Mountain Bike Bill, The Dirt on the Dirt

Variations of Palm Canyon

I spent this past weekend out in Palm Springs with my girlfriend and got in one of Southern California’s Classic Epic rides,  Palm Canyon.  I have done this ride quite a few times but the plan was to do a different variation on the route for this outing.   All of the logistics has been carefully worked out a day or so before the ride which meant that would be not be how things would actually go down.    

Everyone pretty much arrived on time and after some introductions and early morning chit chat while jostling bikes between vehicles we were on our way out of Palm Springs and up the mountain to the upper trailhead.    We met up with most of the San Diego crew at the top and were soon off and rolling through the Pinyon Pines trails which is the most commonly taken variation on the classic route.   It was really good rolling up and down singletrack goodess before getting serious about dropping into Palm Canyon.

Lance, Matt and Ben were the rabbits of the group and they were being mighty zippy with the pace.   I should have known better than to chase those guys but I’m a slow learner.  After  a few miles I found myself in cardio distress hanging over the handlebars whezzing like a 90 year old chain smoker with screaming quads and the only coherent thought I could hear in my melon over the sound of blood pounding through my temples was  “What The F$%k!”.      

After regaining some composer I was back on the peddles and was able to notice what a glorious day it was now that I was back in my proper place in the whole age/weight/fitness lineup.    The thought did not escape me that we connoisseurs of  tasty malted and hopped beverages seemed to be pushing similar paces.

Palm Canyon is known for finding weaknesses in your gear and exploiting them. Steve had one of his pedals strip out of the crankarm. We tried a variety of McGuyver options to keep him rolling but as the ride progressed the pedal got worse and worse and worse. He ultimately ended up have to do at least 6 miles of one legged pedaling, hiking and coasting across the desert before you was able to hit a bail out point and head downhill towards civilization.

The trail conditions were pretty good despite it being a fairly dry winter in these parts.   None of the stream/creek crossing had water in them.  

 

Here are Steve, Michael and Evan heading out on the Indian Poterro  trail.   I managed miss every catcus gauntlet on and along the entire trail but I managed to step into a cholla while getting setup for this shot.     I plucked out a good dozen spines and I’m sure I will pluck another dozen out of my leg over the next few weeks as my body works to push out the ones that broke off flush or under the skin.

Michael had a couple of the evil chollas jump out and attack his tires over the course of the day.   Evan was kind enough to donate a Slime tube after the second flat.

One of the variations on the route involves not going up the 3 mile wash climb and the follow on descent of the Hahn Buena Vista trail which represents a big cost followed by a big reward section of this route.   Instead we only climbed about 10 percent of the 3 mile Dry Wash and the hung a left onto the East Fork trail where we did some rolling ups and downs over to the Vandeventer trail before settling in for a climb along the fern canyon trail up to the saddle of  the upper end of Wildhorse and the Clara Burgess trail.   The next variation that was being thrown in on this day involved taking the Clara Burgess trail up and over Murray Hill and down into the bottom of Goat Trails with a follow on climb that would take us back up near the top of the Goat Trails again.   I have gone over Murray Hill in the opposite direction and I knew it was going to be a real beater.    After taking stock of what I had left in the tank, I along with three others opted to forgo this section and meet at the next variation point along the Garstin trail.   Above are some of the manly mens group heading up the Clara Burgess trail.

Dave and Michael making their way to the top of the Garstin trail.

The peak to the left is Murray Hill and saddle were the manly men started from is off to the right side of the frame.   If you play a little “Where is Waldo”  you can see them working their way up to the Garstin trail.  One of the manly men had to bail after Murray Hill from being completely bonked to the point of being sick.  We ladies of the shortcut crew had spent every bit of an hour changing our feminine napkins, snacking and napping.  Did I mention what a glorious day it was?

The final variation on the traditional route today had us dropping the Shannon and Henderson trail out of the Goat Trails.   Above is the top part of the Shannon trail before it gets really steep with a series of hella tight switchbacks.  It was a really cool section of trail but not for those who get a freaked out when exposure is involved.  Blowing  some of those switch backs to the outside would not make you a happy camper and could net you an appearance on “When Vacations Attack”, “Worlds Most Amazing…” or any one of those other “Awh Shit” shows.

As a bit of coolness bonus along this trail you go by Bob Hope’s house.  Its the big domed pad on the right hand side of the picture.    The Shannon and the Henderson trails dump you out on surface streets that we took back over the traditional bottom of the Palm Canyon route in Von’s Rimrock Shopping Center.      Tasty beverages were soon being had along with post-ride chit chat before more bike jostling ensued before we made our way over to Rancho Mirage for dinner at  Babe’s BBQ and Brewhouse.   I helped shuttle folks back up to top before rolling back down to the hill to finish out the weekend in Palm Springs with my girlfriend.

Palm Canyon

Last Sunday the weatherman was calling for rain in the San Diego and Los Angles area.   It sounded like a good time to hit up the Palm Canyon Epic out near Palm Springs.  The group for this ride dwindled at the last minute and it ended up with Steve and I coming in from San Diego and John coming over from Burbank.    Smaller is generally better on this ride as you cover a lot of ground that has a reputation for being unforgiving to bikes and riders alike. 

 After leaving a vehicle in Palm Springs we drove up to pretty much to the base of Santa Rosa Mountain to start the 30 mile adventure for the day.   We started from the traditional Palm Canyon trailhead vice the more commonly used Pinyon Flats trailhead.   I love the first section of the Palm Canyon trail with it’s ribbon then singletrack etched into steep sidehills.   Sorry for no pictures of the section, there was way too much grinnage to stop and pull out the camera.

Here is shot taken shortly after finishing off the first section.  Any questions? 

There was lots of greenage out along the the trail

 

The Indian Portero Trail option was taken

John riding a pretty interesting section of rock 

Steve and his camera case racing through the rocks.   The camera case won that heat. 

Plenty of water running through here.  It was snow yesterday so you can bet it was mighty cold.

 As a matter of fact I can assure it was mighty cold!

 More water filled wash crossing fun. 

There was  some time allocated for a bit of playing on the rocks. 

 John ferreting out a line.

The 3-mile Dry Wash climb was in pretty descent shape but it was still a freaking beater.  

Once we got up the wash and headed over to Mike Dunn’s Desert Oasis (AKA the dozer) Steve felt the need for some dozer hucking.   File this under Stupid Human Tricks.

 

After a short bit of singletrack climbing it was time to head down in earnest on the Hahn Trail.   OMG OMFG LOL insert you favorite texting shorthand here that expresses singletrack bliss.  The Hahn Trail is an amazing trail, narrow, fast and etched into the mountainside.

I selfishily keep my camera in the pack but Steve bit the bullet and got a shot of John and I rolling on Hahn.   Way Good Stuff.

After the massive grinfest of the Hahn descent we took a series of trails that got us to the Wild Horse trail which would drop us into the Goat Trails of Palm Springs which was the final segment of the route.  The legs were feeling plenty worked at this point.

The final section of the Wildhorse trail is steep with some tight switchback which are always a lot fun to try and clean.  After Wildhorse we mostly used “The Swartz” to connect together a series of singletracks back down to my  truck.   We have a few flats over the day and one broken chain but made pretty good time.  It always seems like such an accomplishment to finish this ride with plenty of daylight left.  There were some tasty beverages and grub consumed afterwards over conversations about all that goes into to making this an epic ride.  The parts beats the body, the parts beats the bike and the continual string of parts that nutures the soul.   Once again it was a wonderful day to be on a bike out with Mother Nature.

Long Time No See! or “Funk Busting”

So there has not been too much on the MTB scene that I have felt like writing about since I got back from Japan.  That does not mean that I have not been riding.  I just did not seem too inspired to write about it.   I have gotten in a couple of quick spins through Lake Calvera on my singlespeed and even caught the SDMBA San Clemente Singletracks Ride.  These rides while fun where just not doing it for me on the trail scene.   I have noticed I get like this for a week or two after epic riding trips.   I have come to think of it as “Post Killer Trip Depression” or “Epic Lag”.  Pick whatever shrink-babble works for you but I was coming off some awesome trail riding and was looking for some new dirt  to ride in SoCal.

I had not ridden with Bill O’Neil in freaking ages.  Well maybe not ages but nine months is a pretty long time.  He busted up his wrist really bad late last year and had to deal with a long recovery.  Combined with my traveling schedule earlier this year and the better part of a year just slipped by.  It was time to kick this “Epic Lag” in the ass and catchup with Bill on some singletrack.   The person who organized this ride thinks it is best to keep the names of these trails “off-the-air” so I’ll leave things as that.  While you may find these trail segments on most of the older topographic maps of the San Bernardino National Forest, you will have to be a little adventurous to ride some of these bits. 

 

The rewards were certainly there and it was just what I needed to bust out of the Post Epic Funk.  

 

The trail was just what I had expected, fairly buff and flowing.  One thing I had not realized was that I had been missing the continuous moving that is so much easier to do back here in SoCal.  The steepness of the terrain in the area of Japan I was in often meant that your riding mileage was often broken up by short hike-a-bike sections.  It was pretty awesome to just be able to “go”.   At the same time these trails revealed my fitness level for the continuous “go” has been dropping off.  Way to many rides of stopping to navigate and take pictures.  I suppose there are far much worse ways to get out of shape 🙂

Ultimately we knocked off a good chunk of mileage on some pretty cool trails.   We even had time to stop and smell the flowers.  It is always refreshing to get on the trail less ridden and try something new.    Doing it while catching up with friends is a nice bonus.  Oh yeah, there was tasty microbrews waiting in the cooler at the end of the ride.

Palm Canyon – Conditions Report

Palm Canyon is one of my all-time favorite epics in Southern California.   I ride it at least two to three times a year.   This ride can be a deadly furnace ride in the summer so the winter months are generally the season to get out here.  I generally organize a sizable group ride at least once a year here, but I prefer to do this ride in really small groups.  This my first ride of the season and it was sort of a scouting trip for the large group ride to be done later.   Rich (Taffy15), Bill (MrMountainHop), Steve (Aquaholic) and I were on the trail just before 9AM and were treated to a day of excellent conditions. 

 Steve

There was some moisture in the ground that made for excellent traction.    The trail overall is in good shape.   The three-mile dry wash climb was as good as I have ever seen it but it was still a pain in the butt.   The Hahn Buena Vista trail was as awesome as always.    The unmarked trail that connects Dunn Road to Fern Canyon trail is also in good shape and is much more defined than in past years.

On the Indian Poterro Trail

 We made excellent time today.  We were not trying to hammer but finished in under six hours.   We had no mechanicals or flats which for those who have done this ride, you know this is nearly magical.

Rich on the Dry Wash Climb

There were a couple of things that ruffled my feathers on this ride.    The descent off the meadow on the Indian Poterro Trails has been heavily sanitized and the final bit of singletrack going down by the water tanks in the Goat Trails has also been sanitized with a bunch of cheater rocks below the drops.

Da Climb

Looking Down from the Hahn

  I don’t suspect this is the case, but if this “trailwork” was officially sanctioned then those people should be ashamed of themselves.    Most likely this is caused by riders whose skill levels are less than their ego levels.  If you can not ride this stuff — WALK IT! – DON’T MODIFY OR DESTORY IT!   You do not get credit for “cleaning” the trail if you had to dumb it down to do so.  If you want to be a better rider, try, try and try again until you either get it or have to walk it.    The Goat Trail section really pisses me off because it is a totally optional trail.   If you can’t ride it, take the fireroad down.  If you want to do trailwork then get with your local Mountain Biking advocacy group for a legititmate trailwork day

 Bill

Ranting aside – Tis the season for Palm Canyon!

Update:  Here are some more pictures on MTBR’s SoCal Forum