5/20 Marshall Canyon/Claremont Wilderness Park (Beginner's Ride?)

[gurp13]

Got to the parking lot this morning. I was, er, on-time since it was actually 8:01am. As I was getting my bike out of the car and getting geared up, I hear the other riders next to me say, "There's supposed to be some other guys out here today from SoCal Trail Riders." Hey, I thought, that's me. So, I called out to them and introduced my self. Lo and behold, for it was Pain Freak with some friends, one of whom I had run into previously at Marshall Cyn. We all decided to ride together once Mtbracer36 showed up. So, we hit the trail under typical So Cal conditions. Sunny, warm, dusty, etc. At first we were going to go for Potato Mtn. but at the gate to the Claremont Wilderness Park we decided to do a loop of the Cobal and Burbank fireroads (am I getting those names right?). The fireroad was, as usually, pretty buff with very few ruts from the rains. Only the presence of hikers kept us from just blasting down the trail.

We climbed back up the fireroad with the sun beating down. It was warm but a cool breeze helped. In all, it was just a damn beautiful day. We made our way over to the northernmost singletrack that rejoins Marshall Cyn proper, flew down and swept back through the canyon to the trailhead, dusty, spattered with mud, and happy.

It was a great ride. No injuries, not even hurt feelings. 14.5 miles. Some climbing but I don't know the amount. I think everybody had a great time. Thanks to Pain Freak, Mtbracer36, Brian, Raoul, and Kai for a terribly enjoyable morning. Next time I'll be able to hang out afterwords for lunch!

[Pain Freak]

Nice riding with you Gurp. Lunch was good then we hit the bike store (Coates) and I picked up a couple more pair of gloves.That's a great route to start getting my ss legs back.

[gurp13]

Yeah, next time I gotta remember to bring a camera, too, so we can get some cool pics like all the other ride reports. No hucks, no ducks, but some real purty scenery.