Viper

Rode out in Santa Clarita today w/ Miles and his friend Alex. The loop started with a 7+ mile fireroad climb from 1,400 ft to 3,700 ft, then a downhill single-track, a big road climb back up and finally... Viper. Click on the map for info on MB.



Total elevation gain for the ride was a pretty big 4,500+. Miles was on his game and off the front on each of the big climbs. Here's a graph...



View from the Camp 9 fire station...



The entrance to Viper...



Miles and Alex all smiles as they're about to drop in on their home-court single-track...



Overall, the trail was incredibly flowy and fast with a number of steep sections. The infamous Viper section was quite scary though, at least to me. Alex and Miles both cleaned it nicely. I made it about 1/5 of the way down and then (weakly) stepped off.

Here's a pic of the section taken from the other side. Trust me, it's steep...

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.