Palm springs epic II Art Smith

[Pain Freak]

I didn't get inventory finished. I'm out.

[Tom Cosgrove]

gurp, let me know if you want me to pick you up on the way out Thurs a.m. that way you won"t have to back track.
Burner are you going to meet at ont mills?

[gurp13]

Originally Posted by Tom Cosgrove

gurp, let me know if you want me to pick you up on the way out Thurs a.m. that way you won"t have to back track.
Burner are you going to meet at ont mills?

Tom, I'm going to call you at 6:00am on the number you gave earlier and let you know if I can make it or not. I think I will be in. If you don't hear from me at all, then just assume that I am not going to be able to make it. I'm about 15 mins from Ontario Mills.

Edit...

You know what, I'm gonna go. I rode about 11 miles today at Cucamonga Cyn. My legs feel tired right now, but I know I'll be fine in the morning. I've got food and water enough, I think. My bike chain is lubed and my tires are good. Let's ride! I'll probably still call in the morning to check in. I'll leave my cell number in your PM.

[dstepper]

Glen take pics and post a RR. Enough rides today that we should have some good reading tonight.

Dean

[CalEpic]

Due to the wind this ride was ditched and Tom, Gurp and I ended up doing Lower Sam Merril, Echo Mountain, Sunset Ridge, El Prieto (I think I have that right) Unfortunately, the wind was just as bad here. The wind was absolutely brutal. At the top of Echo Tom and I were hanging onto our bikes for dear life as the wind literally picked them up and dried to blow them (and us) away. It was impossible to ride up any further so we headed down. Riding switchbacks with 50 mph wind gusts trying to blow you off the side of a mountain adds to the technical difficulty

I still had a great time.

C

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by CalEpic

Due to the wind this ride was ditched and Tom, Gurp and I ended up doing Lower Sam Merril, Echo Mountain, Sunset Ridge, El Prieto (I think I have that right) Unfortunately, the wind was just as bad here. The wind was absolutely brutal. At the top of Echo Tom and I were hanging onto our bikes for dear life as the wind literally picked them up and dried to blow them (and us) away. It was impossible to ride up any further so we headed down. Riding switchbacks with 50 mph wind gusts trying to blow you off the side of a mountain adds to the technical difficulty

I still had a great time.

C

Nice, yes that is why we love Mt. Wilson it can be an adventure. I like climbing Lower Sam Merrill...many hikers today?

[Pain Freak]

Sir Gurp,

Where's your ride report. You know I live through you younger guys exploits.

[dstepper]

Yeh what Mike said. Come on Glen kick us down some RR lovin.

[gurp13]

Well, I gotta say at the outset, I didn't take pictures. Mostly because at the beginning of the ride the wind was blowing so bad I was afraid to even take out my camera. Then, it didn't really get better until we got down to Millard Campground (sp?). By then, I just didn't feel like taking pictures and instead tried to keep up with Tom and Cal Epic. Those two dudes can RIDE!

But, I'll give you a ride report anyway.

We started from the JPL parking lot and rode three road miles to the Lower Sam Merrill Trail. Dang, the wind was blowing HARD! I had to keep my head down and just pedal. I hate wind. It kinda saps my spirit riding in it. So, we got to the trail head and I was already feeling a little tired. But, I was still excited 'cause I hadn't ridden these trails yet.

We made our way up the trail and started the switchbacks. The wind was blowing a constant breeze of about 15 mph with gusts of about 30 mph or greater. It was really pushing me around on the bike. Ordinarily I think I would really like that trail (and, I did) but it was freaking me out to have all of that exposure and the wind blowing so hard. With the gusts it was scary to ride up there. Every gust brought debris and sand into your face. But, the trail was fun. It was a little steep but totally buff so it was really rideable. The upper part was a little more technical. When we got to the Echo Mtn trail the wind got really bad and, like CE said, the winds up on the fireroad were brutal!

We headed down the single track from there. I don't know what the name of the trail was. The wind was still buffeting us, even though we were getting some relief from the trees. I found the trail to be somewhat challenging in places. The switchbacks with exposure and drops were too much for me and I walked them. But, a lot of the trail was really fun. (Side note: I love my WTB Weirwolf front tire! It has really helped me trust my tires and ride a lot more stuff. I'm not as sold on the Mutano Raptor rear. It's okay, but not always as grippy as I would like.) We made good progress down the trail to the campground where the winds were calm.

We made our way up the fireroad and went to El Prieto. That's a fun trail, too. There's some tech and I guess only a couple places that I walked. I had a good time cruising the rollercoasters. Most of the rocks and stuff was very rideable. Again, there were a couple switchbacks that I had to walk. But, mostly it was some fun, flowy singletrack. The trail was in pretty good shape, even though you could see skid ruts where the bikers were not controlling their brakes.

In all, it was a fun ride. I'm really digging the Angeles forest rides. They're really exciting and beeeyoutiful. The views of Los Angeles and beyond were amazing. I can't wait to go back. Thanks to Tom for taking me along and Cal Epic for the fun ride!

[Tom Cosgrove]

Glenn, Craig way to hang in there. I atually was blown off my bike twice!! Never been in wind that bad. Imagine holding on to you bike and it flailling in the wind like a sail!! It was a little tricky riding the lower half because of the debris that was littered all over the trail too.