2008 started out a little ragged, beginning in January with
a week of not riding followed by
my five mile local ride that almost required a sag wagon.
Things got worse before they got better, and
my inaugural trip to Daley Ranch ended with an early bailout and a renewed commitment to improve my fitness ASAP.
So I set some
general goals and
made a list of trails I wanted to ride in 2008, and dedicated myself to becoming a better rider.
In February I
rode the Santa Luz loop for the first time and also took my
first trip to the LPQ Tunnels with the Skyline MTB crew.
I also headed back to ATT in February, and once again experienced some mechanical issues. But I did spend some time playing around on the rocks this time, and started to gain a little confidence...
I also made my first trip up to Noble Canyon when Joel and I shuttled it in the snow. I had an awesome time, and was glad to finally experience the trail that so many people talked about.
We bought Rachel a hybrid mountain bike in February as well, and
I took her for a spin around our local 4S trail system. She seemed to like it OK.
In March I did my first ride with the Rock MTB group over in the
Tri-Canyons area. It was a decent ride, but involved some interesting terrain including freeway overpasses, aqueducts, and even some singletrack!
I also
sold my first real mountain bike, an Iron Horse Warrior 3.5, in March. I had served me fairly well as I began my MTB hobby, but I was on to bigger and better things.
I also made it over to North Hodges later that month, and played around while enjoying some impressive views.
I followed that ride with a trip over to the
South side of Hodges, most of which had been closed for several months following the 2007 October wild fires.
My Lake Hodges bonanza continued a week later when I crossed off one of my 2008 Goal List items and
climbed Bernardo Peak. It involved more hiking than riding, but I still enjoyed myself.
I also
rode Sycamore with Joel one weekend...
And
returned the next weekend to complete some unfinished business...
Rachel and I also took some time out to do
the Silent Ride with the Rock MTB group which was an moving experience and later that day I spent some time on the trails with
my first ride over at Lake Calavera. My fitness was not up to par on that day, and I left wishing I had been able to hang with the group better. I did handle a few techy downhill sections OK though.
March also brought about the
end of my regular local ride (as well as a painful lesson in the effects of the needles of the wild artichoke.)
I capped off the month by doing some
trail work over at Black Mountain (on a trail that ironically would become part of my new local ride route a few months later!).
April started out with an
easy spin around Hodges with Joel, followed by
my first trip down Canyon Rim trail at Black Mountain, the trail that would become the training ground for my improving technical downhill skills.
After that I spent an awesome day
riding all of the singletrack at the Del Mar Mesa the day before it closed. It was an incredibly fun series of trails, and I am both thrilled to have ridden before it was bulldozed and saddened at the fact that its gone forever now.
I
bought a new bike in April, a Specialized Enduro Elite, but it didn't last very long. It just wasn't a fit for me.
The next couple of weeks brought a
quickie LPQ run with Sean, followed by the Skyline MTB weekend in the Lagunas and a
fun Noble ride where I had a chance to improve my downhill skills.
April ended with an
aborted local ride that taught me some chain maintenance lessons, but overall things were going pretty well at that point.
May involved a
couple of
consecutive trips to Black Mountain for my new local ride, followed by a new route over at Hodges involving
both the North and South sides with Sean and Dave G.
One highlight of May was my first organized event ride,
Cycle Eastlake. I enjoyed it very much, and would love to do more events like it. Less pavement would have been better, and doing it with friends would also have been fun, but I had a great time nonetheless.
Later that same day
I did a local ride just to get in some bonus miles, which set a new single-day mileage record for me.
The last week of May brought a ride that may be the highlight of the year for me: the
Tour de Hodges. On a whim I ended up riding almost all of the trails that were open on both North and South Hodges, including Bernardo Peak. It was a 27 mile slogfest for me, and one that I'll remember as a great accomplishment.
After the Tour de Hodges, my next ride was also one that I'll remember as I spent a considerable amount of time
wandering around the Tunnels at LPQ. I was able to discover two new Tunnels that I'd never ridden, and also enjoyed dropping in from the Camino del Sur trailhead for the first time.
May concluded with a
trip through Santa Luz with Sean, where we saw several interesting sights, including bridges...
Strange gook on the trails...
And what wild artichoke looks like in full bloom...
June started with the now ubiquitous Black Mountain local ride, followed by
my first trip to Sweetwater Reservoir. I almost didn't make it to this ride, which was hosted by the group from World Cycles, but am glad I did. Sweetwater turned out to be one of my favorite local trails of the whole year.
After Sweetwater, Sean and I tackled the
main trails at Black Mountain for the first time. My local ride had included the Canyon Rim trail and some of the smaller trails that descended the north side of the mountain, but Sean and I set out to explore the whole thing, and we succeeded. Despite being a relatively short ride mileage-wise, it was a ton of climbing and we had a great time riding trails in our backyard that we had never ridden.
A week after riding Black Mountain, I went for a ride with Billy at the Cuyamaca Grand Loop. I remember this as one of my strongest rides of the year in terms of conditioning and fitness, and while the trail itself was a little underwhelming and Billy had some severe mechanical issues, it was a fun day up in the mountains. The views and scenery were impressive.
We saw wild turkeys...
A little singletrack...
And some beautiful forest...
The next week I did my first STR group ride at the Santa Margarita River Trail. I met Doug in person for the first time and also met and rode with local MTB legend MTB Bill as well. The ride itself was fun, and it was neat to get to see a new trail that I'd never ridden.
The next week brought another highlight of the entire year; Santa Rosa Plateau with the Wonderminion. The trail was fun and interesting, the scenery was new and unique, and I had a great time showing our intern Kent the joys of mountainbiking. And I finally got some pictures of myself on the trail, which was nice.
June wrapped up with my first-ever night ride, the
SDMBA Cuyamaca Night Ride at the Cuyamaca Grand Loop. This was an interesting ride for me, because it started out with me having a complete bonk despite having ridden very well there earlier in June. I managed to finish the ride relatively strong, but struggled so much at the beginning that the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. I did enjoy the night riding aspect, and did several more later in the year.
July brought sweet redemption by way of a return trip to Daley Ranch that went pretty well. While I still had a couple of HAB's, I rode the vast majority of it and did far better than my debacle out there six months earlier.
After that came a fun LPQ ride with Doug, Evan, and Scott where I was able to ride the mysterious tunnel 5 for the first time.
After that ride came more secret trails with my first trip out to Ted Williams. I rode with Sean and Doug, and it turned into a climbing exploration the likes of which only Sean could create. It was fun though, and I was glad to finally be shown this hidden jewel of north county.
Mid-July brought the first of two Archipelago Pre-rides that I did that month, beginning with my initial ride from home to South Hodges to North Hodges to SDRP where I got lost between SDRP and Santa Luz. It was a key first step in what would become a successful epic ride, and some of my pictures from that day are among my favorites.
Five days after my first failed attempt at linking up trails for my Archipelago ride, I was back out there for Pre-Ride 1(b), where I started out at Hodges with Mark and Doug and ultimately found my connector. It was a fun but taxing ride, and I rolled home in the dark around 9:00 at night.
August began with me successfully linking the second section of trails for the Archipelago Ride, starting from home and linking Santa Luz to LPQ and back to Santa Luz. It was a very taxing ride for me, and I ended it wondering if the full ride was even possible.
August also brought some bike shenanigans, with the sale of my first full-suspension rig (Specialized FSR) and purchase of my new frame, an Intense Spider XVP. I'll get into the Spider more later, but as for the FSR, it was an awesome bike and I was a little sorry to see it go. Things turned out OK though.
Despite the revolving door of bikes, August was a brutal time for riding, as work was a nightmare and family was in from out of town. As a result, I went three weeks between rides before I finally worked in a local ride just to taste dirt again.
September started off with a bang, howerver, as I embarked on my first ever out-of-town MTB trip. I joined Sean, Doug, and Brent for a trip up to the Southern Sierras, specifically Kernville and the Sequoias. It was an awesome four days of riding, and the collection of ride reports is available here. My biggest regret was that my fitness wasn't up to par, and the next time I plan a MTB trip, I plan on putting in some serious training miles before hand in order to ensure I'm able to handle several consecutive days of riding. There were a ton of beautiful photos from the trip, but here just a couple of my favorites:
When I got home from Kernville/Quaking Aspens, I still had several days of vacation left, and decided to hit a local trail I had been meaning to ride for a while,
Elfin Forest. Despite several consecutive days of riding, my fitness was still a little suspect, and I suffered during most of the Elfin ride. The views were impressive though...
A week later I headed out to MTRP to ride
Spring and Oak canyons with Sean, Doug, Evan, and Jeremy.
After that was a fun
LPQ spin in the lower canyon trails with Rachel, which was a nice change of pace.
My last September ride was an
LPQ night ride with Sean, Dennis and Dave G., who had never been through the tunnels before. Despite some mishaps with my light and mechanical issues, it was a fun ride and made me want to ride at night more often.
October brought the
completion of the Spider build, and a new bike was born.
The maiden voyage was an
easy ride back at Spring Canyon with Rachel, Billy, and Nate. I was really impressed at Rachel's riding, and started to hope that she'd get on the trails with me more often. The Spider felt great, though the easy trail and relaxed pace wasn't much of a test.
After that, it was time for the
Cuyamaca Poker Ride. I rode well, and really appreciated the lighter weight and XC geometry of the Spider. I'll definitely be back next year.
Next up was a
night ride with Dave G. at Black Mountain. I was glad to be night riding again and getting some use out of my TriNewt, but miscalculated badly on this ride. I tried the light on my helmet, and it was horrible. I had no depth perception, the beam wasn't bright enough, and it made for a rough ride.
Then cameArchipelago Pre-ride
Part III, the final leg of my Archipelago pre-ride series. I had been vacillating about which direction to do the route , and had decided to ride this ride clockwise because I was leaning toward doing the Archipelago route that direction as well. I'm glad I did. I found the gliderport trail down the west face of Black Mountain, and the final piece of my Archipelago ride was in place.
A week later, with my Spider performing well and finances an issue, I elected to sell off my Specialized Enduro that I had ridden since April. This bike and I never really formed a bond, and I wasn't entirely sad to see it go. I was able to get a good price for it, and the "rental fee" for riding it for seven months wasn't too bad.
The final ride of October was a great one,
with a trip up to the Lagunas to ride BLT with the Skyline crew. We did some bonus miles in addition to the regular loop, and had a blast. It was actually my first trip up to BLT this year, and I hope to get back up there soon.
November started with a bang. After more than three and a half months of planning, scouting, pre-riding, and (some) conditioning, the morning of the 6th was the day of my
full Archipelago Ride. The route was well planned and executed. The company (Doug) was awesome and enhanced the experience. I had some severe cramping issues in my legs, which served as a lesson for next time, but overall it was a day I'll remember for a long time. It was over 42 miles, eight hours of riding, and an epic day. There were a lot of neat pics, but this one was one of my favorites:
The rest of the month was a little anticlimactic, with
a trip to Sycamore to clean Martha's and finally ride the switchbacks next on my agenda.
It felt great to clean all of Martha's, but the switchbacks nearly killed me endurance-wise. I blame it on having ridden 42 miles a week earlier...
After a couple week riding drought,
I headed over to La Costa (Denk Mountain) to check off another lingering 2008 Ride List trail. It was a decent ride, but the fairly severe nature of the trail (steep climb, then steep descent, then repeat) wasn't really my style. It was fun, but not a place I'd make a habit out of riding on a regular basis. Also, for being geographically close to home, it took forever to get there...
Next came a kind of strange ride out at "lower" Noble Canyon with Billy. We did some exploration on some singletrack near the bottom of the trailhead, and climbed some of the road up to a cutover trail and rode Extra Credit back to the cars. The exploration aspect of the ride was fun, and we did discover some neat singletrack that's off the beaten path. However, I was stung by a bee, and it was a long drive for a fairly short ride, so it wasn't a complete success.
The last ride of November was
one of my best performances on a local ride all year. Whether it was the new bike, some better conditioning, or just a unmerited blessing, I cleaned several sections that I usually walk and had a great ride.
December also started strong, with another 2008 Goal List item getting checked off my list. While Rachel back east visiting relatives,
I joined Nate for a ride up at San Juan Trail. We rode all the way to Blue Jay and back, and while there were some rough spots for me and the climbing was difficult, it was a great ride.
The next day brought a
quick, "training style ride" over at North Hodges. I actually didn't feel like riding, but with an unlimited hall pass and the year winding down, I wanted to ride as much as possible. I negative split the trip to Hernandez Hideaway and back, and felt great at the end.
After a busy couple of weeks,
my next ride was back at Black Mountain, and it was a circus. I climbed a trail over on the north section, which was a mistake, and then right at the summit lost a screw in my cleat, resulting in a lengthy trailside hassle and a ride home with no cleat on my left foot. However, what should have been a horrible ride was outweighed by the beauty of the day and the local mountains, which were breathtaking.
Next came a
fun solo ride out at Sweetwater, that would have been better if not for some equestrian trail damage that wrecked some of the lower singeltrack. Also, there was just enough mud left on the fire roads to totally gunk up the Spider, resulting in a need for a deep clean the next day.
The last ride of 2008 was a pretty good one.
I rode a "secret trail" out in Steele Canyon that was a lot of fun with the Skyline and Rock MTB groups. It was a lot of climbing, and involved some road miles at the end, but the backcountry feel and exploration aspects made it more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.
It was a great year. I rode a lot, improved some, and delved deeper into a hobby that is truly a large part of my life now.
I legitimately completed each item on my
2008 Goal List, and did each ride but one on my
2008 Ride List. Lake Morena was the only trail I missed, and while I'm disappointed that I didn't hit them all this year, only missing one (reasonably close) trail isn't too bad.
I feel pretty good about making each of my goals for the year. While each of them were measurable and attainable, none were gimmies, and I had to work to make sure that each one was met.
In terms of mileage, I rode a total of 217.53 miles on my mountain bike in the fourth quarter of the year, as opposed to 200.00 in Q3, 254.75 in Q2 and 140.25 miles in Q1. As a result, I rode 812.55 miles this year. I didn't have a goal number of miles to hit, and this seems like a decent accomplishment as well. I will shoot for a little more next year.
So ends 2008. I'll be publishing a 2009 Goal List, that will encompass both my overall goals as well as some specific trails. I've enjoyed writing this blog in 2008, and hope to continue through 2009 as well.
See you next year...
This afternoon was a short but fun trip up to Fallbrook for a ride on the Santa Margarita River Trail with Doug and his dad. I had been hoping to get some kind of ride in this weekend, and this turned out to be a good option.
The ride was more or less uneventful. I cleaned a few steep climbs that would have given me trouble in the past, which felt good. I also finished strong up a very steep pavement climb to the finish that Doug had warned me about.
The trail was in pretty good shape, though there were some sandy spots.
I did have an amusing fall as I tried to ride up and over a huge dirt mound that was at the base of the pavement climb. I think my big ring caught as I reached the apex of the mound, causing me to go OTB into the soft dirt. Fortunately, there was no photographic evidence.
All in all it was a fun, quick trip.
