RR: SoCal Riding - LONG!

"Dean A. Stepper" wrote in message
news:PM_gc.22885$Rz3.16820@fed1read05...
Great report, it is good to get someone's impression of our trails from
outside of our area. I do ride San Juan alone but only after having done
it
with friends a few times first...and only during the weekdays with the
shuttle monkeys aren't as prevalent...sorry Slacker.

Aliso is fun but I also stay away on weekends...way to many people. I can
now climb Cholla without dabbing or stopping...it took numerous attempts
and
about 1 year of riding to get strong enough. Next time try coming off
West
Ridge on Rocket or Lynx...both single tracks and more fun than the
fireroad
decent.

When I stopped there Saturday morning before the rain came down, the parking
lot and road were packed! I can see what you mean about the weekends being
crowded. Sunday, the park was closed in the morning and most people were
told it would be that way until Tuesday. That meant when the opened it on
Sunday afternoon, I basically had the whole thing to myself.

I made up Cholla, stopping once to take pics. This was a surprise because I
didn't think I was strong enough yet to do it and I was able to restart on
the up slope. I saw rocket and decided to pass without any protection.

On the West slope of West Ridge did you see any of the downhill single
tracks dropping into Laguna Canyon Road? IE: Dog Patch, Direct Dial,
Telonics, or Steps. If you though SJT was treacherous.

Dean Stepper
Laguna Beach, CA


I saw those very steep lines. What's the incline on those? I was on an
ultralight so hucking and DH was out of the question (not that I do that on
a normal day).

"Ride-A-Lot schnauzers.ws" Mitchell@NOSPAM wrote in message
...

"Slacker" wrote in message
...
Ride-A-Lot Mitchell@ wrote:
This ride report is for two different areas. I was in town for some
business and took my ride with me. After going over some trail maps
and
discussing with some native MTBers, I decided I would ride Aliso-Woods
(http://www.socalmtb.com/socal/trails/maps/aliso.htm) on Saturday for
a
warm
up and then try the San Juan Trail
(http://www.socalmtb.com/socal/trails/maps/hotsprin.htm) on Sunday,
which
was classified as "advanced". By the time I reached Aliso-Woods on
Saturday
morning, the skies opened up and the park was being closed. So back
to
the
hotel to wait for Sunday. I'm always one who tries to get their
money's
worth. So having lugged my bike from NJ, I wasn't about to do just
one
trail.

snip great RR

Thanks for reading!

Ride-A-Lot
www.schnauzers.ws


Man, you're stoked, you got to hit both of them! SJT isn't too advanced
for you. If you made that 6 mile climb, you're doing very good... you
just need a ride buddy next time to keep you company. It does get spooky
there by yourself.

Like I said, I was going to make it worth bringing the bike and flying
America West,

I'll be back late next March for a pre-con. I'll stay the weekend then
too.
Maybe we can meet up for a ride or two.


Sheesh, and you rode down Mathias... dang, I've only had the unfortunate
displeasure of climbing it, and never cleanly.


Well, Cholla wasn't exactly a pleasure to go up either. If I had my body
armor with me, I would have been a little faster on Mathias. It was
exciting and I am still feeling the euthoria of the riding today.


cholla is kind of the quickest and most direct route up to maximize downhill
pleasure though. I've only ridden AW once but we ended up going up Cholla
twice and down Rock-It and probably Mathis (not entirely sure). Cholla
hurts, but it's over in a hurry. and it'd be a bummer to spend a lot of
time climbing another trail and then going down Cholla!

Michael

"Ride-A-Lot schnauzers.ws" Mitchell@NOSPAM wrote in message
...
This ride report is for two different areas. I was in town for some
business and took my ride with me. After going over some trail maps and

Major Snippage

SJT actually gets more fun towards the top. But, it also helps to have a
little local knowledge since the fun trails (Chiquito and Viajas Tie) aren't
that obvious in where they go/end up if you don't know ahead of time.

the switchbacks, there are 31 in total I believe but like 22 in the opening
2 miles, can be challenging for sure. There's one in the opening sequence
that gives me trouble going uphill regularly, although any of them can cause
a problem from ride to ride. There's another one further up that I've never
made. It's just too rocky and I'm already kind of winded by the time I get
there to ever succeed at it. One day maybe!

I"m not sure why, but SJT never spooked me too badly becuase of the
exposure. I've been on other trails where I was more concerned but I always
felt pretty safe on SJT. I don't come down at breakneck speeds, but I do
okay. there are a few rough spots to watch out for though.

You do have to be very careful on weekdays though for the shuttle up and
ride crowd. They're usually out in force after about 10:00 after stumbling
out of bed around 9:00 or so!

if you want to relive the experience before you edit your video, check out
http://www.mountainbikebill.com for his videos or my site he
http://www.s92441708.onlinehome.us/S...0Trail/sjt.htm

Michael

miles todd wrote:
San Juan can be spooky, it's true. If you are at all afraid of heights
it may not be the best choice.
As far as fatality possibilities go, last year a guy fell off the trail
and died, and nobody found him for a few days... sometimes it sucks to
ride alone. That said, SJT is one of my favorite solo rides.

Here's photo:

http://gallery.consumerreview.com/webcrossing/images/dscn0061(1).jpg


Here's another:


http://gallery.consumerreview.com/we...witchBacks.jpg


I don't know. I'm deathly afraid of heights but most of San Juan is so
wide I never even notice the drop. Put me on Upper Sam Merrill or
Strawberry Peak in the San Gabriels and I can barely move.

Greg

Ride-A-Lot
"S o r n i" wrote in message
...

This ride report is for two different areas. I was in town for some
business and took my ride with me. {Major Snippage, at your service}

Nice pics and write-up -- sounds like you got a good taste of So Cal

riding

(rocks, ruts and cliffs, oh my!

Only been to Aliso once, I think, but ridden SJT many times. If you're at
all afraid of heights, San Juan Trail is an adventure, to say the least!
(The upper half doesn't have the vertical "exposure" of the lower portion,
but is much more technical in places.) Need to be careful on way down, as
fatigue can make one sloppy (IOW, dead!)...

Bill "thanks for the RR" S.





I don't think it was so much the height as being alone. I'm still at the
point in my riding where I need occassional words of encouragement from
others. It takes my mind off of the danger. I didn't have that on SJT.
My two biggest fears are falling off a cliff with no one there to recover my
body

I get that fear all the time.

and getting lost.

That's never a fear for me. At worst it's an annoyance since I'm always
prepared, at best it just adds to the adventure.

Greg

I don't know I don't ride them. I am comfortable on Laguna Ridge Trail and
that is a 35 percent loose and rocky downhill and not nearly as steep as the
ones I mentioned in Aliso. We have a few local professional downhillers
that use those trails on a regular basis. I run into members of Team Turner
once in awhile out there. They also seem to use Drunken Sailor and T & A
Drop (Laguna Ridge) in Laguna Wilderness Park.
"Ride-A-Lot schnauzers.ws" Mitchell@NOSPAM wrote in message
...

"Dean A. Stepper" wrote in message
news:PM_gc.22885$Rz3.16820@fed1read05...
Great report, it is good to get someone's impression of our trails from
outside of our area. I do ride San Juan alone but only after having
done
it
with friends a few times first...and only during the weekdays with the
shuttle monkeys aren't as prevalent...sorry Slacker.

Aliso is fun but I also stay away on weekends...way to many people. I
can
now climb Cholla without dabbing or stopping...it took numerous attempts
and
about 1 year of riding to get strong enough. Next time try coming off
West
Ridge on Rocket or Lynx...both single tracks and more fun than the
fireroad
decent.

When I stopped there Saturday morning before the rain came down, the
parking
lot and road were packed! I can see what you mean about the weekends
being
crowded. Sunday, the park was closed in the morning and most people were
told it would be that way until Tuesday. That meant when the opened it on
Sunday afternoon, I basically had the whole thing to myself.

I made up Cholla, stopping once to take pics. This was a surprise because
I
didn't think I was strong enough yet to do it and I was able to restart on
the up slope. I saw rocket and decided to pass without any protection.

On the West slope of West Ridge did you see any of the downhill single
tracks dropping into Laguna Canyon Road? IE: Dog Patch, Direct Dial,
Telonics, or Steps. If you though SJT was treacherous.

Dean Stepper
Laguna Beach, CA


I saw those very steep lines. What's the incline on those? I was on an
ultralight so hucking and DH was out of the question (not that I do that
on
a normal day).

G.T. wrote:


I don't know. I'm deathly afraid of heights but most of San Juan is so
wide I never even notice the drop. Put me on Upper Sam Merrill or
Strawberry Peak in the San Gabriels and I can barely move.

Greg



Hmmm. You would love Scissors Crossing then. Oh wait- you've ridden it,
as I seem to recall. That has some good agoraphobia potential. Of
course, Carrizo Gorge is bad for those afraid of falling off of cliffs,
too... or so I have been told.

miles

Ride-A-Lot


I made up Cholla, stopping once to take pics. This was a surprise because I
didn't think I was strong enough yet to do it and I was able to restart on
the up slope. I saw rocket and decided to pass without any protection.



I was riding up Cholla one time (actually an AM-B Gathering, now that I
think of it) and I politely asked a guy to let me pass. He made no move
to do so, so I asked him again, explaining that it was extremely hard
for me to go so slow. I'm sure he thought I was an arrogant jerk, but
what he didn't know was that it was all I could do to keep enough
forward momentum at 10 RPM to not fall over. Finally the trail widened
ever so slightly and I got past him. When he saw I was on a single
speed, he asked "why didn't you say something? If I'd known I would
have let you by." That was by far my most difficult climb up that
damned trail.
I rode up Mathis that day, too... ouch.

miles

miles todd wrote:


G.T. wrote:



I don't know. I'm deathly afraid of heights but most of San Juan is
so wide I never even notice the drop. Put me on Upper Sam Merrill or
Strawberry Peak in the San Gabriels and I can barely move.

Greg



Hmmm. You would love Scissors Crossing then. Oh wait- you've ridden it,
as I seem to recall. That has some good agoraphobia potential.

Yeah, I was ok on Scissors, again the trail is wide enough to not scare me
too much.

Of
course, Carrizo Gorge is bad for those afraid of falling off of cliffs,
too... or so I have been told.


I was surprised that the trestles didn't bother me that much. But that
section where that guy fell off of the side freaks me. I'm glad I wasn't
there. I don't think I would have had the nerve to ride back to the car.

The stuff that scares me is unmaintained forest service trail, particularly
on the front side of the San Gabriels, when the trail gets eroded down to a
few inches. Behind me on this shot was a section that was scary to walk
while carrying a bike:

http://www.2fortheroad.net/pacifico/stopped.html

Unfortunately the shot back toward the steep stuff was too dark, it was
quite a bit steeper and the trail was only the width of a boot.

Greg

"G.T." wrote in message
. com...
miles todd wrote:


G.T. wrote:



I don't know. I'm deathly afraid of heights but most of San Juan is
so wide I never even notice the drop. Put me on Upper Sam Merrill or
Strawberry Peak in the San Gabriels and I can barely move.

Greg



Hmmm. You would love Scissors Crossing then. Oh wait- you've ridden it,
as I seem to recall. That has some good agoraphobia potential.

Yeah, I was ok on Scissors, again the trail is wide enough to not scare me
too much.

Of
course, Carrizo Gorge is bad for those afraid of falling off of cliffs,
too... or so I have been told.


I was surprised that the trestles didn't bother me that much. But that
section where that guy fell off of the side freaks me. I'm glad I wasn't
there. I don't think I would have had the nerve to ride back to the car.

The stuff that scares me is unmaintained forest service trail,
particularly
on the front side of the San Gabriels, when the trail gets eroded down to
a
few inches. Behind me on this shot was a section that was scary to walk
while carrying a bike:

http://www.2fortheroad.net/pacifico/stopped.html

Unfortunately the shot back toward the steep stuff was too dark, it was
quite a bit steeper and the trail was only the width of a boot.

Greg

I would be afraid to ride that trail with that back tire.