San Diego – Page 20 – The Ramblings of MTBBill

Back to Hitting the Local Stuff

I got back from Japan a couple of weeks ago and have been taking it easy for the most. Enjoying the “normal” things in my life like the kid’s hockey games, practice, honey-dos, etc…. Oh, and I managed to break my FN left big toe just strolling through the house. So not much in the way of blogging about mountain biking. But I been squeaking in some ride here here and there.

Before the toe breakage, I met up with one of the usual suspects at one of the usual suspect spots for some playtime on the rocks. After not riding here for over six months, the rocks and all the moves looked bigger. I’m going to have to repolish my game in this area.

Just a couple of days ago, I tested out the toe on ride through Calvera with my youngest son, Jake. While the toe was mildly a pain, it is okay to ride with.

What I was really stoked about was how well Jake was hanging. I rode at around 90% of my normal pass and he was right there the whole time. We did not do a whole lot of stopping either, just riding.

Kids never seem to amaze me at the rate at which they progress. We had a really good time out there and we got in around 12-14 miles all together. It was a good day to be a Dad and on a bike.

Help Save Calvera!

MTB Comments on the City of Carlsbad Lake Calavera Trails Master Plan Needed
Respond before the COB, Monday, August 24th deadline.

EMAIL your opinion to pam.drew@carlsbadca.gov (This might be a type also include pam.drew@carlsbad.ca.gov)

1. All trails shall be multi-use. No segregation of trails based on trail width or biking vs. hiking.
2. No use of decomposed granite for trail surface improvements. Leave trail surface natural.
3. No widening of existing trails to meet Type A, B or C requirements. Trails are already wide enough.
4. Addition of quality multi-use singletrack into the trails plan. If the opened trails don’t provide a better experience than the closed trails, users will keep using the closed trails.

We have until Monday August 24th to file comments with the City of Carlsbad.

The next order of business will be dealing w/ DFG property and all the poaching/illegal building. The issue right now however, is public comment on the city plan (not DFG issues).

THANKS!!!!

Pre-SDMBA meeting La Costa Playtime and Photo Geekage

Last night was the monthly San Diego Mountain Biking Associationmeeting that was held at REI in Encinitas. Before the meeting a handful of decided to get in a quick spin at the Rancho La Costa Preserve. I got there quite a bit early so I tinkered with a new camera gadget that I have modified for use with a mountain bike. It is a RF remote shutter release that has a range of over 100 feet. The remote is a bit on the bulky side for using while you are riding as it could not be mounted on the handlebar in an easy to reach spot. After some geekage, soldering and a bit of trial and error I made a remote micro-switch for the remote. This “remote remote” allows me to put the camera on a tripod and then take pictures by just barely moving my thumb on the handlebar.

Here is one of the first test shots. I’m snapping the shot using my left thumb. It was a good test as pressing the button did not detract from the riding.

During the second test shoot, I wanted to test out the range of the system. The camera is at least 100 feet away when I snapped this first shot of the sequence. I am going to do another test later at a further distance to see just how far you can push the range. I also had the autofocus set to servo mode to it refocused as I moved along the trail getting closer to the camera. Continuous shooting mode also works with this setup. The main intended use for this setup is when I traveling and riding solo. While I like taking trail photos, so of them would be so much nicer with a rider in the shot. Now at least can use myself as photo fodder. I may have a couple of tweaks left to do with the setup, I’ll put up some additional details on the gadget mods when everything is dialed.

After the photo tinkering, I zipped back down to the trailhead and hooked with the folks for the ride. It was good ride, but I took next to nothing for pictures as I was doing a lot of chasing.

Here is Gardner Grady, aka SDMBA Vice President and member of the National Mountain Bike Patrol showing how is done on a section know as “Meet Your Maker”. If you think you might me interesting in becoming a member of the SDMBA chapter of the National Mountain Bike Patrol, touch bases with Gyan Penrose-Kafka who can give you all the 411 on the program.

We finished up the ride with enough time to chill for a bit before heading off to meeting. There was a really good turn out and there are lots of stuff happening around the county and particularly in North County. It was well worth a few hours of my time to see what is going on in person without having to sift through all of the talking head chatterbox BS that seems to be so prevalent on the various online forums. If you can out about upcomign SDMBA events by signing up for thier Trailnews mailing list.

Comfort Dirt at Sycamore Canyon

It was way too freaking early for a Sunday morning when I got up to meet Chip and friends down in Santee for a 7AM ride through Sycamore Canyon. I had not seen Chip in a handful of moons and I had stuff to do in the afternoon so it worked out well. I had also not been out to Sycamore Canyon in a really long time. I think it has been over a year. It was good to see Chip and good to ride Sycamore Canyon again.

All of the singletracks below the south gate of Goodan Ranch are in pretty good shape and the main trails in the park proper had seen some SDMBA TLC over the winter months.

After making our way to the upper trailhead at the north end of the park we continue northward and the did the area known as “Tip-Top”. We did a nice lollipop up this area before coming back to the upper trailhead and taking the Martha’s Grove trail.

The run down Martha’s Grove was fun and it it was fairly zippy return back to the trailhead in Santee. I was done and headed back towards home by 10AM. This was very satisifying ride that was just the right size. Like a good meal with a modest portion size, it was just enough to make you feel full but not uncomfortably stuffed. Not every ride needs to be an epic, a training hammer fest or an out-of-beyond exotic ride. This was like a comfort food kind of ride. You know like a PB&J and a glass of milk. (Pick your favorite)

The 2009 Archipelago Ride

This is the second year a group of advocates and friends got together to do a ride that has become known as the Archipelago Ride. Open Space in coastal San Diego County has become very fragmented over the years into a patchwork of “islands of open space”. The Archipelago Ride concept is one to demonstrate how these islands can be linked together into a rides of epic length.

This years ride started at the La Costa Preserve and went to Probuilt Wheels on the western end of Penasquitos Canyon. Getting there was by way of Elfin Forest, Lake Hodges, San Deiguito River Park, Lusardi Creek, Santa Luz, and Black Mountain.

The day started off early in the moaning with most folks grabbing a shuttle from Pro-Built up to La Costa.

Once we got up to the La Costa the gaggle of riders was even larger. I think the total rider count was 37. I thought for sure with this many people that the regroup logistics would make for slow going.

Slow going would not be a bad thing for me today. Jake had an ice hockey game going on that morning so the plan was to help get the ride started and then catch the game and grab onto the ride around Lake Hodges. I decided to grab some shots of the group from Harmony Grove Road as they went of the Escondido Sewer Easement and I was quite surprised at the pace the group was making as they got there quite earlier than I had expected.

Roughly about this same timeframe, I got a call for Jake’s coach that the game was later than what was orginally published, so there was little chance that I was going to catch all of Jake’s game.

I did however manage to get the ice rink for a bit before I got the call from the ride sweep letting me know the group was rolling into Hodges. I booked it from the rink and got setup below the Hodge Dam. To lead the group for a bit on a different route from last year.

The general consenus was that everything was going along smoothly…and then I took over 🙂 So this “new” route had a little “technical hike-a-biking” in it.

The climb-a-biking was a neccessary evil to get to a creekside trail that was pretty sweet with a bit of technical flow to it. This was a recent find for me so I was stoked to show it off.

After the creek side riding we followed Lasardi Creek for a short ways and then we took a different route from last year up to the Santa Luz Loop.

I like the congo line of helmets through the flowers above.

Once up to the Santa Luz Loop things went pretty quickly to Black Mountain Park and the waiting sag wagon. In addition to snacks there was mighty tasty fluids suitable for rehydration.

After Black Mountain Park we continued on the Santa Luz Loop and then took the connector over to McGonigle and Deer Canyons.

Our last major regroup was just before entering Deer Canyon. SDMBA had tried to get the permission to use one of the tunnels for this ride, but with all of the controversy with the area we were relegated to “Tunnel Zero” aka the God forsaken powerline climb up onto the mesa.

Once up on the mesa, everyone knew the way “home” so the proverbal hounds were released and everyone seem to move quicker.

There were tasty grub and brews awaiting back a Probuilt Wheels. It was a great way to end this 42 mile ride that had 5,000 plus feet of climbing. I was amazed at how close this group was in relative strength and endurance. The group was never really strung out and the group make good time over the course of the day.

Here is a photo album with all of the pictures I took during the ride.

Back on SoCal Dirt

Man, have I been busy since I got back from Washington. After a solid week of honey-dos and a couple of lingering projects that needed my attention I was finally able to get back onto some SoCal dirt. This weekend I’m helping out with SDMBA’s Archipelago Ride by providing some “Navigation”. There was one section in particular that I have been looking for an improved route from last year so some field research was in order.

The area I was focusing on was by the San Dieguito River Park and the Santa Luz area. I found some good stuff that fits the bill for real trails. It should be a good addition to the route this year.

Here is a mule deer buck I encountered on the trail. The buck is on the trail. Yes, there is a trail there.

Here is the trail from another angle. Good stuff.

After spending three weeks in the Pacific Northwest, 81 degrees felt down right hot! It was however a good afternoon in the Sun. I’m looking forward to leading the way to the goods on the Archipelago Ride.

“Rocking In SoCal” Video

Okay I have been letting this footage pile for over a year so it was time to do something with it. It is a locals rock hangout here in San Diego. You can call it either the KTS #1 (Kinda Top Secret) Trail or the Ain’t Telling Trail. It is really not much of a secret at all but I was asked not to drop the name so there you go.

Right Click to download the 9 minute and 46 second video that will set your hard drive back 139MB.

Pulling the Trigger – Mojo vs Mangina

This past Wednesday, I went out to Alpine for another lesson in my continuing effort to get comfortable in the air. It is was nice day out and the signs of spring were all around.

I was feeling pretty good that day with some Mojo flowing and was interested in trying somethings that I feel I should have been hitting already but have just not done yet. So I started off by hitting the “Satan” jump right off the top. The run in has always given me some grief as you are turning and there is enough stuff that keeping some speed can be tricky. After hitting this, I was thoroughly convinced that, yes I was a big wuss in the past for not doing this. I had to hit it a second time just for good measure. A good way to start off the descent.

Next on the list was Corndog. If you have been following my blog, (Or my buddies post’s throwing me under the bus 🙂 )you should remember that I taco’d my frontwheel on my last airing here. I have balked at this jump a handful of times since then. Today I finally hit this jump again, I flew well, landed fine, and then got squirrely in the run out as I was off to the right put managed to ride it out enough to get to a stop without having a yard sale. The good news was that I just rolled up and hit it. No looking and thinking, just going. It felt good. I decided I needed another one and this time I ended up angled left. In the air I could see that I was headed for the same spot I taco’d in a few weeks earlier. The bike touches down, here comes the rut, and just before things were going to get ugly I managed to push the bike off the left while I lunge to the right. End result, I’m a little dusty but otherwise a very successful bailout without so much as a scratch on me. I have got to figure out my aim on this launch, I just have a hard time hitting the mark. Not counting all the forfeits from not launching, the grand total for Corndog Launches is: 2 wins – 2 losses – 1 tie

The Threesome. This is a pretty big leap as it is not gravity feed. You have to pedal as hard as you can to a very narrow, long and uphill tranny. Adding to this you come off the rock long before the edge and you can’t see where you are going. A real leap of faith. The pictures do it absolutely no justice whatsoever. Needless to say I’m behind the camera here.

This is called “The Threesome” as there are three lines. The big huck, and big tricky roll, and a much easier roll. The orignal idea was for the small roll to be a wall ride, but it did not pan out but the name sticks. The tricky roll actually goes beyond vertical for bit so the easiest way is to roll and then give a little huck part way down. Here is Steve on the way down, preloading before pushing off.

Gaps scare the crap out of me, even little ones. Something about the upward trajectories required and the threat of casing that messes with my head. The one above is one of those that I have looked at for quite some time but have never pulled the trigger on it, until today. After hitting this I could not help but think, “I fretted over that for that long?”

The drop above is typically called the “Lake” or “Lake View” drop because you can see the El Cap reservoir from there. I had hit this once before but had balked at least half a dozen times since then. It is funny how something you have hit before and have never crashed on can mess with your melon. I stuck this one and about 50 yards down the trail just as I started to mentally congratulate myself, I washed out in a rut and had to step off the bike. Two steps away from the bike, I twisted my ankle. It hurt pretty freaking bad and I ended up having to cruise down the rest of the way instead of getting “on it”. It was still one heck of a fun descent.

Overall, It was a great ride and I was glad to finally get my mangina to shut up long enough to try some stuff.

Poison Oak, Old Rigs and New Rigs

For the last week and a half I have not been riding as I had gotten myself a mighty fine batch of Poison Oak. I had it in enough strategic places that riding a bike would not be fun. I’m still dealing with some of it, but I’m beyond the worst of it. This past Wednesday Matt came by Casa Del Bill with a whole bunch of bike goodies to rebuild and spice up his current bike.

The first order of buisness was to get out all of the proper “tools” for this project.

New wheelset, cassette, chain, headset, shifters, crankset, brakes, seat, and seatpost made for quite a revamp for this bike.

It did not take long before all the bits starting coming together. As usual, I found getting the front derailuer aligned properly to be a pain in the rear. Here is Matt trimming the brake lines.

This overall ended up going smoothy as a three-beer job and before you know it was ready to hit the trail. Matt ended up taking out first thing the following morning.

So Friday rolls around, and my various bits are are feeling up to try some saddle time so I swing by Matts place in Del Dios for a spin through Lake Hodges. He has just picked up a new singlespeed and needed to get it out on its maiden voyage. He had not been out to Raptor Ridge before so that was the destination. On the way out there we scoped out the Pedestrian – Bike Bridge across the Lake which is nearing completion.

After a lot of boring dirt roads being passed off as trails we reached the Raptor Ridge singletrack. It is a nice climb up to a ridge with some good views of the San Pasquel Valley. Matt got a good taste of singlespeed grindng on this climb. I was quite I had been off the bike for a bit as well.

After some chilling at the top we headed back the way we came. It was a fun descent that was over far too quickly.

I have been trying to think of something nice to say about the section between the I-15 and Raptor Ridge and while there is some scenery, it is mostly a low-quality yawner of a route on manicured dirt roads.

PSA – The Future of Carlsbad Trails

Here is a cut-and-paste from some of the online forums that is important to you if you ride a bike in the Carlsbad area.

———————————-

All who ride La Costa, Calavera and want to open more trails to legal status, this is THE MOST IMPORTANT TIME IN NEXT 25 YEARS in NORTH COUNTY via the CITY OF CARLSBAD “Envision Carlsbad” Growth Plan Update. The staff has hired a great national consulting firm to gather input from citizens on what they want from the City.

THIS IS HOW MTBRs GET A SEAT AT THE TABLE – BUT YOU GOTTA SHOW UP:

March 23 MONDAY 6PM to 830PM Faraday Safety Center 2560 Orion Way (map)

March 25th, WEDNESDAY 6PM to 830PM TriCity Wellness Center 5260 El Camino (map)

TELL THE CITY YOU ARE A CITIZEN, TAXPAYER (and if a Carlsbad resident) THAT

1. YOU WANT MORE RECREATIONAL ACCESS FOR YOUR KIDS, on
2. SUSTAINABLE TRAILS IN OPEN SPACES, as that
3. INCREASES SAFETY FOR ALL USERS, and
4. BRINGS MORE HEALTHY RECREATION TOURISTS DOLLARS TO CARLSBAD,
5. RESULTS IN NET HABITAT GAIN AND A HEALTHIER PRESERVE SYSTEM, by

BY DRIVING OUT IRRESPONSIBLE ABUSE by the
ILLEGAL CAMPERS AND
FIRE STARTERS,
WASTE DUMPERS,
GANG-TAGGERS, and
OFF-ROADERS

If you are an SDMBA member or have participated in any trail volunteer events, remind the forum consultants that SDMBA has consistently been far and away the biggest contributor of hours, for the hardest dirt work, and set the best example and proof statement that:

“MULTI-USE MEANS MORE WIN-WINS” – hikers, joggers, dog-walkers, bike-riders, horsers and conservationists all have the same desire for a healthy nature experience, and have worked well together elsewhere, and have proven references from the most wise bio-science adaptive land managers to prove it works.

In these tough fiscal times, everyone is reminded that the simple things in life are the most valuable, and whats more valuable than neighbors learning to look after the land together, and become better friends and stewards of it for our future generations?

GO TO CITY WEBSITE FOR MORE ON ENVISION CARLSBAD and the two dates in APRIL.

For more info contact Erik Trogden, N County Liaison SDMBA.