TR: Trailwork Review: Black Mountain

This morning I participated in my first trailwork experience. I joined with about 25 other people and the SDMBA for some trailwork at the Canyon Rim Trail at Black Mountain.

We met at the main parking lot off of Carmel Valley Road at 8:30 a.m., and after signing in and getting some basic instructions, we were off to work.

We split into 5-6 person teams and each were assigned to a section of the trail. My group consisted of me, Dave Wenk from SDMBA, Evan, Janel, and Mike. We were tasked with armoring an approximately thirty foot section of trail that had become rutted and eroded from the recent rains. Having never done trailwork before, I was a little tentative at first, but Dave and Evan were experts and gave good instruction and oversight.

When we started, the trail looked like this in my section:

We began by digging what was essentially a trench down the middle of the trail where the rut was. The trench was about two and a half feet wide and a foot and a half deep. Evan and Janel manned the picks (which everyone called "pulaskies") and I manned a shovel. So they would loosen up the dirt along the trail, and I would shovel it into a pile just off to the side.


After the trench was fully dug, we placed large rocks, most about the size of my head or so in the trench. Mike and Janel essentially set up a quarry just off the trail with rocks they found all over the place. They found as many flat rocks as possible, and we placed them together like a jigsaw puzzle in the trench so that they would form a solid foundation for the trail.

After a couple hours of getting the rocks placed perfectly, we then backfilled the trench with the dirt we had removed and tamped down the soil as much as possible. When we were done, you wouldn't have any idea the entire section of trail was laden with rocks underneath--it just looked like a normal section of dirt singletrack. Amazing!

From there we went to help another group who had tackled a larger, more difficult section and was a little behind. A group of about 12 of us all worked together to find fill dirt and smooth over the section that they had been working on.

At that point it was about 12:15, and we hiked back up to the main parking lot where we were going to have the post-work raffle. I love free stuff. We were first treated to mini-Clif Bars and packets of Clif drink powder that Andy had brought. I also scored a free water bottle from Black Mountain Bicycles, who sponsored the day by donating the swag for the raffle. And that was all before the raffle itself!

They had all the swag lined up along the bed of Dave's truck, and each time they called a person's name that person was allowed to go up and take their pick of the remaining items. They had tubes of chain lube, spare tire tubes, some other trinkets, and what I thought were the two best items; (1) two tubeless tires and (2) a Specialized E.M.T. survival kit that included a nylon under-seat bag, Specialized SK EMT Tool with 3, 4, 5 and 6mm Allen keys, tyre lever and Phillips-head screwdriver, and Specialized FlatBoy glueless patch kit with 6 patches.

Since I don't run tubeless tires, I had my eye on the EMT kit from the beginning. My name was called about 8th or 9th, and each time I saw someone go over to the row of swag and pick it up, I got anxious. I tried to tell myself that there were several tire tubes left, and I could always use one of those, but deep down I really wanted the EMT kit. I mean, if I had that, I wouldn't have had to pump my flat tire up 6 times on my last ride! I could have just patched it!

Finally they called my name, and the beautiful kit was still there. Happy day. I grabbed it and retreated back to the circle of people still waiting to hear their name called. It was all I could do not to open it right there.

As I was leaving Dave also told me to grab as much of the Clif drink powder as I wanted, so I scored about 8 packets or so, which was cool. I didn't do the trailwork for the swag, but it was really neat to get some free stuff for doing something that I would have done anyway. And with finances the way the are, free stuff is particularly welcome at the moment...

It was a great morning. I met some neat people, did worthwhile trailwork right near my own backyard, got some awesome swag, and was home before 1:00 p.m. I didn't get a ride in because Rachel and I were taking care of William and Christine while Adam and Pamella went to Disneyland for their anniversary. But we had a great afternoon and evening with the kids, so it was worth it.

I would absolutely do trailwork again, and hope to get a chance to do it again soon. Looking at my calendar and the SDMBA calendar, I may not get a chance in April, but hopefully I will in May. In fact, I would gladly sacrifice a ride to do trailwork again, which surprises me a little. It was just that good of an experience.

(All pictures courtesy of Dave Wenk with SDMBA. You can see all of them here.)

EDIT: The SDMBA writeup is here.

Welcome New Reader(s)

It's a little weird for me now that my tiny blog now has an (equally tiny) readership. For the first two months I was posting here, there wasn't another soul on the planet that was aware of its existence. It was just basically a personal journal that happened to be posted online instead of just saved to my computer.

Now Doug stops by regularly, and Rachel reads every once and a while. Craig and Scott have stopped by as well. I even posted the link to my site at the socaltrailriders site, which may drive a few more people here as well.

In any event, the site is still going to be pretty much my personal online journal, and if people read it and are interested, great. I don't intend to change the way I write or censor my musings because of what people who read it are going to think of me. I've been pretty transparent about myself thus far, and will continue to be so.

I bring this up because I've done a few more group rides recently, and will likely be doing more. So when I post my reviews, people who rode with me and then read my posts won't have only my perspective on the ride, but their own as well. Which changes the dynamic a little.

This is probably a pointless post, but I felt obligated to articulate that my reason for keeping this blog is to record my thoughts, and impressions of my rides to go back and read later, and not for any other purpose. I do hope that those who end up here enjoy reading what I write, and welcome your thoughts and comments.

GR: Garmin Edge 205

I've wanted to post my thoughts on my Garmin Edge 205 for a while now. I purchased it back in October, and it has become one of my absolute favorite biking accessories. In fact, its the one item I never leave at home. And on the very rare occasions where I've forgotten to bring it or the battery has been dead, I've been really disappointed.

I can't speak to all of the 205's features, since I honestly don't take advantage of all that it has to offer. My primary use for the unit is tracking the distance, duration, average speed, and location of each ride that I do. My favorite feature is its ability to export the gps map of the trails I've ridden to Google Maps and Google Earth, enabling me to see my route on those maps. Its a really cool way of reliving each ride that I've done, and since the inception of this blog, its been easy to just click on the maps I create and add them to my ride reviews, making for a cool scrapbook-style memory for each ride.

The 205 also has features like racing a virtual partner and setting up workout intervals with reminder beeps when you fall below a certain speed. But to be honest, I haven't used any of those. Since I don't really have a single, consistent ride that I do on a regular basis, racing a virtual partner hasn't been that important. Also, while I enjoy the improved fitness that comes with riding, the training features the Edge has don't do much for my casual trail riding style. But its nice to know the features are there...

The unit has great battery life. The websites say up to twelve hours, which I've never tested. I did ride with it running for a total of about seven hours over three days last weekend, and it showed no signs of quitting on me. There was still over 50% battery remaining even after all that time. The battery is chargeable via either USB or the included A/C adapter, which is nice. I generally download the data from a ride to my computer that same evening, and leave the unit plugged in to the USB port overnight to charge. The battery is not replaceable, so for those who do go on epic multi-day camping rides, that could be an issue. I am not one of those people.

Along with tracking speed, distance, time, etc., the unit also acts as a trail GPS, enabling me to see little breadcrumbs where I've been during a ride. The feature is nice to have, but the tiny grayscale dots on a smallish gray screen are not the easiest to see. However, if I was ever lost, it is nice to be able to re-trace my steps or use the "home" feature to help guide me back to my starting point. The screen overall is also more than adequate for reading the data that I want to see at a glance, even in bright sunlight.
The unit itself is also very compact and durable. It comes with both a stem and handlebar mount, and stays in place extremely well. (Its never fallen out of its mount for me, despite several rough crashes.) Its waterproof and mudproof, and has held up well in rain, snow, and high heat conditions.

The Garmin 205 includes software that helps with tracking ride data both on the computer and online. The Garmin Training Center tracks the time and date of each ride, as well as the total distance, total time, average pace, average speed, maximum speed, total calories burned, total ascent, and total descent for each ride. The website www.motionbased.com keeps track of the same data, as well as allows users to export the route to Google Maps and Google Earth as discussed above. Motionbased also allows other users to see your routes and permits members to share ride data and download new trails back to their Edge 205 devices. I have never done this, but would like to at some point.

The Edge 205 that I purchased does not have a heart rate sensor or cadence feature. Its big brother, the Edge 205, however, does have those features if that is something that you're looking for.

Interestingly enough, I think the Edge 205, along with this site, actually makes me ride more than I would if I didn't have it. The ability to compare my performance to previous rides, evaluate the distance and speed of a ride when its over, and see it displayed on a map afterwards makes riding more enjoyable for me. It also has made me try to go faster and try sections I otherwise would not, so that I can go back and review the data later and gauge my performance.

I purchased my Edge 205 from an Amazon.com third party dealer called Digitech Deals back in October. I only paid $109.99 with $10.00 shipping, which was a smoking deal. It is apparently no longer available through that dealer, and the cheapest I can find it on Amazon is $179.99. However, with the newer versions (the Edge 605 and 705) just being released, I expect the price of the 205 to go down quite a bit further. If nothing else, used 205's should be widely available from those people who choose to upgrade to a 605 or 705 and no longer need their old unit anymore.

Additional Manufacturer's Information for the Edge 205 is available here.

RR: Santa Fe Valley Ride

I had a chance to squeeze in a short post-Easter "linner" ride today. After my parents and brother and his family left, Rachel and I did some dishes and had some free time on our hands. Since there was some daylight left, and I was unhappy about my fitness yesterday on the Calavara ride, I figured I'd try to mix in a short local ride with some climbing.

I had not ridden my so called "local ride" through the Santa Fe Valley since mid-January, and decided to give it a shot. That way I didn't have to drive anywhere, and could hopefully get home in less than an hour. Turned out to be a bad choice.

My local ride is no more.

I rode my usual route, leaving from the house and out past where they're building Del Norte High School. I remembered from January that part of the beginning of the trail had become a little overgrown, but had no idea what I was in store for.

Because this was a quick neighborhood ride, I didn't bring a camera. I didn't even bring my camelback, instead opting for a bottle of water in the cage on the bike and some Cliff Shot Blocks in my pockets. I wish I had brought the camera. And my pack, as you'll see in a minute.

Virtually the whole trail that I had ridden so many times since last summer was completely overtaken by massive weeds and green plants. I found myself going from regular singletrack trails into dense forests of 6 foot tall weeds. Each time I encountered a new patch, I figured I could just keep going and rediscover the trail in a few yards, only to find that the weeds went on for much longer than I expected. At one point I had to bushwhack through almost a half a mile of spiny, prickly weeds that were almost above my head.

My theory is that with the High School being built, access to the trails to hikers and bikers has largely been cut off. Along with that, it was a rainy spring, and weeds have sprung up everywhere, not just along the trails.

I tried to just plow through the weeds wherever possible, and was successful for a while. I couldn't see ground beneath me at all, and was sometimes a little spooky wondering what was luring in the thick groundcover. Also, because the weeds were so tall, and the sun was setting in my eyes, I often had no idea where I was going or what was in front of me.

The trail was bad at the top of the hill near the High School, not too bad down the singletrack decent, miserable between there and the nursery, an then not bad after and for part that is used as portion of Santa Luz loop.

However the portion after it splits from the Santa Luz trail that heads uphill back to my house was an absolute horror show. Already a little overgrown on its best day, it was completely impassable. However, since I didn't have an alternate route home without a massive detour, I decided to just plow through. The weeds were so dense and high that there was no way to ride through them, and I even had to push the bike ahead of me in spots to clear a path. It was brutal.

Eventually I reached the uphill singletrack that was not overgrown, and did manage to climb up it without dismounting, which I've only done one other time. I had also made it up a previous uphill climb with less difficulty than in the past, which was nice. So it seems that I'm improving on the short climbs, but I have continued to struggle on the longer ones, like yesterday.

I realized at the top of the hill that my rear tire was going flat, almost certainly from the legion of spiky weeds that I had plowed through. I stopped to pump it up a couple of times during the pavement climb on the way back up to Camino San Bernardo, and during one of my stops I was approached by another mountainbiker. He was a very nice guy by the name of Vijay, who is apparently an engineer who lives in 4S and is looking for an MTB riding buddy. We exchanged information and will hopefully get a chance to ride together soon. He seemed like a very nice person.

I had to stop three times on the way home to pump up my rear tire, and by the time I hit my driveway it was pretty much completely flat. Could not have been good for my rims.

My legs were also a mess by the end of the ride. They were full of spiny pokers from the weeds, and I was bleeding and had hives all over the place. Fortunately there was no poison oak or poodle dog bush out there, or I would have been completely hosed.



I was still picking needles out of my legs later that night, even after a shower.



So as it stands, I'll never be able to do my local ride again. I may try to investigate some different versions of my usual route, but as it is now, my regular local ride is no more. Which is too bad.

(Where you see dirt roads/trails on the map below, do not be fooled. They are no longer roads. At all.)

Here are the stats:
Total Distance: 5.72 miles
Total Time: 57:13
Ascent: 720 feet
Average Speed: 6.0 mph
Top Speed: 23.9 mph
Bike: Specialized FSR XC Pro
Map:

View Larger Map

RR: Lake Calavera

Today I had an opportunity to ride another of my 2008 Ride List trails: Lake Calavera. The circumstances behind how I came to ride this particular trail are kind of neat, so I'll go into it a little here.

I spend some time virtually every day on the socaltrailriders web site and message board. Its a neat place to find out what rides people are doing, hear about new trails, and learn more about the hobby that I've come to love. It's also apparently a great place to meet new people.

It was on that site that I saw a post last week from Craig, who was looking for someone with a GPS to help him map some of his local trails at Lake Calavera. Since I have a GPS, and wanted to ride Calavera, I posted a reply to the message board and we started trading emails. After getting our schedules figured out, we settled on this afternoon for our ride.

I asked Sean to come along with me, and Craig brought a couple of friends, Scott and Shane, along as well. The five of us met at the trailhead near the pump station in Carlsbad, and after getting acquainted for a few minutes, we were off.

I honestly had no idea what to expect from this ride. I had visited Mountainbikebill's entry on Calavera a few months ago, but hadn't made time to check it out recently, and was totally relying on my new friends to show us around.

We started off down a rutted, gravel road that was pretty steep and had places where I had to bunny hop over bigger ruts that ran perpendicular to the road. It wasn't too bad, but it did give me a moment's pause about what I had gotten myself in to. From there we pedaled up a minor grade, cut through a construction site, and started up the main trail around the lake.

Craig had expressed interest in using the GPS to create a geoladders entry, so we stopped pretty often during the first few miles to take pictures at each fork in the trail so that we could re-create the route later. The frequent stops made riding easier for me, and overall I was doing OK for the first couple of miles anyway. The trails were relatively flat or had only a medium uphill slope, and I was feeling pretty good.

That changed rather quickly, however.

About two miles in, after some pretty fun singletrack, we reached our first sustained climb. I struggled a little at the outset of the first steep section, but wasn't too worried at that point. I hiked a bike up that first section, jumped back on, and rounded the corner to see the next climb that awaited. That was where the real trouble began for me.

I bonked almost immediately, am not sure why. I've documented in detail here most of my climbing struggles, but this was worse than usual. The trail was steep, no doubt, and on my best day I would have had to hike some of it. But I ran out of energy very, very quickly and had to HAB almost all of it. Slowly. With some short breaks.

Frankly, I was embarrassed. The guys I was riding with were extraordinarily gracious, and never left me behind or even got more than 100 yards or so ahead. But I was battling. Maybe it was the Silent Ride earlier in the day. (I doubt that, though, since the Silent Ride was 6.5 miles on flat pavement.) Maybe it was the club sandwich I ate right before the ride. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn't been on the trainer in the last two weeks, and the only exercise I had was my weekend rides, which had been on largely flat trails. In any event, I sucked.

I finally made it to the top of the hill, and everyone continued their sensitivity to my plight by killing another 10 minutes up there waiting for me to recover. They didn't say anything about my lagging, just made general conversation and gave me a chance to rally a little. I can't say enough about their gracious attitude and temperament.
From there we were rewarded with a fun, sketchy downhill section that was among the most difficult I've ridden. It was steep, rutted, and had several rocky technical sections. I actually cleaned the first long section without dabbing at all, which was pretty good for me.

Here's what it looked like from the bottom:
After a brief regroup, we continued through another tricky downhill section that was not as good to me. Objectively, the second section was actually easier, but I let my speed get a little ahead of me, and was unable to avoid a giant rut that came out of nowhere around a bend. I biffed it pretty good, and went down hard on my right side. As has happened a few times in the past, my left foot did not come unclipped, resulting in a painful bruise on the inside of my left knee where it banged against the frame of the bike as I lay on the ground. I was a little scratched up but generally OK, and I jumped back on to finish the section.

A couple hundred yards later I went down again, this time because of the combination of a tricky corner, too much speed, and too much front brake. I escaped with some new scratches and bruises, but no real injuries other than my already battered pride.

I completed the rest of that downhill without further incident, and from there we had another relatively short climb ahead. My fatigue once again manifest itself early, and I found myself HABing another hill that I would normally have been able to ride. Also, at the beginning of that climb, I found that my rear dérailleur wouldn't shift. I hiked to the top of the hill, where Craig and Sean were waiting for me. I explained my shifting plight, and Craig looked at it for a minute. He made some tweaks, but the problem persisted. Scott and Shane were up the trail a little ways, and I rode as far as I could to toward them and then hiked the bike the rest of the way.

Scott spent a few minutes trying to diagnose the problem, and with a few tweaks got the rear dérailleur to shift, but it was still skipping gears and acting wonky. It was then that Shane made the diagnosis of the day. Apparently, at the Sycamore ride with Joel a few weeks ago, when my chain had broken, I had threaded the chain the wrong way through the dérailleur after fixing it. I had been riding all of the times since then with it threaded wrong, resulting in additional resistance while pedaling and problems shifting. I am an idiot. Fortunately, those who I ride with usually are not.

So Scott popped off the chain using the powerlink, threaded it properly, and we were back underway. I was once again humbled and extremely appreciative for my riding companions.

The next section of trail was a fun, twisty section of single track that wound both uphill and down. I was able to ride it all and mostly keep up, possibly due to my newly fixed chain. From there it was a short, easy climb to the next part of the route, which included a fireroad descent and subsequent short, steep climb. Again, while I wasn't setting any speed records, I didn't have to hike at all, which I considered a small victory. From the fireroad we rode uphill to a narrow singletrack section that I wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't been following the rest of the guys because of the grass and weeds that had grown along the side of the trail.

We crested that hill and after a short break, descended into probably the most fun section of the entire trail. It was a great singletrack trail, with tight turns and some short, intermediate rocky sections thrown in. It lasted a mile or so, and then it was back to another medium doubletrack climb.

At the top of that climb we came upon a couple of teenagers who had wrangled a rattlesnake and were observing it in the middle of the trail. It was a beautiful creature, and the kids knew quite a lot about it, including its approximate age, Latin name, and specific sub-species (none of which I remember). They are apparently out there quite a bit, studying the snakes and documenting them for their own research. It was neat to see.

After a few minutes checking out the snake, we re-mounted and began making our way back towards home. If I had been able to hang, we would have taken a different route up to the water tower, and then another advanced technical trail back down the other side. I knew that I wasn't up for it today, and everyone was cool with that. (I still suck.)

We took a different route back to the main trail, which included some neat sandstone sections and one particularly steep downhill whoop that I came upon too quickly to stop for. I made it through fine, but my heart was in my throat for a minute as I shot down the steep slope.

From there we hooked back up with the singletrack that led us to the main trailhead, then back through the construction site, and over a dirt road. I was concerned that we would have to climb back up that rutted gravel road we had ridden down at the beginning, but Scott assured me that he had a better way home, which he did. We cut through a neighborhood and did three quarters of a mile or so of pavement riding to get back to the parking lot where started.

I was absolutely wiped out by the time we made it back to the car. Again, I don't know what to attribute my excessive fatigue to, but regardless, I was not pleased with my performance. I know Craig had hoped to map the entire trail system out there today, and I was only able to hang for about half of it. Even so, no one made me feel bad about myself, and everyone was encouraging and upbeat without exception. I didn't even catch so much as an exasperated sigh or gesture at my ineptitude.

We pledged to go back out and finish the mapping, which I sincerely hope to do. I also am committed to be on the trainer every night this week, in an effort to get my conditioning back up to where I'd like it to be.

Overall, I actually enjoyed myself. I wish I had performed better, but I met some extremely nice people, saw a new and interesting trail, and enjoyed a beautiful day experiencing God's creation.

Here are the stats:
Total Distance: 8.51 miles
Total Time: 2:13:02
Ascent: 1599 feet
Average Speed: 3.8 mph
Top Speed: 23.6 mph
Bike: Specialized FSR XC Pro
Map:

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Silent Ride

This morning Rachel and I took part in the Rock Church's 4th annual Silent Ride.

Here is the description of the history and inspiration for the Silent Ride, taken from the Rock MTB website:

Four years ago one of the leaders read an article about several hundred cyclists riding in silence for a 'fallen' bike rider. That rider was killed by a car, and the riders wanted to bring awareness to his death. The reaction was tremendous and has been repeated for fallen riders throughout the US. Why not do the same for Jesus!?

On March 22nd, RockMTB and several other partnering churches will join us at the Mission Beach Boardwalk to RIDE IN SILENCE FOR JESUS! The first year over 125 people rode in silence for Jesus with Fox News on location. The wonder, shock and comments from the other people (on the boardwalk) were amazing. Many riders spoke afterwards of being deeply moved by our Lord's presence while riding in awe and reverence for his sacrifice to us.

We picked this day intentionally. March 21st is Good Friday, the day or Lord was crucified for our sins. March 23rd is Easter, the day our Lord rose from the dead, breaking the veil of death granting us eternal life through the shedding of his innocent blood. The 22nd is the day he is fallen, in hell for our sins. What a fantastic day to join with family, friends, and fellow brothers in Christ to ride for him.

It was a great experience overall, and we intentionally sought to make it as Spirit filled and Christ-centered as possible. We met up with the rest of the group in the parking lot near the Bahia Hotel in Mission Beach. There were about 50 people total, including some other Skyline MTBers.


Nate and his wife Laura were there, as was Billy. I know Billy's wife Helenka had initially intended to come as well, but due to a family emergency, she was unable to attend.

After a short prayer, we set out from the parking lot in one large group, single file, toward the boardwalk. Rather than head to the ocean boardwalk as I expected, we instead took the route around Sail Bay back toward the main part of Mission Bay. It wasn't crowded yet at a little after 9:00 a.m., and the ride out to Crown Point was quiet and uneventful. I was able to spend much of it in prayer, and enjoyed the time of quiet introspection and devotion.

When we arrived at Crown Point, we gathered for a thirty minute devotional, and then mounted up and headed back to the parking lot. The ride back was a little different than the ride over, partly due to the increased crowds and distractions. Even so, when we finished, I was very happy we decided to take part in this event, and felt blessed to have been there.

If I was organizing a Silent Ride, I might choose to do it in another location, and if possible, earlier in the morning. I'm not sure if the organizers designed the event to be a time of personal reflection or more of an evangelistic effort. I assume, because of the silent nature of the ride, that it is more focused on a time of quiet contemplation of Christ's sacrifice for us and the joy of his resurrection. Because of that, a ride in a less populated area, with fewer distractions, may have served that purpose a little better. But I know several riders did (silently) pass out leaflets describing what we were doing during the ride, and each rider wore a paper pinned to the back of their shirt identifying them as a Silent Rider for Jesus, so there was an evangelistic component. Hopefully some passerby saw what we were doing and in some way was inspired to also spend some time on their own recognizing the nature of God's love for us that was manifest through the death and resurrection of his Son.

I did bring the GPS, and therefore do have some stats for the ride. There are also some pictures, which are available here. We're not in any of them, but they give you a flavor of the event.

Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 6.88 miles
Total Time: 1:42:59
Ascent: 219
Average Speed: 4.0 mph
Top Speed: 10.3 mph
Bike: Specialized FSR XC Pro
Map:

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GR: Shimano SH-M075 MTB Shoe

Here are a few of my thoughts on the shoes I'm currently wearing, the Shimano SH-M075 MTB shoes.

They're an entry level shoe, and are the first pair I've worn, so my basis for review is not a comparison, but just how they feel.

I bought them at Soul Cycles with a very thoughtful and generous gift certificate from Mom and Dad and Adam and Pamella.

Dave Merten installed the cleats on the shoes for me, which I appreciated.

I went with the entry level model both for price reasons and because I was not sure I would be sold on going clipless. I'd heard some horror stories, and had my own concerns about how often I crash already, and how being attached to the bike would affect me in any future crashes. But I had also heard that clipless increases pedaling efficiency, particularly when climbing, so I wanted to give it a shot.

Dave recommended the Sidis, but I was not ready to drop that kind of coin on shoes, particularly because I wasn't sure that I would like riding with clips. So nay on those, at least for now.

The Shimanos I bought are relatively stiff, though there is still a degree of flex in the sole that I feel when I'm pedaling particularly hard. Its also a little tough to get them as tight as I want with just the three velcro straps.

The shoes are pretty durable, and I've gotten them soaking wet several times without any lingering adverse effects. They're starting to show some wear after 7 months despite taking pretty good care of them and riding about once or twice a week over that span. I figure with regular use at that pace they'll last a year or two before they start to come apart, which is decent for an entry level shoe, but I'd prefer ones that last a little longer and resist wear better.

They're also not particularly light. I bought them knowing they weren't carbon soled or anything, and its not like they're bricks, but they're on the high end of the weight scale. I don't really think that effects my riding much, however, considering the average distance I ride is about 10-12 miles per ride, and a few ounces of shoe weight isn't going to be much of a factor.
I do have a difficult time clipping in to my pedals with these shoes fairly often, which may be more the fault of the pedal than the shoe. However the design of the cleat at the bottom of the shoe seems to pick up and hold mud and debris very easily, which is not ideal. I don't have a basis for comparison, but when I decide to shop for new shoes, I'll be looking for ones that won't retain debris as easily.

Didn't buy them here, but seems to be one of the better deals online.

GR: Thule 934XT Hitching Post Pro Hitch Rack

Here's a review of another bike product that I purchased that works OK, but falls short in enough areas that I would not recommend it to a friend.

This Thule (prounouced Too-Lee) hitch rack looked good to me on the surface before I bought it. It seemed sturdy and purported to hold four bikes, so when Performance had it on sale and I had an additional 20% off coupon, I went for it.

The problem is, it doesn't really hold four bikes, at least not well. I've tried twice, and while I was able to push, pull, yank, and wedge four bikes on there, it was neither easy nor convenient. And the bikes were so crammed in together that they scratched each other up a little, despite my efforts to the contrary.

Also, this hitch rack does not have a lower stabilizer arm at the bottom, which I've seen on some others. As a result, when I have just one or two bikes on there, they swing around wildly while I'm driving, which makes me nervous. I tried to fix this by moving around the little rubber cups that the bike sits in, but they are virtually impossible to move, which is another unfortunate feature.

In addition, the rack requires me to use a wrench and screw it into my hitch every time I want to put it on the Tahoe or take it off. This helps make it stay on better, I'm sure, but is also a pretty big hassle. I'd rather have some kind of device that doesn't require tools to install and uninstall the rack each time. And the screw that it uses should be replaced by the aftermarket lock that Thule wants me to buy to make sure the rack isn't stolen by someone with a wrench of their own.

The annoying installation wouldn't be as big a deal if I could just leave the rack on there all the time. But because I'm not willing to pony up the ridiculous $40 or whatever it costs to get the locking screw, I don't want to risk leaving it on my Tahoe all the time. Plus, the way the rack is designed, it sticks out about two and a half feet from the back of my SUV's bumper, making it impossible to fit the entire truck with the rack on it inside the garage. I assume it sticks out so far because Thule wanted it to be able to be used with vehicles that include a spare tire on the back, but since mine does not, I don't appreciate that feature. And I can't just drill a hole farther up in the base, because it is required to be threaded for the installation screw. Aaarg.

Another problem is that this rack requires bikes to be mounted via their top tube (or in my case via a top tube adapter). While I knew this going in, I am sorry I bought a rack with this feature. First, it means that if I ride with a friend who has a full-suspension bike with a complex geometry and no frame adapter, I can't put his bike on the rack. It also creates the swinging problem mentioned above.

The rack does have a few decent features. It tilts down at the base to allow access to the rear hatch without taking the whole thing off, which is nice. The part that sticks out where you put the bikes also folds down when there are not bikes on it, which is nice for storage, but irrelevant because I have to take the rack off every time its not in use.

After living with it for 8 months or so, I realize that I'd strongly prefer the Thule T2 version, which looks like this:
The loading is much easier and better for the bikes, and it is even more stable. It also costs more than twice as much, and only holds two bikes (though you can purchase a two bike extension to the 2" version to haul a total of four bikes.)

Finally, perhaps the biggest problem with the Hitching Post rack has nothing to do with the rack itself, so its probably unfair to mention it, but I will anyway. With gas prices as crazy as they are right now, I try to drive the Tahoe as little as possible. The hitch rack only works on vehicles that have a hitch, so I don't use it as much as the little trunk rack that goes on the back of our Acura.

In any event, there are my thoughts. If you still want this rack for some reason, its available for purchase here

RR: Sycamore Canyon with Martha's Grove

I wasn't sure I would be able to get a ride in this weekend. After a beautiful week of amazing weather, the forecast Friday was for thunderstorms and hail on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. With CERT all morning on Saturday, and the Ready's going away party on Sunday afternoon, I had all but resigned myself to a weekend on the stationary bike.

But on Saturday afternoon, CERT class ended a little after 12:00 (instead of 2:00 as scheduled) and despite some spotty clouds and wind, the weather was pretty OK. I seized my opportunity, threw the bike on the back of the car and headed over to Sycamore Canyon to take care of some unfinished business from last Sunday.

Since I would be riding alone, I decided to start from the Poway side near Martha's Grove, rather than the Santee side that I've always started from in the past. I figured the Poway side is much closer to my house, and it would give me a little more time to ride. This turned out to not be the case.

My GPS navigation unit in the Acura, which Rachel and I affectionately call "Sheila," is generally pretty accurate. But Sheila let me down today. She said I could take Scripps Poway Parkway directly to Sycamore Canyon Drive. This is not the case. As a result of Sheila's idiocy, I had to drive all the way to the 67 and double back through Poway to get to Garden road, which eventually took me to Sycamore Canyon Drive. With the time that cost me, I could have driven to Santee and started from there.

Eventually I arrived at the Poway trailhead, and elected to ride Martha's first, then take the trail through the canyon toward Santee, and then just double back to the car.

I started up the trail to Martha's with some sense of trepidation. I had only ridden this section of trail once before, and had walked several sections on that trip. This is the trail that Joel fell on during a solo ride last year, resulting in a brutal gash to his knee that required surgery. I had not ridden it since my first time back in November 2007, so I was nervous. My goal, however, was to ride it without walking any of the sections, as part of my 2008 Goal List.

I started up the short uphill section of trail at the very beginning, and was feeling pretty good. Near the top I spun out a little bit in some soft dirt, and had to put my feet down. I walked the last 5 feet to where the trail leveled out and had a view of the Grove, and re-mounted the bike to continue.

I rode the next couple of easy sections with no trouble, until I came to another short, steep, uphill climb that I had forgotten was there. I didn't have enough speed built up when I hit it, so I made it about halfway and once again spun out in some soft, rutted dirt. So I walked the last 12 or so feet to the top of that section, and rode on to the part that had me concerned from the beginning.

As I approached the first tricky technical downhill section, I rode up to the edge where the first dropoff was and checked out the best line. After picking out the one that looked the best, I walked back a few feet and went for it. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough speed, and buried my front wheel in a rut right at the beginning of the first drop. I didn't fall, but did have to put my feet down, which I had wanted to avoid. Rather than hike back up and try again, I decided to just keep going from that point and try to make the rest of it without stopping. I cleaned the rest of that section and approached the even more difficult one a little farther down, where Joel had had his accident.

I kept up my speed a little more through that section, negotiated the dropoffs and the ruts, and kept my weight all the way back behind my seat. I almost cleaned that section without stopping, but did have to dab once at the end, which disappointed me. So it looked like I wouldn't meet my goal of cleaning the entire section today, but I had come pretty close. It was actually the short loose climbs that gave me the most trouble, which I had not even considered when making the goal list.

I did take this picture at the Grove, which is beautiful:

I finished the techy part of the downhill section and continued through the actual Grove. As I rode through the singletrack toward the Ranch House and planned to ride on to the gate and toward Santee, I looked down and realized that I had forgotten to start my Garmin GPS for this ride. I was pretty bummed. I wanted to have a GPS record of the Martha's section so I could go back and review the parts that I had ridden. I also just like having a complete record of each of my rides. So I made a quick decision.

Instead of taking the trail back toward the gate, I hung a right at the next section of double track and hooked back up with the dirt/paved road that led back up the hill toward the parking lot where I started. I decided to climb back up that road, re-ride Martha's with the GPS on, and then continue my ride toward Santee from there. It would involve climbing that road twice, which is pretty rough, but it would also mean another chance to clean all of Martha's and get a complete GPS record. It was worth it.

I spun back up the paved road, stopping once to take off my jacket. I made it back up to the upper lot where the Martha's trailhead began and started over. I was a pretty tired from the climb up the road, but didn't want to stop to rest because I was already about 40 minutes behind my desired pace. (20 minutes from Sheila's bad directions, 20 minutes from the first lap down Martha's and back up the road.)

As I climbed the short part at the beginning of Martha's again, I vowed not to spin out. I wanted to ride the entire section without unclipping at all. I don't want to ruin the suspense, but it didn't happen. But the news overall is still good.

I did spin out again at the very top of the first section, and had to walk the last 5 feet once again. The trail wasn't packed at all, and I just couldn't climb the last few feet without spinning my rear wheel and losing my balance. I also had to walk the last 10 feet up the other short uphill section, much to my disappointment. For that one, I tried to keep my momentum up approaching it, but just didn't have the legs. The road climb may have had something to do with that.

But even with those uphill walks, I maintained my goal to ride down each of the techy parts without stopping or dabbing. And as I approached the first one, I took the right line, kept up my speed, and made it through the rut that derailed me the time before. One section down, one to go.

With my newfound confidence I tore through the next section that I had dabbed the time before, and didn't stop or dab once. So I was pretty happy about my downhill performance during my second run.

From there I sped through the Grove, took the dirt road south past the Ranch House toward the gate, and rode through the Canyon toward Santee. I took this picture along with way, which was right past one of the several stream crossings that I had.
I rode all the way to the big electrical towers on the Santee side, rested for about 3 minutes, and rode back. I didn't ride back as fast as I could have, because I knew I had to contend with the steep climb up the paved road back to the car. As I approached that climb, I was pretty tired already, but set a personal goal to make it up without stopping to rest or walking the bike. I had to drop all the way down the my granny gear, but I was able to do it, which I was happy about.

I made it back to the car in just under two hours of GPS recorded time (I probably rode for about 12-15 minutes before turning it on). I was pretty proud overall of my performance, even if I did not completely meet my 2008 goal of cleaning all of Martha's. Ironically, in my mind when setting the goal the portion I was most worried about was the difficult technical downhill portions that I had to walk back in November, which I actually did clean today. I hadn't even been thinking about the uphill approaches when I made the goal! But words have meaning, and when I say the goal is to clean the whole thing, that means the whole thing, so I'll have to wait for next time to try it again for the full completion credit.

Here was the view from the parking lot:

In any event, I went home happy. I rode Martha's twice, had a nice cross-country ride through the canyon, and made the final climb up the paved road without stopping or wanting to pass out. So I count the day a success, especially on a weekend when I thought I wouldn't even be able to ride at all. As an aside, I may start this ride from the Martha's side again, but only if I'm planning to only ride Martha's and not the rest of the canyon. Otherwise, its worth the extra few minutes to drive to Santee and start there, because it makes the ride flow much better. That way, I start out with fun cross country riding as a warm up, climb the paved road in the middle, go down Martha's after that, and finish with another fun cross country ride back the the car. That route is way more fun than coming out of the chute negotiating Martha's and finishing with the punishing climb back to the car.

Here are the stats:
Total Distance: 13.4 miles (+ ~1.1 miles un-recorded on GPS)
Total Time: ~1:52:32
Ascent: 1235 feet
Average Speed: 7.1 mph
Top Speed: 21.2 mph
Bike: Specialized FSR XC Pro
Map:

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Mini Bike Commute

I rode my bike part of the way to work today. I had left the Tahoe at the Park and Ride near the Elephant Bar yesterday afternoon, and rather than go pick it up late last night, I decided to get up a little early and ride my bike down to where it was parked.

I knew most of the route was downhill, and thought it would be a fun break from my normal morning routine. I threw my computer, some slacks, a dress shirt, and my dress shoes in my backpack, and made it to the car with little trouble.

The whole thing has me thinking about how realistic it would be to commute all the way to work via bike. Right now, there are logistical issues, like the bike lane going onto the freeway between West Bernardo and Via Rancho Parkway, and the fact that I don't have a road bike. There's also the problem of getting sweaty and not having shower facilities at work. But its something I'd like to explore someday, depending on how I can work out the details.

Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 2.52
Total Time: 13:57
Ascent: 150 ft
Average Speed: 10.8 mph
Top Speed: 27.9 mph
Route Map: Not worth it
Bike: Specialized FSR XC Pro

GR: Oakley Factory Pilot 2.0 MTB Gloves

Now for a piece of equipment that I can not wholeheartedly endorse...my Oakley MTB gloves. I went through some significant hassle to get them, which may unfairly play a role in my negative view of their performance. You see, I like Oakley stuff. Maybe its because I bought a pair of Oakley Razor Blades sunglasses in 6th grade and wore them to class every day. Maybe its because when I left those same shades on the back of my dad's Bronco a year later, and they fell off and were run over about a thousand times, Oakley replaced them with brand new ones for free. Maybe I'm just a brand snob. Whatever the reason, I own and will continue to buy Oakley stuff. It looks cool, generally performs well, and is backed by excellent Oakley customer service.

So when I saw Oakley made MTB gloves, I wanted a pair. But the price tag was a bit much. I mean, $60 for gloves? My Performance Bike versions cost $9.99, and had served me OK. But I wanted the Oakleys. And after scouring the interwebs for a few weeks, I came across an ad on Craigslist for a pair of new Oakley gloves, with original packaging, for only $30. Now that I could swing!

The problem was that they were owned by a guy in Irvine, and I couldn't try them on before buying. Undeterred, I emailed him and offered him $30 for them via paypal, including shipping and paypal fees. He agreed, and my gloves arrived two days later. And despite being a medium, they were too big. Crap.

I considered washing them to shrink them, but they're leather, so that seemed to be a bad idea. So I called around to some local Oakley stores, and found one with the same gloves in a size small. After a quick detour downtown and an annoying exchange-without-receipt-harangue, I had some sweet Oakley gloves. Sort of.

See, the problem with the gloves themselves (procurement issues and MSRP cost notwithstanding) is that they don't have that much padding, and are not as tactile as I would like. The do have silicon tips on the fingers, which is supposed to make them more grippy and tactile, but doesn't really succeed. Also, the silicone tips on a couple of fingers is already peeling away from the leather glove after just a few months. They also are pretty thin in the palms, and I can see having to replace them relatively quickly if they wear very fast in that area.

Another problem is that these gloves lack padding on the sides of the fingers. I'm sure this is an attempt to increase finger mobility, but the sides of the fingers are only covered by a thin layer of lycra-like material, which resulted in a deep nasty cut to my middle finger during a fall at Anderson Truck Trail back in January that is still scabbed over today.

I do like the fact that they breathe really well for full fingered gloves, and my hands never really get hot when wearing them. They also, like most Oakley stuff, look pretty cool I guess. They claim to have Kevlar padding (Kevlar?!) which could come in handy if someone starts shooting at me on the trail, and the tops of the gloves near the knuckles seem to be adequately protected.

So they're OK, and I'm going to keep wearing them until they do finally fall apart. But I can't faithfully recommend them to anyone else, particularly given the suggested retail price.

If you're still interested in getting a pair, you can buy them here.

EDIT [April 26, 2008]: I tore a hole in the palms of these gloves during a nasty fall at the Noble Canyon ride with the Skyline MTB group. I'm pretty annoyed about that. They didn't hold up very well.

RR: Sycamore Canyon

Late Saturday night I finally got in touch with Joel to firm up our plans to ride Sycamore Canyon (Santee) today after church. He was up for it, and I was excited to have three consecutive days of riding. With the rain, bike carnage, short days, and busyness of the last few months, riding has been a little sparse, so I was glad to be gaining some momentum. I was also please to get a shot at another of my 2008 ride list trails. I have ridden Sycamore before, but not in 2008, so I was a happy camper.

Rachel and I dropped the Tahoe with the bike in it in Santee on the way out to church, which ended up working pretty well. I was a little worried about leaving the bike in the car, and whether it would invite a break-in, but it turned out fine.

I realized at church that I forgot my camelbak bladder of water in the fridge at home, which was a bummer. However, I had to go by Soul Cycles after church to pick up a chain powerlink anyway, so I grabbed a water bottle as well, and Joel brought me some Costco bottles of water to fill it with to the trailhead off Mast.

Because I didn't have a water bladder, I decided not to wear my pack at all on the ride. I kept the powerlink, gels, and camera in the pocket of my Fox Sergeants and the water bottle in the cage on the bike, and I was good to go. Joel wore his camelback, which had all of the basic trail goodies, which turned out to be important.

Right out of the parking lot, as I was crossing Mast to get to the singletrack just off the street, I blew out my rear tire. I think it was a compression flat, since I tried to bunny hop the curb and came down pretty hard on the rear wheel. I'm running the slime tubes, and there was slime "juice" everywhere when we took off the tire. The blowout was no mere puncture, it was a two mm hole. Fortunately, Joel had extra tubes in his pack, and with his help, we changed the tire in about 15 minutes and we back on our way.

It was another gorgeous day, a little warm but with a nice breeze. We took the normal lower trail near the waste treatment facility toward the canyon and toward Martha's.

About three miles in, during a small creek crossing, my chain broke again. After yesterday, I was pretty sure it wasn't going to hold for long, and that was why I stopped and bought the powerlink on the way to today's ride. Joel helped me take off the broken link and replace it with the powerlink, which I've never done. It is a pretty cool thing to have, and now I need to go buy another one. Ironically, Joel used the chain breaker on his cool Crank Brothers Multi-tool that we bought him for Christmas to fix my chain. My bike tool does not have a chain breaker. I feel left out. I have since added said tool to my wish list, which can be found on the right side of this page.

After a few minutes getting the chain fixed, we were once again back underway. It was pretty clear soon after that Joel wasn't feeling particularly well. He's usually a rock star on the trails, and is in terrific shape. I guess being in the Navy and being a rescue swimmer will do that to you. And despite his fitness level, on group rides Joel is always the one hanging back with me, makings sure I'm not left behind and eaten by mountain lions or coyotes or rabid bunnies. Anyway today he just wasn't feeling well. Maybe it was the post-church Applebees lunch with the class. Maybe its his brutal schedule finally catching up with him. In any event, he was not himself, and elected to ride the lower trail in the canyon while I took the higher parallel singletrack trail. We paralleled each other for a while, but I lost sight of him as I rode through some brush, and when my offshoot rejoined the trail he was supposed to be on a mile or so later, he was nowhere to be found.

I waited a few minutes, and then decided to double back a little ways to see if he was back there. I found him a little ways back down the trail, resting in the shade. He didn't look that great. I suggested we just head back, and he indicated that he was feeling better and that we could ride out to the gate. It was clear that Martha's was not in the cards for today, which was no problem.

We continued a little farther from there, and made it most of the way to the gate before taking another rest. I know firsthand what it feels like to not be feeling well on this trail. My first time here last summer, with Joel himself leading the group, I had a really rough time. I was in brutal shape, and wanted to die pretty much the whole time. Now today Joel was nowhere near that bad, but I remember how it felt to be less than 100% out here, and had no problem calling it a day early. Its no fun pushing it when you feel that lousy.

We had a nice conversation during the rest period before heading back, and I was reminded how much I value Joel as a friend. He's doing some neat things in his life and walk, and is a person of tremendous integrity and character. I truly appreciate his friendship.

We had an easy spin back to the cars, and enjoyed the stream crossings and relatively flat trails on the way back. We still put in about 11 miles, and Martha's isn't going anywhere. I'll have more chances to ride it soon I'm sure. I'm not crossing Sycamore off my 2008 ride list though, because Martha's is part of that package.

I only took one picture, partly because of the mechanical issues, and partly because Sycamore isn't as scenic as some of the other trails I've ridden. It's the one at the top of this post.

Stats:

Total Distance: 11.04 miles
Total Time: 1:59:52
Ascent: 880 feet
Average Speed: 5.5 mph
Top Speed: 20.3 mph
Bike: Specialized FSR XC Pro
Map:

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RR: Lake Hodges North

For the second weekend in a row I was able to get in an unexpected afternoon ride. Rach wanted to take a quick nap after CERT ended at 1:30, so I did some chores and set off for Hodges. I wasn't sure how long I had, since Rachel is not a long napper, and we wanted to go out to dinner later in the evening.

I decided on the way over to the lake that today was Bernardo Peak day. And so it was.

I parked at park & ride off Via Rancho Parkway for the first time (I usually park by the self-storage and ride under the freeway). After getting out of the car and getting geared up, I realized that my Garmin 205 had a dead battery, so I would not have a GPS record of this ride. I was bummed, since I wanted to see how high Bernardo Peak was, but the technical setback was not going to deter me from achieving my goal of climbing the peak.

I also decided on this ride to once again listen to an MP3 player while I was riding. I had only done it one other time, on another solo ride, and it was OK, but nothing special. I figured it might help me be distracted for the climbs, which it really didn't.

I started from the park and ride, crossed Via Rancho Parkway, and headed up the singletrack that parallels the freeway. I drive by there every day, and always look up to see if there are any riders. Today I was one of them. I doubt anyone was looking at me though.

As I reached the top of the hill, I saw that a fence had been erected, blocking off entrance to the trail toward the lake. I don't know why, since there was no fire damage or other visible problems. Faced with a dilemma, I considered hopping the fence, but decided instead to ride down a nearby drainage ditch to the main trail entrance near where I usually ride. I wasn't looking forward to riding back to the car, however, because I would have to take the long way home. But that was a problem for later, and I had a peak to climb.

I actually wasn't sure at that point if I could get to the peak with the trail closures, but kept riding anyway. After less than a mile, I found a trail that took me up to the ridge near the houses that rimmed the lake. It looked like the right path to get to the peak, so I took it. I rode along the ridge for a mile and a half or so, with the houses on my right and the lake and some beautiful views down to my left.

I did briefly overshoot the singletrack that lead to the trail up the peak, and turned around and went back to it after I followed the ridge trail too far to a paved road. From there I dropped down into a shady wooded area, and encountered a bridge which spanned a small creek. After a moment of consideration, I elected to walk across the bridge, because the lip up to it was a little high, and I didn't want to be dinged up from a lame fall during my climb.

After crossing the bridge I made the short climb out of the shady area and began up the trail to the peak. I was feeling good, and while a little apprehensive about the climb, was committed to doing it no matter what. The first part wasn't that bad. It was a little steep, but nothing I couldn't handle, and I was encouraged. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad! Perhaps all my conditioning work was paying off! I am a biking rock star!

And then came the next section.

As I came around the peak toward the north side, the incline became a little steeper, but the incline wasn't the problem. The trail was so loose, rocky, and rutted that I had a horrible time keeping my balance. I tried several times to re-start pedaling after having to dab, but the incline and looseness proved too difficult a combination. I just couldn't get traction.

So about 1/3 of the way in, I began my hike-a-bike. Having never ridden the trail before, I didn't know how long I would have to hike, and held out hope that it would become harder packed and ridable around each turn.

It didn't.

My HAB continued basically unabated until the peak. I briefly considered turning back a few times, but I wanted to meet the goal to climb it, even if I was essentially hiking it while dragging a bike.

Eventually I made it to the water tower, and was not sure where to go from there. I spotted what looked a little like a trail near the fence line, and continued my hike. The whole time I was seriously wondering if people actually ride up this trail. I know there are some impressive riders out there, who make the impossible look easy, but this was ridiculous. It wasn't just how steep it was, but the loose, rocky, rutted trail that was so imposing.

Anyway I continued the HAB a little longer, and eventually the end was in sight. I made it to the peak. There were some beautiful 360 degree views of North County, and I spent a few minutes up there just enjoying the scenery.

After a while though, the wind picked up, and I began to have some concern about riding back down. I'm not usually intimidated by tricky downhill sections, but as loose and rocky as the climb was, I was a tad nervous.

I elected not to write on the paper in the mailbox at the top, but was glad to see that it was there. I had meant to read some of the notes inside, but was too concerned about getting home in a reasonable time to check them out. I did take a few pictures up at the top of the peak, though.




At that point I lowered my seat and began the ride back down. It was nowhere near as bad as I had feared. It was tricky in spots, but manageable. It was still extremely loose in many spots. Don't know if I mentioned that.

At the base of the peak I ran into two other bikers who were stopped on the trail. We chatted for a few minutes, and then I decided to head back to the car rather than continue on the trail around the lake.

As I rode back down into the shady area, I decided to ride the bridge this time. I made it over with no problem, and some of the confidence that had left me during my climb up the peak began to return. But right then, as I made the short climb out of the shady area back to the ridge trail, my chain snapped. I'd never fixed a chain, and didn't really know how. Fortunately, it didn't come off the derailleur. I saw the link that was broken and used my leatherman to simply put the broken pin back into the link. I used the pliers to cramp it down, and it held the rest of the ride. I was pretty pleased with myself and my ghetto bike repair.

From there I rode gingerly back along the ridge trail, and decided to keep riding all the way to where the fence had blocked my way earlier. I didn't want to ride back to self storage lot and then up street to park and ride if I could help it.

As I arrived at the fence, I decided to gingerly drop bike over the fence, and then crawled under at spot nearby. Everything survived in one piece, and I cut 15 minutes off of my return trip. Woohoo!

I made it back to the car without incident, and felt OK about the ride. I was happy to have climbed the peak, but a bit disappointed that I had so much HAB. Realistically, though, there was no way I could ride it. Conditioning was a minor factor, but the trail condition was the main thing for me. I'm apparently terrible at at uphill restarts, and even if I was better, the trail was so loose and rutted that there was no way I was making it. People really ride it?? All the way?? Maybe someday, but not for a while for me.

I was also still a little bummed that I had no GPS record of the ride, so I have no stats to share, but whatever. I am proud that I was able to fix the chain, and that I made it to the summit of the peak, and overall it was a good day.

RR: Lake Hodges South

With Rachel working hard at her trade show tonight, I arranged to leave work an hour early and decided to hit South Hodges for the first time since the fires. I considered trying to get both the North and South sides in, but got a bit of a late start and wasn't sure when the wife would be home, so I committed to the South side. I was alone and just looking for a fun wind-down ride from a rough week.

I parked in the dirt lot near just off West Bernardo Road across from the retirement home. Since I wanted to see what trails were open, I headed toward the center of the trail section by the kiosk and intended to climb the hill right in the middle of the trails. Unfortunately, to my surprise, that section of trail was closed. I could see all of it, and it looked fine. The vegetation had come back nicely, and the trail was clear. Oh well.


Anyway I took the main trail in the middle toward the lake, and rode that section north toward the narrow singletrack that runs right along the lake. Its a pretty section that I always enjoy.

The one tree canopy that arched over that trail was burned out by the October fire, which was disappointing. But the trail itself was lined with lush, green grass and flowers, making it clear that the recovery was well underway.

I looped back around, up West Bernardo, past my car, and headed toward the southern section of the where the trail crosses the stream and goes toward the waterfall. I quickly discovered, however, that the entire trail south of the stream was closed, probably because the bridge had completely burned. That was unfortunate.

I realized at that point that there were not very many trails on the south side open, and decided it would be fun to ride every single open trail, so that I could "map" the open trails. I did it, and it didn't take long.

I did enjoy the ride, and did three loops around the entire south section, which was fun. I rode the lakeside singletrack in both directions, and reveled in the beautiful temperatures and scenery. I even stopped for a few minutes on a gathering of rocks that jutted out a little ways into the lake.

It was beautiful. There were less than three total miles of open trails, but those that were open were scenic and fun, and I was glad to see how well the area is recovering. With time change, I may do this section more often, but only if I combine it with a ride on the North Side as well.

Stats:
Total Distance: 7.78 miles
Total Time: 1:03:48
Ascent: 619 feet
Average Speed: 7.3 mph
Top Speed: 20.1 mph
Bike: Specialized FSR XC Pro
Map:

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