Worst. Website. Ever.

My vote for the weather-related website with the poorest information? AirNow.gov. Check out their air quality maps for this Saturday and Sunday...





Looks OK except for a few pockets, right? Why is it then that when I walk outside, I can smell acrid smoke and see ash? Oh yeah, the wildfires.

Here's one of the big problems, the Sylmar fire:


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Photos courtesy of the LA Times:

Halloween Night Ride

Broke out the headlight for a Halloween night ride in the Santa Monicas a few weeks ago. Participants included Mike, Miles, Nor, Andrew, Brett and Jinn. Despite a few light issues, it was awesome -- warm temps and very little trail dust.

Here are a few photos from the road and trail:







Here's a link to data on MotionBased: Sullivan Canyon; Rusty Car; Backbone Trail

A map of the ride route:


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Recent Road/Cyclocross Rides

Sunday: San Vicente; PCH; Las Flores Cyn; Stunt Rd; Mulholland Hwy; Kanan Rd; Latigo Cyn; PCH; Montana


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A few cell phone pics from the road. Las Flores Canyon Road right before it gets steep:



Rambla Pacifica with the towers in the background:



The top of Schueren and Stunt Road at 2,300 ft:



Saturday: Westridge Fire-Road; Dirt Mulholland; Mulholland Hwy; Old Topanga; Topanga Cyn; PCH; San Vicente


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Last Sunday: San Vicente; PCH; Las Flores Cyn; Rambla Pacifica; Stunt Rd; Mulholland Hwy; Old Topanga Rd; Topanga Cyn; PCH; Montana


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Last Saturday: San Vicente; PCH; Topanga Cyn; Mulholland Hwy; Kanan Rd; PCH; Montana


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Came across a small fire on PCH on the way home. Here are cell phone pics:

Weekend Road Rides

The Santa Anas this weekend made for super clear skies. It was almost a year ago that Malibu Canyon burned under similar (but more severe) wind conditions.

Here are a few cellphone camera snaps taken today from Latigo Cyn and Stunt Road:





Sunday data: San Vicente; PCH; Latigo Cyn; Kanan Rd; Mulholland Hwy; Stunt Rd; Las Flores Cyn; PCH; Montana

Elevation graph:



Map:


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Saturday data: San Vicente; PCH; Topanga Cyn; Mulholland Hwy; Las Virgenes; Malibu Cyn; PCH; Sunset

Map:


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Recent Rides

Tuesday on the Bianchi: Westridge Fire-Road; Sullivan Ridge Fire-Road


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Sunday on the Turner: Westridge; Rusty Car Single-Track; Sullivan Canyon


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Saturday on the Scott: San Vicente; PCH; Topanga Cyn; Mulholland Hwy; Las Virgenes; Malibu Cyn; PCH; Montana


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Off-Topic Video

Timely...

Weekend Rides

Sunday mtb ride: Sycamore Canyon Rd; Sage Trail; Two Foxes; Guadalasca; Overlook; Two Foxes; Sin Nombre; Sycamore Rd


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Saturday road ride: San Vicente; PCH; Topanga Cyn; Mulholland Hwy; Kanan Rd; Latigo Cyn; PCH; San Vicente

An elevation graph:




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Weekend Rides

Sunday on the Turner: Westridge Fire-Road; Rusty Car; Backbone Trail; Sunset; Amalfi; Sullivan Fire-Road; Sullivan Canyon

An elevation graph:




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Saturday on the Scott: San Vicente; PCH; Topanga Cyn; Mulholland Hwy; Las Virgenes; Malibu Cyn; PCH; Ocean Ave.; Montana


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Pre-Labor Day MTB Ride

Wrapped up work a bit early Friday and headed out for a long ride on the dirt. This is the route:


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Here's a link to data on MotionBased:

Sullivan Canyon; Rusty Car; Backbone Trail; Sunset; Amalfi; Sullivan Fire-Road; Dirt Mulholland; Westridge Single-Track

A photo from Westridge single-track:

Weekend Rides

Rode the Bianchi on Sunday up Westridge over to the Hub and down Paseo Miramar. The GPS died 4/5 of the way along so I only got partial data.


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On Saturday, went for a long one in the morning. A big thanks to the guy who's been doing trailwork solo on Backbone the last few weekends. The brush has been cut back nicely everywhere and it's no longer tick-ville.

About 37 miles in 3 hours and 50 minutes with 5,700+ ft of elevation gain. Here's the profile:



Here's a map:


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It was overcast and cool in the morning, pretty uncharacteristic for August. Here are a few pics from Backbone above the bridge:

Brentwood Grand Prix

Checked out the road races up the street in Brentwood last Sunday. Apparently, this event has always been held at West LA junior college (whatever/wherever that is). This was the first time it was staged on San Vicente which was a perfect venue.

Race flyer:




Masters 55+ riders crossing the start/finish:




Jacinda snapping photos at the start of the Cat 4/5 race:




Mike Sudo on the starting line:




The nail that ended Nor's race:

Pistol Creek, ID

Headed to Idaho about two weeks ago for the annual fly-fishing trip.

Hiked up the creek past the bridge on Thursday and enjoyed an epic day. Friday afternoon brought rain which caused some discoloration on the Middle Fork. On Saturday, headed up the creek again with low expectations. Surprisingly, the water was clear and the fishing turned out to be fantastic.

Dave Dawson with a nice cutthroat caught at the logpile on the creek:






A productive pool above the bridge:




Shoe at the convergence of Pistol Creek and Little Pistol:




Fish on:




After the rain and hail on Friday:




On the creek Saturday:




Grazing time:




Playing horseshoes, having cocktails:

Pre-Vacation Rides

Managed to squeeze in four pretty good local rides before heading out of town for vacation. Here's info:

Tuesday: Sullivan Canyon; Rusty Car; Backbone Trail


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Monday: San Vicente; PCH; Topanga Cyn; Mulholland Hwy; Old Topanga Rd; Topanga Cyn; PCH; San Vicente


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Sunday: Sycamore Canyon; Guadalasco; Hell Hill; Overlook


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Saturday: San Vicente; PCH; Topanga Cyn; Mulholland Hwy; Las Virgenes; Malibu Cyn; PCH; Ocean Ave.; Montana


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Wednesday MTB Ride

Squeezed in a quick ride on the Turner after work today. Up Westridge, down Rusty Car then down Sullivan Canyon. Here's a link to info on MB:



The temp was quite nice but the air quality, not so good.

Saturday MTB Ride

A quick ride on Saturday AM. Westridge to Rusty Car single-track to Backbone Trail into Will Rogers:


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Got berated by an irate trail-runner on the first single-track section of Backbone after somewhat of a near-miss. Whoops...

Lower Rock Creek Trail Video

An eleven minute helmet-cam video shot on the top section of the Lower Rock Creek single-track in the Eastern Sierra on July 5, 2008.



More video to follow.

Puerco Canyon/Backbone Trail Ride

On Sunday, suffered through one of the more difficult sub-twenty mile MTB rides I've experienced in recent history. Here's a map:


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Ride started at the Puerco Canyon gate about a 1/4 mile up from PCH. The exposed fire-road went basically straight up from 300 ft to 2,200 ft.

The surface was topped with about 2" of loose stuff which was just enough to be a major pain. Sadly, had to stop several times on the way up and resorted to the granny gear on more than a few occasions.

Here's an elevation profile:



Photos from the bottom and mid-way up the climb:





The fire-road ended at the Corral Canyon parking lot. From there, we rode the first section of Backbone Trail single-track and then turned around. Definitely all my legs could handle. On the way back, Miles was in front with Mike occasionally challenging.

Saturday's road ride was pretty basic:


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4th of July Weekend

Rolled up to Mammoth for the long weekend w/ Mike and Miles to ride mountain bikes at the resort and on nearby trails.

Heading up Thursday afternoon, it was disconcerting to see and smell serious wildfire smoke in the air from Mojave northward. For awhile there, I was ready to write off the trip.

Here's a pic from the road showing just how obscured the Sierras were off in the distance.



At a gas stop in Big Pine where this photo was taken, we were relieved to learn from south-bound travelers that the air in Mammoth was fine.



On Friday the 4th, hit the ski hill. Climbed the single-track up to Main Lodge, then hit the gondola, rode off the back and around the frontside. Grabbed the helmet-cam at lunch and shot some video in the afternoon. Will post that soon.

Here's a (messed up) map of the ride...


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A few pics from the top at 11,000+ ft...





On Saturday, rode Lower Rock Creek. The first half of the single-track was ridiculously fun -- flowy and fast. The second half was more technical w/ ankle-breaker rocks everywhere. The exposed road climb was made bearable by splitting it in half. Here's a map...


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Here's an elevation profile...



Helmet-cam video is forthcoming. Meantime, here's a still photo of the trail and one of Mike catching air off a rock jump...





Ended the trip by riding something called the Mammoth Rock Trail on Sunday. It was short, but just about all the legs could comfortably handle. The single-track was scenic, non-technical and somewhat sandy. Here's a map...


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A few washed out pics from the trail...