One of my MTB Buddies from Hawaii was in town and I was quite pleased to take him out to the Laguna Mountains to show him some of my favorite local goods.
Carrizo Gorge & Miles Crash
The remastering work continues with my older videos. The latest ones dusted off from the archives is Carrizo Gorge and the Miles Todd Crash Video.
Harding – Joplin – Luge
You have to pay to play with this loop. 4,711ft of elevation in just under 26 miles will have your legs feeling it on the climbs and your grinning muscles feeling on the descent. You will probably stress some pucker muscles here and there as well. This route has you climbing Harding Truck Trail up to Main Divide and then down Joplin following back hooking up with the Santiago Truck Trail and the Luge.
Idyllwild 2022 Video
The trails out in Idyllwild were in fantastic shape during my most recent visit there. It was also my first time on Neepa Flow and boy of boy is that an great bit of trail. The builder really did a fantastic job of using the terrain. My page on Idyllwild:
Escondido Exploration
The is more to Escondido than Daley Ranch. Valley Center is its next door neighbor and I did some snooping around along the seams near Daley Ranch. Not all of the route I did turn out to be fully legit but it sure was interesting. Moral of the story, don’t be afraid to get almost lost.
The Archipelago Ride
The 14th edition of the Archipelago Ride is in the books. My has this ride grown since the first one I was a part of when it was very much an exploration ride. With a capped field of 750 riders this year this is a major fund raiser for the San Diego Mountain Biking Association that helps keeps projects going year round. There was a gaggle of volunteers and supports who made this awesome event happen. If you get a chance you should give it a go at least one.
East Mesa – Champagne Pass
I had a mighty fine time futzing around in the Cuyamaca Mountains that included a ramble up to Champagne Pass. I started out heading south on the Eastside singletrack and then up East Mesa Fireroad.
East Mesa was quite pretty, but I could tell it was a little past the prime of spring color.
On my way eastward on the Deer Park trail I came up a couple of the folks doing the Stagecoach 400 bikepacking event/race. So impressive the kind of mileage this folks are knocking one of the fellows (Mateo Paez) ended up finishing 3rd.
The climb up to Champagne Pass on the Indian Creek trail was a bit of work. From there I took the Pine Mountain trail over to Sunrise Highway at the Pioneer Mail trailhead. From there I made my way over to the Lucky 5 trail. From there I was on one of my favorite routes that included the Upper La Cima, CRHT, Cold Spring, Cold Stream and the Westside trails to close out the loop.
The day turned out to be around 32 miles long with around 4,600′ of climbing.
Palm Canyon Epic
I recently got back out on the Palm Canyon Epic after a couple year hiatus. I have took the RV out to Palm Desert and setup basecamp for the weekend. My wife took us up to the top and it was quite nice to not a “commute” to do after the ride. It was a great day out of the bike.
Black Mountain and Lusardi
I am doing the Archipelago Ride in a few weeks and I need to continue toughening up the “leather” in strategic locations. I did a Black Mountain loop that I do on a regular basic and then added on the Santa Luz/Lusardi Loop.
For my Black Mountain Loop I started from Black Mountain Park and work my way up to the peak via the main fireroad. I then dropped Black Widow and then took the fireroad back up and cut over to the east ridge trails that included Manzanita, Little Black Loop and Nighthawk trails.
Lusardi 
Lusardi 
Lusardi 
The trail ahead
I then connector over to Miner’s Ridge Loop, then Lilac and Ahwee back to Black Mountain Park. I was feeling pretty good when I rolled out for the Lusardi Loop but main was I dragging on the final climb to finish that loop off. I did 23 miles and 3,600 feet for day. Beer:30
Elfin Forest Videos
I have put together a couple of videos of Elfin Forest. One is of going down the “The Way Up” trail and the other is the rest of the trails.
After futzing with the footage a while I decided that “The Way Up” trail would be best shown as a single top to bottom video. I still don’t think it showcases the chunk as well as it good but I did not take the time to do some non-POV shots.
The other video showcases the rest of the trails as well as the trail off the back side down to the Los Cielos Preserve. It is know as “Collarbone” and “The Way Down” trail.