Base Miles...and views of the Channel Islands

One of the great things about the Santa Ana winds in Southern CA is that it makes for really clear days. So clear that you can get unobstructed views of downtown LA, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the Channel Islands. When it's relatively clear you can usually see Catalina Island, but we were lucky to even see further than Catalina and got slight views of San Clemente Island, the southernmost of eight of the Channel Islands located off the coast of Southern CA.

Saturday morning I left from home and headed out the canyon road. While it was much warmer than I had anticipated due to the Santa Ana winds, it was definitely a grind getting out to the trails with the wind feeling like it was coming straight at me. I met up with some riding friends on the way out to the Maple Springs gate and we headed up the trail eventually to the "saddle" which is the area between Santiago Peak and Modjeska Peak and is also the start/top of the Joplin trail head.

From the "saddle" alongside Brian and Matt...thanks for the pic Josh!

We descended Joplin, a challenging loose rocky descent that eventually takes you to an area known as Old Camp. The trail from Old Camp down to the Luge turnoff is a fast and flowy somewhat wider singletrack. It's a great descent although it's just as great of a climb so on a Saturday morning you definitely have to be aware of uphill traffic. We got down the Luge and I eventually split from the group and headed home via the canyon road. Thanks to the same wind that was in my face on the way out I had a nice tailwind returning home. What a great day of riding!

70 Degrees & Perfect Trail Conditions

The trails in Orange County are incredible right now. We've had just the right amount of rain and the temps have been perfect. Crisp and cold in the morning, typically in the 40's when I usually get out at 5:30am, and really nice in the afternoons, either on the weekends or when I'm lucky enough to get away from work early.

I feel incredibly lucky to live where I live. I can be on the dirt right from my front door in a matter of minutes. My Garmin read 70 degrees this afternoon as I started on one of my quick local spins, the Santiago Oaks/Weir Canyon loop. When time permits, I enjoy doing the Weir loop in both directions. This ride packs 2,600 feet of climbing in just shy of 18 miles. Here are some pics from the ride.

Testing out the Vamoots CR...

Brisk canyon loop this morning aboard the Vamoots CR with Troupe/Poseidon rider Jeff Lewis

Photo by jeff_inc • Instagram http://instagram.com/p/UHTpsvOYj9/

OC Parks Tour - O'Neill Regional Park

pre-race with single-speeder & Path Bike Shop rider, Matt Palmer

I really enjoyed racing the 3rd race in the 2012 OC Parks Tour series. I missed the last two races so I had been looking forward to this one for some time. The course for the race consisted of a 3.5-mile start loop on the south side of O'Neill park to attempt to help separate riders before completing three or four (depending on class) 3.75-mile main loops on the north side of the park. The pro/experts were to complete four main loops climbing approx. 650 feet per lap. The course was a lot of fun with some solid climbing, quick singletrack descents, and a bit of pavement riding back to the start/finish.

I entered the expert class and the pace started off brisk with four riders in the lead group including local pro Sean Donovan, the Path Bike Shop riders Luke Wronske and Josh Jacquot, and myself. The four of us stayed tight through the initial start lap. As we crossed through the start/finish line and headed out for the four main loops Sean began to pull away. Luke and Josh also turned up the pace a bit and I found myself riding solo for the rest of the race. Sean came in first, Luke in second, Josh in third, and myself in fourth.

The race was great and the course was a lot of fun, but we really need to work on riders coming out to support these local races or they won't end up happening at all. Fairly sad turnout in the pro/expert class in my opinion.

Results

Steamboat Stinger 2012

Results | Steamboat Today | MTB Race News

I was blessed to be able to make the trek out to Steamboat this summer to make a visit to Moots and race the 2012 Steamboat Stinger. Even though it was only the second year of the event, the race sold out within a matter of hours. There were about 400 total riders some of which did the full event (two 26-mile laps), others participated in the duo category, each doing 1 lap. Additionally, 300 runners raced the marathon the next day (some people who are totally crazy did both the 52-mile ride and the 26.2-mile marathon). I was proud to finish the 52-mile race in 5:29. Perhaps I'll be back next year to see if I can improve my time!

All in all, it was a quick trip to Steamboat, but well worth it as I was able to tour the Moots factory and spend some time with some of the great employees at the factory and after the race. It ended up raining Friday night before the race and we woke up Saturday morning to some fairly steady rain. However, the clouds parted and the rain gave way to some great sticky singletrack. Below are some pics of my adventure to the the factory that makes the best handbuilt bikes ever and the Steamboat Stinger mountain bike race.

Moots showroom above the factory in Steamboat Springs, CO

where the magic happens 

Moots uses only the finest quality US made titanium tubing

stock YBBs hanging and ready to be finished

finished frames with the coveted yellow handbuilt tag ready to be boxed 

some very lucky future Moots owners

a view of the Moots headquarters 

finished in 5:29 sporting the brand new kit!

beat up from the feet up after 50+ miles of singletrack!

Breckenridge (Aug 2012)

Don't bother me while I'm driving!

Pilot & Co-pilot

Finally!

Relaxing at a coffee shop in Fruita, CO

Ride 1: Peaks Trail from Breckenridge to Frisco and back

Ride 2: Tiger Road (jeep trail) Colorado Trail Recon

Our turnaround point - Tiger Road (jeep trail)

Ride 3: Colorado Trail, Red Trail, Blair Witch

The start of the Colorado Trail from Tiger Road (jeep trail)

Red Trail behind me heading towards Keystone

Crested Butte friend Erik came over to do some riding - bottom of the Red Trail

Ride 4: Boreas Pass, Baker's Tank, Aspen Valley, Blue River Trail

View of Breckenridge Ski Area from Boreas Pass Road 

Baker's Tank Trail 

Aspen Valley Trail

Refueling Time!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Good solid solo training ride today. Decided to head up Harding on the way back home. About midway up Harding the temp on my Garmin started rising. Check out the bottom left corner. I don't think it was 106 out there, but it sure felt hot...at least high 90's.