Best Trails after a Rain?(merged)

Rockinthecasbah

Rockinthecasbah

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other then road rides , where is the best places around to ride right after a storm like this, I'm going stir crazy and was planning on riding oaks a few times after work this week but I dont think its going to happen. . What trails in oc can be ridden right after a rain without killing the trail
 
Fontana Has decomposed granite. That stuff is not affected by rain like regular dirt. The people out there training on sat had fun.
It rained a lot the night before and the course was fine.
 
Ehhh last time I rode San Juan after the rain is was pretty muddy and nasty in some spots. I was with Rob and we had to turn around after a couple switchbacks.
 
You can't hurt Trabuco Creek Road. Start at the VQ/CC finish line and head up canyon.

KeepsWhatHappens
 
I'd actually suggest staying off the singletrack entirely for a few days.

SJT used to be great after the rains, but a bunch of nice trailwork was done adding dirt to the lower switchbacks. Definitely a good thing for when it is dry, but now it gets muddy when it rains, and we got a lot of it this past weekend.

Stick to fire roads or just give the trails a few days to dry out.

Looks like once we get through this morning it'll be dry until at least through Friday, with temps in the high-60s.
 
roads?

As much as I dislike cars, my new road bike (6 mo) is paying for itself these last few days, I've been able to sneak out for a couple rides in between rains, as roads dry out in hours instead of days. I still try to stay on the bike-only routes if possible...

I bought it for an additional riding alternative, it works well as a rain option, I highly recommend a road bike as a second or third bike. It's very different from mtb.
 
I know it doesn't sound like fun....but you can always ride the road...find some steeps in your neighborhood and do interval training...keep riding no matter what especially if your signed up for the VQ or CC....
 
STT was the place. Good DG all the way to Old Camp. The best drainage of any trail around.Not riding the Luge. The Luge needs a long time to dry out. It is more clay than DG. Not the same as STT at all. Plus it is in the shade most of the day.

Von-Skipp said:
Ehhh last time I rode San Juan after the rain is was pretty muddy and nasty in some spots. I was with Rob and we had to turn around after a couple switchbacks.
Click to expand...

Good call.:clap:

SKINNY said:
Ok.. So what So. Cal. trails hold up the best (no mud) after a rain?
Click to expand...

West horse theif.
 
It's gona be muddy and wet probably wherever you guys go!!! It really screws up the trails. When I rode San Juan last week I admit I probably really screwed the trails in some places making ruts, and felt really bad.

We get sun and dry weather probably 350 days of the year!!! No big deal to take a day off from the trails.

The best advice on this thread is to ride the road for the next day or two!!!
 
There are many threads about this topic. That being said, the San Gabes are the best i've seen. You can ride during the rain and you're not going to hurt the trails. A lot of it is decomposed granite, so the water just runs right through it. I ride Mt. Lowe all the time after a rain, and I wouldn't ride any other trail cuz those get ruined while the San Gabes don't.
 
San Juan and other similar trails are great after 1/2 inch, but we got 3 to 5 inches over the weekend. My experience says to leave virtually all trails alone until at least this next weekend and then only use trails like SJ that are mostly decomposed granite. I won't touch Blackstar for a couple weeks of sunny days since I don't enjoy mud fests.
 
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I rode San Juan Today and overall it was in great shape. A few muddy switchbacks at the bottom, one was a mess.

This is the worst one.
San_Juan_Mud.jpg


Lots of moss in this section but no Mud.
San_Juan_moss.jpg


Nice riding on 99% of the trail today.
San_Juan_no_mud.jpg
 
Sucks that so many people rode the singletrack and effed it up so much :(

That's just plain ugly.
 
This is your excuse to GET OUT OF OC and discover other local trails--albeit slightly less local trails.

I'll third the vote for the San Gabriels. Most of the trails in the San Gabriels handle water quite well since they're rocky and sandy instead of packed with potentially greasy clay.

If you'd rather head toward Big Bear, the Santa Anna River Trail is a good one that's fairly weatherproof.

I haven't ridden them personally, but I've read about several good trails in the Coachella Valley area--it's sandy, rocky desert and often receives less rainfall than other nearby areas.
 
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trails to ride after the rain?

so i was reading this post which talked about riding trails after it rains http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/ride-reports/42783-after-rain-chesebro-canyon-agoura-hills-ca.html
and it was talking about how some trails have better soil composition such that you wont destroy them after the rain. i was thinking about going out riding on tuesday and was curious as to which trails are ok to ride? i dont want this to be geographically constricting because i think this could be a good reference for others in socal out of my area that have similar concerns (dont want to kill the trails). So if you guys could list good vs. bad places i think it would benefit us as a whole!
thanks a bunch
 

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