Holiday Rides

[gurp13]

Originally Posted by SHARKY

I did the upper winter creek trail for the first time last week (despite a minor crash and the poison oak landing) but this is one of the most scenic rides close to home. The trails are a lot of fun and definitely looking forward to my next trip up and exploring a few other trails it has to offer. . If anyone hasn't ventured into this one it's a must do.
Many thanks to Frank for showing me this one....even though he DID sabotage the trail and tried to kill me. J/K My fault for mentioning it would be a great place to "accidentally" send someone over the edge.

Yeah, this is an incredible ride. Maybe it was my new tires, but I had a ton of fun on that winter creek trail, but I have to say that it has some of the scariest exposure that I've ridden. Strawberry and SART have a couple places like it. But, it was spooky. It's not just the drop. It's that the trail has some very technical parts and it's super easy to lose your balance. The penalty for a mistake in these sections is pretty harsh.

I mentioned this to other people before, so forgive me for the repetition. But... There was one point as I was riding Winter Creek, the trail was about four feet wide with a hillside on one side and sheer drop on the other. The drop went down about 30 feet. At this point, the trail made a turn. As I started into the turn, going something like 5-7mph, my front tire got stuck against a rock that was standing up in the trail and was firmly embedded. It totally brought me to a complete stop. All of my weight transferred forward suddenly and my back tire came up. As I balanced there for a moment (you know how time slows at moments like that?) I looked and saw that, because of the turn, if I continued OTB, I was going over the edge. I could see the rocks at the bottom that would break my fall. As my back tire came back down and I unclipped, I took a deep breath. That was freaky.

On one hand, just a little more speed and I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from going OTB. On the other, maybe a little more speed would have given me the momentum to go over the rock. It's hard to say. That was a pretty stern rock and I think my tire just wedged in right. So, I know that it's not crazy exposure like with a 100' drop or something. But, I'm pretty sure that a 30' drop onto some good San Gabriel granite would be seriously unpleasant.

Anyway, you should ride that trail. My experience notwithstanding, I can't wait to go again.

[Pain Freak]

Yep, Chantry is not a ride where you want to make a mistake. When I first started riding singletrack I went with some guys who told me the ride was easy. Well the climbing wasn't that bad, but by no means was the trail easy. I learned a lot that day and the one lesson I learned the most and still sticks with me today is "Mountain bikers lie".

Only one more hill

Were almost to the top

Everybody makes this

C'mon you can do it

Let's go slow today, I don't feel good

[gurp13]

"Mountain bikers lie."



I'm trying to decide now... does that quote go in my signature, under my name or tattoed in gothic letters across my belly?

[MTBMaven]

You know I would be up for JPL to Inspiration Point, Middle Merrill, Sunset Ridge, El Prieto run. I am off from the 22-2. Got to love government work, 11 day off in a row and only 35 hours of vacation time taken.

If this ride doesn't work out someone shoot me an email (MTBMaven at yahoo dot com) and I can guide a Chantry Flats ride. I rode there this weekend and the place is great right now. Being able to ride up most of the Mt. Zion Trail is amazing!

[Schecky]

"Mountain bikers lie."

My favorite is 'Join us for a fun ride. Easy pace'.....

[Pain Freak]

Oh yeah, how could I forget that one?

[Tom Cosgrove]

Chris this ride is great doing it in reverse and then back. Doubles the milage too.
CAll me if you want to try it.
909-921-7924