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I had the chance to do a longer solo ride this morning that I've been wanting to do for a while.  Over the past year or so I've ridden a decent size loop counterclockwise from my house with Doug and some others that takes me to South Hodges, North Hodges, past the dam, up through Crosby, then through Lusardi Canyon and up to Black Mountain Community Park and back home.  It runs about 28 miles and is a good workout, though nothing to get too excited about.

Today I wanted to do a similar route, but with a little different spin.  It would more closely resemble a shorter version of my original Archipelago route that I last rode in 2009.

I secured my hall pass and headed out at 7:00 AM with an 11:30 lunch date with friends setting a hard deadline for my return.  I climbed up Miners Ridge Loop to the cutover and up to the summit of Black Mountain.  It was neat climbing through and then up above the clouds, something I haven't done in a really long time.

From the summit I dropped down part of the west face and then rode down the Gliderport trail and across Carmel Valley Road. From there I rode through Black Mountain Community Park, up to the fun singletrack most are calling Knoll, and then down through the artichokes and along the Lusardi Loop.

I survived the two nasty fire road climbs on the west side of the Lusardi Loop and stopped for a second at the top of the second one to snap a pic.

From there I crossed San Dieguito Rd. and dropped into the section at the bottom of Artesian Rd.  I climbed the relatively new singletrack that parallels Artesian and just before heading down the Crosby switchbacks met an interesting guy who had started his day out at the Santa Ysabel Preserve near Ramona. He was apparently a radonneuring expert whose final destination for the day was downtown San Diego.

Until talking to this guy I had been pretty proud of the big loop I had planned for myself, but his route put things in perspective for me in a hurry.  After just a couple minutes of chatting we parted ways and I was off.

From there things were pretty familiar.  San Dieguito River Park trails up to the Lake Hodges Dam, then past Hernandez Hideaway and along the singletrack on the northwest side of the lake.  After the boat dock I took the low road to check out some of the recent fire damage at North Hodges in person for the first time. It was amazing how close it had come to some of the houses on the top of the ridge.

I had originally hoped to add about seven or eight miles to my route via the Mule Hill trail and Highland Valley trails on the east side of the lake, but my pace had been less than stellar and I bagged that section due to time constraints.  I simply finished North Hodges, crossed the bike/pedestrian bridge to the South side, did some of the fun singletrack over there and then exited at the Poblado trailhead and rode the pavement the short rest of the way home.

It was a pretty fun day, and the longest ride I've done in a while at 31.4 miles.  Before the ride I filled my hydration bladder with 100oz of Vitalyte and sucked down the last drop during the final pavement climb. For nutrition I had a cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter just before starting, then a pack of Powerbar Cola energy blasts and a Trio bar on the trail.  My only real stop was for about 5 minutes talking to Mr. Radonneur at the top of Crosby, though leg cramps did force me to take a couple of short stops along North Hodges.

I was babying my legs from South Hodges all the way home, and really wished I had been able to finish stronger.  I did take three Hammer Endurolyte pills at North Hodges when I first started cramping, but by then I think the damage was done.  Leg cramps have been my longtime nemesis and once again posed a problem today.  I actually finished the ride feeling pretty good physically overall, not too wiped out or tired. From a pure endurance standpoint I could have ridden substantially farther, but the cramping issues would have prevented that even if I hadn't been on a deadline.

So I'm hoping to do this route and include the east Hodges stuff sometime soon.  I'll keep experimenting with hydration, nutrition, and electrolyte tabs as I go, and hopefully will unlock the secret to conquering the cramping issue once and for all.

Lake Hodges East (Mule Hill Trail)

After years of riding North and South Hodges, I finally decided to head east this morning. I parked at the self storage trailhead for North Hodges, and headed east on the San Pasqual/Mule Hill Trail.

Having never ridden it before, I didn't know exactly what to expect. As I wound through mile after mile of flat, wide trail, I began to realize why this trail does not get a lot of publicity.

The trail (road?) wound its way through some marshland that at one time comprised the eastern portion of Lake Hodges.

Then, after about four miles of sleep inducing trail, things began looking up. Both literally and figuratively.



The trail transformed into narrow, scenic singletrack that began to contour along the side of the hill. The climbing was moderate, but welcome after the extended warm up. After about a mile of singletrack climbing, I reached the top of the hill. From there I took this shot of the trail from whence I'd come:

From where I stopped initially, the trail seemed to descend to the northeast. I rode down a little ways and reached another viewpoint that enabled me to see where the rest of the trail led.

I elected to head back at that point, but had I continued I would have descended down towards Bandy Canyon and the Wild Animal Park (seen above). It looked like a fun descent, but time was short this morning, and I wasn't sure how far the trail went below. Subsequent research seemed to indicated that the trail went for another five miles or so, making this particular route a 20 mile out and back if you do the whole thing.

Instead, I turned around and enjoyed the fun descent back down the mile of singletrack I had just climbed, and then tried to keep as much speed going on the flat section back to the trailhead as possible.

After the ride Rach met up with me at the Centre City Cafe, where we had a nice breakfast.

Stats:

Total Distance: 10.58 miles
Total Time: 1:05:15
Elevation gain: 552 feet
Elevation loss: 541 feet
Average Speed: 9.7 mph
Top Speed: 21.0 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP

Garmin Training Center Log

South and North Hodges Night Ride

Tonight was a fairly basic Hodges ride, starting from the Poblado trailhead. My goal list involved doing more night riding this year, so I figured I'd better get started.

I did a little of the South side singletrack, crossed the new pedestrian/bike bridge, and rode the North side trails over to the docks. My plan was to go all the way to Hernandez Hideaway, but I realized mid-ride that I had not locked my truck and had left my laptop and all other worldly possessions inside.

That realization made for a ride back to the trailhead at race pace, and I arrived to find everything in place. What a blessing in the face of my stupidity.

It was a fun quick spin, and I hope to do this type of impromptu ride more often. Maybe next time I can rustle up some company.

Total Distance: 10.83miles
Total Time: 1:02:18
Ascent: 971 feet
Average Speed: 10.4 mph
Top Speed: 21.1 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Untitled

Firestone to Work to Home Point to Point Ride

Today was one of those days where you plan everything out, and it actually ends up working out just like you hope. I love those days.

With vacation prep in full swing and a list of errands to do only partially complete, I wanted to find a way to combine some of my chores with a road ride. I was way overdue for an oil change in the Tahoe, and also had to pick something up at work in Escondido before we left town, so I started thinking about dropping the bike off at Firestone and riding the road bike to work.

I got on mapmyride.com, put together a route, and uploaded it to my Edge. The area near North County Fair in south Escondido was a bit of a mystery to me, but I found a neat site online that provided great instructions and an excellent map, so I figured I'd be fine.

I dropped the truck off at Firestone and headed north. I crossed the relatively new Hodges pedestrian/cycling bridge for the first time on a road bike, and successfully navigated the North County Fair connector thanks to the map. That area behind the mall was a short but beautiful section to ride, and I enjoyed it very much.

Time and miles passed quickly from that point, and I made it to work in just over a half hour. I grabbed what I needed to get and was back on my way two minutes later. Instead of doubling back, I headed west. After a brief stop for a Jamba Juice in Escondido, I headed down Del Dios Highway toward Rancho Santa Fe.

I had plotted out a course on mapmyride using google maps, but it became clear as I began climbing up Del Dios that the turn I had plotted on the map wasn't there. Still, I soon saw a sign for the entrance to The Lakes community, which I knew was part of my route, and headed down the road to the guard gate.

I had initially thought that there would be a pedestrian gate that I could just go through without issue, but that proved to be incorrect. After negotiating for several minutes with the guard, I was granted a day pass to go "check out the model homes" and was back on route! (I am extremely grateful that the guard hooked me up, because the alternative involved riding through all of Rancho Santa Fe back to San Dieguito Road. That would have meant time I didn't have and miles I wasn't prepared for.)

I cruised through The Lakes, which is a beautiful development, and soon found myself back on Camino del Norte headed home.

It was an extremely fun and interesting ride. Uploading the route to the GPS worked pretty well for route finding, but I still would really like an Edge 705 with street mapping capability to help when I get lost or miss a turn. Now that I know the route from RB to Escondido, I can consider commuting to work from home sometime, which would be nice. I am also amazed at how much more ground I cover in less time on the road bike as opposed to the mountainbike.

Here's the report:

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Firestone to Work to Home Point to Point

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

Road RR: Modified Trek San Diego Monthly Ride Route

For my first longish road ride I elected to try a modified version of the Trek San Diego Monthly Road Ride.

The route passes fairly close to my house, so I elected to ride it from home instead of starting in Carmel Valley. I downloaded the mapmyride.com GPS route to my Edge 305 and headed out. It was my first time riding the 56 bike path, and I enjoyed it. There were a ton of people out, but there was plenty of room to pass and enjoy the mostly downhill from Black Mountain toward the coast.

After a few missed turns and route finding issues (even with the GPS), I made it through Carmel Valley and to the coast. The ride through Del Mar was a little sketchy with all of the traffic, but I joined up with a couple of other cyclists during that section and found safety in numbers. This route didn't have many opportunities to see the ocean during the ride itself, and I didn't stop or detour to go down to the water. Maybe next time.

After riding along the coast I passed the Del Mar Fairgrounds and headed back into Rancho Santa Fe. Before long I was in familiar territory and made my way up San Dieguito Road to Camino del Norte and was home.

I felt great at the end, and wasn't really even tired. I wasn't going for speed per se, but I didn't take any breaks and maintained a pretty consistent pace for the entire ride. I'd like to explore some route options that I can spin off of this ride to make it a little longer but still enjoyable.

Because I didn't start the GPS route guidance from home, and had some GPS problems right before the end of the ride, the stats are a little off. But here they are anyway:

Total Distance: 29.70 miles
Total Time: 2:03:09
Ascent: 536 feet
Average Speed: 14.9 mph
Top Speed: 33.0 mph
Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Modified Trek San Diego Route Part 2

Tour de Noble?

After last week's aborted Tour de Noble, I decided late in the week to give it another shot. With most of my regular riding companions on the DL or doing a 50 mile SART epic, I elected to ride solo.

I had mixed emotions about doing the whole thing alone. Noble can be pretty unforgiving (as we saw last week,) and some of the trails are a little remote. At the same time, its a pretty popular trail on Saturdays and I was familiar with the route after riding in the Lagunas twice in the last three weeks, so the risk seemed relatively low. I just figured I'd stay within myself and go at my own pace, which has its own appeal.

With only myself to worry about, I got an early start and arrived at the Pine Valley trailhead at about 7:30. I was wheels up 10 minutes later and began the 4 mile slog up the paved road.

The weather was flawless, and I just sat back and tried to enjoy the climb as the sun rose over the mountain to the east. Seven days earlier I had climbed the road to the Oak tree for the first time, and had paced myself quite a bit in anticipation of a long day. Today, I wasn't sure what my pace was like since I was alone, but it felt faster and more consistent. I didn't take any rest stops on the way up, and just spun along listening to my ipod and dodging hunters who were driving up and down the road.

I hit the oak tree in about 50 minutes, and was feeling good, so I didn't even pause. I just turned the lockouts off my shock and fork and proceeded down the fire road toward Indian Creek. Once I got to the Indian Creek singletrack I paused for about 3 or 4 minutes to eat a gel and drink some Vitalyte, and then proceeded up the trail.

I cleaned the initial singletrack climb this week after screwing up the entry last week. Even so, that first section of singletrack involved one short HAB, though I rode much more of that section of trail this week than I did last week. From there I rode through the small meadow and began the real Indian Creek climb in earnest.

That climb is not a lot of fun. Its loose, steep in parts, and just sort of beat me down. I rode more this week than last, and didn't stop to rest at all, but did find myself HABing several sections. It helped quite a bit this time to know how long it was and when it would end, which allowed me to ride a little more aggressively and clean some parts I didn't even try last week. Even so, my shoes got more of a workout than I would prefer.

Near the middle of the Indian Creek climb, I did stop to snap this picture, which I liked.
Once I got to the top of Indian Creek I rested for about 5 minutes at 4 Corners (aka Champagne Pass?).
At that point I had a decision to make. I felt great, with no cramping in my legs at all and no real fatigue after I rested a bit. Even so, I just didn't feel like riding Pine Valley trail (for the third time in four weeks) over to Sunrise Highway and back to Penny Pines. We had ridden that route last week, and while Pine Valley trail is pretty fun, didn't feel an overwhelming need to hit it again. The road ride on Sunrise Highway to Penny Pines just seemed like extra miles for the sake of extra miles, especially when I had an attractive alternative. Instead of taking Pine Valley trail to the Sunrise Highway to Penny Pines to the very top of Noble, I instead elected to continue down Indian Creek (aka Pinball) and take that trail over to Noble.

I flew down Pinball, and then climbed the rest of the way up Indian Creek to the Noble connector. I didn't hesitate, and headed right down Noble. Noble went by in a flash. I cleaned several of the rocky sections that I didn't make it through last week, stopped for a second to pay homage to Barcy's collarbone at the tree grove, and thoroughly enjoyed the descent. After two attempts at both widowmaker and stairway I was unable to clean either of them, and since I was alone I figured discretion was the better part of valor. For pure bragging purposes I'd like to be able to clean those two, but whatever.

I did clean all of the other sections that had given me trouble in the past, and did so while just flowing along, without re-tries. Very quickly I found myself at the junction of Noble where heading left leads to extra credit while heading right leads to the road. I felt great, and without hesitating made the left up EC.

The climb up was a little longer than I remembered, but not as difficult or tiring as it had been last year when I rode it last. I rested for a few minutes at the top, and then tackled the final descent of the day. I had hoped to ride the entire thing, but did have to walk one short section that I just couldn't figure out the line through. I made it back to my car very quickly, and was a little struck by the feeling of anticlimax.

Maybe it was my decision to skip Pine Valley trail and the road section. Maybe it was because I was legitimately not tired and felt fine. Maybe it was because I was alone and had no one to share in my accomplishment. Maybe it was because the ride was only 17 miles long, which is fine, but no epic. Whatever it was, I was pretty "meh" at the end. At least my wife would be happy that I was home early in the day.

As I loaded up the car and headed home, the anticlimactic feelings faded and I reflected on all of aspects of the ride that I had enjoyed. The amazing weather. The peace and solitude of the mountains. The opportunity to enjoy God's creation and truly appreciate its beauty. The fun, swoopy sections during the Noble descent. The accomplishment of completing all that climbing and not wanting to die. (I remember my first Noble shuttle two years ago when I was completely wrecked at the end of the 9 mile descent.) So on balance, I felt great. But there is still a part of me that feels like I have unfinished business up there.

So I think I'll try to make it up there again. Next time I'll probably do Pine Valley trail to Sunrise Highway to Penny Pines, and then loop BLT before heading down Noble. At the end of the day, I think the title of this RR is misleading; I didn't do the Tour de Noble. I did Indian Creek to Noble, a worthy ride in its own right, but a bit short of the epic feat that is the full Tour.

In any event, here are the stats:

Total Distance: 17.19 miles
Total Time: 3:39:36
Ascent: 3388 feet
Average Speed: 4.7 mph
Top Speed: 22.8 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map

Cuyamaca Poker Ride 2009

For the second year in a row, I elected to ride the Cuyamaca Poker Ride. It would be my first ride back after breaking my hand at Los Gatos in early September, and I had some apprehension.

Because I was uncertain about my recovery time and when exactly the cast would come off, I had not registered for this ride beforehand and rode it solo as a bandit. There weren't any aid stations, and I didn't eat any of the food after, but I still felt bad about this and made a donation to the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park that organizes the ride afterward.

The cast came off on Friday, and I wore a brace on Sunday for the ride. I got there early, geared up, and headed out. I rode the whole thing solo and felt great. I had kept up my fitness by running even when I was in my cast, so I wasn't in horrible shape. I cleaned all of La Clima without stopping, and pretty much kept riding the whole time without any breaks.

Milk Ranch Road was easier than I remembered, and I actually cleaned the whole short, steep climb up the double track that heads up after leaving Milk Ranch Road. I had failed to do that during my previous two times on this route.

The rocky doubletrack descent was rough on my hand as my grip strength was abysmal and I had a hard time holding the handlebars and breaking with my right hand. At one point the washboard trail involuntarily shook my right hand right off the bar, almost causing me to lose control.

I finished with the fun singletrack section that is one of the best parts of this route, and then was back at the car before I knew it. Riding solo with no stops was a little lonely, but it made for a fast ride, and I was glad to work out the kinks without worrying about anyone else.

I apparently forgot to bring my GPS, so I dont have a route or stats. But the ride was essentially the same as last years, so just under 20 miles with around 2700 feet of climbing.

After the ride I headed down the mountain and over to the parent's house in El Cajon to watch my Broncos beat the Patriots in OT, so it turned out to be a pretty good day.

RR: Cowles Mountain

First time at Cowles, had a great time. Followed MTB Bill's route and started from the trailhead at Mesa Rd.

Had to do some route finding at first, but after one missed turn, I started the singletrack climbing


The singletrack eventually intersected with the main fire road that would take me to the top.

Climb was worse than I originally thought at the top, and ended up HAB'ing a bit. Soooo steep.

Eventually I made it to the summit, and was rewarded with some impressive views.

From the top of Cowles I continued over to Pyles, which involved a short fun downhill and then some more climbing. I'm glad I did it, and enjoyed that section.

Here's the view from the Pyles Peak overlook:



From there I retraced my steps, back up to the top of Cowles and then down to the car. I detoured a bit on to the Big Rock singletrack, which was awesome. The ride felt like more than 8 miles, but was enjoyable nonetheless.

Total Distance: 8.34 miles
Total Time: 2:06:24
Ascent: 2161 feet
Average Speed: 4.0 mph
Top Speed: 25.0 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:

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RR: Local Ride w/Miner's Loop and Lilac Canyon

This afternoon was a quick local ride, just to trying to keep my momentum going. I rode Miner's loop from home.

Total Distance: 9.55 miles
Total Time: 1:19:39
Ascent: 1457 feet
Average Speed: 7.2 mph
Top Speed: 33.6 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:

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RR: Daley Ranch (Intense Demo Day)

I'm in the midst of trial preparation hell, but somehow found time to work in a short ride this morning at Daley Ranch before heading into work on a Saturday.

Intense was having a demo day out at Daley, and because its so close to work and I am now an Intense owner and fan, I wanted to make it out there for at least a little bit.

I brought my bike, but was hoping to get to ride a new Tracer if one was available. I got there early, but all of the Tracers in my size were already gone, so I elected to demo a Spider 29'er instead. After a quick waiver form and installing my own pedals, I was on my way.

I took Creek Crossing from the parking lot to East Ridge, up Sage, then down the Diamondback singletrack. Just before the turnoff to Diamondback, I saw a coyote just off the trail.


He eventually went his way, and I went mine.

From Diamondback I took East Ridge north to the west side of Jack Creek Meadow Loop, up Hidden Spring (Cardiac) to Englemann Oak, and hooked a left on Cougar Ridge.



On Cougar Ridge, I stopped for a quick picture to the west. It was gorgeous out, and I could see all the way to the ocean.


By taking this route I skipped a significant section of trail that I had ridden before, including the Burnt Mountain and Bobcat singletracks, but I was short on time and trial prep was calling my name.

I then took Cougar Ridge to the newly re-routed Crest singletrack, which was a ton of fun and a big improvement. After that all I had left was the banzai down the Ranch House fire road back to the Intense truck and my car.

As far as my impressions of the Spider 29'er, my thoughts are limited. It felt a lot like my Spider 26'er, so I didn't notice a huge advantage to the bigger wheels. I loved the XTR brakes, however, and the bike did climb very well. If I didn't have the 26" version and was in the market for a full suspension 29'er, I think it would be a great choice. But since I already have a FS 26" bike with almost the same geometry, I can't see buying one of these. Either way, it was fun to ride something different, and the color was really cool.


Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 1.73 miles
Total Time: 1:34:51
Ascent: 1705 feet
Average Speed: 6.8 mph
Top Speed: 30.5 mph
Bike: Intense Spider 29'er
Map:

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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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RR: Sweetwater Reservoir

Rachel is still dealing with the effects of the Fall River Virus she got on vacation, so I decided to head out to Skyline today by myself for church and then head over to my good friend John Nelson's college graduation party afterward. I knew that the party would be wrapping up around mid-afternoon and figured that would be an ideal time to go check out Sweetwater Reservoir again. The first and only time I had ridden there was back in June when I rode with the World Cycles crew, and I really enjoyed the trail, so I had been looking for an opportunity to get back there.

Before I could ride, however, I needed to obtain a replacement screw for my cleat after my mishap yesterday on Black Mountain. After church, on the way to the grad party I stopped at Soul Cycles in El Cajon to see about buying a replacement screw. The owner, Dave, was in the shop and hooked me up with a replacement screw for free, which I appreciated tremendously. In less than a minute I was in and out of the shop and able to ride that afternoon. Awesome.

The party was winding down around 2:00, so I headed over to the Steele Bridge and got underway. During the ride back in June, I arrived a few minutes late and had to fly to catch up with the group. It was nice today to start the ride at an easier warm-up pace, and I really enjoyed the first section of singletrack as it paralleled the Sweetwater river and made its way through several fun, techy spots.

At one point early on I passed a hiker and his large yellow lab who was walking off leash next to him. I waved hello and rode on without thinking much about it. About a half mile later, however, I came upon a large coyote just off the trail. The coyote was huge, almost the size of an adult German Shepherd, and it ran off slowly up the hill as I approached. I waited a minute as it retreated further up the hill and then decided to wait a minute or two more to warn the hiker and his dog. I knew that the coyote posed no real threat to a dog his size, but the size of the coyote itself and how slowly it ran away made me at least want to warn the hiker about its presence. The hiker was grateful and elected to leash his dog for the time being, so I felt good about staying to issue the warning.

From there I continued through the singletrack to the fire road that paralleled the river. There were one or two muddly spots in the middle of the fire roads, but I had no choice to just pedal through and not worry about it. At least the singletrack so far had been mud-free.

It had turned out to be an absolutely breathtaking day, and with the rain earlier in the week keeping me off the trails and another series of storms forecast for the next week, I was thrilled to be getting two rides in this weekend.

After the fire road I began the steep climb up the main hill. It had been my undoing back in June, and while I did significantly better today, there was still some HAB about 2/3 of the way through as fatigue set in. I was on the bike pedaling about halfway up when I experienced a "burp" in my rear tire for the first time. I have been running tubeless tires with Stan's sealant since I built the Spider, and I had heard they sometimes burp when the tire pressure gets low, but this was the first time it had happened. The tire was still far from flat, but I stopped and put some air in it anyway with my hand pump just to be sure. I took this picture from near the top of the climb where I stopped, looking back the way I'd come:

I eventually made it to the top of the climb, and then enjoyed the descent down toward the small pond and the short climb afterward toward the Palapa. From there I headed left up the next singletrack climb that would take me over towards the lake.

I made the next climb with no problem, and then came to a decision point. Back in June I had just doubled back to the Palapa from there, while most of the group descended down toward the lake and then did a steep singletrack climb up the back side of the hill to the Palapa. I had some gas left in my tank, and would always rather do a loop than an out-and-back, so I headed down the hill toward the lake.

This turned out to be a mistake, but not for the reason you may think.

The initial descent was very bumpy and rough, which seemed strange to me. At the bottom I made a right and rode along a narrow singletrack that was almost completely obliterated by post holes and clods of dirt. I pedaled as much as I could, but the soil was so torn up that it became impossible to ride. The only culprit I could determine was equestrians who had apparently ridden this trail right after the rain a few days ago. The trail for the next 3/4 of a mile was totally annihilated, with 4 inch deep holes and torn up soil along the entire trail. While there were two climbs that would have been tough if the trail was pristine, riding even the flat sections was impossible thanks to the damage. The scenery was pretty, even if the trail was a mess.

As a result I ended up HABing most of the singletrack between the bottom of the hill and the Palapa, which wasn't a ton of fun. Also, the extensive HAB caused my right cleat to start coming loose, which made clipping and unclipping a problem when I did try to ride a section of trail.

Once I finally reached the Palapa I tightened down both cleats and took in the views before getting back under way. The downhill from the back side of the Palapa was the highlight of the trail when I rode it in June, but there were some puddles on the lower section that I slowed down for today that took a little of the thrill out of it. I eventually re-joined the main fire road that took me back to the singletrack trail that parallels the river, and headed back towards the car.

During the singletrack section near the end I did manage to clean several short steep climbs that felt good, and also nailed a techy rocky downhill that was a lot of fun. The portion of this trail between the Steele Bridge and the fire road is a blast to ride and very scenic, making it one of my favorite sections of trail I've ridden.

I really enjoy this trail, and would ride it more often if it was closer to home. I really want to explore some singletrack that I saw betwee the steep climb and descent down from the Palapa as well. By the end of the ride my bike was a muddy mess from the puddles on the fire roads, but the fun I had was well worth it.

Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 12.05 miles
Total Time: 2:04:26
Ascent: 1706 feet
Average Speed: 5.8 mph
Top Speed: 20.4 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:

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RR: Black Mountain

I had an interesting ride this morning that started out rough and only got worse, yet by the end I was still in a better mood than when I started. I must be making some progress in my approach to life.

I had a fairly limited window in which to ride this morning because of some home improvement projects and Christmas shopping that I had to do, so I was conflicted about where to ride. I'm a little bored with all of the regular stuff that I've been riding, and wanted something new. Doug invited me to go with him to explore some Ramona trails which I've wanted to do for a while, but he couldn't start until 10:00 a.m. and I didn't have the whole day available. I had also gone through another unfortunate two week layoff since my last ride and wasn't sure where my fitness would be.

My indecision led to laziness, and I elected to just stay near home and ride my local route to Black Mountain, with maybe a trip to the summit tacked on for good measure. As I started out and pedaled through the 4S trails towards the mountain, I figured that the least I could do to shake things up was to try to climb the rocky trail up the north face of the mountain to Miner's instead of riding Carmel Valley road to the paved climb up to the trailhead.

As I started the dirt climb things weren't too bad, but they deteriorated rapidly. My two weeks of 12 hour work days and no exercise exacted their toll about a third of the way up, and I was off the bike and huffing way earlier than I should have been. The dirt climb was a poor choice for me today, but would have been quicker and more fun than the two road climbs if I was in the right condition. I'll definitely try it again sometime soon, but need to get back on the stupid stationary bike beforehand.

I eventually reached the top and made my way over to Miner's. I was once again beset by more HAB than usual, and I was questioning my decision to even go for a ride this morning. I had done so well on Miner's just a few weeks ago, and it was particularly frustrating to be performing so badly today after having some great success back on November 30th. I was also unable to clean that fun techy section today that I had made a couple weeks ago, which was demoralizing.

As I essentially pushed my bike up Miner's clockwise, I considered just doing the loop and skipping the ride to the summit like I had tentatively planned. I felt like crap, and didn't want to continue to suffer during the limited down-time that I had available today. As I neared the cut-over trail that would mark my decision point, I looked back toward the north and was treated to an amazing view of the snow-capped Palomar mountains.

As I turned toward the east, I could see that the Cuyamaca mountains also had significant snowfall visible from where I was.

The views immediately changed my whole demeanor and attitude, and I decided to make the trek to the summit to see if I could get an even better view.

I rode pretty well through the cut-over, even cleaning the tricky G-out near the end, and then made the HAB up to the main fire road. I spun along the fire road happily toward the summit, where indeed the view were spectacular. I stopped near the top to enjoy the views to the east before continuing to the summit to check out the mountains to the north as well.

As I made it to the summit, I rode toward the edge of the road and planned to stop for a minute to take in the views. As I stopped and tried to unclip my left pedal, my shoe rotated outward but the cleat remained stationary, stuck in the pedal. I unclipped my right shoe quickly before I fell over, and realized that the left cleat was rotating underneath the sole of the shoe while still attached to the pedal.

I played with it for a minute or two, rotating my ankle around trying the get the cleat to unclip, but with no success. I eventually was forced to take the shoe off my foot while the shoe was still attached to the pedal, and spent about 10 minutes trying to dislodge the cleat and shoe from the pedal, frustrated but amused at the situation.

I tried all kinds of tricks, but eventually had to just put the shoe back on try to wrench it free by twisting my ankle. That method finally worked, and after the shoe came unclipped, I discovered the culprit that caused the problem: I had lost one of the screws that held the cleat in place, which caused the cleat to rotate on the bottom of the shoe instead of disengaging from the pedal.

The screw was apparently long gone, so I tightened down the remaining screw and clipped back in, hoping that tightening the one screw down very tight would keep the cleat from rotating. I put the shoe back on and clipped in. I then tried to unclip to test it out, and the cleat rotated inside the pedal and stayed clipped. Crap. I wrenched the shoe free again, and this time elected to remove the cleat entirely, meaning that I would be unable to clip in my left shoe at all. The Shimano M505 cleats that I was using have almost no platform, so pedaling was going to be a little rough, but I figured that was better than being stuck to the pedal during the entire descent down Black Mountain.

Time was also a factor at this point. I had things to do today and my mechanical issues had cost me about 25 minutes that I had not factored in when planning out this ride. I made it down the Gorge Trail without dabbing, but did stop to snap a picture on the way down so that I could illustrate why I have dubbed it the Gorge Trail.

I also almost made it up the steep climb at the end of Gorge but my left foot slipped off the pedal during my final lunge and I stalled briefly, forcing a dab.

I cleaned all the switches going down Miner's, and because of my pedal issues and time concerns, elected to just ride the main trail down the north face of the mountain back to the 4S trails to home. Even with all the pedal nonsense I made it home in less than two hours, which was nice. With the rough start fitness-wise and mechanical issues I would have expected myself to be frustrated at the end of the ride, but the views of those snow-capped mountains really had an effect on me, and I was in a great mood the rest of the day.

One thing that is becoming clear is that my occasional two week gaps between rides really hurts my endurance and sets back my fitness considerably. I need to do something during the week to make sure my fitness doesn't drop as dramatically as it did these last two weeks when I was unable to ride. It looks like the stationary bike may be the only option...

Here are the stats from today:

Total Distance: 8.57 miles
Total Time: 1:59:51
Ascent: 1702 feet
Average Speed: 4.3 mph
Top Speed: 31.6 mph
Bike: Intense Spider XVP
Map:

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