Ride Report First Time on Chiquito

Met Mark, his friend Aldo, and Mo for a ride down Chiquito. I'd heard about it from others, and was looking forward to something new. It was a perfect day for a ride, and we had a good time. It was pretty much just like coming down San Juan, but there was more chunk. A lot more. All 4 of us took a spill or two at various points in the ride, but no one was seriously hurt. Here's a few pics and a short video clip of Mo cleaning some chunk:



Queued up for the entry into some chunk:


Scoping out a large-ish roller:



Aldo on his first attempt, almost got it.



Aldo, attempt #2 - textbook roll-over!



Mark, going for it!

Just a split-second later, his front wheel hit the lower rocks, his fork compressed, and he was sent OTB. No harm done, he rolled out of it like a pro!

Chilling at the falls. Wait a minute, what's that? A drop?



Mo lining up for it!!!

Not really.


Looking back down one of the climbing sections, across the valley, and enjoying the sunshine. It was interesting and challenging climbing through the chunk too.



Who are these goofballs?



This short video gives some idea of the more difficult chunky stuff. We were debating whether it was flowy chunk or chunky flow. Guess it depends on which one makes you think of barf. Anyways, Mo got it handled!
[video=youtube;SOA-hluELDI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOA-hluELDI[/video]


Thanks for showing me the trail guys!

 

Video is listed as private.

Looks like a great ride that I would love to do sometime. Thanks for the invite guys! #-o

 

Nice boys!!

Mark, next time lock out your front fork on a roller like that - not that I would have attempted it but Gene taught me that since your fork will compress so much so you OTB.

Next weekend I'm in for any ride so keep me in the loop!

 

why post video if its private.

 

Ur right Rox.
That compression bucked me off and over quick!
#-o

 

Why indeed? #-o How is it now?

 

Very nice pat!
Had fun! Thanks for posting..

 

Did Mo give in to peer pressure and get new surf trunks?

 

Pat: love how you respond to things; you're such a good guy!!

Yes Herz! Mo knows to listen to his mommy.

 

video played just fine. too chunky, some of those spots dont say flow to me. just me. great weather and scenery!!!

 

looks like fun, I did san juan for the first time, where does chiquito hook up with san juan (it does right?). while riding san juan there are a few other trails at various forks but I never saw trail signs. do you happen to have the ride stats, just curious how the trail links up

thanks for posting - great photos

 

.:beer:

Here's my route on Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/97893032 You'll notice the blazingly slow speeds...I think I may even have hit mediocre status once or twice.

I know it does connect to San Juan, but I've never done it. Here's one example from Geoladders: http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=130. Somewhere I thought a portion of Main Divide was involved, but looking at that route I may be mistaken.

 

about the slow speeds i was thinking the same thing with san juan - then i compared my average speed to geoladders shuttle times and i was fine. Probably all the chunk on Chiquito and your first time - well you want to get back in one piece

 

Surftime, it takes you up to Viejo Tie and links to Old San Juan. Had a blast out there today!

 

Thanks for the RR Pat. That's a tough trail with the chunky ups and downs even when done as a shuttle, personally can't imagine going up it starting from the Candy store but sure some strong climbers can do it. Much more chunky than San Juan proper, speed isn't the name of the game . Looks like you guys hit Viejo Tie also.
FWIW, This is a map I pulled from somewhere when we did the ride last spring.

 

Thanks for posting the maps, i looked everywhere and could not find something like this

Looks like when we shuttled san juan yesterday we did the "new san juan" to cocktail rock, how is loli pop / old san juan going from blue jay to Cocktail?

one thing I am just learning is there are some damn good trails in that area of the santa ana's - maybe better than on the northern parts where we seem to be riding more fire roads to drop 2 miles of motorway

 

Hey Luke, differing opinions I'm sure, but I'd guess most who climb from the bottom to cocktail rock do the lolipop clockwise. So they'd come back on New San Juan like you did. The problem I have with that is the section from the creek that climbs to cocktail, with all the chunky step ups. I tend to stall out on the step ups (not being that strong a cllimber), get off hike 10 feet, get on and ride 20 feet and repeat numerous times.

Taking Old San Juan to cocktail, it's all downhill and then one steep a$$ uphill that ends up being one section of 200 feet(?) of HAB, so not getting on and off. I kinda like riding counterclock since I can ride those steps going down to the creek on New San Juan and just have the one HAB to look forward to. Might as well try both and pick which one matches your mood that day.

Should also mention, sometimes when shuttling, we'll go down Chiquito to the waterfall, then come back up and finish going down San Juan. Ads a little to the ride to make the shuttling time worth it, and the climb from the waterfall back to SJT isn't too bad.

And yeah, some sweet trails on the south/west side of the peak, my faves Joplin, Holy Jim, Trabuco, and some tougher ones that I've not tried Bell Ridge, Yeager, Los Pinos. Lots to explore.
Dave

 

Thanks Dave, let me know if you are up for a weekday morning ride out there. I think we can get Jonathan out there also and sounds like a lot of others here on STR know this area also. PM me, thanks for the info. Shuttling from blue jay to some of Chiquito then back up and down to san juan sounds fun

And ya about the ride on the new san juan trail, I was doing it with my 12 year old, so he was not liking the HAB - it was all fun though. I actually like those types of climbs, since i wear flats i can bail at a split second if i cant make a section

 

Thanks Pat I gotta do that one again, been a while for me.

 

This is awesome Dave, thanks. Also, I'll have to try the upper loop in the counterclockwise direction as you suggest. I imagine those chunky sections are more fun (and doable) down than up. I love the challenge of trying to climb them, but I usually have some pretty spent legs by the time I get there after having climbed about 2800 feet.

I would love to hit Chiquito/Viejo Tie with someone sometime. Perhaps you and I can drag Rox up there and make it a Geriatric Tour. No Mo allowed! Ok, he can come along, but he has to ride in the carseat!