AZ Trip 2010: Hangover Trail

Daley Ranch

Much to my surprise, I was able to mix in a last minute spin around Daley this evening with Mark and Doug. After a day of errands and whatnot I made it home in time to pack up the Tahoe and get over to Daley right around 5:30. I haven't really taken advantage of the longer days much this year, but at least today I was making the most of the daylight I had.

We started from the main lot and did the traditional Creek Crossing to East Ridge to Sage climb. Near the top of the first part of Sage I convinced the guys to do the bonus trail that Ben and I had done a few months ago. We took the Quail something singletrack down to Caballo, then climbed Caballo back to Sage and repeated a bit of the climb we had just done. The Quail singletrack was fun but a little blown out from the lack of rain. It was worth the detour to me, and I was surprisingly not bothered too much from the bonus climbing at that point.

We then continued up Sage to Diamondback and Coyote Run, then took East Ridge over to Jack Creek Meadow. We then took the east side of the meadow over to Hidden Spring (Cardiac). People complain about Cardiac, and with good reason. Its a monster. But what I really hate is the stupid meadow. Its 1.75 miles and has a small uphill grade the whole way. Its not difficult, per se, just unpleasant. And then when you're done with the meadow, you are faced with Cardiac.

I hiked the hard part of Cardiac as usual, and had an amusing exchange with a couple of other riders as they were coming down. One guy mentioned as he flew by us that "we had a long way to go." I simply thanked him for his insight and continued with the story I was in the middle of telling to Mark and Doug. You probably had to be there.

From the top of Cardiac we took Engleman Oak to Cougar Ridge, and Cougar Ridge to Crest. I love the Crest singletrack, and didn't even stop for the tarantula that was in the trail as I flew by. It was the first tarantula I'd seen in the wild, but all I really got was a glimpse. I think Doug and Mark stopped behind me and examined it further.

From Crest we took the road back to the cars and hung out for a bit catching up. I always really enjoy riding with Doug and Mark, and this time was no exception. Mark was on his SS as usual, and Doug has gone pretty much full time 1X9 which is also impressive. I like my gears, and have no intention of giving them up.

I didn't bring the camera, so no pics this time. Great ride though, with great company.

Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 12.85 miles
Total Time: 1:45:09
Elevation gain: 2,000 feet
Elevation loss: 2,005 feet
Average Speed: 7.3 mph
Top Speed: 29.2 mph
Avg HR: 168
Max HR: 194
Bike: Intense Spider XVP

Garmin Training Center Log

San Clemente Single Tracks

Doug was gracious enough to invite me along with him up to San Clemente Single Tracks today. I had never been up there, but it had been on my to do list for the last couple of years, so I was glad to join him for a tour.

After organizing some transportation logistics, I picked Doug up in Fallbrook and we headed for San Clemente. We parked on the side of the road just west of the campground entrance, and after I finally got my equipment settled, were on our way.

It was my first ride since the Oregon trip two weeks ago, and I wondered how I would feel. As it turned out I rode great, and felt strong from start to finish. Maybe the rest served me well.

For two and a half hours Doug led me through the labyrinth that is SCST. Short, steep ups and downs, narrow, weed-lined singletrack and fun, twisty trail was the order of the day. Early on I had some trouble finding the right gear for the steep ups, but as the day wore on I got the hang of it and cleaned all of the makable sections.

My ride leader during a short break:

This place is aptly named. Eight inches was considered wide for this trail:

There were trail maps posted at several junctions, which was neat to see. It was a good thing they were there, too, because I couldn't keep track of all of the names of the trails we did and got disoriented a few times. Doug had been there twice before in the preceding two weeks, so he had a good handle on the route. I would never want to go out there solo without a clear map or a guide though. It wouldn't be dangerous or anything, just confusing, and there's no doubt I would miss stuff if I was on my own.

The trail builders had also built some neat bridges over some of the steeper G-outs and (dry) stream crossings. I did my best to capture Doug riding one fun bridge section in sequence, but was not entirely successful:

Doug then was nice enough to return the favor:

Later I tried to make it under a low hanging branch:

As far as I'm concerned, I made it.

The day was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I finally made it up to ride this trail. The weedpatch scenery was a stark contrast to the lush ferns and cascading waterfalls of Oregon, but enjoyable nonetheless. Thanks to Doug for guiding, and I think I'll make it back up there before too long.

Stats:

Total Distance: 13.99 miles
Total Time: 2:24:03
Elevation gain: 1,689 feet
Elevation loss: 1,681 feet
Average Speed: 5.8 mph
Top Speed: 28.2 mph
Avg HR: 167
Max HR: 197
Bike: Intense Spider XVP

Garmin Training Center Log

SART

fter more than two years of wanting to ride this trail, I finally had the opportunity to ride SART today. A couple of weeks ago Doug mentioned that he, Jeremy, and Mark were heading up there on a weekday, so I bailed on my Friday contract work and elected to tag along.

I left my house at 4:45 am in order to pick up Mark at his place at 5:30, and we made it to Doug's by 6. A few minutes later we were on our way up to Angelus Oaks. The drive wasn't too bad, though we did hit some rain near Redlands that initially had us concerned. After driving up a little higher in elevation to the trailhead, however, the sky was clear and the weather was crisp and beautiful.

We were wheels rolling at around 8:20 AM, and the ride began with an awesome extended downhill singletrack section. Swoopy, buff, and fast, the trail wound its way through the forest, switching back every now and then and adding in just enough exposure to keep us on our toes.

Mark liked this section.
























As we shed elevation, the fog returned.























Finally we reached the end of the sustained downhill section, and regrouped.















































Then we were back on our way.

Pausing now and again to take in the beauty around us.

And to scale fallen trees...































There was even a spot where a stream had been re-routed onto the trail, requiring a short bit of hiking...































Before getting back to the task at hand.




































































We were forced to make a few stream crossings...

Some of which, despite their beauty...

Proved treacherous:

On this particular crossing, Mark had ridden slightly ahead of me, and as I rounded a corner on approach, he yelled to me that it looked crossable on the bike. I pedaled faster and carried enough speed and momentum to make it across, despite the large, mostly hidden hole in the center of the stream. I yelled back to Mark to warn him of the low spot in the middle, and then readied my camera to document his attempt. I'm glad I did.

Mark's endo landed him squarely in the middle of the stream, and fortunately the only damage was a slightly bruised ankle (and incrementally more bruised ego.) After a few minutes of drying off and some ibuprofin, we were back on our way.

We crossed Glass road, and began the section of sustained climbing that took us toward South Fork Campground. The trail wasn't that steep or technical, but I was not feeling on my game. I managed to clean all but one short, steep, rocky climb, but felt less than great for most of it. After about an hour, we made it to the campground, where we broke for lunch and re-filled our bottles and camelbaks.

We eventually left the campground and headed back the way we came. Once again we were briefly climbing, and my legs began to protest in earnest. After less than a mile though, the trail turned mostly downhill, and we were rewarded with an awesome sweeping single track descent. We covered the distance back to Glass Road in a fraction of the time it had taken going the other way, and Mark and I finished within seconds of each other, both wearing ear-to-ear grins. That last two miles of singletrack before the road were probably the best of the day, and they alone probably made the whole ride worth it.

After regrouping, we made our way back across the streams we had crossed earlier (including the now christened "Landis Landing" crossing, and enjoyed more singletrack goodness for several miles. The rolling terrain trended downhill as we headed this direction, and proved to be even more fun than the "out" portion of the ride had been.

We finally finished gorging on singletrack, and the time came to pay back the debt we had incurred with all of our decent. Our finishing section involved more than three miles of fireroad climbing up Middle Control road, which was not the ideal way to finish a ride. Mark, who singlespeeded the entire ride, took off early, and was not heard from or seen again until the car.

Doug, Jeremy, and I rode together most of the way, until Doug began to pull away from us near the finish. Doug and Jeremy had elected to ride their 1X9 bikes, so as a gesture of solidarity, I middle ringed the whole climb with them. It sucked. I like my granny gear. But props to the other three guys for doing the ride with fewer gears than most sane people would, they had an impressive showing.

After packing up, we headed down into Mentone to hit up Cuca's Mexican Restaurant for post ride recovery food. From there we headed back home, mostly avoiding Friday traffic through Riverside and Temecula.

It was an awesome day, and I am thrilled to have finally been able to ride this trail. Its been on my to-do list for more than two years, and I likely won't wait that long to go back. Great company, awesome trails, and beautiful weather; it was a tremendous day enjoying God's creation, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity.

Stats:

Total Distance: 32.26 miles
Total Time: 7:24:59
Elevation gain: 4,468 feet
Elevation loss: 4,461 feet
Average Speed: 4.3 mph
Top Speed: 20.8 mph
Avg HR: 141
Max HR: 174
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Garmin Training Center Log

Sycamore Canyon/Farmer's Market Trail

This morning brought a fun, invite-only DT ride that started differently than expected, but certainly delivered at the end.

I met up with Sean, Brent, Mark, Ben, and about a dozen other DT folks at the Costco in Poway and we headed out en masse.

We quickly encountered a short steep climb, which I was pleased to clean despite the lack of warm-up.

From there we rode some lunch-ride type singletrack that soon took us to Sycamore Canyon Road.

We climbed the road up to the Martha's Grove trailhead.

Where we shed some layers and started up. I cleaned both the entire climb and descent, which felt good and is never a given.

After the fun section out of Martha's we regrouped briefly and headed out into Sycamore Canyon. We rode south through the canyon all the way to the powerline towers, and then climbed up the switchbacks headed back north.

Fun singletrack in the canyon:

Getting ready to head up the switchbacks:

Heading up:

Still climbing in formation:

At least you can see where the trail is headed:

And then the payoff begins:

I actually felt pretty strong all the way up the switchbacks, and even passed a few riders on the way up. Descending felt good as well, as I cleaned all of the downhill switches without dabbing and concentrated on carrying a little more speed than usual.

At the bottom of switchbacks we headed back the way we came through the canyon toward Gooden Ranch House. Once there, we regrouped, rested, and observed the shenanigans:

We then headed back out for more action. I was surprised we hadn't ridden any of Sean's secret Farmer's Market Trail yet, since that was billed as the point of the ride. But I was riding well and having fun, so I was happy to blindly follow along and just try to enjoy the ride and the company.

Leaving the ranch house, we briefly hit a little more singletrack as we headed north:

And then it was time for Cardiac. I had heard about Cardiac, but never ridden it before. It was almost as bad as advertised, and despite riding strong for the first part of the ride, quickly got shot out the back as the goaters flew up the steep grade.

I wasn't last, and didn't have to HAB any of the climb, so I'll take that as a victory. I also enjoyed chatting with Sean during the second half of the climb up, which made it more bearable.

At the top of cardiac, we headed north along the fire road towards the upper Sycamore singletrack. After a few laps around the fun singletrack up top...

...we finally headed over to Farmer's Market. Before heading down Sean and Brent's masterpiece, Sean said a few words:

The trail was obviously a labor of love for him and Brent, and they did an excellent job creating something awesome out of nothing.

I was a little worked by that point, and had some trouble with the early technical sections, going off trail a few times and feeling like a moron. Ironically, once I got control of myself I was able to clean a really fun and challenging rocky section toward the bottom of the trail that several people weren't able to do. Evan was also able to make it, and Sean made this neat sequence shot:

At the end of Farmer's Market, we rode some more fun singletrack that took us under Scripps Poway Parkway and along some bonus trail on the north side of SPP.

We regrouped under the overpass for Sycamore Canyon Road, and several of us decided to take the road back due to time constraints.

It was an awesome ride, and I'm really glad I was able to see Sean and Brent's creation. I met some new DT folks, caught up with several old friends, and rode pretty well overall. Definitely a good day. It was also my first ride with Garmin Edge 705, so now I can include heart rate and accurate elevation figures in my stats postscripts here.

Stats:

Total Distance: 24.38 miles
Total Time: 4:31:19
Elevation gain: 3700 feet
Elevation loss: 3723 feet
Average Speed: 5.4 mph
Top Speed: 26.1 mph
Avg HR: 157
Max HR: 191
Bike: Intense Spider XVP

Garmin Training Center Log