Santa Luz Loop from Home

Before leaving on vacation next week, I wanted to get in a MTB ride. Time was scarce this weekend with packing and other prep-work, so I decided to just stay local and ride the Santa Luz loop from home.

In keeping with my desire to ride new dirt this year, I attempted to at least put a slightly different spin on the ride. I left from home, and instead of riding the 4S trails to Carmel Valley road up to Black Mountain Community Park, I headed west into Lusardi Canyon and rode the steep trail up the back side to the Park.

I had ridden that trail a few times before in the past, and never cleaned it. This time I did. Its not technical at all, just steep, and I grinded away all the way up to the top. From there I rode along the fringes of the soccer fields and hooked up with the Santa Luz singletrack.

The singletrack ended way too quickly, as it always does, and from there I rode along the doubletrack that winds through the Santa Luz valley.

As I reached the brief paved connector street, I spotted one of those portable speed displays that the County puts up in certain areas to warn drivers about their speed. I was curious to see if it would register my speed as I rode by. Turned out it would!

Clearly I wasn't able to generate much speed holding my camera in one hand and riding with the other, but it was an entertaining experiment.

After that I rode through the neighborhood and over towards the two hills that mark the most difficult part of the loop. I cleaned the first fairly easily, which I have done several times in the past. This time, however, I also cleaned the second hill, which is something I have never done. The rains had made it much less loose than usual, which helped, but it still felt good to cross that one off my list.

From there my path took me back into Lusardi Canyon toward home.

I decided to explore a couple of faint double track trails as they led out of the canyon, which proved to be a minor mistake. They eventually petered out into overgrown brush, and I had to plow/bushwhack my way back to the road home as I reached the top.

Still, it was an enjoyable and satisfying ride. Cleaning the trail up to Black Mountain Community Park and both of the rough hills in the middle felt good, and it was nice to take advantage of the beautiful day.

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Santa Luz Loop from Home