nailknot
Member
Decided to take an extended ride today, I didn't feel like doing the normal Crafton Fire Road circuit so I decided to go to the snow today. I left out of Mentone riding some singletrack until I had to merge onto Hwy 38. Cars were passing by with all the occupants bundled up in the cars with the heaters on high, heading to the new fallen snow. I, on the other hand, was making plenty of heat on my own riding up the Hwy.
There was snow was beginning to stick on the side of the highway but I kept pedaling up the road. I arrived at Warm Springs Fire Rd and began my ascent up to the Fire Lookout. I quickly found out that with all the melting snow that the fire road was very muddy. I tried to apply power but if you weren't careful the back wheel would just slip so I took my time going to the Morton Peak Rd.
My intentions were to ride down the Santa Ana River Trail after stopping at the top for some photo ops. Once I got on the Morton Peak Rd the snow really started to get thick. Fortunately, there was some other biker that went ahead of me and I could ride his tracks for some decent traction. Occasionally I would come to a spot where the snow had blown in and was much deeper than what was on the rest of the road. I had to dismount and push a few times and once I arrived at the cutoff for the SART it was 'push a bike' all the way to the lookout.
On my way back down I looked at the SART, the other biker in front of me hadn't done the trail so I knew that I would be cutting a fresh path. Since I was solo I didn't want to take a chance with a fall on the slick snow so I made my way back down the same way I came.
All in all it was a great day for a bike ride. I think I may hit up the SART next weekend once the snow has had a chance to melt away
I only snapped a few pics but this is the only one that came out well with the cam/phone
There was snow was beginning to stick on the side of the highway but I kept pedaling up the road. I arrived at Warm Springs Fire Rd and began my ascent up to the Fire Lookout. I quickly found out that with all the melting snow that the fire road was very muddy. I tried to apply power but if you weren't careful the back wheel would just slip so I took my time going to the Morton Peak Rd.
My intentions were to ride down the Santa Ana River Trail after stopping at the top for some photo ops. Once I got on the Morton Peak Rd the snow really started to get thick. Fortunately, there was some other biker that went ahead of me and I could ride his tracks for some decent traction. Occasionally I would come to a spot where the snow had blown in and was much deeper than what was on the rest of the road. I had to dismount and push a few times and once I arrived at the cutoff for the SART it was 'push a bike' all the way to the lookout.
On my way back down I looked at the SART, the other biker in front of me hadn't done the trail so I knew that I would be cutting a fresh path. Since I was solo I didn't want to take a chance with a fall on the slick snow so I made my way back down the same way I came.
All in all it was a great day for a bike ride. I think I may hit up the SART next weekend once the snow has had a chance to melt away
I only snapped a few pics but this is the only one that came out well with the cam/phone
