Final Rides of 2007

After a week of food, drink and relaxation w/ the family, finally got back on the bike yesterday. Sunday, headed up Sullivan Canyon, over to Rusty Car and back down the Canyon.

Today, New Year's Eve day, did a fun loop w/ a lot of single-track up at Sycamore w/ Miles. It was essentially the same ride from 2 weeks ago except we bypassed Hell Hill and Wood Canyon single-track.

Here are a few pics from the trail...







This is a group of wild green parrots that reside in the trees near the campground...

Pre-Christmas Mammoth Trip

Squeezed in two fun days at Mammoth before Christmas w/ Shoe and Miles. Despite the cold storm which blew through midweek, coverage was kinda thin in places. Highlights were the trees on 14 and Hemlock Ridge which we hiked twice.

Miles and Shoe on chair 23...



A killer view of the Minarets from the top of Hemlock Ridge...



The dreadlocked friend of Miles' SC room-mate getting ready to drop in on Hemlock...

Mammoth Forecast Looking Good

Here's the 5 day NOAA outlook as of tonight plus a photo lifted from the Mammoth site...





A Winter Storm Warning is in effect through Thursday evening. Friday will be the day.

Sycamore Canyon Loop

Rode up in Sycamore Canyon today w/ Miles, Nor, Carlyn and Brett. Sampled some fun new single-track and hit the old favorites. The Hell Hill climb which came towards the end of the ride pretty much finished everyone off. Total mileage was 24+.

Here's a link to ride info plus a few pics.



Nor fixing the first of two flats...



Guadalasca Trail...



Random signage...

Nature Center Ride

Along w/ Mike, checked out Miles' go-to loop in Santa Clarita called simply Nature Center. The short ride consisted of a 4 mile climb followed by a super-fun 5 mile downhill. The top section of double-track sat under a canopy of trees and wound its way down w/ perfect berms on almost all the turns. The rain from yesterday made the conditions tacky and fast.



Midway up the first fireroad climb under Simpsons-esque clouds...



A steep downhill just after the top bermed section...



The bottom section winding through a small canyon...



Stay tuned for helmet-cam footage of this trail.

Mammoth Storm

Looks like the storm people were talking about last week brought a good amount of snow to the Eastern Sierra Thurs and Fri, then blew through. The forecast as of late last week had indicated a *chance* of snow through Mon. Apparently, this is not happening.



The temps are cold which is nice but they need a lot more weather.

Backbone Trail Ride

Rode up Sullivan Canyon, across Rusty Car and down Backbone into Will Rogers today w/ Mike, Nor and Brett. Temps were in the mid 50s w/ some wind. Following the rain on Friday, the trails were in great shape -- firm, tacky and without dust.

Here's a link to MotionBased...



Here are a few pics taken by Brett. Notice how each shot is taken looking down the trail? That's because he was off the front the entire day.

Mammoth Finally Getting Snow

It's always good to see a lot of snowflakes along with the words Winter Storm Warning in the Mammoth forecast. Here's what the NWS site looked like today...



And here's a bit of photographic proof of the storm (lifted from the Mammoth website)...



Pretty similar to an early season shot I took a few years ago, eh?

Bicycle Commuting in Wintry Chicago

Here are a few photos taken by Andre Alforque this morning along his regular commute to Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago. Looks arctic...





This shot shows fresh tire tracks on the Lakefront bike path and an unsettled Lake Michigan off to the right. Andre's commuter ride is a Bianchi San Jose single-speed.



Meanwhile, it's 73 degrees and sunny in LA today and yet I still drove my car to work. Weak.

Sunday Road Ride

From Brentwood up PCH to Topanga Canyon to Mulholland Hwy to Malibu Canyon and back. Click on the map for info on MotionBased...

Corral Canyon Fire

In a random twist, a brush fire broke out early this AM near the section of Backbone Trail where I almost lost my front teeth yesterday. The Corral Fire is raging hard right now and numerous homes have burned. Hopefully, people are at least safe.

Here's a Google map of the area...


View Larger Map

Click here and here for images of the fire courtesy of latimes.com.

Keep your fingers crossed that Backbone gets spared as it's one of the very best single-tracks around. Here are a few pics from last year...

Post-Thanksgiving Carnage

Met Miles up at Corral Canyon for a post-Thanksgiving Backbone Trail ride. Less than 20 minutes in, took a bad line on a short, steep (but easily rideable) section where the single-track drops down into the dry creek bed. My front wheel hit an exposed rock and stopped dead. Subsequently, went over the bars and face/head first into the rocks.

This was one of the scarier crashes I've experienced. The process of taking physical inventory in the immediate aftermath was pretty stressful. Thankfully, it appears there's no major damage. Will probably need to get my neck looked at though which is scary.

Here are a few pics of the rock I landed on, my Pneumo lid which is now fried and my face...

12 Hours of Temecula MTB Race #3

Raced in the final event of the 12 Hour series Saturday on a team with Nor, Mike and Miles. We finished 10 laps overall with Mike and Nor, our first two riders getting in three and Miles and I doing two each. Our total was good enough for 2nd place in the four-man Open category for the series.

Brett rode in the solo Sport category for the first time finishing an impressive 8 laps. Solo entrants seemed to have gravitated to Sport so his field was pretty thick. Had he been in Expert, his lap count would have gotten him onto the podium. He'll be there soon enough.

Miles had the best time in our group with a fast :58 minute lap on his first outing. My times (both in daylight) were 1:02:30 and 1:03:21. On his third outing, Nor turned a smoking 1:04 night lap; his time would have been even faster had he not crashed and broken his light mount.

Here's a link to my lap 1 info on MotionBased...



Here are a few of my photos...

















This is a great event but it's also quite humbling. To be on the course amongst sponsored riders like the Cytomax/KHS guys turning sub-50 minute laps, single-speeders charging climbs I can barely make in the granny gear and solo riders like Pua Sawicki on the way to completing 8, 9, 10 or even 11 laps is awesome.

SoCal 'Cross Race

Went to the cyclocross races for the first time on Sunday to check things out and root for Carlyn. Her friend Dorothy is one of the organizers and a racer herself. Must say she put on a good event with a nice course, clinics, demo bikes, etc. Check out the race flyer.

Here are a few shots from the Women's Category 3/4 race...





Nor providing moral support at a tricky section...



A few more random race pics...







Looks fun in a painful kind of way.

San Gabriel Loop

Went for a long mtb ride yesterday w/ Nor, Brett and one of Nor's friends. The route started out at the parking lot above JPL in Altadena at around 1,000 ft and then proceeded straight up to 5,200 ft. Here's the elevation profile...



Total mileage was around 30 but the ride took almost 6 hours d/t numerous food stops, a crash, one flat and a lot of hike-a-bike around Switzer. Here's a link to info on MotionBased...



Here are a few photos from the ride...









The single-track from Red Box to Switzer was the highlight of the ride. Saw a number of downhill riders shuttling that section but no XC riders doing the whole loop.