Back on April 1, and July 1, and October 1, I posted quarterly State of the Union addresses on this blog detailing the progress I had made on my 2008 Ride List and 2008 Goal List. At the end of each quarter I always found myself looking forward to writing this post because its interesting for me to look back at the last three months to review what I've accomplished, how I've progressed, and where I want to improve.
I plan on doing an extensive year-end post hitting some of the high points from all of 2008, but in keeping with my tradition of quarterly progress reports, I wanted to do my 4th Quarter review separately.
2008 RIDE LIST:
As far as rides on my 2008 list, I entered Q4 with three rides left on my list. I finally rode the Big Laguna Loop (with extras) and La Costa, which I had been hoping to get to. BLT was an absolute blast because we added in some awesome bonus sections including Agua Dulce and Red Tail Roost. La Costa was decent, with a confidence-building trip down NASCAR coupled with a ton of climbing that wasn't entirely worth it. It was a fun enough trail, but not one I plan on doing on a regular basis like so many other riders in North County.
It looks like I will officially not be completing every ride on my 2008 List, however, because I didn't make it out to Lake Morena. I thought it was going to happen when the Rock MTB group scheduled a ride out there on December 20, but rain forced a change of venue and my last opportunity was squandered. I'm a little bummed to not have crossed every ride off the list, but I'll live. And I'll make sure to get out to Lake Morena in 2009 at least once.
2008 GOAL LIST:
As for my more general 2008 Goal List, the 4th Quarter was a good one. I entered the quarter with only four goals left unaccomplished. To remedy that fact, in early November I finally made it back out to Sycamore to clean all of Martha's Grove (up and down). A week earlier I had already knocked off Goal #2 by doing an all-day type ride courtesy of my Archipelago Ride. And then in early December I did a ride in the OC while riding the famed San Juan Trail. The only other goal left on the list was to improve my climbing skills and general fitness, which I have clearly done, though not to my complete satisfaction.
HIGHLIGHTS OF Q4:
The 4th Quarter was a great one for me, with several awesome rides and a couple of other interesting developments.
The most significant non-riding event of the quarter was the completion of my new bike, an Intense Spider XVP. I bought the frame online for a song back in August, and finally purchased all the components and had it built up in early October by the guys over at Bike Bling. The list of specs is available in this post which I wrote the day I picked it up from the shop. Over the next three months I made some minor additions including my own saddle, carbon handle bars, and finally some new pedals. The bike has been awesome, and though it ended up costing quite a bit, I was able to defray almost the entire cost using supplemental income so I didn't shatter our household budget. I have noticed a significant improvement in my climbing with the Spider over the Enduro, and the bike just seems to fit me better than any of my previous ones. I am looking forward to riding it for years to come.
As far as rides in Q4, I was glad to get Rach out on her first real MTB ride at Spring Canyon in early October. She did great, and I hope to get her out on more rides in 2009.
I also had a chance to do the annual Cuyamaca Poker Ride for the first time this year, and had one of my strongest riding days of the year in terms of fitness. The ride itself was OK, but it was the first real ride I did on the new Spider, and what a difference it made. My fitness and proper bike-fit made the experience much more enjoyable than it would have been if I was out of shape and on the Enduro, and I had a great time.
I also finally made it up to the Lagunas in Q4 to do the BLT ride and I'll remember it as one of the most purely enjoyable rides of the second half of the year. There wasn't any one thing that made it fun, but the trails were new and interesting, the company was good, and the scenery and weather were great, combining for a great day on the trails all around.
November brought my now ledgendary Archipelago Ride, which was a highlight of the entire year in terms of accomplishment. It was 42 miles of riding, and I had some physical challenges during the last third of the ride, but it felt great to finish the whole thing and I really felt like I had achieved something significant by the end. Between the three pre-rides and some google earth scouting efforts, planning the route was almost as much fun as riding it, and I learned that the "exploration" aspect of mountainbiking is one of my favorite parts of the hobby.
I also was glad to make it up to the famed San Juan Trail in December. Nate proved to be an awesome trail guide and de facto coach, and I performed better than I thought I would on a day where I wasn't even feeling my best. Making it all the way to Blue Jay was something I was really proud of, and I ended the ride once again feeling like I had achieved something significant.
My last ride of the year was another interesting one when I rode over at McGinty Mountain with a group of fast riders. The trail was fairly unknown, and while the ride itself wasn't a ton of fun, the backcountry feel and exploration aspect were extremely enjoyable, and I look forward to getting back there and exploring more early in 2009.
For the fourth quarter of 2008, I rode a total of 217.53 miles on my mountain bike, as opposed to 200.00 in Q3, 254.75 in Q2 and 140.25 miles in Q1. As a result, I rode 812.55 miles this year. I didn't have a total mileage goal at the beginning of 2008, but I feel like that number is adequate. I am thinking of setting a mileage goal for 2009, but don't want to be stressed about miles all year at the expense of fun on the trails.
As I said above, I'll be posting a year-end summary with thoughts and pictures from the entire year, but as far as Q4 goes, I feel like I finished strong and look forward to building on the miles I've logged and trails I've ridden this year as I head into 2009.
Showing posts with label 2008 Ride List. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008 Ride List. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
RR: La Costa
I wanted to try something new today, and despite not having anyone to ride with, I decided to go check out the popular trail network over at La Costa. Armed with Mountainbike Bill's directions and a printed map, I headed over to the trailhead. Despite how geographically close this trail is to my house, getting there by car was a colossal hassle. I ended up going Camino del Sur to San Dieguito Rd. and driving through Rancho Santa Fe to get there, but there has to be a better way. I could literally almost see my house from the top of the mountain, but it took me about 30 minutes to drive there. Crazy!In any event, I arrived at the street near where the trail was, parked, and headed up the sidewalk to the trailhead.
It was a georgeous day, and I was just glad to be back on the bike after a more than two week hiatus. I was also happy to be trying out my new point and shoot camara, a Canon Powershot SD790 IS. I quickly arrived at the gravel road that led to the trail and headed up.
I was immediately presented with a fork in the road, and was not sure which way to go. My maps and directions were decent, but I quickly wished that I had waited to ride this trail until I could come with someone who knew where they were going. I elected to head toward the right, which ended up being the correct call. I pedaled a short distance and found myself heading up the trail I was looking for, which consisted of a series of switchbacks.The switchback climb started out OK, with a managable grade and some mildly techy parts that were cleanable for me. As a matter of fact I found myself powering through several rocky sections that I would have normally had to walk in the past, so I was feeling pretty good.
After a little while however, fatigue set in and I found myself off the bike, HABing the steeper switchbacks. Maybe it was not riding and behind my desk 12 hours a day for two weeks. Maybe it was the lack of a decent warm-up before the climbing began in earnest. Either way, I was not able to ride the entire first section of the switchback climb, which was disappointing.
I did re-mount fairly quickly and was able to get a good pace going after a while. I stopped at a trail juncture to check my map and make sure I was heading the right direction.
The switchbacks seemed to go on forever, but the top of the hill gradually began getting closer and closer. My plan, based on MTB Bill's recommendation, was to ride the switchback trail up, then go down NASCAR, then climb back up (somehow) and ride down the Vista del Mar trail.I had a difficult time finding the entrance of NASCAR, and after riding around the top of the mountain a bit, doubled back toward the switchbacks and eventually found it. I had heard quite a bit about this section of trail, and had some apprehension. To my surprise, I was able to ride the entire thing without stopping or dabbing, though I didn't launch any of the big jumps. The NASCAR descent was a ton of fun but over far too quickly, and at the bottom I found myself unsure about how to get back up to the top of the mountain. Because I now knew the route, I elected to just ride back up the switchbacks, which was a little repetative and boring. I rode more of the climb this time, but still had a few HAB sections due exclusively to fatigue. I also stopped at the top for a minute to take a picture and enjoy the view.
From there I headed down Vista del Mar, and the descent was an absolute blast. It was flowy, well maintained, and even had a couple of technical spots that I enjoyed. On one of them there was a sign designating the "easy" and "hard" choices for the line. My natural path had taken me toward the easier of the two, but after conquering NASCAR, my confidence was high and I felt good about my chances on the more difficult route. So I hiked back up the trail a little ways and hit the harder portion of the trail with no problem. It felt great.Unlike NASCAR, Vista del Mar wasn't over too quickly, and it was a nice payoff for all the climbing. At the bottom, I briefly considered another trip up to the top so that I could ride down the switchbacks, but it was getting late and I needed to get home. I found a sign near the base of the switchbacks that directed me back toward the trailhead, and I headed that direction.
I was back at the car in no-time, and was glad to have decided to ride La Costa today. This particular trail had not been on my original 2008 Ride List, but after hearing so much about it I had tacked it (and Ted Williams) on to my to-do list during the first quarter of 2008. It was definitely a fun trail, and I was really happy about how I'd handled the technical stuff, especially on the 4" travel Spider. (In fact, when trying to decide between the Spider and an Intense 5.5, one shop owner told me that if I wanted to ride trails like La Costa, the 5.5 was the better choice. And if I was going to be launching the big jumps, he may have been right, but the Spider did everything I needed it to today and more.)One thing I'm not sure about is what the best general route would be if I came back here again. Climbing the switchbacks twice was a little boring, and it would actually be fun to ride down them at some point as well. Climbing Vista del Mar is not appealing to me at all, but may be the way to go if I want some variety next time. I'm sure someone out there has some ideas of what the best route is as far as flow and fun, so hopefully they'll post a suggestion here. No matter what route I take this is not a trail network with a ton of flow and rhythm. You basically climb and climb, then fly downhill, and repeat. I still had a great time, and am grateful to those who spent a ton of time working to make the trails themselves outstanding and in incredible shape.
Here are the stats:
Total Distance: 8.91 miles
Total Time: 1:53:45
Ascent: 1640 feet
Average Speed: 4.7 mph
Top Speed: 20.9 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:
View Larger Map
Saturday, October 25, 2008
RR: Big Laguna Trail (w/Extras)
This morning was a ride I've been looking forward to for a while: Big Laguna Trail (BLT) with the Skyline MTB crew. BLT was one of two rides left on my 2008 Ride List, and while I thought I would have gotten up there before now, it was worth the wait. I left home early, and met up with Nate at the park and ride at Los Coches. We carpooled up the rest of the way to the BLT trailhead, and had a great time catching up during the drive. We had technically ridden together a few weeks ago at the Spring Canyon ride, but I hadn't seen him much, so that didn't count.
We made it to the trailhead first, but were soon joined by Michael, Billy and his family, and a new Skyline MTB rider, Amy. We milled about for a bit at the trailhead getting ready, and had a short time of prayer before we set out.
We immediately split into two groups, with Billy and his family heading out to do the basic BLT loop around the lake, and Nate, Michael, Amy and I heading up a fire road to the south so that we could work in some bonus trails before meeting back up with Billy and company at the benches for a devotional time.The fire road wasn't too bad, and actually made for a good warm up.
We inadvertently missed the singletrack turnoff for the trail they call "Little Noble," so we actually climbed the fire road all the way back to 79 near the Laguna Lodge. From there it was a short road ride over to Red Tail Roost and our first taste of singletrack this morning.
We started with some rolling climbs through narrow singletrack, which gave way to some really fun descents. The weather was flawless, and I was having a blast on my new Spider. The turns were a little loose and sandy because of the lack of moisture, but the trail itself was in great shape overall. Nate and I were out in front a bit, and had a chance to stop and enjoy the scenery during a regroup.
Michael and Amy were not far behind, and we got back under way after a short break.
From there it was more beautiful singletrack, including some more swoopy descents. I had not ridden this particular section of trails before, and won't make that mistake again. It was awesome.
We then came to another short climb, and then started down a fire road marked Agua Dulce. It was a short, fun fire road descent that dumped us in to our next significant climb of the day.
As we spun along, I was actually feeling pretty good. The pace was not super-fast, but we were moving along and I wasn't getting tired really at all. At the top of the climb, we made our way through a singletrack cutover that involved a little HAB over some obstacles, and then took a minute for Michael to huck a nearby rock.
After seeing him nail it, I decided to give it a try, and rolled it. [Not pictured]. From there it was another short climb, then over to Chico Ravine.
This was probably my absolute favorite section of trail today; an awesome twisty singletrack descent with some techy stuff near the bottom to make things really interesting. The Spider ate it up, and I was particularly thankful for some suspension changes Nate had helped me with before the ride started.
We took a minute at the bottom of the singletrack to regroup, then rode over to main BLT trail to the benches, where Billy and his family were waiting. Our timing was almost perfect because they had only been waiting a few minutes, and we had a neat time of discussion. 
I led a devotional from 1 Kings and Psalm 42 regarding being still and listening to God, which seemed to resonate with people. After we were done sharing, it was time to complete the BLT loop and we got underway as a whole group. I took this shot blind, over my shoulder:
I have ridden around BLT a couple of times, and always really enjoy it. The scenery is beautiful, the trail is fun and varied enough to be interesting, and the last section is always a lot of fun in particular.
Nate and eventually got out in front, and rode at a little faster pace than the rest of the group. This also gave me a chance to get ahead and shoot some pictures of almost everyone:Michael-
Amy-
Helenka-
Willie-
Billy-
Amanda-
After taking the pics I caught up and rode ahead of most of the group and railed the last section around the north side of the lake. Billy calls that section the roller coasters, and its the most fun part of the BLT loop itself. Amy did really well for just her second or third time on her new Specialized Myka, and stayed close behind us.
We finished up back at the trailhead at the cars, and hung out for a bit talking bikes and enjoying each other's company. It was an awesome morning of riding, and I'm really glad I went. The new trails we rode other than the BLT loop were a ton of fun as well, and I won't ride up here without hitting them next time.Here are the stats:
Total Distance: 15.02 miles
Total Time: 2:09:37
Ascent: 2015 feet
Average Speed: 7.0 mph
Top Speed: 25.0 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:
View Larger Map
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
State of the MTB Union (Q3, 2008)
Back on April 1, and then again on July 1, I posted quarterly State of the Union addresses on this blog detailing the progress I had made on my 2008 Ride List and 2008 Goal List. As September wound down, I found myself looking forward to writing this post because its always fun for me to look back at the last three months to review what I've accomplished, how I've progressed, and where I want to improve.
2008 RIDE LIST:
As far as rides on my 2008 list, I finally rode Elfin Forest and Spring/Oak Canyon this quarter, as well as unofficial 2008 Ride List trail Ted Williams. Elfin was a rough one, with tons of climbing. The views were spectacular, but I'm not sure they were worth it. Spring and Oak, however, were a ton of fun, and that was a trail that I would gladly do again in the future. It was a lot like Sycamore, but I enjoyed seeing some new trails and learned more about the capabilities of my Garmin Edge 205 during that ride, which was cool. Ted Williams was fun as well, and turned out to be more cross-country than I expected. I'll probably go back there again at some point to explore a little.
Even though I rode nine of the items on the Ride List in Q1, five in Q2, and only two this month, I'm still happy with my progress. I only have two official rides from the list left to do this year, as well as one unofficial one. And as I will discuss below, I made some significant progress on my Goal List items, which I'm proud of.
The remaining official rides on my 2008 Ride List are Big Laguna Trail and Lake Morena. I also would like to get to La Costa Canyon as well. Skyline MTB will probably ride at BLT before the end of the year, so that is attainable. Lake Morena remains a wild card, because it is so far away and apparently quite a challenge. But I think I'll get there. STR member Chip has offered to show me around the next time he goes, which is a weekday in October so that is one option. I may also see if I can find a GPS route of the trails out there and plug them into my Edge and go by myself if I can.
2008 GOAL LIST:
As for my more general 2008 Goal List, the results are mixed, but I did make some progress in Q3. For a full description of the goals themselves, check out that entry. Below is the list, with comments on my progress thus far (or lack thereof) and prognosis for completion by the end of the year on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being unlikely and 10 being already done):
1. Ride Noble Canyon: (10)
I did the full Noble Shuttle back at the end of April, and am satisfied that this goal has been met. As I predicted in the April State of the Union, I rode the full Noble trail from top to bottom at the Skyline MTB weekend, and generally had a lot of fun. The portion of the trail that I skipped on my first time out there was the best part of the ride, and I'll never bail out on that section again.
2. Do a ~50 mile/all day-type ride: (8)
This one I haven't done, but I've gotten closer and have a definite plan for how to accomplish it. My Archipelago Ride, which I've ridden 2/3 of already, will be about 60 miles and will satisfy this goal if I can do it. I am continuing to plan this one out, and have been considering doing it in the opposite direction than I had originally planned. If the weather cooperates, and I step up my training, I should be able to accomplish this goal and have an amazing ride summary to report here sometime in Q4.
3. Do a Multi-Day ride: (10)
This one was attained in Q3 via my Kernville/Sequoia trip at the beginning of September. Over four days I rode a little over 40 miles, and had an awesome time.
4. Do an Out of Town Ride: (10)
I initially thought I accomplished this goal when I rode at the Santa Rosa Plateau in mid-June, and then I went back and looked at the description of the actual goal and realized it referred to a ride outside of SoCal entirely, so at the beginning of Q3 I was back to square one on this goal. However, the Kernville/Sequoia trip changed that, as I spent four days riding the in Kernville and the Southern Sierras. The ride reports and pictures tell the whole story, but it was an outstanding trip for my first real out of town ride.
5. Do a Ride in the OC: (8)
I obviously haven't done this yet either, but I am interested in shuttling San Juan, riding Aliso, or maybe even doing San Clemente Single Tracks. Again, with the sheer volume of STR rides in those places, it shouldn't be a problem doing one of them. I really want to get out to San Juan, which I've heard is a lot of fun.
6. Do a Night Ride (w/Light): (10)
This is one of the three goals I met in Q2, when I did the SDMBA Cuyamaca Night ride. It was a whole new experience riding at night, and I enjoyed night riding enough that I picked up a NiteRider TriNewt from Performance when they were on mega-sale, so I'll be doing more night riding in the future.
7. Clear all of Martha's: (9)(No Change since Q1)
I'm so close on this one, and I already basically did hard part with the downhill, so I just need to clean climbs and one tiny part. Its close to home and I ride there pretty often, so I'm pretty confident about meeting this goal.
8. Clear all of "the ****": (10)
Did it. And it was kind of a cool story, since I went and rode the S**** the night before SDMBA went and did trailwork on it and changed its landscape forever. You can read the ride report here.
9. Climb Bernardo Mountain: (10)
I accomplished this one as part of perhaps my best biking experience in Q2, the Tour de Hodges. I'll talk more about that day in the Q2 State of the Union post, but I did ride Bernardo Peak, and while there was definitely some HAB, I accomplished the goal of getting to the top.
10. Improve my climbing skills/general fitness:
This one is still hit and miss. I got back on the stationary bike more regularly in Q3, but the amount of riding I did diminished significantly. In addition, my poor fitness level was really a factor in Kernville/Sequoia, where I was consistently at the back of the pack. I'm still HABing more than I'd prefer, and I'm hoping that my new Spider may help improve my climbing skills as I progress to a more XC-oriented bike.
HIGHLIGHTS OF Q3:
The quarter started out well with a fun ride over at Ted Williams with Sean and Doug. It was my first ride with Sean, whom I would eventually meet again on the Kernville/Sequoia trip a few months later. It was nice to finally ride the secret TW trails, and as close as they are, I figure I'll get out there again soon.
Another highlight of Q3 was my planning and partial execution of my Archipelago Ride. In an effort to hook up several local trails into one epic loop, I began scouting connectors and possible routes online early this quarter, and then began executing that plan over several weeks. The plan was to start from home, ride over to South Hodges, to North Hodges, through the SDRP trails, to the Santa Luz loop, to LPQ, back to the Santa Luz singletrack, to Black Mountain, to home. My first ride started well, with a successful connection from home to Hodges, but ended in frustration, as I was unable to hook up with the Santa Luz loop. After doing some research I figured out where I went wrong, and made the connection on my second attempt.
My efforts at scouting Part II of the Archipelago ride went pretty well also, though that section proved to be an absolute grind, putting my ability to complete the whole route as planned in doubt. I still haven't ridden Part III, which will include Black Mountain. At this point, I'm considering doing it in reverse, which would mean doing the Black Mountain portion first. We'll see. In any event, the Archipelago rides were a lot of fun, but hard work, and were the longest of my mountainbiking career thus far.
I also sold the FSR in Q3, which caused me some minor seller's remorse. It was a great bike, and it treated me well. At the end of the day, it wasn't light or efficient enough to be a great XC bike long-term, and I was riding the Enduro almost exclusively, so it was a good idea to sell it. I was also proud of how I handled the proceeds.
Part of what really softened the blow of selling the FSR was the purchase of my Intense Spider XVP frame in Q3 as well. The frame has sat in a box for the last two and a half months while I earn the supplemental income to pay for it, but once it is built, its going to be a dream machine.
August 3 to August 24 brought the longest riding drought I had experienced since I began riding last July. Between a crazy work schedule and other obligations, I was off the bike for three solid weeks. My fitness suffered, as did my overall attitude, and I was glad to break the slump with a local ride at the end of August.
Probably the biggest single event of Q3 was my Kernville/Sequoia trip. Four days of riding in some of the most beautiful areas I've ever seen was an amazing way to start my first vacation in three years, and I had an awesome time.
The two rides from my ride list that I did in Q3 were also memorable. Elfin Forest was a climbfest, and it will be a while before I go back, but the views were impressive. Spring/Oak Canyon on the other hand were a ton of fun, and I hope to get back there soon.
Q3 ended with two back-to-back trips to LPQ, one with Rachel and one at night with the Tuesday Night LPQ crew. It was nice to get a couple of extra rides in as the quarter wound down, and each of those rides brought some good memories and excitement.
For the third quarter of 2008, I rode a total of 171.65 miles on my mountain bike, as opposed to 254.75 in Q2 and 133.63 miles in Q1. This was a little bit of a disappointment. About 40 of my Q3 miles was from the Kernville/Sequoia trip. To date, I've ridden 560.03 miles this year. I didn't have a total mileage goal at the beginning of 2008, but I'd like to finish strong. So I am thinking of setting a goal of at riding at least 175 in miles the 4th quarter. With the holidays, weather factors, and general work busyness, we'll see how that goes.
Those are my thoughts on Q3 of 2008. I'm pleased with my progress and look forward to checking back at the end of the year and doing a review of not only Q4, but a look back at the whole year of riding in 2008.
2008 RIDE LIST:
As far as rides on my 2008 list, I finally rode Elfin Forest and Spring/Oak Canyon this quarter, as well as unofficial 2008 Ride List trail Ted Williams. Elfin was a rough one, with tons of climbing. The views were spectacular, but I'm not sure they were worth it. Spring and Oak, however, were a ton of fun, and that was a trail that I would gladly do again in the future. It was a lot like Sycamore, but I enjoyed seeing some new trails and learned more about the capabilities of my Garmin Edge 205 during that ride, which was cool. Ted Williams was fun as well, and turned out to be more cross-country than I expected. I'll probably go back there again at some point to explore a little.
Even though I rode nine of the items on the Ride List in Q1, five in Q2, and only two this month, I'm still happy with my progress. I only have two official rides from the list left to do this year, as well as one unofficial one. And as I will discuss below, I made some significant progress on my Goal List items, which I'm proud of.
The remaining official rides on my 2008 Ride List are Big Laguna Trail and Lake Morena. I also would like to get to La Costa Canyon as well. Skyline MTB will probably ride at BLT before the end of the year, so that is attainable. Lake Morena remains a wild card, because it is so far away and apparently quite a challenge. But I think I'll get there. STR member Chip has offered to show me around the next time he goes, which is a weekday in October so that is one option. I may also see if I can find a GPS route of the trails out there and plug them into my Edge and go by myself if I can.
2008 GOAL LIST:
As for my more general 2008 Goal List, the results are mixed, but I did make some progress in Q3. For a full description of the goals themselves, check out that entry. Below is the list, with comments on my progress thus far (or lack thereof) and prognosis for completion by the end of the year on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being unlikely and 10 being already done):
1. Ride Noble Canyon: (10)
I did the full Noble Shuttle back at the end of April, and am satisfied that this goal has been met. As I predicted in the April State of the Union, I rode the full Noble trail from top to bottom at the Skyline MTB weekend, and generally had a lot of fun. The portion of the trail that I skipped on my first time out there was the best part of the ride, and I'll never bail out on that section again.
2. Do a ~50 mile/all day-type ride: (8)
This one I haven't done, but I've gotten closer and have a definite plan for how to accomplish it. My Archipelago Ride, which I've ridden 2/3 of already, will be about 60 miles and will satisfy this goal if I can do it. I am continuing to plan this one out, and have been considering doing it in the opposite direction than I had originally planned. If the weather cooperates, and I step up my training, I should be able to accomplish this goal and have an amazing ride summary to report here sometime in Q4.
3. Do a Multi-Day ride: (10)
This one was attained in Q3 via my Kernville/Sequoia trip at the beginning of September. Over four days I rode a little over 40 miles, and had an awesome time.
4. Do an Out of Town Ride: (10)
I initially thought I accomplished this goal when I rode at the Santa Rosa Plateau in mid-June, and then I went back and looked at the description of the actual goal and realized it referred to a ride outside of SoCal entirely, so at the beginning of Q3 I was back to square one on this goal. However, the Kernville/Sequoia trip changed that, as I spent four days riding the in Kernville and the Southern Sierras. The ride reports and pictures tell the whole story, but it was an outstanding trip for my first real out of town ride.
5. Do a Ride in the OC: (8)
I obviously haven't done this yet either, but I am interested in shuttling San Juan, riding Aliso, or maybe even doing San Clemente Single Tracks. Again, with the sheer volume of STR rides in those places, it shouldn't be a problem doing one of them. I really want to get out to San Juan, which I've heard is a lot of fun.
6. Do a Night Ride (w/Light): (10)
This is one of the three goals I met in Q2, when I did the SDMBA Cuyamaca Night ride. It was a whole new experience riding at night, and I enjoyed night riding enough that I picked up a NiteRider TriNewt from Performance when they were on mega-sale, so I'll be doing more night riding in the future.
7. Clear all of Martha's: (9)(No Change since Q1)
I'm so close on this one, and I already basically did hard part with the downhill, so I just need to clean climbs and one tiny part. Its close to home and I ride there pretty often, so I'm pretty confident about meeting this goal.
8. Clear all of "the ****": (10)
Did it. And it was kind of a cool story, since I went and rode the S**** the night before SDMBA went and did trailwork on it and changed its landscape forever. You can read the ride report here.
9. Climb Bernardo Mountain: (10)
I accomplished this one as part of perhaps my best biking experience in Q2, the Tour de Hodges. I'll talk more about that day in the Q2 State of the Union post, but I did ride Bernardo Peak, and while there was definitely some HAB, I accomplished the goal of getting to the top.
10. Improve my climbing skills/general fitness:
This one is still hit and miss. I got back on the stationary bike more regularly in Q3, but the amount of riding I did diminished significantly. In addition, my poor fitness level was really a factor in Kernville/Sequoia, where I was consistently at the back of the pack. I'm still HABing more than I'd prefer, and I'm hoping that my new Spider may help improve my climbing skills as I progress to a more XC-oriented bike.
HIGHLIGHTS OF Q3:
The quarter started out well with a fun ride over at Ted Williams with Sean and Doug. It was my first ride with Sean, whom I would eventually meet again on the Kernville/Sequoia trip a few months later. It was nice to finally ride the secret TW trails, and as close as they are, I figure I'll get out there again soon.
Another highlight of Q3 was my planning and partial execution of my Archipelago Ride. In an effort to hook up several local trails into one epic loop, I began scouting connectors and possible routes online early this quarter, and then began executing that plan over several weeks. The plan was to start from home, ride over to South Hodges, to North Hodges, through the SDRP trails, to the Santa Luz loop, to LPQ, back to the Santa Luz singletrack, to Black Mountain, to home. My first ride started well, with a successful connection from home to Hodges, but ended in frustration, as I was unable to hook up with the Santa Luz loop. After doing some research I figured out where I went wrong, and made the connection on my second attempt.
My efforts at scouting Part II of the Archipelago ride went pretty well also, though that section proved to be an absolute grind, putting my ability to complete the whole route as planned in doubt. I still haven't ridden Part III, which will include Black Mountain. At this point, I'm considering doing it in reverse, which would mean doing the Black Mountain portion first. We'll see. In any event, the Archipelago rides were a lot of fun, but hard work, and were the longest of my mountainbiking career thus far.
I also sold the FSR in Q3, which caused me some minor seller's remorse. It was a great bike, and it treated me well. At the end of the day, it wasn't light or efficient enough to be a great XC bike long-term, and I was riding the Enduro almost exclusively, so it was a good idea to sell it. I was also proud of how I handled the proceeds.
Part of what really softened the blow of selling the FSR was the purchase of my Intense Spider XVP frame in Q3 as well. The frame has sat in a box for the last two and a half months while I earn the supplemental income to pay for it, but once it is built, its going to be a dream machine.
August 3 to August 24 brought the longest riding drought I had experienced since I began riding last July. Between a crazy work schedule and other obligations, I was off the bike for three solid weeks. My fitness suffered, as did my overall attitude, and I was glad to break the slump with a local ride at the end of August.
Probably the biggest single event of Q3 was my Kernville/Sequoia trip. Four days of riding in some of the most beautiful areas I've ever seen was an amazing way to start my first vacation in three years, and I had an awesome time.
The two rides from my ride list that I did in Q3 were also memorable. Elfin Forest was a climbfest, and it will be a while before I go back, but the views were impressive. Spring/Oak Canyon on the other hand were a ton of fun, and I hope to get back there soon.
Q3 ended with two back-to-back trips to LPQ, one with Rachel and one at night with the Tuesday Night LPQ crew. It was nice to get a couple of extra rides in as the quarter wound down, and each of those rides brought some good memories and excitement.
For the third quarter of 2008, I rode a total of 171.65 miles on my mountain bike, as opposed to 254.75 in Q2 and 133.63 miles in Q1. This was a little bit of a disappointment. About 40 of my Q3 miles was from the Kernville/Sequoia trip. To date, I've ridden 560.03 miles this year. I didn't have a total mileage goal at the beginning of 2008, but I'd like to finish strong. So I am thinking of setting a goal of at riding at least 175 in miles the 4th quarter. With the holidays, weather factors, and general work busyness, we'll see how that goes.
Those are my thoughts on Q3 of 2008. I'm pleased with my progress and look forward to checking back at the end of the year and doing a review of not only Q4, but a look back at the whole year of riding in 2008.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
RR: Spring/Oak Canyons
I grew ever closer to completing all of the rides on my 2008 Ride List today with a really fun ride through Spring and Oak Canyons over at MTRP. On Friday I had noticed a post by Doug on STR about riding Mission Trails today, and after some emails back and forth, convinced him to let me tag along.
After some uncertainty about the status of the Clairemont Mesa trailhead, we decided to meet at the horse park off Mast at the north end of MTRP at 9:30. Because neither of us had a specific route in mind, last night I gave Billy a call and asked him if he knew of any good trails we could do. He said that the MTRP trails were mostly steep up and downs and not a lot of fun, but sent me a GPS file of a recent loop he did through Spring and Oak Canyon, which sounded like fun. I downloaded the route to my Edge, though I wasn't sure how it worked or if we would even ride those trails.
When I arrived I saw that Doug and Sean were already there, as was Evan. We geared up and were regaled with the tales of an older gentlemen who was there with one of his horses while we waited for Jeremy to arrive. We set out shortly thereafter, and after a quarter mile or so stopped to discuss our route. Since nobody had really ridden here before, and the consensus was that the trails over on the west side of MTRP were steep and hard to get to, I was able to convince the group to give Spring and Oak Canyons a shot.
We started back on our way, and took a right on the fire road that would take us under the 52 freeway and north to Spring Canyon. As we made the turn to the north, my Edge chirped at me, and notified me that I was "on route" for the trail I had downloaded. I had actually forgotten about downloading the trail to the GPS, and was pretty pumped that it was working without any effort on my part.
We continued under the 52 and into Spring Canyon. I stopped at a short singletrack offshoot, and Sean decided that it looked more fun than the fire road through the canyon, so we headed that way. We meandered through the singletrack, which was basically flat with a few dry stream bed crossings entertaining S-curves. Apparently there had been a car fire on the 52 recently that had ignited the canyon, and evidence of the burned areas was clear. Luckily the fire was quickly contained, and the damage was limited.
We continued along the singletrack for a bit until we reached another fork in the road. Continuing left (northwest) would lead us into a saddle between two hills, and presumably toward Oak Canyon. Heading right (slightly northeast) would allow us to continue through Spring Canyon. The GPS was a little difficult to read, and I suggested we continue through Spring Canyon for a while to see what was up ahead. There were no dissenters, and we took a right.
From there we rode a mix of fireroad and singletrack north through Spring Canyon. While it looked pretty flat, I found myself getting fairly fatigued as I spun along, trying to keep up with Sean and Evan who were leading the way. We rode along for about a mile or so, until we reached another intersection at the base of a steep fire road. We stopped there for a minute to rest, which I think Doug and Jeremy appreciated.
Rather than climb the steep fire road to nowhere, we beared left and rode along another singletrack section that continued even farther up the canyon to the north. Eventually we reached a steep climb that involved some HAB on the way up. As we reached the top, we had a neat view of MCAS Miramar and the firing range to the northwest.
I joined Evan in getting out of the line of fire as we waited for the other guys to finish the climb, and then we had a decision to make. We could either head back the way we came and do the fun downhill section we just HAB'ed, or take a fire road that headed southwest to parts unknown. Always a fan of exploring new trails, I favored the fire road. Others wanted to get some payoff for the climbing they just suffered through, and wanted to double back. Fortunately, a compromise was struck. We decided to ride up the fire road for a short distance up to a point where we could see how far it went and whether it looked like a good way to connect over to Oak Canyon. We made it up the fire road and quickly saw that it would be more fun to double back the way we came and take the trail that cut over to Oak that we had bypassed earlier. Here was the view from the top of the fire road looking south:
We bombed back down the singletrack through Spring Canyon, and as I flew along the sweeping turns and entertaining bumps and mini-jumps, realized why I had been struggling going the other direction. Apparently, there had been a slight but significant incline to the trail as we rode north, which I was enjoying considerably more at this point as I headed south.
We quickly made our way back to the Oak connector, and started west. If I had followed the GPS route at the outset, we would have gong this way in the first place, but our extended northbound detour was actually pretty fun, so I had no regrets.
After a short distance along the connector trail we were climbing again, and the fatigue crept back in. Sean and Evan were having no problems, despite Sean having been stricken with the plague earlier this week and Evan coming off a gnarly knee injury he suffered at LPQ that had kept him off the bike for the last month or so. They did stop about halfway up the steepest portion of the connector trail, which I appreciated. After a brief rest, we were back under way.
The connector singletrack eventually lead to a fire/utility road, which involved some brief HAB, even for our intrepid ride leaders.
We reached the top of the fire/utility road, and saw Oak Canyon below us to the west. We stopped for another short break to wait for a rider who was climbing up the singletrack that we would be descending. During the break, we saw something on the side of the trail a short distance away, which I thought looked like an old, rusted tank tread. Sean disagreed, saying it was too small to be from a tank, and I figured with his military and technical background he must be right. After the rider made it up the climb and we chatted with him for a few minutes about directions, we headed down the singletrack into Oak Canyon.
On the way down the singletrack Sean and I stopped to check out the mystery item. Tank tread. Ha. He took a pic, which I hope he'll send to me.
The descent into Oak Canyon was a lot of fun, with several tight switchbacks, some of which I cleaned and some I didn't. We reached the bottom of the downhill and regrouped again. Here's the trail as it continued south through Oak Canyon.
The rest of the ride through Oak was very comparable to the trails through Sycamore Canyon, which I consider to be a good thing. It was largely fun, narrow, undulating singletrack, with lots of fun turns and berms. We were through Oak in no time, and quickly found ourselves riding back under the 52 and into the MTRP trail network. We had a couple of steep fire road climbs that required some HAB, and when we reached the top we could see how to get back to the parking lot.
It was at this point that we regrouped and got a brief report from Evan about the LPQ land use meeting last week. The conversation took a decidedly historical turn as Sean waxed eloquent on the relative success of the doctrine of appeasement and how that worked for Poland. I think he was trying to make an analogy to the SDMBA policy of agreeing to close a bunch of LPQ trails in order to keep others open. Nicely played, Sean.
Before we got back under way, I shot this pic looking back the way we'd come. I remembered seeing these fire roads when driving on the 52, so it was neat to finally ride them.
From there it was a short downhill ride back to the trailhead, and I had to take off almost right after we got back in order to make it home as close to on time as possible. I had a fun time on this ride, and am excited to have gotten to do it with this particular group, who I really enjoy riding with. Also, the Garmin was an awesome tool, and made navigating much easier and the ride considerably more enjoyable than if we had just been guessing on a good route. I plan on using the upload feature again in the future of possible.
Here are the stats:
Total Distance: 12.46 miles
Total Time: 2:40:25
Ascent: 1506 feet
Average Speed: 4.6 mph
Top Speed: 25.3 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:
View Larger Map
After some uncertainty about the status of the Clairemont Mesa trailhead, we decided to meet at the horse park off Mast at the north end of MTRP at 9:30. Because neither of us had a specific route in mind, last night I gave Billy a call and asked him if he knew of any good trails we could do. He said that the MTRP trails were mostly steep up and downs and not a lot of fun, but sent me a GPS file of a recent loop he did through Spring and Oak Canyon, which sounded like fun. I downloaded the route to my Edge, though I wasn't sure how it worked or if we would even ride those trails.
When I arrived I saw that Doug and Sean were already there, as was Evan. We geared up and were regaled with the tales of an older gentlemen who was there with one of his horses while we waited for Jeremy to arrive. We set out shortly thereafter, and after a quarter mile or so stopped to discuss our route. Since nobody had really ridden here before, and the consensus was that the trails over on the west side of MTRP were steep and hard to get to, I was able to convince the group to give Spring and Oak Canyons a shot.
We started back on our way, and took a right on the fire road that would take us under the 52 freeway and north to Spring Canyon. As we made the turn to the north, my Edge chirped at me, and notified me that I was "on route" for the trail I had downloaded. I had actually forgotten about downloading the trail to the GPS, and was pretty pumped that it was working without any effort on my part.
We continued under the 52 and into Spring Canyon. I stopped at a short singletrack offshoot, and Sean decided that it looked more fun than the fire road through the canyon, so we headed that way. We meandered through the singletrack, which was basically flat with a few dry stream bed crossings entertaining S-curves. Apparently there had been a car fire on the 52 recently that had ignited the canyon, and evidence of the burned areas was clear. Luckily the fire was quickly contained, and the damage was limited.
We continued along the singletrack for a bit until we reached another fork in the road. Continuing left (northwest) would lead us into a saddle between two hills, and presumably toward Oak Canyon. Heading right (slightly northeast) would allow us to continue through Spring Canyon. The GPS was a little difficult to read, and I suggested we continue through Spring Canyon for a while to see what was up ahead. There were no dissenters, and we took a right.From there we rode a mix of fireroad and singletrack north through Spring Canyon. While it looked pretty flat, I found myself getting fairly fatigued as I spun along, trying to keep up with Sean and Evan who were leading the way. We rode along for about a mile or so, until we reached another intersection at the base of a steep fire road. We stopped there for a minute to rest, which I think Doug and Jeremy appreciated.
Rather than climb the steep fire road to nowhere, we beared left and rode along another singletrack section that continued even farther up the canyon to the north. Eventually we reached a steep climb that involved some HAB on the way up. As we reached the top, we had a neat view of MCAS Miramar and the firing range to the northwest.
I joined Evan in getting out of the line of fire as we waited for the other guys to finish the climb, and then we had a decision to make. We could either head back the way we came and do the fun downhill section we just HAB'ed, or take a fire road that headed southwest to parts unknown. Always a fan of exploring new trails, I favored the fire road. Others wanted to get some payoff for the climbing they just suffered through, and wanted to double back. Fortunately, a compromise was struck. We decided to ride up the fire road for a short distance up to a point where we could see how far it went and whether it looked like a good way to connect over to Oak Canyon. We made it up the fire road and quickly saw that it would be more fun to double back the way we came and take the trail that cut over to Oak that we had bypassed earlier. Here was the view from the top of the fire road looking south:
We bombed back down the singletrack through Spring Canyon, and as I flew along the sweeping turns and entertaining bumps and mini-jumps, realized why I had been struggling going the other direction. Apparently, there had been a slight but significant incline to the trail as we rode north, which I was enjoying considerably more at this point as I headed south.We quickly made our way back to the Oak connector, and started west. If I had followed the GPS route at the outset, we would have gong this way in the first place, but our extended northbound detour was actually pretty fun, so I had no regrets.
After a short distance along the connector trail we were climbing again, and the fatigue crept back in. Sean and Evan were having no problems, despite Sean having been stricken with the plague earlier this week and Evan coming off a gnarly knee injury he suffered at LPQ that had kept him off the bike for the last month or so. They did stop about halfway up the steepest portion of the connector trail, which I appreciated. After a brief rest, we were back under way.
The connector singletrack eventually lead to a fire/utility road, which involved some brief HAB, even for our intrepid ride leaders.
We reached the top of the fire/utility road, and saw Oak Canyon below us to the west. We stopped for another short break to wait for a rider who was climbing up the singletrack that we would be descending. During the break, we saw something on the side of the trail a short distance away, which I thought looked like an old, rusted tank tread. Sean disagreed, saying it was too small to be from a tank, and I figured with his military and technical background he must be right. After the rider made it up the climb and we chatted with him for a few minutes about directions, we headed down the singletrack into Oak Canyon.
On the way down the singletrack Sean and I stopped to check out the mystery item. Tank tread. Ha. He took a pic, which I hope he'll send to me.The descent into Oak Canyon was a lot of fun, with several tight switchbacks, some of which I cleaned and some I didn't. We reached the bottom of the downhill and regrouped again. Here's the trail as it continued south through Oak Canyon.
The rest of the ride through Oak was very comparable to the trails through Sycamore Canyon, which I consider to be a good thing. It was largely fun, narrow, undulating singletrack, with lots of fun turns and berms. We were through Oak in no time, and quickly found ourselves riding back under the 52 and into the MTRP trail network. We had a couple of steep fire road climbs that required some HAB, and when we reached the top we could see how to get back to the parking lot.
It was at this point that we regrouped and got a brief report from Evan about the LPQ land use meeting last week. The conversation took a decidedly historical turn as Sean waxed eloquent on the relative success of the doctrine of appeasement and how that worked for Poland. I think he was trying to make an analogy to the SDMBA policy of agreeing to close a bunch of LPQ trails in order to keep others open. Nicely played, Sean.Before we got back under way, I shot this pic looking back the way we'd come. I remembered seeing these fire roads when driving on the 52, so it was neat to finally ride them.
From there it was a short downhill ride back to the trailhead, and I had to take off almost right after we got back in order to make it home as close to on time as possible. I had a fun time on this ride, and am excited to have gotten to do it with this particular group, who I really enjoy riding with. Also, the Garmin was an awesome tool, and made navigating much easier and the ride considerably more enjoyable than if we had just been guessing on a good route. I plan on using the upload feature again in the future of possible.Here are the stats:
Total Distance: 12.46 miles
Total Time: 2:40:25
Ascent: 1506 feet
Average Speed: 4.6 mph
Top Speed: 25.3 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:
View Larger Map
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
RR: Elfin Forest
After the Kernville/Sequoia trip, I was fortunate enough to have the following week off from work, and after taking Monday off to recover, I figured I'd better get a ride in before the week got away from me.
I decided it was important to make good on my pledge to try to ride more and improve my fitness, and what better way to do that then head out to a close by trail that was one of the few remaining on my 2008 Ride List: Elfin Forest. I had been putting off this ride for a while because I was intimidated by all of the stories I had heard about the Way Up Trail. A two mile climb out of the gate, climbing about 1,000 feet in around two miles, the Way Up is a pretty gnarly start to any ride.
I figured it wouldn't be too crowded on a Tuesday morning in September, and I was doing the ride solo so I could go at my own pace and HAB if I needed to without guilt. I got to the trailhead at about 9:00, and was surprised at how close the trail was to my work. I figured that if I liked this ride, maybe I would do it regularly considering its proximity.
I parked at the main parking lot, made sure I had my map, and headed up.
The first little bit wasn't that bad, and it felt good to be riding near sea level after riding at elevation all last week. As I started the climb, I was a little surprised that my legs weren't sore or tired from Kernville/Sequoia, but was glad about that.
The trail turned steep quickly, and I lost momentum and spun out on a loose section pretty early on. I HAB'ed for a couple yards, and the re-mounted and grinded on.
The rocky trail and tight switchbacks had me on and off the bike pretty consistently the entire way up, and I didn't perform as well as I had hoped. I ended up riding a significant portion of the middle of the climb, but was HABing far more than I wanted to. The views of Escondido and the Cuyamacas to the east were beautiful though, and I tried to enjoy the climb up as best I could.
There were a couple of "false summits," and since I'd never been here before, I was pretty discouraged a couple of times when I thought I'd reached the end of the climb, only to be confronted with another switchback or steep climb around the corner. Eventually I did reach the top, and headed over to the Ridgetop picnic area to get my bearings and consult my map.
I decided to do the eastern section of the ride first, which meant heading up the Quail Trail. I did take the short Quail Alternate Trail along the way, which was a fun, .2 mile singletrack section that paralleled the Quail Trail itself which was practically fire road.
At the top of the Quail Trail I lost my way a bit, and inadvertently went through the Boundary Gate and north for a bit into some trails that were not well marked. I realized my mistake, and reversed course back down Quail Trail to the east and soon found myself at the Escondido Overlook.
From the Escondido Overlook, I had a beautiful view of the Olivenhain Reservoir and Dam, and it was an incredibly scenic spot. To the east was the Lake Hodges Overlook Trail, and to the south was the dam itself.
I decided to make the trek over to the east side of the reservoir to ride the Lake Hodges Overlook Trail. From the Escondido Overlook, I rode the fire roads for about a quarter mile until I saw a singletrack offshoot and a sign directing me to the Lake Hodges Overlook trail. I stopped for a second on the fire road along the way to take this shot of the dam from closer to the water level.
After connecting with the Lake Hodges Overlook trail, I negotiated some downhill switchbacks and started up another fairly steep climb to the ridge above me. It was tough in spots, and once again I was on and off the bike frequently trying to get my lungs and legs to cooperate.
Eventually I reached the ridge, and made my way along an up and down section of trail that eventually led to the actual Lake Hodges Overlook.
I could see all of Lake Hodges below me, including most of the north side trails and Bernardo Peak directly to the east. This entire area had burned during the wildfires last October, and there was still plenty of evidence around me.
After stopping for a minute at the Lake Hodges Overlook, I was faced with a choice. To the south was the Lake Hodges Overlook Loop (I think we need some more creative trail names at Elfin Forest by the way), which consisted of a mile and a half loop that had been recently built by the SDMBA. I considered skipping it, but since I was alone and not on a time schedule, I figured I'd go for it and slow down or rest if I needed to.
Turned out I needed to.
The loop itself was very scenic and all singletrack. It wound around near the reservoir, then back up the mountain toward the ridgeline. There were some fairly significant elevation changes, and fatigue began to set in about halfway through the loop. I sucked it up and rode most of it, but like most of Elfin Forest so far, there were portions of HAB for me.
I finished the Lake Hodges Overlook Loop, and then made my way back through the Lake Hodges Overlook Trail, which led me back up to the Escondido Overlook area again. Seriously, people, what's with the trail names.
I was already pretty exhausted by the time I rode back up from the Escondido Overlook to the Ridgetop picnic area at the center of the trail network. I considered riding the Cielo trail, which apparently goes all the way down to the dam and then climbs back up, but I didn't think I had that in me. Instead, I decided to do my best to rally and do the Equine Incline Loop Trail, a two and a half mile trail that is one of the main trails at Elfin.
Even with my map I was unsure how to get to the entrance of Equine Incline Trail, but I had seen a sign for that trail right at I crested the Way Up Trail earlier in the ride, so I headed that direction. I ended up riding a short section of the Me-xal Trail which connected to Equine Incline, and was on my way, riding the Loop counter-clockwise.
The first part of Equine Incline Loop was a fun descent, but as I shed elevation I knew I'd be gaining it back eventually. And did I ever. The trail itself was mostly singletrack lined by standard California scrub brush and chaparral, and as the morning turned to midday, the heat became a factor. I quickly felt as though I was climbing way more than descending, and the ride became a grind. I was off the bike more than I was on it, and was becoming pretty discouraged and frustrated as the ride wore on. As I (mercifully) reached the end of the Equine Incline Loop Trail, I saw signs for other short trails that I would have liked to have incorporated into my ride, but I simply didn't have the stamina or endurance to do them.
I made my way back to the Way Up Trail, and prepared to enjoy the descent back to the parking lot. The downhill was a lot of fun, and after negotiating a couple of tricky sections and the first few switchbacks, I made it a goal to not dab once on the way down.
I built some momentum, and was carrying some decent speed as I rode down the trail. I cleaned a few more switchbacks in a row, and was feeling pretty good about myself when I took one switchback too wide and had to slam on the brakes to avoid going off trail and down the side of the mountain. The quick stop forced me to put a foot down to steady myself, and my mini goal for the descent was officially a failure. I was able to make it the rest of the way down without dabbing, and at least ended the ride on a good note.
I did have some fun on portions of this trail, but I'm not sure I'll be back any time soon. I'm sure people who love climbing and ride for the workout love this place, but I am not one of those people. The nearly constant ascending required throughout this ride made it more work than fun for me, though some of the views were incredible. I'm glad I was alone, because I would have held up anybody else I was riding with for sure.
I could be convinced to come back to Elfin Forest at some point, maybe after the Spider is built and I've improved my conditioning. Until then, if I want a nearby ride with some scenery, I think I'll stick to Hodges.
Here are the stats:
View Larger Map
I decided it was important to make good on my pledge to try to ride more and improve my fitness, and what better way to do that then head out to a close by trail that was one of the few remaining on my 2008 Ride List: Elfin Forest. I had been putting off this ride for a while because I was intimidated by all of the stories I had heard about the Way Up Trail. A two mile climb out of the gate, climbing about 1,000 feet in around two miles, the Way Up is a pretty gnarly start to any ride.
I figured it wouldn't be too crowded on a Tuesday morning in September, and I was doing the ride solo so I could go at my own pace and HAB if I needed to without guilt. I got to the trailhead at about 9:00, and was surprised at how close the trail was to my work. I figured that if I liked this ride, maybe I would do it regularly considering its proximity.
I parked at the main parking lot, made sure I had my map, and headed up.
The first little bit wasn't that bad, and it felt good to be riding near sea level after riding at elevation all last week. As I started the climb, I was a little surprised that my legs weren't sore or tired from Kernville/Sequoia, but was glad about that.
The trail turned steep quickly, and I lost momentum and spun out on a loose section pretty early on. I HAB'ed for a couple yards, and the re-mounted and grinded on.
The rocky trail and tight switchbacks had me on and off the bike pretty consistently the entire way up, and I didn't perform as well as I had hoped. I ended up riding a significant portion of the middle of the climb, but was HABing far more than I wanted to. The views of Escondido and the Cuyamacas to the east were beautiful though, and I tried to enjoy the climb up as best I could.
There were a couple of "false summits," and since I'd never been here before, I was pretty discouraged a couple of times when I thought I'd reached the end of the climb, only to be confronted with another switchback or steep climb around the corner. Eventually I did reach the top, and headed over to the Ridgetop picnic area to get my bearings and consult my map.
I decided to do the eastern section of the ride first, which meant heading up the Quail Trail. I did take the short Quail Alternate Trail along the way, which was a fun, .2 mile singletrack section that paralleled the Quail Trail itself which was practically fire road.
At the top of the Quail Trail I lost my way a bit, and inadvertently went through the Boundary Gate and north for a bit into some trails that were not well marked. I realized my mistake, and reversed course back down Quail Trail to the east and soon found myself at the Escondido Overlook.
From the Escondido Overlook, I had a beautiful view of the Olivenhain Reservoir and Dam, and it was an incredibly scenic spot. To the east was the Lake Hodges Overlook Trail, and to the south was the dam itself.
I decided to make the trek over to the east side of the reservoir to ride the Lake Hodges Overlook Trail. From the Escondido Overlook, I rode the fire roads for about a quarter mile until I saw a singletrack offshoot and a sign directing me to the Lake Hodges Overlook trail. I stopped for a second on the fire road along the way to take this shot of the dam from closer to the water level.
After connecting with the Lake Hodges Overlook trail, I negotiated some downhill switchbacks and started up another fairly steep climb to the ridge above me. It was tough in spots, and once again I was on and off the bike frequently trying to get my lungs and legs to cooperate.Eventually I reached the ridge, and made my way along an up and down section of trail that eventually led to the actual Lake Hodges Overlook.
I could see all of Lake Hodges below me, including most of the north side trails and Bernardo Peak directly to the east. This entire area had burned during the wildfires last October, and there was still plenty of evidence around me.
After stopping for a minute at the Lake Hodges Overlook, I was faced with a choice. To the south was the Lake Hodges Overlook Loop (I think we need some more creative trail names at Elfin Forest by the way), which consisted of a mile and a half loop that had been recently built by the SDMBA. I considered skipping it, but since I was alone and not on a time schedule, I figured I'd go for it and slow down or rest if I needed to. Turned out I needed to.
The loop itself was very scenic and all singletrack. It wound around near the reservoir, then back up the mountain toward the ridgeline. There were some fairly significant elevation changes, and fatigue began to set in about halfway through the loop. I sucked it up and rode most of it, but like most of Elfin Forest so far, there were portions of HAB for me.
I finished the Lake Hodges Overlook Loop, and then made my way back through the Lake Hodges Overlook Trail, which led me back up to the Escondido Overlook area again. Seriously, people, what's with the trail names.
I was already pretty exhausted by the time I rode back up from the Escondido Overlook to the Ridgetop picnic area at the center of the trail network. I considered riding the Cielo trail, which apparently goes all the way down to the dam and then climbs back up, but I didn't think I had that in me. Instead, I decided to do my best to rally and do the Equine Incline Loop Trail, a two and a half mile trail that is one of the main trails at Elfin.
Even with my map I was unsure how to get to the entrance of Equine Incline Trail, but I had seen a sign for that trail right at I crested the Way Up Trail earlier in the ride, so I headed that direction. I ended up riding a short section of the Me-xal Trail which connected to Equine Incline, and was on my way, riding the Loop counter-clockwise.
The first part of Equine Incline Loop was a fun descent, but as I shed elevation I knew I'd be gaining it back eventually. And did I ever. The trail itself was mostly singletrack lined by standard California scrub brush and chaparral, and as the morning turned to midday, the heat became a factor. I quickly felt as though I was climbing way more than descending, and the ride became a grind. I was off the bike more than I was on it, and was becoming pretty discouraged and frustrated as the ride wore on. As I (mercifully) reached the end of the Equine Incline Loop Trail, I saw signs for other short trails that I would have liked to have incorporated into my ride, but I simply didn't have the stamina or endurance to do them.
I made my way back to the Way Up Trail, and prepared to enjoy the descent back to the parking lot. The downhill was a lot of fun, and after negotiating a couple of tricky sections and the first few switchbacks, I made it a goal to not dab once on the way down.
I built some momentum, and was carrying some decent speed as I rode down the trail. I cleaned a few more switchbacks in a row, and was feeling pretty good about myself when I took one switchback too wide and had to slam on the brakes to avoid going off trail and down the side of the mountain. The quick stop forced me to put a foot down to steady myself, and my mini goal for the descent was officially a failure. I was able to make it the rest of the way down without dabbing, and at least ended the ride on a good note.
I did have some fun on portions of this trail, but I'm not sure I'll be back any time soon. I'm sure people who love climbing and ride for the workout love this place, but I am not one of those people. The nearly constant ascending required throughout this ride made it more work than fun for me, though some of the views were incredible. I'm glad I was alone, because I would have held up anybody else I was riding with for sure.
I could be convinced to come back to Elfin Forest at some point, maybe after the Spider is built and I've improved my conditioning. Until then, if I want a nearby ride with some scenery, I think I'll stick to Hodges.
Here are the stats:
Total Distance: 10.15 miles
Total Time: 2:35:00
Ascent: 2300 feet
Average Speed: 3.9 mph
Top Speed: 20.5 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:View Larger Map
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
RR: Daley Ranch
Today was redemption day for me, as I decided to attempt to do a full ride at Daley Ranch more than five months after I had tried to ride out there and couldn't finish because I was so tired.After struggling somewhat at Cuyamaca on Friday night, I had some concerns about how I would do at Daley, so I elected to ride it solo. Armed with Doug's suggested route, and a trail map I found at the Daley Ranch website, I figured I would go at my own pace and do as well as I could. By riding alone, I didn't have to worry about holding other riders up or taking breaks when I wanted to.
I left work a few minutes early, and was at the trailhead a little after 5 PM. I gave my chain a quick lube and got underway around 5:15.
Here was the map that I was using:
I started out on Creek Crossing trail, which I had ridden back in January. As I spun up the climbs, I actually felt pretty good. My pace was generally slow, but I was keeping a consistent speed and not stopping to rest as I made my way over to the East Ridge trail and started up Sage. It was a grind, and I was feeling the ascent as I climbed up Sage, but I wasn't blown out and wasn't even tempted to HAB. I even had a chance to enjoy the views a little as I rode along.
I continued to climb Sage past the connector to Coyote Run, which I had ridden back in January. The ascent continued another mile or so, including this section which briefly went under a neat canopy of trees:
Just past the tree canopy I saw the sign for Diamondback trail, and I made a left. That section included an awesome singletrack descent, with small bumps in the trail that enabled me to get a little air as I swept through the turns. After a little less than half a mile on Diamondback, I made the transition to a section of Coyote Run that I hadn't ridden before, and it was a blast as well. After just over a half mile of awesome swoopy singletrack, I reached the junction of Coyote Run and the East Ridge trail.
I took the East Ridge trail to the right, and rode that fire road for about 4/5 of a mile until it joined Ranch House Road. On my left as I rode by was the Ranch House itself. After passing it, I decided to double back for a quick picture:
Then I turned around and headed north, to the Jack Creek Meadow Loop. I had read on other sites that the Meadow Loop was just a flat spin across the meadow and is essentially a connector to some of the climbing sections in the far northwest part of the Ranch. I agree that the Meadow Loop is not a destination portion of this ride, and I would not consider it a highlight. It seemed to go on forever, and despite the advertisements, I think the northbound side had a slight incline the whole way out. Here's what it looked like as I slogged along:
I rode the entire east side of Jack Creek Meadow Loop, made the turn at the end, and approached the right hand turn for Hidden Spring fire road, better known as Cardiac. Here is what it looks like from the bottom of Hidden Spring;
Not that bad, right? I started my way up, with no idea what was in store for me. That quickly changed as the road morphed from graded fire road to rocky trail in the blink of an eye.
Any designs I may have had on cleaning the whole climb disappeared at the first rocky step-up that I couldn't handle, and it was HAB for me from there on. I did stop to take a picture of the Palomar mountains to the northeast:
The rockiest and most difficult part of the climb ended after about a quarter mile, and when I reached what I thought was the top of the climbing, I stopped for a short break. I ate some Clif Shots and gathered myself, and after three minutes or so re-mounted the bike and continued the ride.
What I didn't realize at that point was that the climbing had only just begun, and the rocky section had been but a preview of coming attractions. The next 3/4 of a mile alternated between moderate to significant climbing, and I was able to ride all of it except for one final steep, short, rocky 100 yard section that I had to HAB. I was also feeling pretty fatigued by this point, but was actually pleased with my overall performance. After having to bail out at the Ranch House back in January, I was chugging along pretty well today.
The climb up Hidden Spring finally ended, and I made a right turn onto the singletrack at Burnt Mountain trail. My legs were a little fried at that point, and I actually had to walk a tiny uphill at the beginning of Burnt Mountain because I lost momentum making the turn and didn't have the strength to get clipped back in and power up the brief climb.
After that I rode the rest of Burnt Mountain, which was a fun downhill singletrack with some short drops and rocky sections that kept me on my toes and provided a nice contrast to the miles of fire road climb that I had been doing. After about 1/3 of a mile, Burnt Mountain intersected Engelman Oak trail, and I made a left at the "T " intersection.
It was back to fire road as I rode along Engleman Oak, but the views were scenic. There was some tree cover alongside and over the trail, and on my right was the "Old Water Tank."
Off to my right was also an even better view of the Palomar Mountain range than I had seen before:
I rode along Engleman Oak for about a half mile, and then made a left onto the Bobcat trail, which was once again a fun and challenging singletrack descent. Bobcat was more difficult than either of the previous singletrack sections, and a couple of times I had to grab fistfulls of my brakes in order to stay on trail or keep from getting more air than I wanted on a particular drop. It was also pretty rocky and rough, and by the end of Bobcat my hands were actually a little sore from the vibration. Nonetheless, it was a fun section, and I had a great time flying downhill and taking the turns as fast as I was able.
Bobcat dead-ended at Cougar Ridge trail, and I took a left at the point of intersection of the two trails. What I didn't know at that point was that the next mile and a half of the Cougar Ridge trail was a steep, rocky uphill climb that for my money was even more difficult than Hidden Spring (Cardiac) had been. Cougar Ridge was not as rutted or rocky as Cardiac, but it felt longer and steeper. (My GPS graph of the elevation of the ride informed me that I am mistaken about that, and Hidden Spring is slightly longer but Cougar Ridge climbs a little higher in less time, which is probably why it felt so difficult.)
I'm not proud of it, but I HAB'ed most of the Cougar Ridge climb and just tried to keep going as the trail unfolded in front of me. I did stop to take a picture of the views to the south, which were expansive:
Eventually, the death march mercifully abated, and I enjoyed a short downhill section of Cougar Ridge before making a left onto the Crest trail, which I believed would be the final singtrack of my ride today. Here is what the early section of the Crest trail looked like:
Crest trail was another fun downhill singletrack, with more short bumps to get air over and sketchy downhill spots that required getting back over my seat and skimming through and over ruts that seemed to be everywhere. I almost got out of control at one particularly rutted section that led to a short drop, but reduced my speed and rolled the drop without stopping or crashing, which was good.
The Crest trail was a mile and a quarter of downhill fun, which I needed after the slog that had been Cougar Ridge. When I reached the bottom of Crest, my directions told me to take a left and ride a very short section of the Boulder Loop trail until it connected with the Ranch House Road, which I would then take back to the car.
I was pleased with myself that at that point, I was on pace to make it back to the car in about 2 hours and 5 minutes, which was only five minutes more than the suggested ride time of 2 hours that Doug's directions had indicated. Even with my HAB(s), I had kept a decent pace and had not fallen too badly of the projected ride duration, which made me feel pretty good.
It was only 7:05, however, and I figured I had at least an hour of daylight left. I was fatigued, but not exhausted, and I was not entirely ready to go home. However, without detailed knowledge of any of the other trails nearby, I decided not to risk getting over my head, and made the left turn on to Boulder Loop trail and quickly turned right on to Ranch House Road to do the short paved ride back to the car.
As I started down Ranch House Road, however, I had a change of heart. I had ridden well today (for me), and still had some gas left in my tank. I could tell on my map that the Boulder Loop was less than two miles long, and had a singletrack section in the middle that looked like it would be fun. After consulting the map for another minute, my mind was made up, and I turned around and rode back west on the Boulder Loop trail in the direction I had come.
I passed the turn for the Crest trail that I had ridden, and continued along Boulder Loop to the west. I turned a corner, and then I saw the first climb. It was steep. I downshifted and spun away, doing my best to keep my cranks turning despite my fatigue and the ascent. After about 2/10 of a mile, I was cooked, and the remaining 3/4 of a mile uphill climb constituted my final HAB of the day. And defintately my slowest.
I stopped a couple of times to rest, and each turn of the trail revealed another uphill section. I finally hauled myself and my bike to the top, passed the turn-off for Cougar Ridge that I would have taken had I not ridden the Crest trail, and continued along the Boulder Loop.
I pedaled away, spinning an easy gear even on the flats, and willing myself up the short moderate climbs that punctuated the north side of the Boulder Loop. Just as I was finally questioning my decision to do this bonus loop, I spotted the sign for Rock Ridge trail. I made the left turn, and rode up two short medium climbs that wound their way along the singletrack. After the climbs, it was all downhill, and I was glad I had decided to ride this section. It was less rutted and rocky than Crest and Bobcat had been, and had some fun bermed turns and up and down sections. I rode the Rock Ridge singletrack until it re-connected with the Boulder Loop, and I made a left turn.
The Boulder Loop continued downhill, and ended with a gnarly fire road descent that was particularly steep and rocky. I was on the brakes the whole way down, and had very little traction as I bumped along the rocks and ruts all the way to the bottom. From there I hooked up with the Ranch House Road, and rode the final half mile section of paved road back to the car.
I had an awesome time on this ride, and left Daley with a sense of pride and accomplishment, particularly in the face of the debacle I had experienced back in January. This time, I had ridden the entire beginning section without major difficulty, whereas I had HAB'ed almost all of it in January. And despite the fact that I still had more than my share of HAB's on today's ride, I think most of them would have presented problems for many riders, and I did significantly better than I could have done in the past.
I had a great time experiencing a new trial, and was aided tremendously by Doug's directions and the Daley trailmap that I brought with me. And despite the brutal climb at the beginning of the Boulder Loop, I was glad I chose to do the bonus section at the end of the ride. I had the time and the legs to do it, and despite the difficulty, it was fun and gave me a sense of accomplishment. But now I totally understand why it wasn't part of Doug's regular route.
I'm also glad I made the decision to do today's ride alone. I'm planning a lengthy post about my feelings on solo vs. group rides, which is inspired by my preliminary thoughts posted in the last portion of my ride review of the Cuyamaca night ride last Friday. But as far as today's ride, it felt great to go at my own pace, take pictures when I wanted to, explore new trails for myself, and HAB when I couldn't ride a section without worrying about holding someone(s) up. Someday I'm sure I'll do a group ride at Daley, but at least now I'll know what I'm getting in to.
Here are the stats from today:
Total Distance: 14.46 miles
Total Time: 2:28:55
Ascent: 2592 feet
Average Speed: 5.8 mph
Top Speed: 25.9 mph
Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite
Map:
View Larger Map
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