RR: Sycamore Canyon w/Martha's and Switchbacks

After last week's Archipelago ride I was looking for an easy local trail to do today that would offer something to shoot for while not taxing me too badly. I realized that I had never gone and cleaned up the final pieces of Martha's Grove that I wanted to clear in order to cross that particular goal off my 2008 list.

So I packed up the car and headed over to the Poway trailhead. I had a little trouble finding it again (why can't they just allow you to turn from Scripps-Poway Parkway on to Sycamore Canyon Rd.?) but made it in time to not feel stressed about how long the ride would take.

I planned on riding all of Syacmore, but the real reason for coming was to clean all of Martha's so I decided to run it right off the bat. I took the singletrack up from the trailhead, through the first two steep ups without stopping, and prepared for the first sketchy downhill section.

I cleaned that with little problem, then rode up the next short steep that had given me trouble last time, and then railed the final downhill section with relative ease. It felt great to clean the whole thing without stopping or dabbing, particularly since Martha's is a trail that I refused to even attempt a year and a half ago when I first started riding. I even stopped for a picture of the grove at the end of the downhill in order to reflect on my accomplishment.

From there I rode through the Grove, past the Gooden Ranch Ranger Station, through the gate, and on to the singletrack that headed south through the Canyon. Its always a fun section, with some tight turns and fun rocky sections that are easy but entertaining.

As I rode through the singletrack toward the Santee side, I decided that I would try to look for the switchbacks that a lot of people ride at Sycamore instead of staying on the lower canyon singletrack. Right before the main powerlines I spotted what I thought was the trail leading to the switchbacks, and headed up.

I think the Archipelago ride was still a factor for me, as I was forced to HAB the final 1/3 of the initial climb. It was pretty steep, but the footing was fine and I should have been able to clean it. Meh, next time.

At the top I followed the fire road along the ridgeline and to the west I could see trails that I figured led to Spring and Oak Canyons. Eventually I reached a singletrack off shoot, and took it as it seemed to head back down into Sycamore Canyon.

Before I began the switchback descent I stopped to watch some helicopters practicing takeoffs and landings in the meadow below. As they took off and flew around, they were actually below where I was on the ridgeline.



From there I headed down the switchbacks, which were a ton of fun to descend. The Spider is so nimble and compact that I could take them with a lot more speed than I expected. The descent was over far too quickly (especially considering how hard the climb up was for me today) and soon I found myself back on the canyon floor.

From there it was a relatively easy spin back through the gate, past the Ranger Station, and up the paved climb back to the trailhead. Despite trying hard not to, I was forced to stop and rest for a minute during the paved climb. I've had no problem climbing it in the past, and today's ride was far from a sufferfest, so once again I'll have to chalk up my difficulties to riding 42 miles a week ago.

Either way, it felt great to clean all of Martha's for the first time, and I was glad to have at least ridden the switchbacks once to see what all the fuss was about. With Martha's crossed of the 2008 goal list, there really only two goals left: (1) Do a ride in the OC and (2) Improve my fitness. With two months left in 2008, I feel good about getting to the OC, and we'll see where my fitness is at year's end to determine how I did on that one.

Here are today's stats:

Total Distance: 12.17 miles
Total Time: 1:51:39
Ascent: 1343 feet
Average Speed: 6.4 mph
Top Speed: 24.4 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:

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