Ride Report Another Long Day in the Saddle

Well Sort of.......



Told my wife on Friday I had plans to do a long training ride on Saturday...she said she would do the first part with me then head home.

I also sent out a text to my ride group with my plan....

Ride from home, through Oaks-Santiago Canyon-Blackstar-Main Divide-Eagle Rd-Skyline-Sierra Peak-Coal Canyon-Weir Canyon-Oaks-home

I had zero takers....so I knew it was going to be a solo ride.



6:10am.....wife and I rolled out of the garage. Brisk temps, but it was already pretty light 40 mins before official sunrise. Dropping through Barham Ranch between Oaks and Irvine Park, we were blasted by some pretty cold air. We weren't the only ones out....saw several others in the park.

Heading out Santiago Canyon, the sun already up, it seemed to warm up quickly due the breeze that was blowing. Dropping down Dump Hill was almost painful...arm warmers/vest/thermal knickers and I was still chilled out. Fortunately, it was short lived and comfortable shortly after that. Finally reached the gate at Blackstar, this is where my wife and I parted ways....she was the smart one and headed home, I continued on. Took it easy in the bottom of the canyon, didn't want to sweat too much and get chilled out. Turns out it warmed up quicker than I thought it would....half way to Hidden Ranch I was already overheating. Should have given them to my wife before she departed....now I have to carry them the rest of the day. Continued up to Beek's.....considering I was just cruising, still made it there in 1:10. Ran into some friends, and took a break to catch up.

At this point, I wasn't looking forward to climbing Main Divide, nor was I too excited about coming back up Skyline :-k.....so I called an audible and decided to head over Chino Hills. Since I was on the SS and only had 3 bottles on me, I knew there would be more opportunities to refill my bottles. The ride out to Sierra Peak seems to be getting shorter and shorter....plus I rarely see anybody else out there. Before I knew it I had reached mile 25 @ Sierra Peak and the turn off for Coal Canyon. Took a quick minute to grab a snack then headed on down. Coal Canyon seemed a bit more slippery than it has in the past....but as usual, I had the place to myself. 15 minutes later I reached the 91 Fwy underpass.

Quick spin up SART puts you at the driveway for Green River Golf Course.....the roadies out there weren't all too friendly[-X...whatever.

At 33.5 miles I reached the back entrance to Chino Hills SP. Began the steep climb up Scully Ridge. I remembered from my last adventure that this climb sucks. Pretty steep climb on the SS....so I did some walking. No sense in blowing myself up when i wasn't even 1/2 through my ride. At least this time I had an idea of where the top was. Along Scully Ridge I saw my first sign of wild life....ran across a pretty scrawny looking coyote....it ran off pretty quick. Reached the top of Scully and dropped down Brush Canyon to Lower Aliso Rd. Bypassed some of the singletracks on the way in.

At 39 miles, I made it to my water refill point at Bane Canyon. Chatted with a park ranger for a couple of minutes....he was cruising/patrolling on a quad. Only saw 2 other riders in the back part of the park. All refilled, wasn't so much looking forward to the climb up to get over to 4 Corners. Decided that Telegraph would be the shortest way....again, I found myself walking the uber steep climbs towards the top.....even on a short ride, I haven't cleaned these on the SS. Made it down to 4 Corners and just rolled through onto Bovinian Delight. Trail seemed a bit rougher than the last time I was on it. Again, saw no one. Southridge is a fun DH and climb....all in one. They are doing work on the pipelines up there so the road between Bovinian and Rim Crest has been graded....so it was hardpacked and smooth....which meant fast. It was getting pretty warm up on the ridge....at this point I was really second guessing the themal knickers. Finally started see people at this point...mostly hikers. Past a couple of riders on the way down Diemer Rd.

At mile 47, I started the climb back up Telegraph Rd. I was a bit concerned....last time I did this ride, I was struggling at this point on the Tallboy with 32x36 gear....worried that the 32x22 on the SS would kill me. This day I would be feeling much better....Telegraph went by kinda quick an and the legs were not complaing. Finally made it back to 4 Corners at 51 miles. Took a nice break and enjoyed the cool breeze that picked up. This time I chose to hit up Raptor Trail rather than take Telegraph up and over...plus it was more enjoyable to take the ST over the fire road at this point. All too quick Raptor/Faultline were over and I was back on Lower Aliso Rd. Stopped again at Ban Canyon to refill my fluids. I knew it was pretty much all down hill back to the entrance of the park. Explored a bit more....took the first single track and then checked out Elevator Trail....short, but fun. Saw my second coyote at this point...this one didn't seem to care that I was there. As I came back across the Brush Canyon Trail turn off, I thought what the heck....the climb doesn't look that bad...and Brush Canyon is actually a pretty nice climb. What I forgot, was how steep some of the climbs on the way back up Scully Ridge were....you lose perspective when you come down, how steep they truely are. A couple of spells of walking again.

Finally at mile 60 I was back at the park entrance. I have seen/heard that people ride next to the RR tracks rather than go back to SART. So I gave a go at it. There is a nice dirt road there, with a few areas where the road goes away from the tracks. Didn't see a train until I pulled off the trail at Brush Canyon Park. Took the street back to bike path and back to Gypsum Canyon Rd. This is the stretch of any of these rides that I don't enjoy. Up Santa Ana Canyon Rd to Serrano Rd. Usually a head wind....and today was no different.8-[

After a quick break at Circle K for some energy replacement I was off to the last leg of the ride. At mile 66 I pick up the horse trails that will take me back into Weir Canyon Reg Park. Legs were still feeling decent at this point. Always like the old wooden boardwalk and bridge along this route....and again, never see anyone. Finally reach the end of the county trail and cut across to Weir Canyon Trail. 68 miles in at this point and I know that I will make my goal of 80 miles. Slow going on the climbs through Weir Canyon. Starting to feel the miles....but not enough to take the easy route. Keep pushing on and eventually make it back to Barham Ridge.....yeah, the climbing is over....for the most part. Drop down Barham Ridge to Chutes.....at one point i actually considered dropping down Cactus and coming back up Goat....but that would have just been ludacris.#-o So passed on that and headed down Chutes Trail....yeah, I took the easy trail down.

At the bottom of Chutes, I was supposed to meet up with my wife.....she was out there on a horse back ride....but they were heading back and I still had a loop around Irvine Reg Park to complete. Up and around Horseshoe Loop, I finally started to hit my wall. It's now 74 miles and I am struggling. I had to shift back into cruise mode.....slow climbed it up to the gazebo below Puma Ridge....even thought about pushing myself to ride up Puma....nope...not gonna happen.:drunk:

Back on Santiago Creek Trail, it was mostly downhill to the Dam....but still flat enough that I was spun out. Grinded it up Dam Hill and dropped back down into the Oaks. One last push up Sage Ridge and I knew the climbing was behind me. Exit at Mabury Ranch and follow the horse trails back to Cannon. Hop on the Bike Path and suffer some more on the flat as flat bike path for 2 miles....ugh!!!!! is it ever gonna end? Finally rolled up in front of the garage.....10:30 hours later.

83.8 miles
9941' Elevation Gain
8:52 ride time

http://www.strava.com/activities/113553114/overview

Yes, I am bummed I didn't get 10k'.....but I don't think I had that left in my legs.


I say it was sort of a long day in the saddle....in all actuality....it was a long day....but on the SS you spend a lot of time standing.:lol:

This was a training ride.....but to be honest, I would probably still do these big rides. I have found that I really do enjoy these adventures.

Sorry no pics.....I always forget about them til I am halfway through the ride.

 

Holy crap. Even when I rode all the time I wouldn't/couldn't have done that.

 

I'm speechless, Thanks for the RR.

 

Wow...just wow. I am familiar with those kind of numbers myself - in 5 days of riding - with more than one gear.

Great job! :clap:

 

Epic!

 

+1

 

I love those rare rides where you get to spend a day just going wherever your wheels and mood take you, but this one...wow, I am humbled, and I see that today's "recovery" ride was still a solid ride for most people. Absolutely epic!

 

crazy, how long does something like this take for you to recover? How will you feel tomorrow?

 

I told you, you're not normal!!

Nice work J.......

 

awesome and ouch...hope you had a dream replacement meal!

 

I rode today....felt ok most of the ride....started to feel it climbing back up to Ridge Park. Will take tomorrow off, as it is not a ride day anyway. Will go back to normal ride schedule on Tuesday.

YEah, a 3 lbs. burrito from our local dive.

 

that would have been a starter for me if I ever did a ride like that

 

Wow !!!!! Awesome RR !!!

 

Yours are the only ride reports that take me two cups of coffee to read. And now I think I need a nap.

 

I get tired after reading about it!! TY for taking the time to share and giving us mortals a little motivation.

 

Thx for another one of your I'll call it "really big Oaks/Santa Ana's loop" RR. I've always wanted to to one but never had the endurance, especially now. But what I do want to is find the connection to Chino Hills SP via this Scully Ridge....

Also, are there any trails on that side of the freeway to hit besides CHSP?

 

All the trails are part of the CHSP network.

 

Inspiring! Great job!

 

Admirable accomplishment!

Sanjay from the Path still has the epitome of accomplishments for one day. All done in the Santa Ana Mtns. technical trails throughout and over 100 MILES. INSANELY ADMIRABLE!!!!!!

Not to steal your thunder, again great accomplishment!

steve

 

Saw your ride when you posted it on the STR club activity page. Crazy, crazy, crazy… but looks like a fun day.