Ride Report "The Facility" Pic intense

So today was the weekend ride for the Mrs and I and we wanted to try something a bit different and I wanted to try out the new camera I bought.

Anyways, we headed up the mountain just out side our place to Sage Ranch and "The Facility". The air was pretty good but there was a bit of haze until the wind kicked up.

From the lower lot there is a 1/4mi or so paved climb.
"Where is the top?"


"Almost there sweety." hehehehehe


Once you get to the top there is a outhouse and kiosk and a great view.
The kiosk


While there I got the lone bike shot as well


And then the posted signs




We then took in the view ...
Here is a couple shots of "The Facility" from the trail head at 12x zoom



We then head on down and it starts with a fun little descent but a bit to much for the Mrs as the sun was making all the little drops look a lot worse then they were.

The first descent


We road around a bit in the camp ground and then headed on down the trail

Hel leading the way


As we got farther back I spoted the UFO Landing pad across the way


The trail is very flowy and has some features that make it pretty fun for riders of just about any ability. Hel was riding some of the descents that she would normally walk.

After a few turns here and there we realized, Hey, we are IN "The Facility", so I snapped a couple shots before heading out.

The same building as before just closer up and personal like. The last shot was at 12x zoom and this is not zoomed at all.


I would have taken more trail pics but we were having too much fun and I kept forgetting to take the camera out.

 

What is that place in the pics?

 

Top secret government facility.

Not really, it is the old Santa Susana test facility and power plant although the power plant has been shut down since the melt down.

And for those still not sure you can read about it here
Santa Susana Field Laboratory

A little clip from the Wiki page
"
The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) is a once prolific rocket and nuclear reactor test facility located 30 miles (48 km) north of downtown Los Angeles, California. SSFL continues to operate today, serving as a research facility for The Boeing Company. The first commercial nuclear-power producing reactor (the Sodium Reactor Experiment) inside the United States was built at SSFL. The SRE came online in April of 1957, and began feeding electricity to the grid on July 12, 1957. The reactor powered over 1,100 homes in the Moorpark area of California for a short period of time. SSFL, however, also became home to the first meltdown of a power-producing reactor in the United States on July 13, 1959. Today, all nuclear research and most rocket testing has been halted.
Various research initiatives, such as the development of the Saturn rockets that powered the Apollo missions, the rockets that powered the vast ballistic missile arsenal of the United States during the Cold War years, and even a program to develop nuclear reactors for use in outer space were undertaken at the facility."

 

I think this is the place they keep those aliens they found at Roswell.

They have a really neat underground lab where they do all kinds of weird experiments.

 

Bad ass, this joint is now on the to do list...

 

I asked the Mrs if she had brought her badge so we could TRY and get on the grounds for a ride but noooo, she did not. They would have not let me on anyways

The loop is relatively short but there are a shyte load of slick rock features that even the most skilled and ballsy of riders would have fun on.

For those of us mere mortals a nice 6" travel am bike can be fun as there are a lot of just plain steep slick rock with some reeeealy fun rollers.

 

You want to go somewhere like that but way more creepy

This place creeped me out. I had to do work there and it reminded me of something out of Resident Evil.

 

Great pics, I love riding that area and lower down the road at Horse trails. It's one of my favorite playgrounds. Although it seems like a lot of the stunts and jumps are being pushed out by development.

 

Yeah, today was our first time up there and there are some fun features.

No worries about development pushing any of Sage Ranch out as the land is owned by the The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and most of the land around the Ranch is owned by Boeing and still registers some radiation so if a developer came in and somehow bought the land then they would be required to clean it before doing ANY construction.

Last I heard (about a year ago), there are plans that once the land is cleaned up the SMMC will get responsibility for the land they will open the entire area, including some of the land that Boeing has, to hiking and biking. If this does happen it would not be for some years down the line. Other then that I really got no other info.

 

Ah I think that is just a few miles away from me...thanks for the pics! Will have to check that out for sure!

 

Have you been feeling sick since visiting that place?

I want to go check it out now.

 

Just look south to the top of the mountain there Jutty, you'll see it. If you want I may be going back up there later this week or on the weekend, you are welcome to ride along.

No, I feel fine but I can pee with the lights out and light up the entire house

 

Yea if you head up there this week let me know, i leave for Nor-Cal on Thursday, so if you decide to go Mon tues or wed, I can probably tag along. Did not get a ride in this weekend so I may head up there today maybe...