RR: San Juan Trail Freeway 2/23

[genusmtbkr5]

Here are some of the pics I took of yesterday's ride.

[jake]

Originally Posted by dstepper

Was up on the Main Divide and ran into 4 guys that stopped to ride San Juan and bailed because of the crowd. They ended up riding Blue Jay/Divide then down and up Indian TT.

Indian TT is my new favorite way to the Divide. There's pine trees on the way up!

Dean

Sup Dean? Were you the guy on the Niner I ran into at the top of ITT? I'm Jake, the dude with the red Epic that was freezing my ass off in the hail storm on Main Divide. Nice meeting you man.

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by jake

Sup Dean? Were you the guy on the Niner I ran into at the top of ITT? I'm Jake, the dude with the red Epic that was freezing my ass off in the hail storm on Main Divide. Nice meeting you man.

Yep, Jake that was me. I was digging that hail storm, was wearing four layers of clothes.

Dean

[Greengiant]

Originally Posted by OMR

My goodness. I've never seen that many cars at the trailhead parking lot!!! ... or that many riders going up and down the trail. To say it was crowed would be an understatement ... but that said, it was a great morning to ride. Just finding a parking place was probably the hardest thing this morning. There were so many people all with the same idea: Ride the San Juan since it's the best trail after a rain! Finally found a parking spot further down the road and staked a claim.

Ran into so many riders I haven't seen in a long time... also ran into Keith & Jeff (Share) freed from the Aliso Woods trail work (although this would have been a perfect day for it.... too bad!)

Once on the trail, I was reminded the fact that this is a perfect trail to ride after a rain. A tiny bit of mud here and there, but perfect traction. Someone has been working on the lower switchbacks... all rideable... and also some of the washouts... all built up and rideable now.

Gene (Genus) and Matt (OC rider) and I leapfroged each other on the way up. I was glad I wasn't on the single speed. Not enough riding lately to enjoy to climb. Steve (autoduel) was on his and quickly left us in the dust. Kept running into riders we knew on the way up (they were going down) and just had to talk.

There was a huge ... no HUGE... meeting of riders at cocktail rock and it was fun to jaw with everyone in the warm morning sun. After an hour or so of just hanging out, we lowered the saddles and softened the suspension (love it!) and took off down. The trail was perfect for downhilling today... he traction was incredible. You could slide into a corner or switchback, brake and you'd slow down. It was hard to wipe the smile off the face on the way down. Most of us looked like grinning idiots to people on the way up.

Finally down and ran into Steve Tim (riding)and Calvin (running). They had just come down Los Pinos and were stoked on how good the trail has held up. Something to definitely do after VQ.

If you weren't there today, you missed an absolutely great day to ride. The weather was perfect and the trail was even better. Now I have to go clean the bike off.... or maybe I'll just leave it outside in all the rain!

PS: Gene took some pics.. which I'm sure he'll post after fixing his chain & derailuer.... there's a story here

Knowing that a million people would all think SJT is the best place to ride after a rain; Bob C., Dave W., Keith E., Steve Timm, Barb F. and myself met at the trailhead at 8am. Bob, Dave and the guys dropped down Pinos, Barb and I did an out and back to Cocktail Rock.

The early start time gave us a chance to see all of the rest of the crowd pedal up!! It was great to be able to chat with so many old friends on our way down the trail!

[2wheel_lee]

Originally Posted by OMR

After an hour or so of just hanging out, we lowered the saddles and softened the suspension (love it!) and took off down. The trail was perfect for downhilling today... he traction was incredible. You could slide into a corner or switchback, brake and you'd slow down. It was hard to wipe the smile off the face on the way down. Most of us looked like grinning idiots to people on the way up.

OMR, you're starting to sound like a regular downhiller! Right on!

I remember times years ago (last time I rode SJT) where finding a parking spot at the lower trailhead was very difficult. I remember times having to park at ranger station.