Black Mountain – The Ramblings of MTBBill

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.

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

Black Mountain (Ramona)

Evil leaf all over the place where I started from.

Since recovering from a heart valve replacement last year I have been noticing that the heat does not crush me like it used to do. To test this theory, I decided to ride the Upper San Ysabel Truck Trail and ascend Black Mountain in Pamo Valley.

I purposely started a little later in the morning knowing that it was going to be toasty at the end of the ride.

The temperature was fairly reasonable when I started from the east end of the Santa Ysabel Truck Trail. It is mostly a climb to the west to Black Mountain Truck Trail. The last time I rode this was on a bikepacking outing and it was much easier on this day than back then with all the gear.

One of the few shaded sections of the Upper Santa Ysabel Truck Trail.

Once on the Black Mountain Truck Trail I settled into the climb and I was feeling good. It was nice to have my seat post working for this climb.

The temps were climbing only slightly quicker than I was. I had a full 3 liters of water in my camelbak. I only put water in my bladder. I used to put things like energy or electrolytes mixes in them but I have learned that I’m not dilengent enough to prevent inadvertent science experiments from occurring. Instead I have a separate water bottle that I mix that stuff in using the water from my bladder.

About 2/3rds of the way up the climb I took a break and made another batch of electrolytes in the water bottle (I use Nuun tablets). It was good and warm but I was still feeling good.

Continuing on I made it though a steeper section that previously would have put a hurting on me, but today it was hard work but not a crusher. After that section, it felt like a cruise in comparison to the top.

I was plenty glad to be done with the climbing and felt really good about the effort I put in.

After taking in some sights at the summit, it was downhill time.

The descent was mighty zippy and I could feel the heat cranking up as I dropped in elevation. It was quite hot when I got back on the Santa Ysabel Truck Truck and had to start using the pedals again. When I got back to the truck it was 95 degrees out. I was tired but I did have the kind of heat beat down that I would have previously had. At least it looks positive evidence to the theory from my perspective. One thing for certain, It was a good day to be on a bike.

More Black Mountain

Time to get in some more Black Mountain. I continue to be impressed with the improvements that been made and the progress on the trails out here.

The Black Widow trail going down the west slope of the mountain continues to see love from the trail crews.

Word is there are future plans for access to the East Rim from the east side as well. That would be pretty awesome as all of the current access point are both social trails and brutally steep hike-a-bikes. I’m so excited about this place is coming along from standpoint of how advocacy groups and willing community governments can actually make things happen.

Return to Black Mountain (RB)

It has been quiet some time since I have been over to the east side of Black Mountain in Rancho Bernardo. Man I have been missing out. There has been some really good contouring single tracks built on “Little Black Mountain” that are replacing the stupidly steep old jeep routes that were previously most of your options out there.

The great thing is these are fully above board legal trails. The local community and the San Diego Mountain Biking Association working with the City of San Diego have a good thing going out there.

The route I have been kinda digging as of late has me starting from the Black Mountain Open Space Park and head south along west base of the mountain to connect to the main fire road climb where I head up to the peak. After the peak I drop down the Black Widow Trail. I climb back up the main fire road where I then cut over to Little Black Mountain and ride the loops out and then connection up to the Nighhawk trail to Miner Ridge Loop. From there I do the eastern half of that loop to Lilac and then to the Ahwee that takes me back to the park. Here is a link to that route. The end of the Ahwee is cut off due to my GPS watch running out of juice so your distance should be slightly longer. (I need to update my website page on this trail system)

Black Mountain – RB

My day job was been rather pesky by infringing on my Saturday so I only had to time to squeak in a short ride. I had not been out to Black Mountain in Rancho Bernardino. In had been at three years and change since I last rode here.

I knew some development was in the works in the area but I was a little surprised at how much at been developed since I was last our there. I will definitely need to update my page on this area as there home where some trails used to be. The good news is the open space park is under good stewardship and the San Diego Mountain Biking Association (SDMBA) have a good relationship with the management of this area. Some new trails are in the works and in progress.

I did a counter-clockwise loop from the baseball fields along the service roads to the summit, night hawk, miners ridge and the lilac trail. All of it was in pretty good shape. I am going to make a more concerted effort to update things with the latest on this area. More to follow on that.

Black Mountain – Coast to Crest

Fresh back from working in the Puget Sound area it was time to hit up some of the local stuff. I got up at O-Damn Early to hit up a new bit of trail and the Black Mountain Truck Trail near Ramona.

Ramona this time of year can get really toasty and Pamo Valley can really turn into a pizza oven. The plan today was to get some elevation on me before things got to really cooking.

The new trailhead staging area off of Pamo Valley. The pine trees on the top of the mountain is my destination.

I made it out to Pamo Valley good and early. The new staging area is quite large and can accommodate plenty of cars and horse trailers. I made quick work of getting ready to roll as it was only going to get warmer. The trail starts out in the northeast corner of the lot and parallels the road for a short bit before crossing over. A word of caution, the first section of trail near the road was ate up with goat heads. If you are not running some type of sealant system you may find yourself having a frustrating day right from the get-go.

This new section of the Coast to Crest Trail eliminates the need to ride along the Pamo Road to connect the Lower Santa Ysabel Truck Trail to the Black Mountain Truck Trail. It is 3.2 miles long and overall I think it is a nice addition to the trail system. It undulates on the hillsides following the general route of the road but is not just paralleling the road. It does cross the Pamo Road several times but I really don’t consider that much of a detractor.

Shortly after I got onto Black Mountain Truck Trail, my dropper seat post started acting up. It started sagging about 1/2″. I was able to just raise my post up some in the seat tube to compensate, but it was not long before it dropped about 2-2.5″ down. I did not have enough seat-post to compensate for this. The first thing I tried was wrapping some duct tape around the upper part of the post. It worked for just a short amount of time before the whole tape mass just slide up the post. Next I tried reposition the table and give some extra clamping power with some zip ties. This worked better but not for long. Trying to do a long climb without full leg extension can be rough. I was about to throw in the towel an head back down the mountain when I saw a sizable stick. I was able break and trim the stick to just the right length to wedge between the seatpost clamp and the bottom of the seat. Once I got it jammed in place I zip-tied the stick to the post. This fix held up and I was back in business.

The remaining five miles or so of climbing I had ahead me after fixing the post when well enough and while the temps were climbing they were not bad at all. I was joined at the summit by a couple of jeepers and their dog and I had an enjoyable time shooting the breeze with them for a while before heading back down the mountain.

The top of Black Mountain lookin to the south west. The new trailhead can be seen at the south end of the valley.

As I descended you could feel the temps climbing and it was really hot down at the valley floor. I opted to not take the new connector trail back at this point and just zipped back on the road. I did a total of just at 20 miles and 3,300 feet of climbing.

Black Mountain & SYTT

Last weekend I managed to get back out to the Santa Ysabel Truck and the Black Mountain near Ramona.

(Along the Santa Ysabel Truck Trail)

The weather guessers were call in for a storm to hit the area in the afternoon, so I packed up the rain gear before heading out. Typically I do about a 29 mile loop that includes Santa Ysabel Truck Trail, Black Mountain, Pamo Valley and a bit dirt road and pavement interconnects. Today I was going to be doing an out-and-back variant of the ride.

(A section of the area spared from the 2007 wildfires)

I parked at the east end of the Santa Ysabel Truck Trail near the bridge on Black Canyon Road and headed out west. The climbing is very mild but considering how much of a slacker I had been as of late I could tell there was some rust in the legs. The last time I had here was when I did this as a section of the Coast-to-Crest trail.

(Pamo Valley from the lower parts of the Black Mountain Truck Trail)

Once I hooked up with the Black Mountain Truck Truck, I turned uphill and started the sizable climb.

(Climbing Climbing Climbing, Pamo Valley getting smaller)

I was not sure if I was going to go all the way to the top or not. I planned on turning around if the legs cried uncle or if I got caught in a sustained pummeling of rain.

The weather was starting to deteriorate around me as I continued climbing. I could see it raining in the distance on either side of me but my little patch of the world was dry. About 3/4ths of the way up my legs were getting to wank but I was able to keep going. It was also getting colder and the wind was kicking up. I was too hot with the wind breaker on and my chest was a bit cold without it and just the short sleeve jersey. I always keep a bandana in my pack and it came in pretty handy in this case. I unfolded it about halfway and stuff inside my jersey as an additional layer in the front.

Now most of Black Mountain has been covered in scrub in the past put the top of the mountain has some pine trees. These pines were originally planted as part of the ongoing Penny Pines program that started in California in 1941. Some of those pines were burned in the 2007 wildfire but a patch of the them at the very top were spared.

(View from the summit with Lake Sutherland in the background)

It was a bit chilly up on the summit and the wind was whipping pretty good. I typically enjoying hanging out up here and enjoying lunch but the wind made it pretty uncomfortable so after snapping some shots I made my way over to spot back along the trail that offered some shelter from the wind to have my lunch. While taking those pictures, it came pretty clear to me that my luck with the rain was going to run out soon. I hurried up with the snacks and then headed back down the mountain. It was quick work back down to the Santa Ysabel Truck Trail. There is some climbing to be done on the way back along that truck trail and my legs were pretty shot at this point. With about 15 minutes left in the ride a steady light rain started. My windbreaker/raincoat was doing its job quite nicely and I spun my way back to truck. About 30 seconds after I was all packed up and sitting in my truck the “bottom fell out” and a pounding rain last for most of my drive back into Ramona. I felt pretty lucky to have snuck in a ride before the storm and was happy to get back out this little corner of the county. A great day to be out on a bike!

Hodges, Black Mountain Sycamore

I have hit up several different places over the last week.

I started the week off with meeting some new and old friends for a spin through Sycamore Canyon and then some. There will be some updates on my site in the coming weeks for this area. Biggest takeaway for now is to stay east of the watershed running down the middle of the canyon as the Marines are patrolling their land that is on the west side of the seasonal creek. Instead of parking at the dirt lot near Mast and Medina, park at “Hole in the Fence”. Google Map 9100-9140 Birchcrest Blvd, Santee, CA 92071 and park near there. This is a neighborhood so remember to be a good visitor in their hood. Be quiet and don’t thump your system. Trail starts through the hole in the fence at the end of Birchcrest. Exploration is good for the soul!

I have been refreshing my knowledge of the Black Mountain area in preparation for a webpage update and there were a couple of back corner trails that I had not been on in a long time. So an after work ride was in order here. I kinda had lost an appreciation for how much climbing you can get in out here. Often times when I’m researching an area I put together a route that allows me to cover the most trails and trails I have not been on it a while. This latest research route I did was 14 miles and included 2,900 feet of climbing. No wonder muscles and joints were wanking the next day!

I came across the fellow while out on the trail. Literally! I came across him. When I realized that this big fellow was a snake I was way to close to stop and not prepared to bunny hop over him. Boy was he pissed!

Nichol had been out of town for a while so Saturday we took a welcome back cruise on familiar ground out at Lake Hodges. It was unseasonably warm but as far as I’m concerned there is no time like the present to start getting acclimated to the hot weather. Ahhh, the kind of problems we have to deal with in San Diego.

New trail goodness at Black Mountain

I spent a couple of afternoons this past week getting reacquainted with Black Mountain in near Rancho Bernardo. The Lilac Canyon trail has recently been rerouted and it is way much for the better.

The trail still starts from the Miner’s Ridge Loop trailhead but now instead of steeply descending down to Carmel Valley Road it down contours along the north slope of Black Mountain around to the glider port.

Shortly before the trail reaches the glider port a single track forks off to the north and pass under Carmel Valley Road. This is another nice section of singletrack that works its way around to the north side of the Black Mountain Ranch Park (baseball fields). This provides a direct connection to the Santa Luz/Larsardi Creek Loop. This is a really nice trail connection that I’m stoked about. I’ll be updating my site soon with new data on the trail.

I had kinda lost my appreciation for just how much climbing there is at Black Mountain. The first ride out here I did about 17 miles and 2,500 miles and on the second ride I did 16.75 miles and 3,000 feet of climbing.

It seems mighty early for the rattlers to be out and about already but this fellow above was the third rattler I have seen this year. I came around a turn and I was at that distance where I had to decide wither to bunny hop the snake or throw out the anchor. I chose to throw out the anchor and ended up pulling off a totally awesome nose wheelie stop that I’m positive I could not pull off again if I tried.

The Miner’s Ridge Loop is in fantastic shape right now with the rain we had the previous week. If you have not been out here in a while you should go check it out while the greenery of spring is in full effect.

The Local Stuff — Week in Review

This past week was such that I could get out a little more often but for not as long. They were the kind of windows that you don’t want to burn up too much of your time driving far to get to, you know, maximize your time on the trail and minimize your time on the road.

Monday was a spin through the Black Mountain Open Space Preserve. I started off on the east side of the preserve and did some tough climbing and a bit of hike-a-biking to get up onto the East Ridge. From there I did a sizeable loop that had me pretty pooped by the end of the ride

The loop included the Miner’s Ridge and Liliac Canyon trails as well as the service road up to the peak and some more trails back over and down the East Ridge.

Wednesday evening was the monthly San Diego Mountain Biking Association (SDBMA) advocacy meeting so a group of us met up and did the La Costa trails prior to the meeting.

I was able to get out a couple of hours before the rest of the usual suspects so I did a couple of loops out there before the group ride. I was feeling pretty worked by the time I finished up the last loop.

Friday afternoon after work I squeaked in spin out in Santee near Mission Trails and Sycamore Canyon. Normally I am a stop and smell the flowers kind of guy but I have to admit that I somewhat enjoyed the pressure of having to be somewhere later and the “push” it forced me to do on the trail. Charge a hill here, push a harder gear there and general keep the engine rev’d higher than I normall would. It was a short ride that ended up feeling longer on fatique and quad burn at the end.

The weekend was pretty awesome as well, but it did include any biking. Hockey and quality time with boys were the story of the weekend. I took them to thier first concert Saturday night which was simply epic. Rush on thier Time Machine Tour. I have had a lifetime of missing Rush shows and this was my first time seeing them as well. They blew the place down and both the boys and I were completely stoked. It was a good way to finish off the week.

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