STR | SocalTrailRiders.org

dstepper

[FONT=Arial]This Trial starts on top of Mt. Wilson very near the Observatory. It drops down 4-5 miles and connects with the Gabrielino Trail near West Fork. We shuttled out all of the pavement climbing by leaving a car up on top and another at Switzers. Five of us did this ride; 0gravity and his girl Katie, Mr. Freak, and Burner. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]After the 4-5 mile downhill, at west Fork we climbed Red Box Fire Road to Red Box then down to the Gab to Switzers. For reasons I shall later explain my GPS got wet, along with my camera and cell phone. So I am guessing 18 miles, 3,500 down and 1,000 up, maybe Matt can’t give better numbers.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Anyway I was riding good today feeling confident, then I stopped at a steep tech stream crossing and I got tangled in my bike trying to stop. I took a 15-20 ft drop down a steep rocky section landing in 4-5-foot deep pool of water at the bottom of a waterfall. Other than a couple of scratches and possible damage to electronics, no problems. I did notice that Katie started to walk more of the tech sections after my tumble. Of all the places in the San Gabriel’s that would have seriously injured or killed me this was a excellent place to fall. This is why my pictures stop at the water crossing.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]So now I am riding without my prescription sunglasses, they are somewhere in the bottom of that waterhole…never to be recovered. Then further down on the Gabrielino I wander off the trail and a branch hits on front tire value stem ripping it half way off, instant flat, and front tire washout, sending me into the Poison Oak and scratching up my left knee. Katie comes up on me laying in the trail not knowing what happened…Note to self, she may not what to ride with me anymore. So at home oil up with Ivy Off and my secret Poison Oak weapon, Dr. Bronners 18 in 1 Hemp Peppermint Pure-Castile Soap. It has a lot of oils in it to break down the Poison Oak oils.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Normally after crashes like this, my bike confidence gets badly shaken, taking weeks to recover. Because neither of these mishaps were due to lack of bike skills I seemed to need no recovery riding time. Although, I do think my tumble did scare the **** out of my fellow riders. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]To all the STRers that I invited on this ride last night, you miss an experience of a lifetime, as I hope to never take a tumble like that again.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Dean [/FONT]

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__________________
If I'm not lost or getting bushwacked, the trail was too easy.

Prescott Valley Houses
The Path

Burner

ok, let's get the ride part out of the way... this was a great route, and almost all new dirt for me. The first 4-5 miles off Wilson were fantastic.

Dean's not doing the whole fall story justice.

His pictures stop exactly where he fell... in that pool of water to the left.
http://www.socaltrailriders.org/foru...1&d=1177897115
you can see me in the pics across the water, Mike, Jesse and I were standing on the other side of a creek crossing, and are talking to Dean as he's coming down preparing to get off the bike. He get's hung up, his back tire goes off the side, and he goes head-first, backwards over the side of about an 18 foot ledge, does a headplant about halfway down the rockface, rotates again over his head and SPLASH into the water. The luckiest crash I have ever seen. He could have broken...everything.

Scared the crap out of me, I think Mike and I were both shaking for a few mins after watching it happen in what seemed like slo-mo. A moment I will never forget, and hopefully never see repeated, because to come out of that uninjured was one in a million. The fact that there was a pool of water there instead of rocks, like every other stream xing in the San Gabs, was the saving grace.

Ladd Jasper

Great report and pics., Dean, as usual. Your tumble sounded rather spectacular, sorry to have missed it...since you came out mostly unscathed and all. And just as Summer's powerful UV rays make their appearance, some lucky trout is now sporting some stylin' new shades.

That was very nice of you



Just read Matt's post...wow. His description is just a tad hairier. Seriously Dean, glad you're O.K. pal.

Pain Freak

What a nice little gem this turned out to be. I remember fragments of it from a long time ago, and when we got to the waterhole I was sure I'd done this trail before.We were standing on the otherside waiting at the bottom to be assistance in handing the bikes across as there is a rope there to help, but it has a little to much slack in it. Well, Katie and Dean show up and Katie was already off her bike when Matt says, "Hey Dean you might want to walk this", and Dean looked like he was tryin to get untangled from his bike and the next thing I see is Dean heading straight down head first. He managed to twist himself some way and hit the waterhole with his back about dead center. I gave him a 8.9, but Ogravity and Burner only gave him an 8.5, so Katie saved the day and gave him a 9.0 No, it really did scare the beejeezus out of us. He was in the air there before he hit the water and I was thinking of jumping in, when common sense took over and we all scooted down to get him out.

This part of the trail isn't that much different then the upper part we had just come down too. There are a number of places where you literally have 6" of trail to ride and the penalty would be dire to say the least. No bushes to slow you down, so you will keep going until you hit bottom ( a long way down) or you hit a tree. Very exposed trail, but a very fun one too. Not technical just exposed.

Thanks Dean for suggesting this one. Now I got to go get into the shower again and see if I can get rid of this shuttle scum all over me. Two showers already and I still feel dirty.

And Dean wasn't alone, Ol Burner there got up close and friendly with some dirt to a couple times on the Gab.

__________________
"The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew—and live through it." — Doug Bradbury

"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me." — Emo Philips

tkblazer

deano.... man that sounds freakin nuts! glad you're ok man... now i regret sleeping in and missing the ride when i could have watched your double backflip

Sewellymon

i am SOOOOOO there

i have been Jones-ing for the Rattlensnakle/ Devore trai lfor months.

would have already bagged it, but a week in china for biz, + 2 weeks of[FONT=Arial] bronchitis, so my mojo is not quite ready for big league fun. sooon[/FONT]

dstepper

Next up is Rim Trail? To many things going on next weekend so maybe in two weeks.

The hikers that came up Mt. Wilson Trail said only two deafalls on the way up, so that needs to get moved up on the short list.

Camera and cell phone came back to life after spending some time in the oven on warm. The GPS that is water proof, still not working...go figure.

The small bock 8 on my back tire is coming off nevegal back on, not enough braking traction on the loose San Gab stuff. Also Blue Groove going back on front, my light tire experiment is over, hell with rolling fast at the expence of braking power.

Dean

__________________
If I'm not lost or getting bushwacked, the trail was too easy.

Prescott Valley Houses
The Path

Sprockethead

Dean,

That sounded pretty scarry, glad you're alright. Hopefully you didn't get too bruised up. As usual, thanks for the pics and ride report.

Waldo

Dean, glad you're OK. Sounds like a story to be retold for years to come.

If those SB8's are nearly new 2.3's and you'd like to unload them, lets make a deal. I'd like to try those to see how well they'd fit my style.

__________________
Just because the bike can do it doesn't mean the rider can!

Schecky

Buster Keaton! Glad that you came out unscathed. Thanks for the RR.
Interesting the hear about the SB8s.
I was up at Chantry/Sturdevant today with the familia for a hike. Super busy. Great day to be in the Gabs!
Lots of critters out.

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__________________
tkblazer: it was Steven Jackson that led me to STR...

http://www.ventanausa.com/

dstepper

I was really digging the SB8's on the back in Arizona.... not just on the slick rock they are excellent in hardpack dirt. But that deep loose decomposed granite in the San Gabs they do not grab like the sticky compound nevegals do. But there again sticky nevs on the back are hard to beat...but they wear out so fast.

I will keep it for my local rides and my Arizona and Nor-Cal trips. I want something more sure footed for the Gabs and the exposures.

Edit: My GPS unit has decided to start working again. I got all of the route except maybe the last 3 miles and maybe 800 ft of downhill. Unit went dead at mile 14:80, 2147 ft of climbing, and 3952 ft downhill. Moving time 2 hours 51 minutes. Stopped 1 hour 9 minutes. I do not think we stopped that long. The track log was broken into 12 tracks, meaning the trees were in the way alot. I think that added to the stopped time.

Dean

__________________
If I'm not lost or getting bushwacked, the trail was too easy.

Prescott Valley Houses
The Path

Pain Freak

I got to agree with you on tire selection for this area. Lightweight tires don't do a lot for you in the Gab's. I'm still running the Specialized Chunker 2.6 with huge knobs and it has yet to let me down. Rear has been really good running a WTB Weirwolf ( thanks, Dean ) again, no problemo's. I was running a 2.35 Fat Albert from Schwalbe which is also a very good tire but over 3 times the cost of the Weirwolf and the difference is practically nil, so I give it to the Weirwolf. I think the tire ( Chunker ) tracks better with the big knobs in the lose granite. I bought the tire up in Mammoth at the suggestion of the salesguy who said the locals were running them and I haven't been disappointed. Not a light tire, but makes up for it in performance. Again not a cheap tire either, I paid 70 bucks, but it has already outlasted the Nevegal I was running a while back. I now like this tire more then the Big Betty I have on my other bike.

__________________
"The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew—and live through it." — Doug Bradbury

"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me." — Emo Philips

Johnny Dirt

Dean, glad to hear you're ok. Very lucky, could of been so much worse.

LBmtb

Dean, I gotta blame your tumble on the Turner Seriously tho - sounds like one hell of a scare you gave yourself and others. Glad you came out OK.

__________________
My Twits
tkblazer: wonder if i can wear my yellow speedo
me: only if you wear the matching yellow goggles with it

0gravity

Here are more photos. The one in the center shows pretty accurately how far Dean tumbled. That's Katie standing just below where Dean went off. And that's Mike carting Dean's bike down, which managed to stay on the trail. And there's a shot of a completely wet but unfazed Dean after crawling out of the primordial pool. He shakes things off pretty well. I don't know what it would take to wipe a smile of his face.

Besides that, it was a great trail. Definitely one to pay close attention constantly. There were plenty of places where an inattentive slide off the trails would send you tumbling down a precipitous canyon, possibly over cliffs. That pool of water really saved Dean from serious injury.

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Sewellymon

Rim Trail (shudder). Isn't it a couple notches up in terms of dangerous exposure compared to the Kenton Devore Rattlesnake trail?

One of my ’07 goals is to ride the Mt Wilson triple crown (Valley Forge, Rattlesnake, Rim) in some manner of a humongus loop ride.

Pain Freak

No, in my opinon Kenton Devore is the most exposed of all the trails I've rode in the Gab's. Don't get me wrong though, it's not a technical trail at all, only a few places that present a true high level of difficulty, but with the intense exposure it is a difficult ride. I'd give it a high 8 on the pucker factor overall.

Not sure how to hook all those trails up in any one way, but I'd be real interested in attemping it.

__________________
"The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew—and live through it." — Doug Bradbury

"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me." — Emo Philips

bananaseat

Glad to hear you're O.K. Steppie. Good thing you didn't par-take in all the drinking the night before.

I almost did the same thing on my SG ride w/Burner & MTBMaven a while ago. There's not much wiggle room in the SGs.

Sewellymon

[FONT=Arial]Prolly ride from Red Box up the Mt Wilson paved road 3 times to access Valley Forge, Devore , and Rim Trails. Be awful boring ascending the West Fork fire road 3 times (or awfully hard ascending the Silver Moc 3 times). I’m old; I bet the Trifecta is – for me- -an 8 hour + ride. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]The 11 hour version is to start where I lived in Sierra Madre, ride over to Chaney Trail and up to the saddle, down Valley Forge, loop around past Red Box back up to Devore/Rattlesnake, repeat loop around Red Box to Mt. Wilson summit and down Rim Trail to Newcomb Saddle, Silver Moc to Chantry and back to where you started. In my dreams….[/FONT]