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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