{"id":1246,"date":"2014-07-09T14:57:03","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T22:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=1246"},"modified":"2018-09-09T15:00:17","modified_gmt":"2018-09-09T23:00:17","slug":"another-cruise-in-cuyamaca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=1246","title":{"rendered":"Another Cruise in Cuyamaca"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nichol and I went back up to Cuyamaca State Park this past weekend for another ride.\u00a0 We started at the staging area by the San Diego River and went up the west-side connector trail to the Visitor Center<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4470\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From there we took the Green Valley fire road up through the valley to the bottom of Soapstone Grade.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4505\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead of making the left hander and going up Soapstone Grade fire road which is part of the Cuyamaca Grand Loop<\/a>,\u00a0 we continued straight onto the Upper Green Valley Trail and climbed up to the La Cima trail\u00a0that roughly parallels\u00a0Sunrise Highway. This section of trail was fairly rocky which extracts some additional energy out of\u00a0you beyond what the grade would tell. As you near the top of the trail you leave Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and enter the Anza Borrego State Park.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4517\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We then took the La Cima trail west and enjoyed some sweet flowing mostly downhill singletrack for a couple of miles.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4530\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When then turned south onto the California Riding and Hiking Trail<\/a>\u00a0(CRHT).\u00a0\u00a0 This a is really nice section of\u00a0singletrack that offers some great views of Lake Cuyamaca and the surrounding grasslands.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4539\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For the first half of this section you are doing some mild climbing before the trail transitions into mild descending with\u00a0good flow.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4550\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Just before the\u00a0CRHT joins up with Soapstone Grade fire road at\u00a0top of that fire road\u2019s steep climb you leave the Anza Borrego State Park and reenter Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.\u00a0 From here we turned east on Soapstone Grade fireroad for\u00a0about a mile of flat land cruising.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4561\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We then took the Stonewall Creek fireroad south\u00a0from here which shed off elevation fairly quickly back down into Green Valley. \u00a0There are both some rocky and sandy sections on this fire road that if not handled well, can lead to an unplanned dismount at speed which could be hard to stick the landing.\u00a0\u00a0 Stonewall Creek fireroad connected back to the\u00a0Green Valley fireroad\u00a0where we\u00a0retraced our route back to the truck.\u00a0 This was\u00a0a little over a 17-mile lollipop\u00a0shaped route that had a little over\u00a01,800 feet of climbing involved.\u00a0\u00a0 This was\u00a0Nichol\u2019s longest and hardest ride to date\u00a0that offered some new technical challenges\u00a0for her.\u00a0\u00a0To celebrate a ride well done that did not\u00a0include\u00a0any blood letting we\u00a0sampled\u00a0some\u00a0of the offerings from Nickel Beer Company in Julian before chasing down some\u00a0Mexican food.\u00a0\u00a0 It was a good day to be on a mountain bike.<\/p>\n

More Stuff Like This<\/h3><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Pimping New Kicks<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n<\/div>