RR: 4S Ranch/Black Mountain Local Ride

Tonight I was able to finally get out on a ride after not having been on the bike in three weeks. That is by far the longest duration I have gone without riding since I began mountain biking in July of 2007, and I was feeling it.

The reasons for my not having ridden in three weeks were myriad, but mostly had to do with a ridiculous work schedule. From the middle of July to the middle of August, I have been averaging about 70 hours of work a week, and have even been working weekends.

So this afternoon, when faced with some free time finally, I pumped up my tires and headed out for my local 4S/Black Mountain local ride. It ended up being just a quick spin, and I actually felt pretty good overall. I had recently replaced my cranks with a set I bought from Sean (Blue Rat) for a bargain, and they worked great, even with my amateur mechanic work. What a difference it made not having my right crank wobbling all over the place during each pedal stroke.

I was a little fatigued as I spun up Carmel Valley Road, but stayed in the middle ring. The paved climb up to the Black Mountain trailhead was rougher than I had remembered, and it was at that point I began to feel the effects of my layoff.

As I hit the top of the hill at the parking lot, I was confronted with a pretty interesting scene. There were about thirty or so people milling around, drinking heavily and dressed like Catholic schoolgirls. Even the men. And they were almost all men. I saw a sign draped over someone's truck mentioning a "hash" event, and remembered something I had read on the internet a while back about these random running events that had no formal beginning or end, and consisted of crazy people running around dressed bizarrely. That was clearly what this was.

I didn't linger in the parking lot, and rode over to Canyon Rim as soon as I could. I once again made it up the first short steep climb without stopping, and then did my normal HAB up the rest of the way to the top.

I cleaned both of the most difficult downhill switchbacks, which was nice. I did have a small dab towards the bottom, when I ended up in a brutal sandy rut and almost went off trail. It would have been nice to clean the whole thing, especially after my layoff, but I felt pretty good anyway. The trail is a mess, and is sandy and rutted all over the place. I had thought there was another trailwork event planned for BM in September, but didn't see it on the SDMBA calendar. It needs it.

From the bottom of Canyon Rim I climbed back up the paved road, through the parking lot where the hashers were beginning to disperse, and down the rutted fire road and across the meadow toward the pond. I elected to take the closer trail that didn't involve any HAB, and made it without stopping.

After that I rode back across Carmel Valley Rd. and through the 4S trails to home. I made it home in under an hour, which was nice, but expected. In fact, back in early June, I did this same route with an extra trip down Canyon Rim in just two minutes longer, meaning my pace this time was a little off. It did feel good to be back on the bike, and I was excited that my crank replacement held up. And what a difference the new ones made.

So hopefully I'll be back in the swing of things before too long. I have a vacation coming up, and am hoping to get some serious riding in, maybe even out of town. We'll see...

Here are the Stats:

Total Distance: 7.23 miles

Total Time: 55:53

Ascent: 991 feet

Average Speed: 7.8 mph

Top Speed: 34.7 mph

Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite

Map:

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The Spider Arrives

It's here!

Reality has set in, as my new Spider arrived via UPS this afternoon. I've decided that I'm not going to open the box until I have earned all of the funds required to pay for it without dipping into our monthly retail budget. I cleared about half the purchase price from the sale of the FSR, and am expecting another check for around half the purchase price for a recent CLE presentation that I did. Once I get my CLE check, I'll open the box up and post some photos of the unboxing. Until then, the picture will have to serve as a preview...

I'm very excited.

New Bike!

I did something pretty impulsive today, which is very out of character for me. I bought a new bike, an expensive one, without weeks and weeks of research and analysis.

The story of this purchase really starts with an online merchant by the name of chainlove.com, which is a division of backcountry.com. Chainlove specifically is an online bicycle that sells bike gear and accessories at a significant discount in limited quantities. Here's how it defines itself:

What is Chainlove.com?

THE MISSION

Biking is your lifeblood, not your hobby, and you're not a millionaire (yet). You’re addicted, and Chainlove is here to help. We're the stone-cold pusher on your corner with the premium product at cut-rate prices. Our merchandise? Everything from the Tour to the North Shore, and we’re not afraid to take it off the back of a truck if our connect gets spooky. We’re talking completes, components, apparel, tools—just name your vice.

Here's how it goes down:

• We slap a primo piece of cycling gear on our site at a scandalous price.
• We sell it 'til it's gone.
• You leave feeling like a smooth criminal.
• The gear arrives fast and you're back in the saddle.

I've ordered several things from chainlove in the past, including Oakley MTB shorts and a jersey. The prices are amazing, the shipping is extremely fast, and the limited time nature of the sales alerts adds a sense of urgency, making every alert seem like a raging deal that you don't want to miss out on.

So today I'm sitting at my desk at work, drafting a motion in the Guatay case, and a chainlove alert pops up with a freaking 2008 Intense Spider XVP for $1,200.00. I just sold my FSR a week ago, and have been mulling the purchase of a lightweight XC rig even before I sold it. The Enduro has its uses, and I like it OK, but it is a pig to haul uphill, and I'm not doing any major hucking or stunts to take advantage of all that travel. I had actually gone as far as calling some local shops, and had spoken at length with a guy recently about a Santa Cruz Blur XC. He had good things to say about it, but recommended the Intense bikes more highly, if I was willing to pay the extra price. Since the Blur's were more than I wanted to spend, the Intenses were a pipe dream.

Until now.

As I stared at the chainlove posting, I started getting excited. My fingers flew over the keyboard, looking for reviews on the Spider XVP and comparing prices. There was no denying that the deal was killer. And the reviews were universally glowing, calling the Spider the ultimate XC bike. My biggest hesitation was the cost ($1,200 for a frame is still a freaking lot of money to me, regardless of how good a deal it is) and the fact that I would have to buy all the parts to build it up, and then install them somehow. But the deal was too good, the timing too perfect. There was no sales tax, and shipping was only $32.00. I kept refreshing my computer screen, nervously looking to see how fast they were selling. Because with chainlove, once they're gone, the deal is dead.

I couldn't contain myself any longer, and I logged into my chainlove account and let the cursor hover over the "buy now" button. I had selected the midnight blue color, which is probably my favorite color period. Then, in a moment of clarity, I hit the button, still uncertain if I would actually get it, because someone could have swooped in during my hesitancy and purchased the last one. There were only two blue ones available after all.

But then the confirmation page popped up, and I was the proud new owner of an Intense Spider.

My first emotion was elation, followed by panic. Had I really just spend $1232.00 on a MTB frame? How was I going to afford parts? How in the heck was I going to build it up, even if I could somehow get the parts? What parts did I need? My panic quickly subsided, but lingered in the back of my mind as I focused on the joy I felt in purchasing a bike from one of the top manufacturers in the world.

My apprehension led me to post a thread on STR, asking for a suggested list of parts that I would need to begin accumulating in order to build up my new XC machine. Within an hour, I had several helpful posts identifying the list of parts I'd need, and I started to feel a little better.

And then I got a PM and an email from Doug with some of the best news I could hope for. He asked what kind of frame I had purchased, and offered to help me build it up once I got all of the parts. I was blown away. My biggest concern was now not an issue, and I could begin the exciting process of accumulating parts and prepping for my build. Doug has like eleventeen bikes, and clearly knows his way around builds, so I was thrilled at his offer.

I created an Excel sheet with a list of all the parts I'll need, along with a list of my dream items and my budget. I figure over the next couple of months, between some side work I'll be doing and my birthday and Christmas, I should be able to get my new ride built up before the end of the year. I'll keep updating my progress here on the blog, and am really, really excited about this project. The frame should be here in less than a week.

Goodbye to the FSR

Today, I said farewell to my first full suspension mountain bike, my 2004 Specialized FSR XC Pro. I sold it for a good price, actually somewhat more than I paid Billy for it back in October of last year. In recognition of his generosity when he sold it to me, I sent him a check for the difference between what I sold it for and what I paid him, so I essentially rented it for free for 10 months or so.

I remember buying it back in October. I had been talking to Rachel that very day about how much I was loving riding, and that my Iron Horse hardtail wasn't ideal for some of the more intermediate rides I was doing. But during our conversation, I told her that since I had just bought the IH three months earlier, I couldn't justify the expense of an upgrade so soon, and I would just have to make it work.

That afternoon, I got an email from Billy offering his barely used FSR for sale. The price he was asking was a little more than I could handle, but I emailed him anyway, and told him I was interested but finances were a little tight. He responded immediately, and knocked $200 of his asking price, just for me because I was part of Skyline MTB. I didn't even hesitate, and emailed him back immediately, sealing the deal.

That night, I couldn't sleep because I was so excited about my new full squish rig. I kept looking at the pictures he had emailed me, and could barely contain myself. Here's one of the pics he sent, which I must have looked at at least 150 times between the afternoon he sent it and the next day when I picked it up:

When I went to pick it up, I couldn't have been happier. It fit perfectly, was in great shape, and was exactly what I had been hoping to get but didn't think I could afford. Billy's generosity just blew me away.

A few weeks later, Billy further blessed my by taking my Iron Horse and FSR back overnight, and swapping out some parts from the IH that were a little better than those on the FSR. Amazing.

The FSR served me extremely well over the last 10 months or so. It was a great all around bike, and served as an awesome stepping stone to my next round of bike upgrades, including the Enduro. I had some minor seller's remorse as the new owner drove it away, but I knew it was going to a good home, and I wasn't riding it much these days because I have the Enduro, and the weight difference between the two is fairly minimal despite the difference in travel.

At some point, I'd love to invest in a lightweight XC rig to compliment the Enduro, which is a beast to drag up hills. But the FSR wasn't super light or speced out well enough to make me excited to ride it instead of the Enduro, so I decided to sell it while it still had as much value as possible. And I think that was a good choice, even though I was sad to see it go.

So another steed leaves the stable, but at least I had the chance to make some great memories with it, and will always remember Billy's generosity and assistance when I look back at pictures of me on the FSR, including the one that is the masthead on this blog.

Archipelago Ride Part II

After taking a couple of tries to figure out the first half of my planned route for my Archipelago Ride, I decided today to do some exploring as to the second half. Since I now knew where I would end up after taking Artesian down into the canyon and riding the fire road back up, I figured today I'd ride from home, through Lusardi Canyon, and hook up with the Santa Luz loop where it joined the fire road from Artesian.

I got online and studied some google earth maps to plan out a route from Santa Luz over to the south entrance of Los Penasquitos Canyon. After some planning and navigating online, I geared up and headed out. Rachel and her family were at Disneyland for the day, so I had basically as long as I needed, which took the pressure off.

I left home, rode over through the Del Norte high school construction site, and made my way down into Lusardi Canyon. I was spinning along, taking it easy because I wasn't sure how demanding the entire route would be. I rode through Lusardi, under the Camino del Sur bridge, and up the climb to San Dieguito Road. From there I crossed the street and began the first of two fire road climbs that mark the western boundary of the Santa Luz loop.

It was really hot by that point, and my conditioning has been severely lacking. I had to HAB some of the first small fire road climb, and most of the second. As I cruised down the back of the second hill, I made the right and followed the Santa Luz trail through the residential neighborhood and over toward the horse park.

As I climbed the hill away from the horse park, once again I had some HAB. I'm not sure if it was because of the heat, my conditioning, my wobbly right crank, or some combination thereof, but my riding skills were really off today. I eventually made it to the top of the hill, and instead of riding under the bridge and hooking up with the rest of the Santa Luz loop, I cut through a planter and rode along Camino del Sur until I came to a singletrack offshoot that lead to the southwest under the bridge I had been on.

I followed the singeltrack for a few hundred yards until it linked up with a fire road that I believed would take me over to LPQ. It was relatively flat, and I rode along enjoying the relief from the climbs and the new scenery. I eventually crossed Black Mountain Road, and dropped into another canyon that google maps seemed to indicate would link up with LPQ.

My pre-ride navigation skills proved adequate, and pretty quickly I found myself on the back side of LPQ, staring at a couple of rough climbs. I made it up part of the first one, then had to HAB. Then I made it to a flat section on a small mesa, where I could see my destination in the distance. But between me and the mesa across the way stood another canyon with a brutal climb out. After a few minutes of riding around, looking for an easier route across to the other side, I resigned myself to my fate and headed down into the canyon. The subsequent climb was really, really rough.

It was basically fire road, and wasn't even that rutted. It was just steep, and sustained. I had to rest a few times, and HABed more of it than I would prefer. I finally got to the top, exhausted and drained, but pleased that I had successfully found a route from Santa Luz to LPQ.

I hooked up with some of the singeltrack on the mesa that I had ridden with Doug, Evan, and Sean a couple weeks ago, and made my way back to familiar territory. At one point on the upper mesa singletrack, I took a turn too quickly and washed out my front tire, landing awkwardly. I wasn't seriously hurt, but it was clear that my fatigue was taking its toll.

I made my way over to the Rocking Horse tunnel, and dropped in. I avoided the jumps, and concentrated on not crashing as I wound my way though the tunnels. As I reached the main tunnel trail, I tried to remember which way I had to turn to hook up with the tunnel network that would take me northeast toward the Mobil station at the end of Camino del Sur. My brain was foggy, and I was struggling to keep pedaling, and mistakenly made a right at the juncture instead of a left.

That little mental error added 10 minutes or so to my death march, because I didn't realize I had made a wrong turn until I reached the climb that leads up to the main tunnel entrance, which was not where I wanted to be. So I doubled back, retraced my steps, and eventually hooked up with the tunnel with the stream crossings and the bike at the exit/entrance.

I exited the "crossings" tunnel and headed over to the Camino del Sur trailhead. I almost crashed riding down the rutted section of trail that leads across the stream at the bottom just before the trailhead, and staggered up the HAB to the parking lot.

At that point, I got off the bike and stretched for a minute, trying to gather my energy and beat back the fatigue I was feeling. I started feeling a little better, and set off for the brief pavement ride that would take me back to the singletrack that composed the final leg of the Santa Luz loop.

The pavement ride was manageable, though the climb leading to the intersection of Camino del Sur and Carmel Valley Road was a little rough at that point. I made a right on Carmel Valley Road, and began looking for an opportunity to cut over to the dirt trail that would take me up the Santa Luz singletrack. I seriously considered just staying on Carmel Valley Road, and taking the pavement home, but didn't want to ruin the hard work I had done to that point to stay on route.

I found a break in the fence along Carmel Valley Road, and forced myself to go through it and over onto the dirt. As I rode along and began to start up the singeltrack leading up to Black Mountain Community Park, I was in rough shape. My legs were definitely hurting, and the heat had cracked me. I actually HABed a short section of the uphill singletrack, which I had never had to do before. Eventually I made it through the steepest portion, and found myself at the paved fire road behind Black Mountain Community Park.

On the day of the actual Archipelago Ride, I intend to ride down the paved fire road to the east, cross Carmel Valley Road, and hook up with the fire road that will take me over to the Laurentian trailhead at Black Mountain. From there I will climb Black Mountain, take the downhill from the top over to Miner's, and then ride down Canyon Rim back to Carmel Valley Road. Then I intend to take the 4S trails back to my doorstep and collapse.

Today, I simply took the paved fire road down to Carmel Valley Road and rode the pavement back downhill to the 4S trail network toward home. I actually had to stop for a rest during the last portion of the paved climb out of the 4S trails, because I was almost completely done for at that point. But eventually I did make it home, and Part II of my Archipelago Ride was complete.

It felt great to have scouted the last portion of uncharted trail on my planned route. I now know how to connect Santa Luz to LPQ, and with my recon of the Artesian connector from SDRP to Santa Luz, all of the scouting for the Archipelago Ride is complete. The question is whether I can pull it off. The climbs in today's portion were really rough, and I didn't even have to worry about any of the climbs from Part I of the route, or the Black Mountain climbs, which are bad enough by themselves, let along after 40 miles of riding beforehand.

I left today with some serious doubts about whether I can complete the whole Archipelago Ride, at least without a somewhat sustained break in the middle. If I have an aid station somewhere near San Dieguido Road, and take a medium break after the LPQ portion or at Black Mountain Community Park, that may work. But riding the whole thing straight through, without stopping, is going to be virtually impossible for me.

I'm also wondering if I should have someone along with me, just for safety and companionship. I had envisioned doing this ride alone, as kind of a rite of passage or self-imposed gauntlet, but now I'm not sure. At a minimum, it would be nice to have someone to take pictures, because I was too tired to take any today.

So Part II is complete, and my route is clear. Next, for my final pre-ride in Part III, I'll ride from home up to Black Mountain Community Park, and then take the fire road from there over to the Laurentian trailhead for the Black Mountain pre-ride. That is going to be tough, but I want to have ridden each section of the Archipelago Ride all the way through before I attempt riding them all together. I'm looking forward to it, even though I have significant apprehension.

Here are the stats from today:

Total Distance: 22.72 miles

Total Time: 3:39:41

Ascent: 2552 feet

Average Speed: 6.2 mph

Top Speed: 34.0 mph

Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite

Map:

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