Saturday, January 31, 2009

RR: Ramona Ride

Had an awesome ride today with a ton of DT guys up in Ramona. The ride report with pics (including some of me) is available here.

Total Distance: 12.88 miles
Total Time: 2:49:50
Ascent: 1801 feet
Average Speed: 4.5 mph
Top Speed: 23.3mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:

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Sunday, January 25, 2009

RR: Local Ride w/Miner's Loop and Lilac Canyon

This afternoon was a quick local ride, just to trying to keep my momentum going. I rode Miner's loop from home.

Total Distance: 9.55 miles
Total Time: 1:19:39
Ascent: 1457 feet
Average Speed: 7.2 mph
Top Speed: 33.6 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:

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Sunday, January 18, 2009

RR: SMaRT

This afternoon was a short but fun trip up to Fallbrook for a ride on the Santa Margarita River Trail with Doug and his dad. I had been hoping to get some kind of ride in this weekend, and this turned out to be a good option.

We dropped into the trail from a fun downhill near Doug's parent's house, and then rode along the river for a bit. The trail itself is beautiful, and there were quite a few people out today enjoying the amazing weather.

The ride was more or less uneventful. I cleaned a few steep climbs that would have given me trouble in the past, which felt good. I also finished strong up a very steep pavement climb to the finish that Doug had warned me about.

Doug was having a good time, even if it didn't look like it.

The trail was in pretty good shape, though there were some sandy spots.


Father and son on the trails:

I did have an amusing fall as I tried to ride up and over a huge dirt mound that was at the base of the pavement climb. I think my big ring caught as I reached the apex of the mound, causing me to go OTB into the soft dirt. Fortunately, there was no photographic evidence.

I enjoyed riding with Doug as always, and the scenery on this trail is among the best for rides that aren't an hour away in the mountains.

All in all it was a fun, quick trip.

Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 5.23 miles
Total Time: 1:11:47
Ascent: 940 feet
Average Speed: 4.4 mph
Top Speed: 27.5 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:

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Saturday, January 17, 2009

RR: Daley Ranch (Intense Demo Day)

I'm in the midst of trial preparation hell, but somehow found time to work in a short ride this morning at Daley Ranch before heading into work on a Saturday.

Intense was having a demo day out at Daley, and because its so close to work and I am now an Intense owner and fan, I wanted to make it out there for at least a little bit.

I brought my bike, but was hoping to get to ride a new Tracer if one was available. I got there early, but all of the Tracers in my size were already gone, so I elected to demo a Spider 29'er instead. After a quick waiver form and installing my own pedals, I was on my way.

I took Creek Crossing from the parking lot to East Ridge, up Sage, then down the Diamondback singletrack. Just before the turnoff to Diamondback, I saw a coyote just off the trail.


He eventually went his way, and I went mine.

From Diamondback I took East Ridge north to the west side of Jack Creek Meadow Loop, up Hidden Spring (Cardiac) to Englemann Oak, and hooked a left on Cougar Ridge.



On Cougar Ridge, I stopped for a quick picture to the west. It was gorgeous out, and I could see all the way to the ocean.


By taking this route I skipped a significant section of trail that I had ridden before, including the Burnt Mountain and Bobcat singletracks, but I was short on time and trial prep was calling my name.

I then took Cougar Ridge to the newly re-routed Crest singletrack, which was a ton of fun and a big improvement. After that all I had left was the banzai down the Ranch House fire road back to the Intense truck and my car.

As far as my impressions of the Spider 29'er, my thoughts are limited. It felt a lot like my Spider 26'er, so I didn't notice a huge advantage to the bigger wheels. I loved the XTR brakes, however, and the bike did climb very well. If I didn't have the 26" version and was in the market for a full suspension 29'er, I think it would be a great choice. But since I already have a FS 26" bike with almost the same geometry, I can't see buying one of these. Either way, it was fun to ride something different, and the color was really cool.


Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 1.73 miles
Total Time: 1:34:51
Ascent: 1705 feet
Average Speed: 6.8 mph
Top Speed: 30.5 mph
Bike: Intense Spider 29'er
Map:

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Sunday, January 4, 2009

RR: Santa Luz Loop

After yesterday's Secret Trail excursion, I had a chance to do another ride today. I decided to just to a quick lap around the Santa Luz Loop from home, and had an unexpectedly tremendous ride.

I just felt strong from start to finish. I rode the 4S trails over to Carmel Valley Road, and saw that the paragliders were out today.

I continued up Carmel Valley Road to Black Mountain Community Park, then rode down the Santa Luz singletrack and through the meadow.

From there I rode past the horse ranch and through the neighborhood toward the twin *itches. I cleaned the first steep climb and started my descent down the other side toward number two. During the descent, I let me speed get a little high, and took a nasty spill when my front tire caught a huge rut in the middle of the fire road. The recent rain has wreaked havoc with the steep fire roads, and I was lucky to escape with some minor scratches.

From there it was a short HAB up the second hill, then down and across San Dieguito road to the other side of Santa Luz. As always, there were some beautiful views.

I railed the doubletrack down through Lusardi Canyon, and crossed the river at the gate. I then cut through the nursery and rode the fire road up the north side of the canyon. After that I rode along the mesa towards Del Norte High, cut through the construction and pedaled home.

Other than the second crazy-steep fire road and a miscalculation climbing out of Lusardi Canyon, I had no HAB and rode strong the whole way. Finishing the whole loop from home in less than an hour and a half felt great, and all in all I was left with a great impression at the end of the ride.

Here are the stats

Total Distance: 13.77 miles
Total Time: 1:28:31
Ascent: 1584 feet
Average Speed: 9.3 mph
Top Speed: 32.1 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:

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Thursday, January 1, 2009

2009 Goal List

Last year's Goal List and Ride List provided me with a fun way to measure my mountain biking progress. My list of trails to ride and achievements to accomplish that year made for a neat checklist of MTB milestones, so I thought I'd do it again this year.

However, because I occasionally stressed out in 2008 about riding a particular trail or meeting a particular goal, and riding is supposed to be about recreation and fun for me, I'm toning down the list this year.

First of all, I'm combining the goal and ride list into one master list. Second, it will be shorter and simpler this year. If I do more fun and memorable stuff, great. If not, that's fine too. Its all about priorities for me this year, and I want to keep that in perspective.

So here's the list, in no particular order:

1. Ride the full Tour de Noble: For me, this means climbing from the bottom of the Noble trailhead, up the road to Indian Creek, then over Champagne Pass, down Noble, up and down Extra Credit and back to the car. I almost did this ride at the end of 2008, but it fell through. Its taxing, with a series of difficult climbs at the beginning that makes the downhill portions a survivialfest, but I want to check this one off the list. Conditioning will be a factor.

2. Ride the Spring Canyon to Sycamore Canyon Ride: I've heard this one is brutal, but a lot of fun. As I understand it, I'd ride Spring Canyon to near the end, then a cutover to Sycamore, up to Martha's and back. I've ridden everything but the cutover in separate rides already, so I just need to combine Spring and Sycamore on a day when I'm feeling strong.

3. Ride the Santa Ana River Trail (SART): Its one of the most talked-about trails in SoCal that I've never ridden, and I really want to ride SART this year. I've heard its tough, and because of its location in the San Bernardino mountains can only be ridden at certain times of year, but I want to make it out there in 2009 at least once.

4. Ride in Idyllwild: I'd like to ride the trails up in Idyllwild at some point this year. I'm shooting for Alvin Meadows, Hurkey Creek, or a combination of the two. They're only a couple hours away, and a ton of fun from what I've heard.

5. Ride Cowles Mountain and Pyles Peak: This is one of the few San Diego rides I haven't done yet, and I want to see what this trail is like. I've hiked Cowles from the south, but never ridden it on the bike-legal trails. For some reason this one didn't make my 2008 list, and I plan to remedy that this year.

6. Ride My Archipelago Route Backwards: I rode it clockwise in 2008, and in 2009 I want to ride the same route in the opposite direction. With the Tunnels being shut down, I'll have to make some minor changes to the LPQ section of the route, and the finish at Black Mountain will involve a climb to the peak that is much harder than the finish to the clockwise route was, but I think I can do it.

7. Do an Organized MTB Event or Race: I sort of did this one in 2008 with the Cycle Eastlake event and Cuyamaca Poker Ride, but I want to do another organized event or maybe even a race this year. Maybe it will be the Warrior's Society Toad Festival, or a Racers and Chasers event, or a 12 Hour race, or some other endurance event or race. I'm leaving this goal a little vague, because I'm not sure I have the time or dedication to train for a serious race or competitive event, but want to do something along those lines by the end of the year.

8. Join and Participate in a Mountain Bike Patrol: I've been interested in joining a Mountain Bike Patrol for a while now. IMBA has a NMBP that is akin to the Ski Patrol, but there is no San Diego chapter right now. As far as I know, none of the local city or county parks have patrols either. But I'm interested in volunteering and assisting on the trails, and hope to make that happen in 2009.

9. Ride Otay Mountain: I don't know what route exactly, but I've heard about some fun South Bay rides that include Otay mountain, and want to get out there at some point this year.

10. Do an Out-of-State Ride: Last year the goal was to do a ride outside of SoCal. I made that one, so this year I'm branching out a little. I want to do some out of state ride, whether its something relatively close like Arizona (Sedona or Phoenix) or Nevada (Bootleg or Red Rocks) or something more ambitious like Utah or Colorado. Considering financial limitations and time constraints, this one may be tough.

11. Control my MTB-Related Spending: I spent a ton of money on MTB-related items in 2008. Between multiple bikes, clothes, accessories, and nutrition, the amount of retail expenses I incurred to support my hobby was outrageous. In 2009, I'm making it a specific and important goal to reduce my MTB spending. I'm not buying another bike. I won't need shoes thanks to my Christmas present from my wonderful wife. I will resist the upgradeitis that afflicted me in 2008. I'll limit the amount of clothes and accessories I purchase to necessities, and will resist the siren call of Chainlove.

So there you have it, my 2009 Goal List. Hopefully I have as much success meeting these goals as I did in 2008 with that list.