thebassman
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Last weekend I rode this trail in the Santa Monica Mountains for the first time, with a couple other first timers. For those uninitiated, this is a portion of a trail (the Backbone Trail) that runs a stretch of the Santa Monica Mountains (a good description here: http://www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/backbonetrail.htm.) This section, which is all singletrack but for two fire-road crossings, runs from Corral Canyon Road to Latigo Canyon Road.
We began on a ridge and quickly descended via fairly rocky but not extremely technical singletrack into a canyon that was cool, arborial, and included several fun stream crossings and a good bit of fast, relatively flat but moderately challenging trail. Stream crossings are quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of cross-country riding as they, more than anything else, bring me back to my childhood of splashing through puddles on my old Diamond Back BMX!
After a couple of miles, we began a strenuous singletrack ascent that is probably a bit over a mile but feels much longer, as it is fairly steep, includes lots of really technical sections (including a couple of stair-step-style rock and shale sections that I may not have been able to get up even if I was in shape enough not to be too worn out to try...) I walked a couple of sections just to keep my legs moving as I caught my breath, but tried and succeeded to ride all but two of the technical sections.
Multiple walking breaks were in order, because I'm a noob with skinny legs and itty bitty lungs. As with most of California, the stark elegance of the uphill section was not despoiled by any shade to speak of, but it saw no shortage of rocks, sand and ruts. Ruts galore.
Finally my cohorts and I reached the top of the second ridge. We were rewarded by a brief but fantastic (probably 1/2 mile) downhill section, whose terrain mirrored that of the uphill section we'd just suffered up. During this bit, I unintentionally ran over a snake, which appeared to be a California Striped Racer, which is an awesome name for a snake. I stopped to survey the damage, but the snake had slithered away, I hope I hope. (I love snakes.)
A brief, mostly flat section got us to Latigo Canyon Road. We were pressed for time, so we opted not to continue on to Kanan Dume Rd. We knew that the return trip, with that very steep 1/2 mile (former) downhill we'd just enjoyed, would damn near do us in. We were right. That climb was brutal, but so worth it, as the extended downhill afterward was breathtakingly fast and fun. That's the end of that set of brake pads...
Bunnyhopping off 2-3 foot rock faces while going downhill equals an appreciable amount of airtime and, for some reason, the stream crossings at the bottom each seemed funner in this direction, so the ride back rates higher on the grin meter than the ride in. That said, the ride back up to Corral Canyon and our car was more gruelling uphill rocky slippery singletrack, and I would've liked to end the day splashing through streams instead, but all in all, it was still a heckuva lot better than watching TV. I even have goals for the next time: don't touch my feet during any of the stream crossings, and make it all the way back up the Corral Canyon ridge without dismounting. And maybe get a Camelback, as I don't think one 24 oz. bottle of water is enough for this ride.
Anyway, for those who have skipped to the end, the trail is tough but rideable, the views are great.
We began on a ridge and quickly descended via fairly rocky but not extremely technical singletrack into a canyon that was cool, arborial, and included several fun stream crossings and a good bit of fast, relatively flat but moderately challenging trail. Stream crossings are quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of cross-country riding as they, more than anything else, bring me back to my childhood of splashing through puddles on my old Diamond Back BMX!
After a couple of miles, we began a strenuous singletrack ascent that is probably a bit over a mile but feels much longer, as it is fairly steep, includes lots of really technical sections (including a couple of stair-step-style rock and shale sections that I may not have been able to get up even if I was in shape enough not to be too worn out to try...) I walked a couple of sections just to keep my legs moving as I caught my breath, but tried and succeeded to ride all but two of the technical sections.
Multiple walking breaks were in order, because I'm a noob with skinny legs and itty bitty lungs. As with most of California, the stark elegance of the uphill section was not despoiled by any shade to speak of, but it saw no shortage of rocks, sand and ruts. Ruts galore.
Finally my cohorts and I reached the top of the second ridge. We were rewarded by a brief but fantastic (probably 1/2 mile) downhill section, whose terrain mirrored that of the uphill section we'd just suffered up. During this bit, I unintentionally ran over a snake, which appeared to be a California Striped Racer, which is an awesome name for a snake. I stopped to survey the damage, but the snake had slithered away, I hope I hope. (I love snakes.)
A brief, mostly flat section got us to Latigo Canyon Road. We were pressed for time, so we opted not to continue on to Kanan Dume Rd. We knew that the return trip, with that very steep 1/2 mile (former) downhill we'd just enjoyed, would damn near do us in. We were right. That climb was brutal, but so worth it, as the extended downhill afterward was breathtakingly fast and fun. That's the end of that set of brake pads...
Bunnyhopping off 2-3 foot rock faces while going downhill equals an appreciable amount of airtime and, for some reason, the stream crossings at the bottom each seemed funner in this direction, so the ride back rates higher on the grin meter than the ride in. That said, the ride back up to Corral Canyon and our car was more gruelling uphill rocky slippery singletrack, and I would've liked to end the day splashing through streams instead, but all in all, it was still a heckuva lot better than watching TV. I even have goals for the next time: don't touch my feet during any of the stream crossings, and make it all the way back up the Corral Canyon ridge without dismounting. And maybe get a Camelback, as I don't think one 24 oz. bottle of water is enough for this ride.
Anyway, for those who have skipped to the end, the trail is tough but rideable, the views are great.