Best Trails after a Rain?(merged)

Discussion in 'Trailhead' started by Rockinthecasbah, Jan 6, 2008.

  1. mtnbikej

    mtnbikej Well-Known Member

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    After doing trailwork in the rain up there last month.......STAY OFF THE UPPER LOOP DURING THE RAIN. It gets waaaayyy to soft/muddy/slippery.....kinda like vaseline on top of glass.

    Even the bottom switchbacks get pretty beat up/muddy in the rain. Yes, the rest of the trail hold up well to the rain/water/wet....when it gets as much rain as we will see in 4 or 5 days of rain....it is just best to stay off of it.
     
  2. kioti

    kioti Active Member

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    Saw a roadie yesterday on a high-end bike with front and rear fenders. Looked ready for anything.

    Definitely more tolerable to ride in the rain without spray coming off your tires, soaking your shoes and rooster-tailing up your back. Nicer to draft behind, too.


    :wave:
     
  3. simonmtb

    simonmtb Digging for fun.

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    I rode my local trails today in the rain. They were in great condition and I had a lot of fun inspite of temps in the low 40s. The dg around here seems to drain really well.
     
  4. osmarandsara

    osmarandsara Active Member

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    Sycamore in Riverside for sure........especially if you stay around the rockstacles you'll be on solid granite the whole time. On an unrelated note, I've always seen your videos where you are riding either downhill or on flat trails. Do you also ride the uni uphill or do you HAU (hike-a-uni) up for the most part? Is the gearing on the uni such that it would make going up too hard? Just curious........
     
  5. M.C. Gong

    M.C. Gong I am the motor

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    Maple Springs is ridable even in the rain. Just got to plan to get wet/soaked from the streams.
     
  6. UniGeezer

    UniGeezer Adventure Cyclist

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    Sycamore sounds good, but since I've never been there, maybe you could recommend the most rocky and tech. trails? I found this description of it and apparently there are MANY different trails there and many places to start. Could you have a look here and tell me which one you might suggest for me? Thanks!

    http://www.socalmtb.com/socal/trails/sycamor.htm
     
  7. osmarandsara

    osmarandsara Active Member

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    Sycamore is a pretty big park (1,200 acres). I would say for an intro ride with the unicycle, take the 60/215 south, get off on Alessandro, go right about 1/4 mile and park at the Farmer Boys on the corner of Alessandro and Sycamore Canyon Blv.

    Just behind the Farmer Boys there is a self-storage facility......here you'll find a trail-head that leads slightly North-East towards mini-Moab. On this map, mini-Moab is on the lower right of the page. You could probably spend a few hours trying different lines just in this place alone.

    Rattlesnake would be fun on the Uni, (its on page 2 of the map) but there's a heck of alot of ground to cover to get to it from mini-Moab...but its worth checking out if you can find it.


    sycamore_rside-complete.jpg
     
  8. emr88

    emr88 New Member

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  9. Upchuck

    Upchuck Marlboro Man in training

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    Los Robles is one of the few trails in the Conejo Valley that doesn't have a high clay content. You can ride after only 24 hours of a good spell of rain. After the amount we recently had, I expect you could ride it this weekend with minimal problems. I can only think of two places where you'll encounter a water puddle. The tread should be in fine condition.

    Los Robles is located in Thousand Oaks. Exit the 101 at Moorpark Rd and turn south. The street will dead end at the trailhead. I'm pretty sure you've ridden there as I've seen the Uni races going there in the past.
     
  10. stinky180

    stinky180 Will make it Reign....

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    If i was in OC this weekend, I would ride San Juan or Chiquito. HANDLE IT!
     
  11. ARGAMA

    ARGAMA Member

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    I know parks will be closed in OC. Best bet will be trails in Cleveland National Forest area as they usually hold up well with rain.

    I agree San Juan is a good choice but it will be crowded on the weekend. Better get there early!

    Cheers,
     
  12. hill^billy

    hill^billy KICK YOUR OWN A$$!.......

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    Anyone ever heard of Acton? Seems like a well kept secret, probably cause you can count on one hand and still have a finger or two left over for how many MTBER's live here, all cowboys and horsey trails, not to mention it is to far for the majority of riders, I would say that you would have to be truly truly jones-en for a ride after all this rain to come here. Lot's of big mountains here to ride on, minutes after a good rain. Another problem is that the trails are really hard to find. I got one trail here that is a XC bitchen.
     
  13. da big hills

    da big hills happy night trails

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    There are some good ones that hold up well. Its all about clay content. If your leaving tread marks its probably too soft, give it another day. The noice part is the berms will be gettin hard again, no more worries about the berm blowing out off the top. The bad news is on lesser ridden trails there will be false bottoms of runoff deposited sandy soil. Once dry they look like solid trail bottom, these are known to blow out when you are carving a fast corner. Sometimes you can lift that front wheel right back into the corner, unfortunately sometimes you cant.
    Happy trails
     
  14. FFW

    FFW Member

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    Hill^Billy speaks true! We got trails that are better as they get wetter up here. But they be secret (and legal)!
     
  15. ianchiu

    ianchiu New Member

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  16. da big hills

    da big hills happy night trails

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    The night trails are best after the rain. After dark the soft new grass, it glistens with the tiny dropletts reflecting your headlights and you get to see the metallic green eyed spiders.
     
  17. FFW

    FFW Member

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    AT trail in Acton tomorrow morning at 9AM
    the wetter the better!
     
  18. UPSed

    UPSed SPECIALizED

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    Leaning towards this if I don't get to ride today.
     
  19. da big hills

    da big hills happy night trails

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    Cheeseboro, bad place and gets worse if we get more rain. Sticky clay, slow to drain, quick to stick. I just went out and stayed on a steep, paved water tank road. The dirt is damp and my lugs would just tear it up. Climbing was nice and you could see 360 degrees from the top. There are still squalls out there, although there were some patches of sunlight too. Temps were just about perfect.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 1, 2012
  20. FFW

    FFW Member

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    hill^billy and I just finished some dirt repair on upper section of AT trail now it's faster and flowier. There was as much as 3 feet of ash and scorched dirt on the trail bench in a couple sections.

    Didn't get to ride Stegosaurus but the whole bottom 7 miles of main ST, and the additional spur trails, are almost perfect. A bit of rain tonight would make it even better.
     

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