Mountain Bike Bill, The Dirt on the Dirt

Category: Trails

Trails in General

Friends in Town

I was stoked to have a couple of my Colorado buds roll into town. In addtion giving them a place to shack up and bourbons to sample we got in some riding.

La Costa
La Costa was the local ride.

We had some rain to deal with o. The second day so we went out to Anderson Truck Trail

Anderson Climb
Anderson Climb

The skys looked ominous as we were driving out to the but the there was a large patches of blue sky to the southwest which was where the wind was coming from so I felt pretty good about our chances. Things looked good early on.

Oh Hail
Oh HAIL!

The skys turned pretty quickly and before we knew it we had hail bouncing off our heads. Now we have a bike ride!

Kevin on some SoCal rock

Pretty much by the time we got to the top of the trail the hail and light rain was over and we were back in some sunshine. Time to go back down.

Greg rocking in Socal as well!

I was so stoked to be to return some hospitality back in Kevin and Greg direction.

Back in the Lagunas

I spent most of January working in Jacksonville, Florida. Below is a picture from the commute out to the jobsite that seemed out in the sticks.

Sailboat Sunrise
Favorite Picture of the trip

Once back in town it was time up one my old reliable trails, the Lguna Mountains.

Views from up near the top.

The skys were super clear and we could see Point Loma and the downtown skyline some 40 miles away as a crow files.

Point Loma and Downtown
Point Loma and Downtown

We did not do a particularly good job of chasing the sun and pretty much finish the last minutes of the day. There are worse things to be bad at.

Steve showing off.
Steve showing off both of his girlfriends!

Vacation and Laguna Mountains

So I have not been riding much as of late.

View from along the stroll to dinner

Nichol and I managed to do a traditional vacation that included a handful of days in Hawaii.

Poolside did not suck

Now Nichol and I have been to Oahu numerous times related to work but this was our first time there in a strictly vacation fashion. We have both done most of the “mandatory” tourist things on the island in the past so we were under no pressure or schedule to do anything. It was really nice.

Sunset from the backyard

In addition to vacation, there has been lots of house stuff that has been capturing my interests and time as if late. Man caves don’t build themselves!

But that does not mean I have not been riding. I have been hitting my local “off the books” ride here and there along with getting out to the Laguna Mountains. I just have been hitting the trails with as much regularity as I normally do. Pretty sure I’m gonna pay for that later.

Utah Weekend – JEM, Goosebumps

Our final day of the weekend trip had me waking up to stiff legs.

The view from the front door.

We both desired to get back home at a reasonable time, so we opted for something efficient and fun. After breaking camp we parked at the JEM trailhead at the base of Gooseberry Mesa.

More Cowbell
I need “More Cowbell”

The last time I rode your when doing this as part of the Hurricane Rim Loop that consists of the Goulds Rim, JEM and Hurricane Cliffs trail. Since then there has been a lot if trails added in this area, it is now its on system.

Spider
Look at this little fellow

We ended up riding JEM, More Cowbell, Dead Ringer, Goosebumps, Cryptobionic, and some of the JEM Loop Route. (Not in that order) What a fun time we had. After a celebratory beer it was time to get back to the land of playing working stiff. It was another great adventure in Utah!

Utah Weekend – Grafton Mesa

Day Three took us out to Grafton Mesa which I had heard lots of awesome stuff about but had never been out on.

More Money

Sean on More Money

Grafton did not disappoint.

Sean on Show Me The Money

Sean on Dig-It!

We also did the Pigs In Space and Meanderthal trails along with a portion of Reach Around.

Free skin treatment

You know you are some good trails when they come with exfoliation services.

The drop in spot.

We did not take the techno-gnarly trail off the mesa as we had not made any shuttle arrangments and were not feeling up for major dirt road grindage to get back up on the mesa. Clearly I will have to go back!

Utah Weekend – Little Creek Mesa

Day Two had out at one of my all time favorites in the area, Little Creek Mesa. Sean had ridden one of the loops out here, but had not been out to the point so I was more than happen to do some showing around.

Mesa happiness
One of my happy places

We started out in the main loop and worked out way out the the western rim of the mesa.

Western Rim Little Creek Mesa
Western Rim of Little Creek Mesa

We then worked out way out the North Point.

Gooseberry from Little Creek
Looking at Gooseberry Mesa from the North Point of Little Creek Mesa.

From the North Point we continued on around and hooked up with Magic Carpet Ride.

Magic Carpet Ride
Magic Carpet Ride and long shadows.

Back at camp we enjoyed tasty beers before working on some bourbon while solving world hunger. Well maybe not world hunger, but may have put a dent in the bikes in wilderness issues. Ugh maybe it was which sections of the Pacific Crest Trail should be open to bike.

Bourbon
Yummy Bourbon!

One thing we certainly did figure out. It did not suck to be us on this day.

Utah Weekend – Wire Mesa

Man did I have great weekend near Hurricane Utah. Sean was out on an excursion in Utah with RV, his dirt bike and some MTB action on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We set Apple Valley as our rally point and we were soon off to Gooseberry Mesa to find a place to park the RV for the weekend.

The view from the front door of the RV.

After setting up the RV we had enough time left in the day for a ride so we hit up nearby Wire Mesa.

Wire mesa with Zion in the background
Sean on Wire Mesa with Zion National Park in view
Views from Wire Mesa
Views from Wire Mesa
More views of Wire Mesa
More views from Wire Mesa

The Wire Mesa trail does lots of bobbing and weaving right along the rim of the mesa. The trail seems longer than it actually is. The views are just great.

We pretty much used all of the remainder of the day. It was a great opener ride.

La Costa

This was my kind of way to spend a Monday morning. Taking a spin around at La Costa.

The trail system is bit beat up with braking bumps and braids around obstacles which there is a plethora of rant material to work with on this subject, the biggest one is there is just not enough good legal singletrack in coastal North County. There is good legal singletrack here so it is highly popular and ends up taking a beating.

More ATT playtime

It has been quite sometime since my last ride out at Anderson Truck Trail. The upper section known as “World Cup” is pretty much gone now (or in major disrepair). It was never an above board system as it was on a combination of USFS, private and Indian Reservation lands. The various groups finally got together to put a kabosh on access.

Rock rolling
Plenty of rocks left

ATT on its own is a good climb and descent but its just not the same without the challenges of World Cup.

Tire compression
Tire compression tests SAT!

There are still spurs and loops that can be done from four corners. House of Pain, Spicolli 1 and Spicolli 2 (Your trail names may vary) provide some lollipop options before returning down ATT.

Dusty Trails
Dusty Trails

No matter what your opinion is on the current situation regarding World Cup, the descent down Anderson Truck Trail is still worth the effort to climb.

Tour De Wrightwood

I had a great time yesterday with Sean McNew and Bill O’Neil checking out the goods around Wrightwood. Sean was a tour guide extraordinaire! My prior experience in this area has predominantly been the Blue Ridge D route. Sean has spent a large deal of time working in the high desert not far from here and he has the good on this area figured out. I’m already ready for a return visit!