{"id":2074,"date":"2019-09-02T22:14:27","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T06:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=2074"},"modified":"2019-09-14T13:25:33","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T21:25:33","slug":"black-mountain-coast-to-crest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=2074","title":{"rendered":"Black Mountain – Coast to Crest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresh back from working in the Puget Sound area it was time to hit up some\u00a0of the local stuff.\u00a0 I got up at O-Damn Early to hit up a new bit of trail and the Black Mountain Truck Trail<\/a> near Ramona.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
O-Damn Early<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ramona this time of year can get really toasty and Pamo Valley can really turn into a pizza oven.\u00a0\u00a0 The plan today was to get some elevation on me before things got to really cooking.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The new trailhead staging area off of Pamo Valley. The pine trees on the top of the mountain is my destination.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I made it out to Pamo Valley good and early.\u00a0\u00a0 The new staging area is quite large and can accommodate plenty of cars and horse trailers.\u00a0\u00a0 I made quick work of getting ready to roll as it was only going to get warmer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The trail starts out in the northeast corner of the lot and parallels the road for a short bit before crossing over.\u00a0\u00a0 A word of caution<\/span><\/strong>, the first section of trail near the road was ate up with goat heads.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you are not running some type of sealant system you may find yourself having a frustrating day right from the get-go.<\/p>\n

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

This new section of the Coast to Crest Trail eliminates the need to ride along the Pamo Road to connect the Lower Santa Ysabel Truck Trail to the Black Mountain Truck Trail.\u00a0\u00a0 It is 3.2 miles long and overall I think it is a nice addition to the trail system.\u00a0\u00a0 It undulates on the\u00a0hillsides following the general route of the road but is not just paralleling the road.\u00a0\u00a0 It does\u00a0cross the\u00a0Pamo Road several times but I really don’t consider that much\u00a0of a detractor.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
McGuyver Time!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shortly after I got onto Black Mountain Truck Trail, my dropper seat post started acting up.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It started sagging about 1\/2″.\u00a0\u00a0 I was able to just raise my post up some in the seat tube to compensate, but it was not long before it dropped about 2-2.5″ down.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I did not have enough seat-post to compensate for this.\u00a0 The first thing I tried was wrapping some duct tape around the upper part of the post.\u00a0 It worked for just a short amount of time before the whole tape mass just slide up the post.\u00a0\u00a0 Next I tried reposition the table and give some extra clamping power with some zip ties.\u00a0\u00a0 This worked better but not for long.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Trying to do a long climb without full leg extension can be rough.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was about to throw in the towel an head back down the mountain when I saw a sizable stick.\u00a0\u00a0 I was able break and trim the stick to just the right length to wedge between the seatpost clamp and the bottom of the seat.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Once I got it jammed in place I zip-tied the stick to the post.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This fix held up and I was back in business.<\/p>\n

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

The remaining five miles or so of climbing I had ahead me after fixing the post when well enough and while the temps were climbing they were not bad at all.\u00a0\u00a0 I was joined at the summit by a couple of jeepers and their dog and I had an enjoyable time shooting the breeze with them for a while before heading back down the mountain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The top of Black Mountain lookin to the south west. The new trailhead can be seen at the south end of the valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I descended you could feel the temps climbing and it was really hot down at the valley floor.\u00a0\u00a0 I opted to not take the new connector trail back at this point and just zipped back on the road.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I did a total of just at 20 miles and 3,300 feet of climbing.<\/p>\n

More Stuff Like This<\/h3><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/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 Kachess Ridge, WA<\/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
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/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 Harding \u2013 Joplin \u2013 Luge<\/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
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/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 SDMBA Volunteer Appreciation Gala<\/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
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/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 A quick spin at Spring Canyon<\/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>