RR: Santa Luz Loop

It was another last minute decision to ride this afternoon, and this time I wonder if I would have been better off staying home.

I'm going to permit myself a brief departure from this RR to mention something that I've noticed lately: I'm getting a little bored with biking. It was gorgeous all weekend, and with Rachel still sick but feeling guilty for making me take care of her for the last two weeks, I had almost carte blanche to ride. But I really didn't feel like riding. Maybe it is because my wife has been so sick, I just wanted to spend some quality time with her rather than ride. Maybe it is because I didn't have so much time that I could ride somewhere far away, and I'm sick of all my local trails. I don't know. But today I decided to go for a ride with Sean largely because it was a beautiful afternoon and I had nothing better to do, even though I didn't really feel like riding. I kind of felt obligated to ride, which is very unusual for me.

In any event, earlier this afternoon Rach and I were hanging out by the pool when Sean called to let us know that some sunglasses she had ordered had arrived. He came by to drop them off, and I suggested that we go ride somewhere. We hadn't eaten lunch yet, so after a quick stop by Wahoos to grab some food, we decided to keep it local and do the Santa Luz Loop. We finished our tacos and started the ride from my front door instead of driving up to Black Mountain Community Park, which we had done in the past.

We climbed Carmel Valley road to BMC Park, and hooked up with the singletrack from there. After the pavement climb, it was nice to be on singletrack, and that section is the only real fun section of the Santa Luz Loop. I tried to maintain my speed down the singletrack as much as possible, and did pretty well flying down that section. We finished out the singletrack by crossing the short wooden bridge in Santa Luz, and then began the fire road section that crosses the meadow.

As we rode across the meadow, the fire road/doubletrack was extremely dry and cracked, and rattled our teeth. It didn't make for an enjoyable ride across that section. The views to the west were nice though.

We finished the meadow, and crossed under Camino del Sur to the short downhill near the horse park. As I sped down that section, I saw that the trail ahead was filled with some weird scummy liquid that had pooled in the middle of the trail in some deep ruts. We stopped for a second to try to determine what the liquid was, but I have no idea. In any event, we avoided it.

We did see some nice flora near there though. Apparently the spiny artichoke plants that have popped several of my tires have very pretty blooms if they live long enough to flower.


From there we rode along the "paved" trail through the neighborhood toward the service road that would take us to the singletrack north of Santa Luz.

I was actually able to ride up the first steep hill on the service road, which I had not been able to do before. Sean made it up easily, and just as he was about to crest the hill, he began to taunt me and celebrate the fact that he had done it in his middle ring. Mid-celebration, he promptly lost his balance and fell over, unable to clip out of his pedals. Awesome.

This is the view from there to the east. You can see Black Mountain in the distance.

After making sure Sean was OK after his spill, and getting a mechanical issue straightened out, we rode down the back side of that first hill and tackled the second service road hill. I only made it about halfway up that one, and then had to HAB the rest. That thing is steep.

We got to the top, rested briefly, and then rode down the other side to San Dieguito road. We then rode up the road about 200 yards until we hit the trailhead that would take us into the valley and along Lusardi Creek.

We sped through the singletrack and rode under the Camino del Sur bridge to the east. Then, instead of riding the rest of the Santa Luz Loop along the south side of Lusardi Creek back up to Black Mountain Community Park, we instead crossed the creek and rode along the north side headed for my house.

We rode along the creek and then crossed through the nursery. At that point, we had to decide whether to ride a steep uphill just to the west of the nursery, or take the faint trail to the east that used to be part of my local ride instead. I thought the trail to the east would be faster and easier, once we got to the section that had been cleared, so I suggested we go that way. Big mistake.

We ended up doing some massive bushwhacking and HAB, much like I had been forced to do the last time I tried riding this section of trail. It was not fun at all. After we finished bushwhacking, we then were forced to HAB up an incredibly steep fire road up to the mesa where they're building Del Norte High School. It was not a fun HAB either. We should have gone west from the nursery and up the road I had ridden down a few weeks ago. Lesson learned.

We finally made it to the mesa, crossed through the high school, and ended up making it back to my place in just about two hours. It was far from a great ride, but we made some memories. I was also glad to have cleaned the first service road hill, which spoke to at least some improved fitness on my part. In general, though, the Santa Luz Loop pretty much sucks. The only really fun part is the singletrack out of Black Mountain Community Park, which is less than a mile long. The rest of the loop is fire road or paved road for the most part, and just not worth it. If it wasn't in my backyard, I'd never ride it again. As it is, the loop is definitely a ride of last resort.

Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 14.31 miles
Total Time: 2:01:03
Ascent: 1,726 feet
Average Speed: 7.1 mph
Top Speed: 34.9 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:

View Larger Map

RR: LPQ Tunnels

Like most of my rides, I found myself with some unexpected free time in the afternoon this beautiful Memorial Day, so I had to decide what nearby ride I was wanted to do. I have gotten a little bored with my regular local haunts, and have been itching to do some exploring. One of the spots I've wanted to explore for a while is the purported entrance to LPQ/Tunnels from the Camino del Sur trailhead. That trailhead is significantly closer to home for me than Canyonside Park, so if I could figure out how to get to the good stuff from Camino del Sur, I'd be pretty stoked.

I drove over to the trailhead and parked next to the Mobil station. There were a few other cars there, but no other people to ask for directions, so I looked around and took the only trail out of trailhead. It was a short, steep down hill, which quickly led to a medium length uphill. Without the benefit of any warm up, I found myself HABing last part of the uphill.

From there the trail turned from rutted doubletrack to singletrack for about 1/4 mile, and then I spotted the entrance to a tunnel I had never seen before. It had all kinds of garbage littered around the entrance, and there was an old road bike hanging from a tree at the beginning of the tunnel. I remembered reading something on STR about a tunnel with a bike hanging at the entrance, and there it was.

I was pretty excited to have actually found this mythical tunnel, and was particularly happy that it was so close to the Camino del Sur trailhead. I rode it along, and it actually looked a lot like the tunnel I had ridden in the past. There were some stream crossings that were fun, and I always enjoy the sweeping feel and relatively lush surroundings of the tunnels. After about 1/2 a mile, I came to a fork, and initially decided to go to the right. I rode that section for just a few minutes, and found myself at a short loop that I had ridden a couple of times in the past that was off of main tunnel trail. I looped that trail back around to the fork I had passed a few minutes earlier, and took the fork in the other direction this time.

That trail quickly went uphill, and pretty soon I found myself exiting the tunnel and riding in the open air. The trail became pretty steep, even requiring some HAB as it continued East. Eventually it crested, and I found myself up on the mesa. I then rode along the mesa, following the singletrack that seemed most traveled when presented with different options. After another 1/2 mile or so I ended up on some wider doubletrack, which I realized I would have hit if I kept going South at the beginning of the ride and had not entered first tunnel. After meandering around for a while, I was just happy at that point to be oriented.

Instead of heading North back toward the entrance to the first tunnel (and eventually my car,) I followed the doubletrack South, toward the main mesa. Again the doubletrack turned to singletrack, which I followed as best I could as it wandered over toward the mesa that I had ridden before. As I rode along the mesa, the trail I was on began to lookvery familiar, and I figured I'd eventually see the drop-in for main tunnel trail at some point. It turns out that I should have seen it, but passed by it on my first time through that area.

Because I unwittingly missed the main tunnel entrance I was looking for, I kept riding around singletrack, which still seemed really familiar (since I had ridden it before in the past.) I spotted a gap in the fence to my right (North), and decided to explore it. I rode through the gap, and followed some more singletrack for a bit. I arbitrarily went right at a fork and quickly dead-ended in an old dried up vernal pool. I backtracked and took other fork, and then was quickly presented with yet another intersection.

One trail went down into another tunnel, and the other seemed to stay up on the mesa to the North. The trail I was on also continued to the left (West). Because I love the tunnels, I took the tunnel trail, and saw a rocking horse on the right. This was yet another mythical tunnel trail I had heard about on STR, and I had finally found it. There were bees living in rocking horse, which was a little creepy.

I rode down rocking horse, which was a really fun trail. It had several small to medium jumps (that I alternately rolled or avoided, it was awfully tight quarters for jumping). There was also a short ladder bridge that was fun to ride across. After a short distance, the rocking horse tunnel then met up with main tunnel trail that I had ridden in the past. I realized at that point that I had definitely missed the drop in entrance to the main tunnel.

Out of curiosity, I decided to ride back UP main tunnel trail the wrong way to the mesa to see where I had missed the drop-in. I rode up the main tunnel back the mesa, and then back along the mesa singletrack, past the opening in the fence that led to rocking horse, and over to main fire road trail on mesa that I had always come through in the past. I was once again oriented, and pretty pleased about it.

From there I doubled back to rocking horse, but instead of dropping into the tunnel again, I took the trail that headed North along the mesa instead. That trail was narrow singletrack, and meandered along the mesa sort of along the rim above the tunnels. It rejoined a wide fire road after going in about a 3/4 circle. As I rode along the fire road, I spotted a trail heading East, and figured it would hook up with the trail near rocking horse. I took it, and it did.

From there I dropped into rocking horse again, and rode that trail back to main trail once again. Then I took the main tunnel trail North, back toward the very first tunnel I had ridden with the bike at the beginning.

After exiting the bike tunnel, I rode the double track up to where I had been spit out after the long climb out of the second tunnel I had ridden. This time I was going to ride it downhill, which I figured would be a lot more fun. It was. Riding it this direction was way better than climbing it. After I rode the downhill section and the short tunnel section at the end, I then hooked back up with the main tunnel trail, and once again took it to the bike tunnel.

I rode the bike tunnel again for the last time, and exited back to the singletrack and back up the hill to the Camino del Sur trailhead.

I had a really fun ride, with an easy pace. I always enjoy exploring, and this was a nice day to meander a bit and see some spots that I had never ridden before. The "breadcrumbs" feature on my Garmin 205 GPS was invaluable, and I referred to it many times to orient myself, especially while down in the tunnels where there weren't many landmarks.

After all that wandering around, I think good route would be to take the singletrack from the trailhead past the first tunnel, and ride that fire road up to the downhill trail that leads into the tunnels. From there I wold join main tunnel trail, and climb that back up to the mesa like I always had in the past. Then I would ride back along mesa to rocking horse, and take rocking horse to the "bike" tunnel trail and back to the trailhead. That's not a long ride at all, but it would have some flow and would cover most of the good tunnels without any backtracking or repetitions. And if I wanted to, I could throw in more trails up on the mesa for bonus mileage.

Here are the stats for my Memorial Day Magellan Excursion:

Total Distance: 8.52 miles
Total Time: 1:43:59
Ascent: 1029 feet
Average Speed: 4.9 mph
Top Speed: 13.8 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:

View Larger Map

RR: Tour de Hodges

To those who say that Lake Hodges is nothing other than a flat-fest newbie ride, I say...you're mostly right. But today I did a ride that I shall heretofore call the Tour de Hodges, and it was a lot of fun as well as a pretty good challenge. The full stats are at the end, but with more than 27 miles of trail, and 2,800 feet of climbing, it wasn't an easy spin around the lake, at least for me.

I didn't start out the afternoon thinking that today would actually be the day I rode the full Tour de Hodges. Like most memorable mountainbiking experiences, it just evolved that way.

I elected to start out at the Poblado trailhead, because I wanted to at least ride all of the South side trails, which I had not done since the fires in October. I parked on Poblado, and rode the tree covered path near the houses until it hooked up with the Hodges trail system. My plan had been to head west and take the fire road along the south side of the lake and then double back along the singletrack that is close to the water. But the fire road had a sign in front saying it was closed, so I rode down to the singletrack and rode it toward the west, along the lake.

It was the first time I had ridden it since the fires, and it was pretty overgrown. There were some rocky spots that kept me on my toes, and even a few spots where I had to HAB. I followed the singletrack along to the west as it wrapped around the lake, and was able to ride it farther than I had in the past because the fires had taken out much of the growth that had previously encroached on the trail.

I followed the trail along the shoreline and began to climb up a little as it turned even more south. There were more HAB's in that section for me, and eventually the trail petered out at a rocky downhill spot that looked like a natural drainage area.





Just as I was about to turn around and double back, my attention was diverted by a huge bird that began flying circles not far above my head. It was almost all black, but with a red beak, and was much bigger than a crow or raven. It wasn't a hawk, but looked kind of like a vulture. Do we have vultures in San Diego?


Anyway I think I may have been near a nest, based on the way the huge bird was circling me. I carefully turned around and rode back the way I came, careful to look where I was going so as to not disturb any wildlife. The trail was clearly not well traveled yet, since I don't think many are aware that the south side of Hodges is open, and even fewer people ride and hike from the Poblado trailhead.

I rode the singltrack along the lake back toward the main trail, and then rode up the hill with the switchbacks and nature diagrams that overlooks the rest of the south side trails.


I took a short rest at that point for a couple of pictures.




From there I rode down the hill back to the main trail, and then through the trails past the waterfall toward the bridge that connects those trails to the rest of the south side of Hodges. (I am embarrassed to admit that I dabbed going down the switchback above the waterfall, but made the one right next to it. Oh well.)

As I followed the singletrack toward the bridge, I saw that the bridge was still closed, presumably from lingering damage from the fire. I noticed, however, that the trail I was on continued past the bridge to the east. I decided to follow it, and figured that it would eventually run into West Bernardo Road, which I could ride up to Rancho Bernardo Community Park and pick up the rest of the South side trails there. Which is exactly what happened.

After 3/4 of a mile or so, I hit W. Bernardo Drive and rode up to the Park. I rode past the dog park, through the outfield of a baseball field, and hooked up with main trailhead for the South side.

From there it was familiar territory, and I elected to ride the singletrack clockwise starting from where the (closed) bridge was along the lake. As I rode along that trail, I saw that someone had been doing some significant trailwork at a fun slickrock spot on the west side of the peninsula. I kind of liked the way it used to be, and the detour isn't as much fun as the original, but I guess someone had their reasons.

Instead of continuing my clockwise loop and following the lake, I cut through the middle of the south side and headed back towards the trailhead. I had intended to then climb up the only real hill on the South side, descend down the backside, and pick up the lakeside trail again and ride it the rest of the way around.

When I got back to the trailhead, however, I saw that the trail up the main hill was still closed. At that point it was decision time for me. I could just double back, pick up the lakeside trail again, finish my clockwise loop and head back to the car. Or...I could head over to the North side and ride those trails as well. I stopped and made a quick call home to check on the status of my hall pass, which hadn't been fully defined prior to my leaving the house. No answer.

I took that as a sign that I was destined to continue, and decided to head over to the North side. Rather than finish my clockwise loop around the South side, I just rode the main trail over to W. Bernardo Road and rode that over the bridge over the 15, down the onramp to 15 North, and jumped off at the construction site underneath the overpass like we had on our ride last week. From there it was a quick spin through the construction zone and up to the main trailhead on the North side.


I rode up the short climb at the beginning of the trail, and once again was faced with a decision: ride Bernardo Peak, or not? I had only ridden the Peak one other time, and it was pretty tough. But I had been presented with an opportunity; it was only about 5:30 at this point, and if I was efficient, I would be able to do the whole Tour de Hodges!

For several weeks I had been thinking about doing a Tour de Hodges ride. I had it all planned out in my mind. I wanted to start on the South side. Check. I wanted to do it solo, so I could go at my own pace and decide what route I wanted to take. Check. I wanted to do it on a day where I didn't have other commitments that would make me have to rush. Mostly check, though my hall pass was tenuous and daylight was a factor. I made up my mind on the spot: today was the day for the full Tour.

I rode up to the wide trail/fireroad that goes along the ridge on the North side near the houses, and down across the ladder bridge to the trail at the base of the Peak. I'll skip the blow by blow of the entire trek up the Peak, but suffice to say it was about 50% HAB for me.

Here are some pics of the climb up.



The phrase steeper than it looks applies here:


The conditions were actually phenomenal, and considerable trailwork had been done on the whole trail up the Peak to make it more ridable for those who are not terrible climbers like I am. The limitations I had in climbing the Peak were mine, not the trail's, but I eventually made it up to the top. I took a minute, signed the guestbook, snapped a few pics, and quickly made my way back down the hill.












I didn't dawdle at the top, because I had a Tour to complete and daylight was becoming a factor. I had also run out of water on the way up the Peak, and while it was pretty cool, I was concerned that would be an issue later on. It was.

I flew down the Peak, appreciating the extra travel in the Enduro. As I reached the bottom of the Peak I stayed to the right, and took the trail that headed southwest along the north shore of the lake. I picked up the pace along the section that goes along the north side of the lake, and rode up to the higher ridge trail that recently re-opened after the October fires. I once again had a bit of trouble at the spot where they re-routed the trail, but after a dab made it through. I still like the old version better, before they did the trailwork there. I was checking the time on my GPS constantly at this point, and had a goal to make it to Hernandez Hideaway by 7:00. I figured that would give me time to get back to the car before it was completely dark.

I rode along the ridge, and then dropped down the trail toward the Hodges parking lot. However, instead of cutting through the lot like I usually do, I spotted an offshoot trail that stayed to the right. I took it instead, and found a fun little new (to me) section that I had never ridden. There were some cool up and downs and a stream crossing, and I ended up on some singletrack that paralleled the road to the parking lot.

I rode that singletrack parallel to the road until I got to the other singletrack that runs along Del Dios, and picked up the pace again to make it to Hernandez Hideaway by my goal time. I shot through all of the Del Dios singletrack with no problems except for two painful leg cramps. I didn't stop at all, even with the cramps, I just unclipped the cramping leg and pedaled with the good leg for a minute until the cramps went away. It was at this point that my lack of water really began to be a factor.

I made it to Hernandez Hideaway a little before 7:00, and was happy about that. I seriously considered going inside and asking for water, but I had left my wallet in the car, and didn't want to go into a restaurant and beg. So I soldiered on. Very thirstily.


I raced back along the Del Dios singletrack, through the dock parking lot, and up the short grade along the north side of the lake. I kept to the lower trail this time in order to conserve time and energy. I had my second bout with leg cramps at the top of the steepest part of the section after the parking lot, and stopped for a minute to stretch. It helped a little.

I continued to get intermittent cramps the rest of the way along the North side, but really pushed it on the downhill section before the stream crossing. I crossed the stream, and then tried to pick up the pace for the last uphill on the North side. But halfway up, both my legs knotted up agonizingly, and I had to dismount and walk on my heels to stretch the muscles, pushing the bike up the rest of the way.

I re-mounted at the top of the hill, rode down the last section, and booked it through the construction site under the overpass. From there I took the exit ramp from 15 South to W. Bernardo Drive, made a left, and was faced with my last decision.

Remember, I hadn't finished off all of the clockwise singletrack on the South side earlier. I had cut through the middle in a failed effort to work in the middle climb, and had not gone back to finish all of the singletrack that went along the lake. At this point, however, it was getting very dark, and I was chasing daylight. But I couldn't call this the Tour de Hodges if I left off one of the most scenic and accessable trails. So I sucked it up and made a quick right off West Bernardo Drive, and shot through the rest of the singletrack along the lake.

I'm sure it was as scenic as ever, but it was getting pretty dark at that point, and I was focusing on staying upright and making it back to the car before darkness fell completely. I finished off the section I had missed the first time, cut through the middle of the South side again, and raced past the trailhead and through the baseball fields. I rode past the dog park again, and over to W. Bernardo Road for a 1/2 mile until I hooked back up with the trail that would take me past the closed bridge towards my car.

I rode along the singletrack toward the waterfall, and it was virtually dark at that point. I was also pretty spent. I made it up the short climb before the waterfall, but the next uphill section and final switchback were my undoing. My legs locked up again, and I was HABing the last several feet.

I made it to the top of that section, then made a left and cruised down the tree-shrouded trail along the houses and back to the Poblado trailhead. By the time I hit my car, it was 8:10 and dark. But I had done it. The full Tour de Hodges was complete.

As I reflected on the ride, several impressions emerged. Lack of water was a factor. The cramps were easily avoidable if I had been adequately hydrated. It would also have been better if the small bridge connecting the two halves of the South side was open, and even better if the hiking/biking bridge connecting the South and North sides had been complete and open.

My pictures clearly ended after Hernandez Hideaway, because I was chasing daylight at that point and had no time to stop for photo ops.

This was by far the longest ride I've ever done in my 11 months of mountainbiking. According to Motionbased, my moving time was allegedly 3:38:55 of the 4:20:29 total time, but the longest break I took was less than 5 mins at the top of the Peak, and I was riding pretty much constantly the entire time. Some of the HAB up Bernardo Peak was pretty slow, but I was moving virtually nonstop the whole four hours plus I was out there.

It felt great to do the whole Tour, especially since I hadn't planned on it when I started out. If a trail is open at North or South Hodges, I rode it. At least as far as I know. (Those who know Hodges well can look at my map and correct me if I'm wrong.)

I'd like to do it again sometime with other people and make it more of a relaxed social ride. I would have preferred to not have to push it as fast as I did tonight, but am glad that I was able to complete the whole thing.

Here are the final stats:

Total Distance: 27.43 miles
Total Time: 4:20:29
Ascent: 2826 feet
Average Speed: 6.3 mph
Top Speed: 24.6 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:

View Larger Map

GR: Hydration Packs (Oakley Tool Box 2.0 Pack and High Sierra Soak 2)

I have two hydration packs that I use interchangably depending on what type of ride I'm doing, so I figured I'd give my thoughts on both of them here. The one I use most often is the Oakley Tool Box.

You can purchase a newer iteration, the Toolbox 2.0, here.

I love this pack, and was actually able to get it brand new for $35 from a woman who listed it on Craigslist after winning it at a charity auction. I was stoked on that deal since it retails for $100 in stores.

Its pretty big, which is the pack's biggest drawback as well as its biggest asset. The dimensions are 16" H x 12" W x 8.5" D, and it holds everything but the kitchen sink, and I'm pretty sure I could even cram that in there.

The Toolbox has a dedicated spot inside for my ID, an internal pouch to hold a hydration bladder, several internal small pockets and organizer slots , and is very comfortable to wear. It also includes a helmet holder on the outside as well as a padded sunglass case that I think is pretty cool. The valuables pocket on top has extra external padding to protect its contents, as well as a soft lining inside, but is a little smaller than I would prefer. The Toolbox also has well designed pouches on each side for holding knee pads or water bottles which is nice.

Its a great pack, and I recommend it to anyone who usually uses a Camelbak HAWG or MULE, which are of comparable size but not as nice. The only problem is its size, and the fact that it can get heavy if I load it with a bunch of stuff.

For that reason, I own another, smaller pack, that I use for shorter rides where I don't need to carry as much. That pack is the High Sierra Soak 2. I bought it at Costco last year for $15 on sale (usually $20) and it is awesome. Its smaller than the Toolbox, and is comparable to an average size Camelback, but has more features than a Camelback and is way cheaper.

The High Sierra Soak 2 is a hydration pack with three additional pockets for gear. The bladder slips into a separate sleeve in the main pocket lined with a special Thermo-Silver insulation. The main pocket has an additional long, slim sleeve with a Velcro strap at the top for a bicycle pump. The larger of the two front pockets has three smaller sleeves along the bottom with elastic across the center to keep longer items from falling forward when you open the pocket. There is also a mesh pocket with a zipper sewn into the front flap of this pocket. A small plastic clip is sewn to the back of this pocket for keys, etc. The front panel of the pack has the smallest of the pockets. It is accessed by the zipper on one side of the pack. This pocket runs along the entire front panel of the pack.

Additional features of the pack include:
- Drain hole in the bottom of the main pocket
- Elastic shock cord on the outside of the pack for more gear
- Plastic clip on the front of the pack
- Mesh panel that comes out of a zippered compartment on the bottom of the pack for carrying a helmet (attaches to the pack near the main pocket's zipper so that the main pocket can still be accessed when a helmet is carried on the pack)
- Reflective strip near the bottom of the pack
- Extra adjustable waist strap that comes out of the sides of the pack near the smallest zippered pocket
- Vapel Mesh Airflow adjustable shoulder strap
- Hands free water reservoir pressure valve with a dirt shield
- 2 Liter hydration bladder with Z-Valve is included with the pack
- Insulated water tube cover
- Adjustable sternum strap
- Vapel Mesh Airflow padded back for moisture wicking
- Zipped expansion gusset for increased capacity (runs along both sides and the bottom of the pack)

The bladder is easily removed from the pack by sliding it up out of the insulated pocket. There is a large easy to use lid on the bladder. The tubing runs from the bottom of the bladder up to the top on the outside and through a hole in the top of the bladder. There are holes on the top on both the left and right side of the bladder so that the tube can be used on either side of the pack. The pack itself also allows for the tube to be attached on either side of the shoulder straps. The shoulder straps have both a sewn in loop for the tube and a Velcro fastened loop. To drink from the bladder, the dirt shield is removed and water flow is controlled by biting down on the valve and sipping. The dirt shield is attached to the valve via a small cord.

This was my first hydration pack. I am very happy with the bladder and valve. The bite valve is very easy to use, just put it between your teeth and bite down lightly to get the water to flow. The dirt shield adequately keeps the valve clean, but I usually leave it off when cycling for ease of use, letting it hang by its cord. I put it back on when running to keep it from flopping around.

The pockets allow for plenty of gear storage. I have packed in the full 2 liters (70 oz), a light jacket, energy bars, keys, cell phone, and wallet with room to spare.

I noticed at my last trip to Costco that they have them again this year, and have made some minor improvements including changing the dirt shield location in a good way. If I can get approval, I may pick up another one to use as a backup. You can't beat the price, and its a great pack on the trails.

RR: Local Ride: Santa Luz Valley/Black Mountain/4S Trails

We got home from Eastlake around noon, after stopping at RoadRunner to pick up our race packets for tomorrow's Bay Bridge Run/Walk.

After a relaxing afternoon, Rach had some project of her own to work on, and I decided to get another ride in. I had been exhausted immediately after the ride this morning, but as the day wore on I actually felt great and wasn't sore or fatigued at all. CycleEastlake wasn't that hilly, and the pace was relatively slow, so I still had some energy left in my tank and wanted to burn it off.

Dave had mentioned during our Hodges ride that he usually rode along the mesa before dropping into the Santa Fe Valley and crossing the bridge to the Santa Luz trails. I had never done that, so I decided to do some exploring. Barnham Construction recently paved the road entering what will be Del Norte High School, which is currently being built, so I followed that through what will be the new campus and rode around a bit.

As I was just riding along, a Jeep came flying by me on the dirt fireroad. As I watched it drive by, I saw the route it was taking across the mesa and decided to follow. The Jeep rapidly drove out of sight, but it did alert me to the existance of another fireroad that traveresed the mesa, and I rode it until I saw what looked like a good path to take down into the valley.

It turned out to be a perfect spot, and the trail dumped me just past the nursery area at the bottom of the valley. As I began to take the section of trail that bypassed the nursery, the Jeep appeared again out of no where and almost nailed me. The driver locked up his brakes as I pedaled by, and I was pretty amused by the look on his face.

I was in familiar territory at that point, as the section of trail I found myself on was part of my old local ride. It was primarily the upper part that had been overgrown, so the route I took today may make for a good alternative. I pedaled along the river, crossed over at the spot near the Camino del Sur bridge, and began pedaling back east along the Santa Luz trails.

Following Dave G's directions, I rode along to the trail that connected Santa Luz Loop to Black Mountain Community Park. I had ridden that trail once before, on one of my Santa Luz Loop rides, and it had smoked me then. Turned out it was deja vu today. Maybe it was the 19+ miles earlier in the day. Maybe it was the length of the climb up that trail. Maybe it was the Chinese food I had for lunch. Either way, I was toast as I tried to climb the trail to BM Park, and I ended up HABing about 60% of it, which was humiliating. The trail isn't that steep, and isn't loose at all, but it definately has my number.

I finally slogged to the top of the hill, rode through Black Mountain Park, and headed over to Carmel Valley Road to make my way back down to the Black Mountain trailhead. I was debating internally about whether to do Canyon Rim or skip it and head across the meadow to do the pond trail, and as I climbed the paved road up to the trailhead, I almost decided to skip Canyon Rim. But my ego got the best of me, and I decided not to skimp on the ride. In retrospect, I probably should have bagged it.

I can't clean a short uphill section at the beginning of Canyon Rim on my best day, and there was no chance of doing it tonight. I did my regular short HAB, then mounted up and began the downhill. I then promptly wiped out at the first difficult left turn at the spot just past my trailwork. I belive that fatigue may have played a role. Just saying.

I did make it the rest of the way down Canyon Rim without dabbing, but it was a struggle. I was not looking good or picking clean lines at all. About halfway down Canyon Rim my cell phone rang, and when I got to the bottom I checked it and saw that Rachel had left a message.

I decided at that point to cut the ride a little short, and skip the trail across the meadow and along the pond. I did quickly ride back up the paved road, along the trail around the north side of the mountain, and down the short downhill section back to Carmel Valley Rd. From there it was my regular route along the 4S trails to home.

I was pretty wrecked at the end of the ride, even with cutting it a bit short. Rach and I went over to the spa, which was nice, and left me totally noodled. When I added up the mileage from this ride with the one from this morning, I came up just a bit short of 30 miles for the day, which would have been a cool number to hit, but whatever. It was a good day of riding overall, even if I didn't set any records.

Once again, no pics. Sorry.

Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 9.92 miles
Total Time: 1:28:40
Ascent: 1,279 feet
Average Speed: 6.7 mph
Top Speed: 28.6 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:

View Larger Map

RR: Cycle Eastlake

Today I took part in my first ever organized MTB event, Cycle Eastlake. Cycle EastLake is one of the EastLake Educational Foundation’s three main fundraising events. EEF, established in 1995, is a 501(C)3 non-profit foundation that raises money to support technology initiatives and promote educational opportunities in the six public schools within the EastLake community.

I don't live in Eastlake or have any specific ties to the charity, I was just interested in taking part in an organized event, and this one seemed like a nice choice for my first one. It wasn't a race, so there was no pressure. It was located at a trail I had never ridden, so I was looking forward to some new scenery. And it was a Poker ride, so I knew there would be rest stops along the way.

Rachel and I arrived early and picked up my packet which included a t-shirt and bib number. I noticed riding around that I was having a shifting problem, and since we had about 45 minutes before the ride was scheduled to start, I took it over to two REI bike mechanics who were performing free tune-ups just outside the store. This turned out to almost be a big mistake.

The two guys working on bikes were quite nice, but had never seen a bike with a chain guide/tensioner before, and in trying to adjust my shifting, completely screwed up my drivetrain. After taking the chain off and putting it back on twice, they couldn't get it to even pedal, let alone shift. By the time they got the chain back on the second time, it was 7:55 and everyone had lined up at the starting line. I didn't want to miss the start, so I had them just put the chain back on and bypass the tensioner, and it seemed to work OK. I just prayed I wouldn't have any mechanicals out on the course.

I made it to the back of the pack just in time for the start, and we were on our way.

We started out from in front of the REI at the Otay Ranch Shopping Center, and the route began with about a mile and a half of pavement riding before we hit the dirt. During the paved section, everyone just cruised along, and people started to separate out naturally. I didn't want to go out too fast and bonk, so I stayed toward the middle and coasted the down hills and spun easy gears during the uphills.

The first poker stop was at the trailhead for the dirt path, and there was quite the bunch-up of riders. I waited there about 4-5 minutes, got my card (8 of clubs) and was back on my way. The bunching continued along the first section of singletrack, and it was a bit of a cluster. Several people were unable to negotiate a series of bridges over some streams, and as a result the logjam reached a quarter mile or so. It also kept me from riding the bridges myself, because people kept falling in front of me. Oh well.

The whole next section was narrow, twisty singletrack that wound along the lake right at "lake level" which was pretty cool. The downside was that with a large group and narrow singletrack, my pace was dictated by the person at the front of the line, who was going a little slower than I would have preferred.

I made it to the next poker stop, and at that point the gaggle of people began to break up.

After a shorter wait for my card, I was back under way, this time for a short distance along the paved road and then onto some additional single and doubletrack that meandered nearby the lake. I was still behind some people, but their pace was closer to mine, and I wasn't stuck.

I crossed a paved road, and the rode it back toward where I had come from for about a half mile or so, until I came to a fireroad that went moderately uphill.

I made it up the fireroad with no problem, and was then once again stuck behind some other riders as the fireroad turned to singletrack.

I soon came up to the third poker stop, and after receiving my card, quickly continued up the trail, rather than stopping at the water stand like many were doing. I figured that would be a good chance to get in front of some of the slower riders who had been in front of me, and I had 70 oz of water in my pack, so I was good.

From there I rode some uphill sections that traversed a ridge above a smaller man-made lake, and then finally got up some speed during a short dowhill that brought me back to the paved road I had come from.

I crossed the road, picked up my fourth poker card, and then backtracked along the lakeside singletrack that I had ridden near the start. Then, instead of backtracking all the way to the pavement and heading back to Otay Ranch, the course bared east and continued to follow the lake toward the south. I rode along for a while at that point by myself, and didn't see other riders for several minutes at a time.

It was pretty, scenic singletrack that ran along the lake, and I enjoyed the views. It was starting to get hot, which was a factor, but I was determined to enjoy myself.

The singletrack turned to doubletrack, and eventually pavement, as the course cut through the parking area for the lake and made its way past the water treatment facility to another parking area where the next poker card was dealt. From there it was another backtrack, along the southwest part of the lake and back toward the paved road where we had started. Fatigue began to set in after the last poker card, but I dug in and kept in mind that I had a fairly long pavement climb to get back to Otay Ranch Shopping Center, so I kept the pace steady.

I passed a few people going the same direction as I was on the way back to the pavement, and was surprised to see how many people were behind me still on the course. I guess I was doing pretty well.

I stopped briefly at a water station at the trailhead, then steadied myself and started the paved climb back to REI and the finish line. The uphill sections weren't as bad as I thought they'd be, but it was a slog. I also think I may have done some bonus mileage by taking Hunte Parkway instead of just staying on Olympic Parkway all the way back. The final two miles of pavement were pretty rough, and I was tired at that point. I middle ringed as much as I could, and passed about 5 or six people before I made it back to the REI parking lot. I would have been able to pass one other, but he cut through the parking spaces instead of following the street that was part of the course.

It felt good to finish, and Rach was there to cheer me on. My poker hand was terrible, but not bad enough to win the worst hand award, so no luck there. The events booths were a little frail, so after just a few minutes recuperating we hit the road. I didn't even stay for the raffle, but the prizes were also pretty weak, so it wasn't a big deal.

I am glad to have done this event, and would love to do more events like it. Less pavement would have been better. Doing it with friends would also have been fun. The crowds and bunching up on singletrack were an issue early on, but after about the first 1/2 they weren't a factor.

This event also marks the longest I've ever biked in a single ride, which is a nice milestone. All in all it was a nice way to spend a morning, and we were on our way back home around 11:00.

Here are the CycleEastlake stats:

Total Distance: 19.25 miles
Total Time: 2:11:74
Ascent: 1,237 feet
Average Speed: 8.5 mph
Top Speed: 30.1 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:

View Larger Map

RR: South and North Hodges

I had a chance this evening to do an after work ride that turned out to be a lot of fun. After some scheduling adjustments and coordination, I was able to finally meet Dave G, a fellow 4S resident and excellent mountain biker.

He found this blog through STR, and we had emailed a few times trying to get a local ride set up. When he emailed this afternoon, I had already made plans with Sean to do Hodges, so Dave agreed to come along there instead. I'm glad he did.

Sean and Dave met me at the Rancho Bernardo Community Park trailhead on the South side of Hodges. There were some looming clouds and it was getting chilly, but weather didn't turn out to be a factor.

We planned to start out on the South side, do a few of the fun singletrack trails over there, and then head to the North side for the traditional route to Hernandez Hideaway and back.

Less than a minute in to the ride, I jumped a tiny mound in the middle of the trail and landed wrong, ending up in a twisted heap in the middle of the trail. My left hip and head took most of the impact, though I also hit my shoulder pretty hard in the ensuing tumble down the trail. It was pretty embarrassing, and really hurt quite a bit, but I jumped right up, tossed my helmet visor (which had become detached upon impact) into Sean's pack, and continued onward. (In retrospect, the helmet did a nice job cushioning the impact, since my head hit the ground almost simultaneously with my hip. Kudos to the Flux. I was also able to reattach the visor at the end of the ride, so its durable too!)

We rode the main loop around the South side peninsula. I still really like that section of trail; its right along the lake, narrow singletrack, and has some minor rocky features thrown in every so often to keep things interesting. It was pretty overgrown tonight, and the flowers and weeds were shoulder height and above along the side of the trail.

I actually mishandled several of the small techy parts that I usually clean no problem. I don't know whether to blame the fall, the different geometry of the Enduro, nerves about riding with a new person, or just general lack of bike skills. Lets blame all of them

Towards the end of the singletrack along the lake, right before we intersected West Bernardo Road, Sean apparently hit a tree. I didn't see it, but he told me about it later. He turned out to be OK, and I'm just glad he didn't fall to his left and end up in the lake. Though that would have made for an even better story.

We regrouped at the road, and then rode over the bridge that crosses the 15 and down the onramp on to the freeway for a short distance. That was a little hairy, especially when the bike lane ended at the end of the onramp where the freeway starts, and cars were extremely close. We then rode through construction zone under the bridge and over to north side.

We rode the North side at a social pace, which is always fine by me. I talked with Dave some as we rode and got to know him a little bit. I am very interested in his local ride, a version of the Black Mountain loop, though I'm not sure I could hang with him on the route he rides...

As we rode along the North side, I saw that the upper trail along the ridge was finally open, which was cool. It had been closed since the fires, and must have reopened in just the last couple of weeks. Someone had done some trailwork halfway through, and had created a new section that was kind of difficult and pointless. They had "repaired" a section that previosuly had included a slightly techy up and down over a ditch, and added a bunch of rocks that virtually obscured the trail and built a strange detour around the ditch. I had just gotten comfortable with cleaning the old version before the fire, and now I have to figure this new version out. Meh.

It became clear during this portion of the ride by the way that Dave is a very skilled and accomplished rider. It's always interesting riding with someone new; you size them up before the ride, check out their bike and their gear, try to see if they're a bike Nazi or newbie or somewhere in between. I don't know if Dave is a bike Nazi, but he is clearly an excellent rider. He pulled away on the uphill sections when we weren't talking, and cleaned everything effortlessly.

From the ridge trail we went downhill, through the Hodges parking lot, and along the singletrack that parallels the road toward the Del Dios side. We made it to Hernandez Hideaway, regrouped for a few minutes, and started back. My left hip had started to stiffen a little from the fall earlier, so I took off a little before the Dave and Sean in order to get a head start in case the stiffness got worse. Also, it was starting to get a little dark at that point, so I didn't want to be an anchor.

As we rode back toward the freeway, I started to wonder how we were going to get back to the South side safely. Would we have to ride up the onramp we had ridden down? That didn't seem safe. I asked Dave about it, and he wasn't sure either, so we figured we'd just ride back to the freeway and scope things out.

Sean and Dave smoked me up the hill along the North side of the lake and opened a gap so big that I didn't see them almost the whole way back to the freeway. Sean is a climbing fiend, and once he gets comfortable with his clipless pedals and has some more saddle time downhill, he's going to be too good of a rider for me to ride with. And Dave is, as mentioned, a strong rider, so I got to ride alone for a little bit as darkness began to fall. We regrouped near the freeway, and realized that we could ride under overpass, through the construction zone, and up the southbound exit for West Bernardo Drive to get back to the South side. Which was a relief, because that was much safer than riding up the Northbound 15 onramp would have been.

I took a short section of trail back to the cars, while Sean and Dave (who were once again out in front) took the road. I was glad I took my route, as I saw two coyotes running down the trail in the twilight, which was cool.

It was a fun ride, and it was great to meet new rider who lives nearby. I'm glad the scheduling finally worked out.

Once again no pictures, but I will be getting better about that.

I also was able to have some Wahoos afterwards with Sean, which is always nice. I freaking love that place. Ans Sean likes it too, because he likes to flirt with the chubby girl behind the counter he has a pseudo-crush on, while she continues to not give him the time of day. Good times.

Here are the stats from the ride:

Total Distance: 14.74 miles
Total Time: 1:43:03
Ascent: 1,019 feet
Average Speed: 8.6 mph
Top Speed: 21.8 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:

View Larger Map

RR: 4S/Black Mountain Loop (New Local Ride)

We went to church in RSF again this weekend, and as a result, by the time late afternoon rolled around I had some free time. Armed with a short hall pass, I decided to try the same route I had planned on taking yesterday before I ran into Sean. I wanted to see how fast I could reasonably do the route that I assumed would be my new local ride.

I set out from home, went down the 4S trails, behind the Boys and Girls Club, up Carmel Valley Rd., and up the paved road to the Black Mountain trailhead. Flush with confidence from my dabless run down Canyon Rim the day before, I took it a little faster, and ended up with one small dab near the bottom where I washed out in some sand. Oh well. Still not bad, and I cleaned all the difficult switchbacks.

I climbed back up the paved road, and over the meadow trail that took me over toward the pond. There was no time for exploring today, and I rode and HAB'ed the short distance up the trail along the pond, then shot down the back side toward Carmel Valley Rd.

From there it was back along the 4S trails, and I made it a goal to climb back up the last significant hill in the middle ring up front, which I was able to do. Pretty happy about that.

I pushed it a little along the pavement section on the final stretch before home, and made it in just under an hour. I wasn't riding hard for most of the ride, but I did keep a consistent pace and didn't stop at all. My pace was purposeful but not fast, and I think if I really pushed it I could do this ride in around 50 minutes or even a little faster. That is a good time frame for a local ride, allowing me the chance to do it during the week after work and dinner sometimes.

There are three sections of this ride where I have to HAB: a short 25 yard section up Canyon Rim before the downhill; a short 15 yard section up a fire road before the meadow trail over toward the pond, and a 10 yard section up a loose section of trail along the pond. I'd like to get to a point by the end of summer where I can at least clean the second one, the fire road. The uphill section of Canyon Rim is extremely steep and loose, and while I'm sure some can do it, its pretty rough. I'd like to make it up that section some day, but it may be a while. And the uphill by the pond is less steep, but even more rutted and loose, so that may be a more long-term goal as well.

Either way, this was a good ride, and making it home in under an hour was nice. I'd like to find some variation of this route that cuts out some of the pavement/4S Ranch trail riding and incorporates more dirt. Maybe something through the Santa Fe Valley at some point like my old local ride. We'll see. In the meantime, I have a perfectly serviceable new local ride that fits my needs for the most part.

Here are the stats: (Once again, no pictures, this is becoming a bad habit)

Total Distance: 7.69 miles
Total Time: 56:18
Ascent: 1025 feet
Average Speed: 8.2 mph
Top Speed: 30.9 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:

View Larger Map

RR: 4S/Black Mountain Loop

It was redemption time this afternoon as I was finally able to get in a full ride in what I believe will be my new local route. It was a fun ride with some unexpected twists, but before I do my RR, I need to tie up a loose end from the last ride.

Turns out that I am an idiot. The reason I was miss-shifting and my chain broke on the last ride was none other than my chain was far, far too dry. After Tuesday's debacle, I had Rach stop by Beyond Bikes and pick me up a new chain, as well as a powerlink. I figured I'd replace the broken link on my existing chain with the powerlink, and if that didn't work, I'd use the new one she bought. While that seemed like a good solution, the problem was that Beyond Bikes did not have the Crank Brothers M-19 multi-tool that I needed in stock, so I had no way of getting the broken link off of my old chain.

So I spent about an hour on Thursday night after home group wrestling with the broken link, and eventually, with the help of some pliers, a drill, and a hammer, I was able to get it off. A job that would have taken two minutes with the proper tools took an hour, but whatever. I replaced the (now annihilated) broken link with the powerlink, and tried shifting to see if I was still having problems. I was. The chain still kept slipping off the small ring in the front, and I was worried I would have to have it looked at by someone who knew what they were doing.

Then I decided that maybe, just maybe, I should lube the chain to see if that helped. It did. Completely. Problem solved. See, I had not lubed the chain since I purchased it. I won't be making that mistake again.

So with all of my mechanical issues solved, I was all systems go for a ride this afternoon when Rachel decided to take a nap. I left her a note, telling her that I'd be back around 5:00, and headed out for the route that I had planned to do on Tuesday with Sean.

I made it down the hill and around the pond, and started making my way up Carmel Valley Road. I had eaten Chinese food for lunch around 11:30, and as I climbed the hill, I realized that I didn't have a lot of fuel to burn. So I stopped at the top of Carmel Valley Road and sucked down an Accel Gel. I love those things.

As I stood there, draining the last minute traces of gel from the pouch, a Honda Ridgeline truck pulled over to the side of the road about 10 yards in front of me. Since the road is narrow there, and there was no reason for someone to pull over that I could tell, I wondered if I knew the person or if maybe they were lost and needed directions. The driver, who I couldn't see, didn't get out of the truck right away because traffic was continuing to speed by. I waited for a few more seconds, and finally the driver emerged. It was Sean!

He began yelling at me, asking why I hadn't waited for him and generally seemed a little pissed. I was taken completely off guard. First of all, whose truck was Sean driving? Second, what are the chances he would drive by right now, as I happened to be riding? And shouldn't he have been at work?

Eventually, I discovered that Sean had bought a new truck yesterday (SWEET!), was on his way home from work, and had gotten off at three. He wasn't really pissed, but I could tell he was bummed that I hadn't called or waited for him. But I thought he was working, and I only had a small window of time before Rachel woke up, so it was nothing personal. I would always prefer to ride with someone rather than solo, but I rarely have a chance to plan my rides out in advance, so finding a partner is not always feasible.

Anyway, we decided on a plan. Sean would drive home, grab his bike, and drive back to the middle school at the bottom of the hill where he would meet me. Then we could do the rest of my ride from there, which worked out perfectly.

I killed about 15 minutes waiting for him by exploring some of the dirt trails just to the west of Carmel Valley road, and then we met up and were on our way. We climbed back up Carmel Valley road and then up the road to the Black Mountain trailhead. I warned him that there were some tricky parts of the Canyon Rim trail that he needed to be aware of, but it was nothing he couldn't handle, and we were off.

I was curious how the Enduro would feel on Canyon Rim. It actually had been more nimble than the FSR at Noble, so I wasn't worried about maneuverability. I attacked the trail, cleaning the section with the bridge and then doing the short HAB up to the section I had worked on during my trailwork a few weeks ago.

From the top of the trail, I made it through all of the tough sections, and did not dab once the entire way down Canyon Rim. It was ridiculous. I felt awesome. The trail was a dusty, rutted mess, with virtual sand pits in some of the tight corners, and ruts that guided my wheels almost off the trail in several spots. But I negotiated it all, and made it to the bottom without my feet hitting the ground once. I was pretty stoked.

Then I thought about Sean. The trail was much tougher this time than it had been a few weeks ago, probably because we haven't had any rain and it had been ridden some, making it looser and more rutted. It was much harder than I had led Sean to believe, and I felt horrible for unintentionally sandbagging him. He made it to the bottom after only having to walk a few sections, and I apologized for underplaying the difficulty. He was appropriately impressed that I had cleaned the whole thing, and then proceeded to regain his manhood by promptly smoking me on the climb back up the hill to the trailhead.

We elected not to do Canyon Rim a second time, and headed over to the trail that goes down Black Mountain to the North. Instead of riding it all the way down to the road, we rode to a connector trail that would cross the meadow and take us over to some singletrack near the pond along Bernardo Center Drive. The ride down the fireroad to the singletrack was pretty nasty, with huge ruts, large rocks, and some really loose sections. I made it down OK and then waited for Sean. He did a nice job making it most of the way, and hiked down the last section in order to make sure he didn't kill himself.

From there we rode across the meadow and decided to take a short detour on a trail that led to the south, toward Black Mountain, to see if it went anywhere interesting. It dead-ended at a gate, which blocked access to a small paved area that seemed strangely out of place with the surrounding brush and dirt. Sean's theory was that it was intended to be a homestead, which seemed plausible. Either way our exploration ended there, and we doubled back to the meadow trail and headed northeast to the singletrack that took us over toward the pond.

I had only ridden that section once before, and like that time, was unable today to clean the climb up the hill along the pond. It's really loose and steep, but someday I'd like to make it. From there the trail has a fun, slightly techy section that goes downhill along the small cluster of homes that was built there in the last two years.

The trail ended right at the intersection of Carmel Valley Road and the middle school where we started, and Sean and I went our separate ways. He got back in his new truck and headed home, and I decided to ride the 4S trails back to the house. I middle ringed it the whole way back up the hill towards home, which felt good, and made it back to my garage just after 5:30.

It was a fun ride, and it was nice to see how the trails around 4S and Black Mountain could be linked up. There is definitely more road riding than I would prefer for my local ride, but there's not much I can do about that. Its still a pretty sweet route to have right out my back door. I wasn't able to get a feel for how long it would take to do just the 4S trail -> Canyon Rim -> Black Mountain Meadow -> Pond trails -> back to 4S trail -> home because of the doubling back and waiting for Sean. I figured that I could probably do the route in about an hour and a half or so if I didn't stop or dawdle, which is a little longish for a local ride but not out of the question.

Rach was up when I got home, and we had a nice dinner and enjoyed the rest of our evening together. Once again I didn't take any pics, which has become an unfortunate habit. I need to break out the camera again; I don't even have any pictures of myself on the new ride yet!

Here are the stats from the ride:

Total Distance: 10.62 miles
Total Time: 2:04:43
Ascent: 1,444 feet
Average Speed: 5.1 mph
Top Speed: 32.6 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:

View Larger Map