For Day 5 of the August MTB Vacation I cut my wife some slack and we did a shuttle up to the top of Schultz pass. We then did the half of the loop I climbed on day 2 as a descent (Previous video). We did a snippet of Secret to the AZT. Then Lower Moto to Chimney and the the lower bit of Schultz Creek. She was most appreciative of not throwing a beat down on her out of the gate. Pretty much all green trail goodness.
Category: Video
Herkey Creek 2007 Video
One more of the old skool videos remastered. This video is one of first videos with an HDV camcorder and the optical stabilization was so not geared to handle MTB type action. I tried some stabilization with this video but the crop required is just no good. I plan to put together a video of a scouting I did out here back in May so I wanted to get this out for comparison later. I really hope this area can recover back from the fires to something akin to what it was in this video.
Ohana Trail Video
I finally pulled together some footage from a couple of rides out of the Ohana trails in Kialua back in April. The footage does not capture what a great group of folks I was chasing around. If you find yourself on Oahu looking for some trails, this one would probably be #1 on my list.
Help Save “Urban Legend”
Located in Pupukea, the short but fun “Urban Legend” trail that is just one of dozens of MTB trails in the area. It is unique in that it man-made built up features that is worth keeping around. Please read the petition linked below and think about signing it. Show our MTB brothers and sisters in Hawaii some Aloha by supporting the petition. And please don’t my lame ass attempt at riding this trail dissuade your thoughts on the coolness of this trail.
Cannell Plunge – Remastered
The latest of my older videos to be remastered is of an outing on the Cannell Plunge in June of 2006.
I’m overdue for a return to the Kernville area to check out some stuff I have not done as well as revisit this trail as well. The snow should be clearing from the top before long so the season is nearly here.
Peacock Flats Loop + Video
Boy have I had a great week of getting out on the trails here on Oahu. I have a pile of pictures and footage to sort through already as well as great stories to share.
Last week I did the Peacock Loop. Sometimes just referred to as Peacock Flats. It is a big ride with big views!
It starts at Dillingham Airfield on Oahu’s northwest corner. You will do a paved climb up to Peacock Flats and into the Mokulēʻia Forest Reserve will you will do some ridge riding (aka ups and downs) into the the Kuaokala Forest Reserve and Game Management Area were you will pick up the Kuaokala trail some amazing bit of single track before getting back onto jeep trails and more ups and downs.
You will finish up the loop with the Kealia Trail which is a pretty serious bit of steep rugged single track that I have heard called a hiking trail that bikers sometimes ride. I was somewhere between pooped and cooked at this point in the ride which make technical riding that much more interesting. All together you will do 21.2 miles and 3,700 feet of climbing. If it is clear out, I say the price of admission is worth it. If you are a Trailforks user you can find the route here, but realize that this route over estimates the total ascent by a bunch. Here is my Strava from that ride which shows the elevation better.
Finally here is the video I put together from this day’s adventure.
Hurricane Cliffs Vintage Video
Here is the latest of the vintage pre-GoPro MTB to be migrated over to YouTube. This is of the Hurricane Cliffs Loop which is comprised of the Gould’s Rim, JEM and Hurricane Rim Trails. This is a great and sizeable XC loop in the area. I have not done this route in over a decade mostly because of the build up of new trails JEM trail area you can pile up a bunch of miles in that area alone. Since this video was shot Over The Edge Hurricane was established and they helped to create a trail that connects from town up to Gould’s Rim. I’m sure that trail is going to be seeing some action this weekend as the Hurricane MTB Festival is going on now. I did not sign up for this festival this year as I did not think I would be recovered from the heart valve replacement well enough by now but after this past week’s riding I think I probably would have been able to handle the this trail system along with most of the other goodies in the area. Here are a few other pictures from the area.
Remastered Freeman Creek video
The Freeman Creek trail located in the Giant Sequoia National Monument is a pretty unique trail that drops you down through the Freeman Grove of Giant Sequoia Redwoods. The size of these ancients of the woods will skew your perspective of big in regards to living things. This grove is the largest grove in wilderness condition (having never been logged) outside of the Sequoia National Park further to the north.
Here are some more of my ramblings on this trail
While the Bear Creek and Camp Nelson trails see more MTB action, this is a trail that is worth checking out if have the time. (At least based the last time I rode it)
Shortly after this video was shot in 2006, the trail was severely sanitized by a trail crew using a bull-dozer. The trail eventually eroded back into something akin to single-track. In 2020, a wildfire went through the grove. Some of my friends that live in the area have not been back on the trails since the fires but the area was hit pretty hard. Wildfires are part of the lifecycle of the Giant Sequoia’s so I suspect they survived.
At 6:18 you can really see how these trees are adept at surviving wildfires. It is worth noting that the rider (JD) is about 6’4″ to give some perspective on the size of that trunk.
At 7:14 there is a scene of me riding on a fallen log. The other rider on the trunk is 6′ tall. Take note of the perspective when I start to ride back and he is standing on the trunk part and I’m about to start rolling from the base/root part.
From 8:00 until the end of the video, we are actually riding a short section of the Summit Trail (FS 31E14) on our way back to the Quaken Aspens campground where we were staying.
While the Bear Creek and Camp Nelson trails see more MTB action, this is a trail that is worth checking out if have the time. (At least based the last time I rode it)
San Diego Flume Trail
I have a new video up for the San Diego Flume Trail as well as new page on my site. This is nice little gem of a trail tucked away in El Monte valley where you might find a nice serving of Chicken Noodle Soup for the MTB Soul this time of year.
I spent a few a more hours out in the El Monte Valley area this past week refreshing my memory on a couple of trails in the area. While out on the flume trail east of El Monte Park out I came across of leftover Kittle snacks.
I have added a page to my site for this trail. In the course of making the page I also added the trails in that area to the Trailforks database as well as mirroring my recommended route discussed on that site as well. I will be doing some more of that in future but that is for another day.
I also finished up a video from Nichol and I riding this trail during our camping outing at Lake Jennings.
and maybe even a find a nice serving of Chicken Noodle Soup for the MTB soul.
If you have not done the San Diego Flume trail before, it is worth taking a checking out this time of year when its exceptionally green out there. It really is an nice little gem tucked away near Lakeside.
You can get in 10 miles or so, a climb or two, a quick a hike-a-bike or two and maybe even find a nice serving of Chicken Noodle Soup for the MTB soul.
Palisades Trail (WA) Video
Located near the tiny community of Green River in Washington, the Palisades Trail (#1198) offers some stunningly great views, superbly thin single track that varies between super flowy to rooty that should challenge just about anyone’s bike handling skills. While there are quite a few ways to get to the top of the trail, the three times I have done this trail I have climbed the Ranger Creek trail which a hefty about of work but it is also an exceptional trail You can check out my description and pictures of that route
MTBProject also some other routes that include the Palisade trail that are worth checking out.
This video was shot using a GoPro Hero 5 Black and Feiyutech 3-axis gimbal. I really disliked the audio of the Hero 5 and it was one of the reasons that this footage languished on my hard drive for well over a year. I used Adobe Preimere and Audition to clean it up but there are still some funkiness to the audio. I’m really glad to have upgrade to the Hero 8 since then which has much better audio.