{"id":14,"date":"2007-12-29T22:46:22","date_gmt":"2007-12-30T06:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=14"},"modified":"2009-08-12T06:25:11","modified_gmt":"2009-08-12T14:25:11","slug":"palm-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=14","title":{"rendered":"Palm Canyon – Conditions Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Palm Canyon<\/a>\u00a0is one of my all-time favorite epics in Southern California.\u00a0\u00a0 I ride it at least two to three times a year.\u00a0\u00a0 This ride can be a deadly\u00a0furnace ride in the summer so the winter months are generally the season to get out here.\u00a0 I generally organize a sizable group ride at least once a year here, but I prefer to do this ride in really small groups.\u00a0 This my first ride of the season and it was sort of a scouting trip for the large group ride to be done later.\u00a0\u00a0 Rich (Taffy15), Bill (MrMountainHop), Steve (Aquaholic)\u00a0and I were on the trail just before 9AM and were treated to a day of excellent conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Steve\"<\/p>\n

There was some moisture in the ground that made for excellent traction.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The trail overall is in good\u00a0shape.\u00a0\u00a0 The three-mile dry wash climb was as good as I have ever seen it but it was still a pain in the butt.\u00a0\u00a0 The Hahn Buena Vista trail was as awesome as always.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The unmarked trail that connects Dunn Road to Fern Canyon trail is also in good shape and is much more defined than in past years.<\/p>\n

\"On<\/p>\n

\u00a0We made excellent time today.\u00a0 We were not trying to hammer but finished in under six hours.\u00a0\u00a0 We had no mechanicals or flats which for those who have done this ride, you know this is nearly magical.<\/p>\n

\"Rich<\/p>\n

There were a couple of things that ruffled my feathers on this ride.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

\"Da<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/p>\n

\u00a0 I don’t suspect this is the case, but if this “trailwork” was officially sanctioned then those people should be ashamed of themselves.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Most likely this is caused by riders whose skill levels are less than their ego levels.\u00a0\u00a0If you can not ride this stuff — WALK\u00a0IT! – DON’T MODIFY\u00a0OR DESTORY IT!<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You do not get\u00a0credit for “cleaning” the trail if you had to\u00a0dumb it down to do so.\u00a0 If you want to be a better rider, try, try and try again until you either get\u00a0it or\u00a0have to walk it<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Goat Trail section really pisses me off because it is a totally optional trail.\u00a0\u00a0 If you can’t ride it, take the fireroad down.\u00a0 If you want to do trailwork then get with your local Mountain Biking advocacy group for a legititmate trailwork day<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Bill<\/p>\n

Ranting aside – Tis the season for Palm Canyon!<\/p>\n

Update:\u00a0 Here are some more pictures on MTBR’s SoCal Forum<\/a><\/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 Utah Weekend \u2013 Wire Mesa<\/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\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 Back in the Saddle<\/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\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 Back to Hitting the Local Stuff<\/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\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 The San Clemente Singletracks<\/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>