from my Harding fixation)
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That's nice. :thumbsup:

I'll be visiting my Mother-in-Law next weekend in Mission Viejo. Why don't you show me something worth my trip from the I.E.?
 
BonsaiNut said:
I think he's still around here... somewhere....



What specific plan? :) I wouldn't mind a ride to the peak, but it would be better to wait until after the first rain...
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Yeah, he's here. Saw him yesterday on the FLoop.

This weekend is supposed to be great weather. My plan is to be able to re-visit a ride I last did over three years ago. I set a PR on the GMR climb on a Trek Mamba mtb (31 lb beast with a 3x9 drivetrain) while training for the Crusher in the Tushar race, and I've never beaten it since. I still have a ways to go to get back to that level of fitness. Only this time I'll do it on the road bike:

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DangerDirtyD said:
I'll be visiting my Mother-in-Law next weekend in Mission Viejo. Why don't you show me something worth my trip from the I.E.?
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Faust29 said:
Isn't @Mikie going to be down here, as well, for a ride?
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Oh yeah! This may be shaping into something extra special :)

Though I'm not normally the guy to organize these... what do people want to do? I don't know what trails you have already been on, what you're in the mood for, or how far you want to go(?) @DangerDirtyD and @Mikie give me a number of hours and I can craft several alternatives to choose from.

Glad this isn't happening tomorrow - I'm going to the SHARE Trabuco Canyon clean-up day!
 
Some cool history of Beek's Place (top of Blackstar at Main Divide) in the link below. Fun to poke around there after the climb. Well, unless you're climbing more....
http://www.santaanamountains.org/beeks_place_history.pdf

Tend to agree with @mike the easiest (not easy tho) and fun/somewhat techy traverse from west to east and back is Black Star-Skinsuit-Skyline-Blackstar with the singletrack sidetrips on the way down Blackstar. IMO worth it is a "destination ride", though a little more fire road than preferred.
 
knucklebuster said:
Some cool history of Beek's Place (top of Blackstar at Main Divide) in the link below. Fun to poke around there after the climb. Well, unless you're climbing more....
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That stretch of the Main Divide between Pleasant's Peak and the top of the Motorway has a Sound of Music quality to it, if you like fire roads.

An "almost" destination fire road ride from the 91 fwy/Green River area is to climb Coal Canyon to Sierra Peak (with amazing topography and varied surfaces), then continue past Beek's to a turn-around at Pleasant's Peak. The fast (and primarily downhill) return to the bottom of Coal is fairly epic. As is the descent from Los Pinos saddle on the N. Main Divide, down to Long Canyon (becomes fast pavement) to Ortega Highway, and all the way down Ortega on the Elsinore side.. is a mix of beat-up dirt and smooth asphalt and is big, fast and flowy.

Can you tell I used to be a roadie?
 
kioti said:
That stretch of the Main Divide between Pleasant's Peak and the top of the Motorway has a Sound of Music quality to it, if you like fire roads.

An "almost" destination fire road ride from the 91 fwy/Green River area is to climb Coal Canyon to Sierra Peak (with amazing topography and varied surfaces), then continue past Beek's to a turn-around at Pleasant's Peak. The fast (and primarily downhill) return to the bottom of Coal is fairly epic. As is the descent from Los Pinos saddle on the N. Main Divide, down to Long Canyon (becomes fast pavement) to Ortega Highway, and all the way down Ortega on the Elsinore side.. is a mix of beat-up dirt and smooth asphalt and is big, fast and flowy.

Can you tell I used to be a roadie?
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Climbing Coal Canyon is painful. :eek: But rewarding. :whistling:
 
mike said:
What those ^ guys said.

It's one of the most aesthetically pleasing ways to get to the spine of the range IMO. Unlike most of the Santa Anas, it gets muddy on rare occasions.

B* can be made a destination trail by adding Skinsuit down the backside. Then you'll get to ascend Skyline Drive to get back to B*. That's the best circuit containing Blackstar I can think of. We had a good group this time out on it. If you come down this fall, I'll do that with ya – I'm past due.
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Whats the name of that ST trail on the video? Skinsuit?
 
BonsaiNut said:
Oh yeah! This may be shaping into something extra special :)

Though I'm not normally the guy to organize these... what do people want to do? I don't know what trails you have already been on, what you're in the mood for, or how far you want to go(?) @DangerDirtyD and @Mikie give me a number of hours and I can craft several alternatives to choose from.

Glad this isn't happening tomorrow - I'm going to the SHARE Trabuco Canyon clean-up day!
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@Mikie originally threw out something with Holy Jim or San Juan...
BonsaiNut said:
Oh yeah! This may be shaping into something extra special :)

Though I'm not normally the guy to organize these... what do people want to do? I don't know what trails you have already been on, what you're in the mood for, or how far you want to go(?) @DangerDirtyD and @Mikie give me a number of hours and I can craft several alternatives to choose from.

Glad this isn't happening tomorrow - I'm going to the SHARE Trabuco Canyon clean-up day!
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I don't think anything has been decided yet... But Mikie likes "extra chunky". :thumbsup:

http://www.imtbtrails.com/forum/threads/holy-jim-san-juan-september-23rd.6482/
 
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Saturday might be crowded on San Juan... particularly if we are going to do a loop or out and back.

The classic Holy Jim / Trabuco loop is always good (?) I don't know conditions on Main Divide south of Holy Jim but I assume it is loose and dusty (normal at this time of year).

If the weather forecast holds, it's supposed to be high of 75 and clear - perfect conditions. If we park at the upper lot it is a nice location to have an after ride lunch... The loop at social pace is 3:30 to 4:00? (at least for me)
 
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BonsaiNut said:
Oh yeah! This may be shaping into something extra special :)

Though I'm not normally the guy to organize these... what do people want to do? I don't know what trails you have already been on, what you're in the mood for, or how far you want to go(?) @DangerDirtyD and @Mikie give me a number of hours and I can craft several alternatives to choose from.

Glad this isn't happening tomorrow - I'm going to the SHARE Trabuco Canyon clean-up day!
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I can't take more than three hours next weekend. I may have to rendezvous with you guys somewhere along the trails depending on the route or cut out early. Lots of options still. You guys pick something with Godfather's approval, and I'll look to maximize my participation. Typically off-menu trails are not crowded on weekends.
 
scan said:
About how long is it, and it's probably steeper than it looks in the video?
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Around three miles; feels like more. Most of it is fast, some is twisty, but there are a few sections that are steep, rutted and loose. Lots of riders dismount those sections. I haven't ridden it since the heavy winter, and think it has potential to be pretty ravaged presently. One way to find out...

http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=18718
 
konakc said:
Mtt.. work fun fun
Blackstar. Work.. work.. a little fun..
Fully loop.. all fun! No work...
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We need more posts like this hyping the fun factor of the Floop and that small park down the road from Oaks. That way all of the traffic goes there and we switch the real trail talk to the deep web for the hard cores (that'd be us.)

To get back on topic, Black star is haunted.
 
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