RR: Sycamore Canyon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stats:

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

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