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:
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