Ride Report Did Marshall Canyon for the first time with the gf

[alphaqforever247]

Ok well me and my gf are still pretty beginner mtn bikers. i never been to marshall but always wanted to do it. we started off at calremont wilderness park and went up maybe a mile and i realized i didnt have my helmet on lol. so my gf was upset that we ha to go back cause she was already dying going up. well we went back and got my helmet and started goin up again. that climb is pretty hard its like 2.5 miles of non stop climbing. my gf walked 80 percent of it. i also walked a good portion. when we got to the top we took a wrong turn cause we just kept following all the hikers. so when we realized we went the wrong way we just went back lol. we were out there lost for over 3 hours. so we didnt even get into marshall canyon. my gf said she will never do that trail again.

 

[sxc70]

If you would like to have a guide i would be glad to show you the trail
just send me a pm and we can set up a date.
My wife and i do marshal all the time and you should be happy to know that the cwp is a pretty good grind to the top.
marshal is a little longer trail but not as steep at the begging and you can get a little further before you get burned out.. Rich

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Which direction did you ride Claremont Wilderness, CW or CCW. I' say the CCW direction is steeper.

Best bet would be to take her to Chino Hills Park first, it's gentler.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

This is the CW direction. I remember the first time i did it, I thought it was murder. After I realized it wasn't al that bad, I started doing 2 and 3 loops for a workout. It gets better, keep at it!

If I can do it (fat old 46 y/o guy at 240 lbs) you can do it!

This was 2 loops
[youtube]q4l0-HFycgg[/youtube]

After you get that down, try Potato Mtn. This is going the CCW direction on Claremont Wilderness then up the turnoff to Potato Mtn. It's a cool ride. It's only a 5 or 6 mile climb but worth the view at the top.

[youtube]AAluy2zoiS4[/youtube]

 

[gil_caz]

first off... i like your scren name.

second, i tried doing the claremont loop to marshal canyon with my buddy without knowing where i was going, and it was terrible. its a fire road you climb. it sucks.

but i went back the other day with another friend who knew where he was going and it was a fun ride. a great ride actually and i cant wait to do it again. the climb sucks but the fun of claremont wilderness looping to marshal is worth the pain.

(and i stop and hike on the climbs too):beer:

 

[psyclerider]

I take a lot of beginners out for their first mtb rider and I always start them out at Marshall Canyon, but I start them off from La Verne. Park at Oak Mesa Park and ride in. It's more gradual and scenic and when they are tired, then they just head back down. One time I took a beginner to Claremont Wilderness Park like you did and had the same result with them. CWP is just not fun for beginners.

 

[rojomas]

+1 on entering on the La Verne side if your a beginner. It's alot more interesting for beginners because it's more scenic and more of a gradual climb. Take your GF on that side she'll enjoy it more.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

CWP is just not fun for beginners.

Hmm, that's funny! I 've been told it's a beginner's ride.:?:

 

[mingo1]

Valuable Lesson to be Learned!

Never take your Gf on any semi-difficult ride unless she is into biking. Good way to end the relationship quickly.

P.S. Forgot to put your helmet on???? Stick to doing a few loops around the neighborhood or idot proof paved bike path for now or until you get a few more miles under the belt.

 

[psyclerider]

Hmm, that's funny! I 've been told it's a beginner's ride.:?:

I hate to see what that person thinks is a difficult ride!:-k

 

[rojomas]

Hmm, that's funny! I 've been told it's a beginner's ride.:?:

CWP is probably not the best ride to go on if you have no legs yet. As for technical difficulty it is beginner level.

 

[carrierap]

alpha: Keep riding that trail, it only gets better. I started riding at Marshall, and barely made it to the picnic bench my first time. Now I'm riding from my house (60fwy & Mountain Ave) to CHWP, up the trail, over to Marshall and back home. Just keep riding.

 

[davidB]

CWP as in Burbank or Cobalt fireroads? yeah, neither of those are beginner friendly going up.

 

[Margaritaman]

Cool! My first (real) mtb ride was at Marshall too, way back in 1993.

 

[Pain Freak]

Burbank or Cobalt are difficult climbs and I'd no way take a beginner up them unless they really wanted a challenge. Post up here when you want to go again and one of us will take you up thru Marshall for a much more enjoyable ride. Tell your gf she did really good but the real fun is going down Marshall. Climbing CWP is only 2.5 miles but can be really tough for a newb. We used to stop 2 or 3 times to the top. I remember the first time I cleaned it I called everyone I knew. My family thought I was nuts and now after they've seen all the money I spent on bikes they know it for sure.

 

[Margaritaman]

My family thought I was nuts

I'm sure they thought you were nuts long before that!

 

[crazysue]

my gf said she will never do that trail again.[/QUOTE]

I wish I had a dollar for everytime I said or thought " I'm never riding this F****** trail again" I'd have 20 bucks.
Please tell your GF don't give up, it gets better - really. Think of those 3 hours of being lost as an invesment in charactor.

Okay, that was my nerdy 2 cent advice. You only have $19.98 left

 

[Lizardterd]

alpha: Keep riding that trail, it only gets better. I started riding at Marshall, and barely made it to the picnic bench my first time. Now I'm riding from my house (60fwy & Mountain Ave) to CHWP, up the trail, over to Marshall and back home. Just keep riding.

You are just around the corner from me then...I'm near San Antonio and the 60 and have never even considered riding from here to Marshall...hmmm, that'd be a good challenge for myself. I ride claremont a few times a week to help improve my climbing. As everyone else is stating Marshall is much more scenic and enjoyable. I take my son there on weekends and he loves it.

 

[ubermensch]

As everyone else is stating Marshall is much more scenic and enjoyable.

The tree cover makes it nice during summer time.

 

[alphaqforever247]

yeah i went up the right side of the trail. there is a 5 mile loop that all the hikers do and that was the trail i was following everyone and i got lost. this is the exact trail i tried to follow but got lost

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2068314

any one have a trail map of an easier way? what i tried to look for was 1500 feet of climbing max at near 12 miles. that map is less then 1500 climbing but its all at the beggining. what i dislike about this trail is that it seems like all the trail maps seems to juss go up then back down.