Ride Report New construction at The Oaks

Well the new coachwhip is supposed to be pretty easy. So you can go up goat, down coachwhip, up bumblebee then take goat back down - but that would only be like a 2 mile loop at the most. Really the trails are not that hard if you just take it easy your first time around.

 

Rich - Tuesday at 1pm is looking good. Another STR guy might go - any others reading are welcome as well. I will PM you

 

PM sent

 

Suggestion, since this is a Ride Report, why not start another thread regarding new rides at the Oaks?

 

Was at the Oaks today and Hans has both rails of the bridge with 2x6's already connected, looks like it'll be in use very soon!
Rock on HANS!!!

 

I will be coming on Saturday to ride with the group. Is there anyone that is a specific group leader. I will be driving a Suzuki XL7. This will be my first time at the Oaks. HRRhodes will also be coming from the forum.

PM me if you have any information.

Aaron

 

I ride at Oaks once or twice in a week (sometimes 3) because it's the nearest trail to my house. Usually I just ride Barham ridge, Chutes, and Mountain Goat. After finding out about the construction of the Coachwhip I decided to give it a go today... I had a blast going downhill. Its not really a technical trail but it sure is fun! It's longer than Mountain goat. Its fun to go down fast and it has more switchbacks, berms. I even got to meet the man behind the all the construction going on! Yep, I met Mr Hans on my way up Yucca, I shook his hands and told him what a great job he's doing at Oaks. He even told me that I was the First rider to cross the bridge (aside from him) at the bottom of Coachwhip. But yeah who cares if i was the 1st as long as its open now for us all to enjoy!

 

I rode last night and I was unimpressed by the new Coachwhip. I guess I'm not a fan of the meandering, flat, 4 feet wide trails carved into the side of the hill with a bulldozer. I prefer a more natural approach where the bushes are cut back and the natural terrain remains.

The trail feels like it goes on forever, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. I got bored after the first 7 switchbacks and I wanted it to end. I lost a lot of enthusiasm when I had to pedal uphill for short sections. The bridge is very nice & will be great for avoiding the sand. The banked turns were good.

Maybe it will be better going uphill. I could see going down Yucca and then up Coachwhip; especially if they shut down Robber's Peak.


On a positive note, Deer trail keeps getting more awesome. That's the best of the new trails.

 

Yeah, quite a few people I have talked to.....who have been riding the park for a very long time, all agree that the new Coachwhip is pretty boring....especially downhill......pedalling just to keep momentum on a flat downhill is not my idea of fun.

Given the option....climbing is a bit more fun....but not much...it is easily a middle ring climb. Definately does not have the flavor of the old trail.

 

that sounds like a good route (we'll test it out this afternoon), especially to avoid 2-way traffic on zips.

i'll have to try deer again. i really didn't like it when we rode it after the re-opening.

 

Have yet to ride the new trails, but hopefully soon. I shy'ed away from that side of the canyon because the trails were so neglected. Once rode the "extra credit" trail and the result wasn't too pretty. everything over there (below robber' peak) seemed way overgrown and/or rutted out. Some of us may feel the extent of the renovation is too invasive, but $$ is being spent on our playground (YAY!) Would you rather have an "Expert trail designer" (no sarcasm) build trails made to last; or numerous D!#*$ with shovels meandering all over the hillside? Thanks to Hans.

 

Agreed and that is what the new trails will be like in a few years...give it time. Deer Canyon has had time to mature not fair at this time to compare them.

Dean

 

re: Deer. I think they might have re-routed some of the upper sections because it seems to flow a lot better now. It is easy to get some speed, and there is some excitement when you wind around the corners. The connector to the Weir loop is much improved and is ride-able now.

 

Tough call. The ideal option would have been to fix the existing trails. I doubt the design was *that* unsustainable because the trails were around for quite some time. We didn't need the largest collection of 4ft wide, family-friendly, flat trails in OC. We needed a couple of trails fixed.

I'm worried the new trails are boring, yet sustainable, which will invite the D!#*$ with the shovels to spice up the trails on their own. You can already see little connector trails between Chutes A and B. Waterfall has a couple of unauthorized shortcuts that are being covered by branches.

That's what I'm hoping...but I'm not holding my breath. Deer might have been loose in a few spots, but I never remember it feeling like a freeway carved into the side of the mountain. the Waterfall Re-route was the first of the bulldozed routes and it still feels very much like an awkward man made trail. I think Deer & New Waterfall went in close to the same time.

 

im not 100% sure which shortcuts your talking about but i ride chutes 3 times a week (on my dhr if youve seen me) but if your talking about the ones with branches and cactus thrown in them those are the original chute trail before they made the new chutes trail and chutes ridgeline. not made from 12 year olds with shovels

 

wow, I appreciate all the work going into the park. But I ave no favorite mountain bike trails that were built with a tractor.

 

"Where's that confounded bridge" Robert Plant
Well, Robert it's at the bottom of Yucca and Coachwhip, up and running!! Hans Rocks!!

 

Damn...I was hoping those rails were the beginnings of a chair lift!

 

Hey, that's me out on the bridge!

 

g-lat and i (sorry, trinidad) sampled oaks last night: up chutes, down yucca, up coachwhip (like others have said, not very interesting but a good way to get up on the ridge) to deer.

and deer has improved with age (thanks, winger). we had a fun little loop back up to barham ridge--had a keith e. sighting--then dropped zips and chutes, sessioning some of the jumps and logs. we finished right at sunset (steve!) and convened to chronic for our debriefing. good stuff.