RR: Verdugos...by night (vid) 3-20-08

[kanga]

Tonight was one of the most beautiful nights I've spent on a mountain bike. I say that a lot, as there's no time like the present, and if I'm on a trail and riding and grinning it's the best trail I could be on!

The OTB ride for tonight was the La Tuna loop in the Verdugos. This is a 3.5 mile fire road climb (up Hostettor) of about 1700', followed by a couple of miles of fire road descent with optional steep, technical ridge lines, then the La Tuna single track. We return on the road for 1.1 miles.

I rode from my house and decided to make the ride a little more of a challenge. I went up Sunshine to the Ski Chute (brand firebreak down to Brand Library, up Brand Fire road and across the crest to meet the group at the La Tuna towers.

There were about twelve riders, and eight of us decided to do the full loop. We enjoyed the night view and the sunset from the tower, then headed on down the ridge lines. At the bottom of what is usually the last ridgeline we do, I talked about half our group into doing "debonus," a particularly steep, loose and rutted ridge line that drops 600' vertical in less than half a mile, with many parts well over 50% grade. Debonus takes committment... it's a 300 yard 30% grade hike-a-bike up it, then a half mile 50% grade down the other side that's difficult to walk (easier to ride if you like steeps).

It's incredibly cool to watch a parade of lights coming down that ridge, but I shot video as people went past, and they didn't wait for me to get in front.

From there we cruised the half mile back up to La Tuna single track and had a great time. There has been a lot of recent trailwork on La Tuna single track over the past few months, and it is really showing. The steepest section used to be a rutted baby-head rock fest, and is now buttery smooth, with well-built water diversions. It's dropped a couple of degrees of difficulty with the changes, but that barely detracts from the overall experience of the trail as a whole.

The sketchiest part of the La Tuna loop is the 1.1 miles of road climb, some of it with no shoulder, to get back to the TH parking. Rear lights are a must, and since we did Debonus, we were later than usual so traffic was pretty light.

Back at the cars, people packed up, and I headed back up La Tuna to the towers, solo. Riding with the tunes cranking, no lights (full moon) and near-perfect riding temp was just one of those moments that makes me realize why I love this sport.

From the top I cruised back over to South Beaudry for a fast descent, and then the 7 miles or so back home on the road. 38 miles, 7000' of climbing and I didn't get home until 10:30... I didn't want to leave the mountains...

It was a great night, and what little video I did shoot, I put together into a quick clip... hopefully next time I'll let the group know my plans ahead of time and do a better job of capturing the spirit of night riding....

Enjoy.

[lmnop]

Kanga,

Thanks for the write-up and the vid. I wouldn't think of trying the "bonus" singletrack you describe at night! I've done it during the day, that was gnarly enough. Your and your OTB gang raise the bar, yet again.

[DBD]

I had to stop watching at the 30 second mark. That alien mother ship and then the lights heading towards me are just a bit tooo spooky. to the aliens though.


Cool vid, good write up.

[JoeTruth]

That was cool, Steve. I've never done Debonus because I thought it was illegal to bikes. Maybe we're talking about different ridge lines, who knows. Anyways, nice RR and great long loop ridden. Very impressive, you machine!

[kanga]

Originally Posted by DBD

I had to stop watching at the 30 second mark. That alien mother ship and then the lights heading towards me are just a bit tooo spooky. to the aliens though.


Cool vid, good write up.

The aliens were friendly.... just lost.

[1080P]

I got probed by an Alien rock my first time going OTB down La Tuna single track at night. Just some rocks kissing my butt, calves and shins, looking for blood. We parted ways on good terms, I was smiling, I couldn't see the rock's expression in the dark.

I missed a good one last night Steve, you know I would have been there, but the weather was too extreme for my health last weekend at Keyesville. With my hands on all those bikes I was weighing in, I got a bug, sore throat and snotty post nasal drip nose, that I'm trying to shake. I think I lost bonus points too being sick on Joyce's Birthday yesterday, probably in the dog house for a little while for that.

[brownlandshark]

I love the verdugos and all the little ridge trails and hidden bonus singletrack. Grew up in Sunland Tujunga and they were my backyard. i still ride em at least once a month. Great write up!

[Pain Freak]

I thought that descent was legal, just a little to gnarly for most folks. I've done it a few times in the day, but I think I'd pass at night. I did some work on that section with Banner and a few others. I sure hope it's not illegal.

I've always liked La Tuna, it seems you get a lot more dh for so little climbing. It's my favorite ss ride. It's just to short of a ride though.

[kanga]

Originally Posted by Pain Freak

I've always liked La Tuna, it seems you get a lot more dh for so little climbing. It's my favorite ss ride. It's just too short of a ride though.

Thus my extra doing the brand firebreak ski-chute and brand....

It is a staple ride of our group, and now that the steep section of la tuna has been cleaned up, it's a much easier ride than it used to be.

[1080P]

La Tuna climb was the first ride I ever did after getting clip ins that I cleaned a climb without walking. Of course I was grossly overweight and out of shape at the time, and the steep section was good and rutted last November. It was a turning point for me, where my legs started showing me "I can" instead of "no more, I'm burning up" I'm in a little better shape now, always chasing guys like Kanga.
Give him a camera, a group of riders, and a nice sunset, and I can usually catch him.

To me "iwannaseeyawhynote,eh?" = La Tuna soundtrack, maybe Steve can pull up the video from the archives. It's a great video he shot coming down it at dusk. Does a great job of giving you the "flavor" on La Tuna single track. You have to be super careful on La Tuna Canyon riding back to the parking lot, the road has no shoulder for bikes to ride on and cars are moving fast through a windy canyon road.

[El Presidente]

Originally Posted by Pain Freak

I thought that descent was legal, just a little to gnarly for most folks. I've done it a few times in the day, but I think I'd pass at night. I did some work on that section with Banner and a few others. I sure hope it's not illegal.

I've always liked La Tuna, it seems you get a lot more dh for so little climbing. It's my favorite ss ride. It's just to short of a ride though.

I think you are thinking of another trail. The fire break Steve is talking about was cut about 3-4 years ago during the fires up there. Most fire breaks are technically not trails though they are used as such by hikers and bike riders all the time. This includes popular fire breaks such as Sullivan and Westridge fire breaks in the Santa Monicas. They look the other way when people use them as trails but if you get hurt there and try to sue they will say it is not a trail and you should not be there! Look at a map and you will not see any of the fire break trails on there. In most cases if it is not on a map it is not a legitimate trail.

There are a few breaks in the Verdugos that are marked with trail signs and are on maps such as Brand fire break AKA the ski shoot. This is in the city of Glendale and it is on their map. They tried to improve it at one point but it is so steep you can not do much with it. Luckily it is mostly rock so it does not erode much.

[kanga]

Just as a side note, the ridge line trails that are on Glendale city property were incorporated into the master trail plan they approved. The DeBonus (our name for it... short for debelle bonus) is Burbank.

Here's the other vid... that 1080 was referring to...

http://www.viddler.com/kanga/videos/7/

And a hi-res version of the "verdugos by night" vid from the OP:

http://www.viddler.com/kanga/videos/3/

[integradriv3r]

Damn 7,000 ft of climbing?

[1080P]

Kanga is an animal.... he's got powerful legs like a 'roo on a bike... hence the 7000 ft vert being a walk in the park for him. Oh yeah, and that was when he was getting sick, with a sore throat, coming down with a cold... you should see him on a good day.