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<\/p>\nSunday I ventured up to the Big Bear area with Bill O’Neil for a bit of back country goodness.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The person who first\u00a0turned\u00a0me onto this\u00a0route asked that I not give out the names so I’m honoring that.\u00a0\u00a0 Other than having to spend some quality time with the topographic maps there is no reason why you can’t go out and discover this ride for yourself.<\/p>\n
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We would ride\/hike a series of trails over several\u00a0peaks with some fantastic views.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I had worn my SIDI biking shoes which was not the best choice for the adventure today.\u00a0\u00a0 I have a couple sets of MTB shoes that have more rubber in the sole which would be\u00a0much more hike-a-bike friendly than todays selection.<\/p>\n
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The terrain in this area is fairly energy sapping.\u00a0\u00a0 Squared off rocks that slip and slide underneath your wheels makes for interesting descents where finesse of the controls and the nerve to let the bike\u00a0make it’s own small line adjustments are a must to keep the rubber side down.\u00a0\u00a0 This stuff also puts a little extra calf burn on you in the\u00a0hike-a-bike sections.\u00a0 We did\u00a0plenty of\u00a0 this in the higher elevations.\u00a0 Along one of these section I was surprised to see both a solo rider as well as two other\u00a0riders (Actually at that time they were hike-a-bikers)\u00a0later on.\u00a0 It was the first time in 3 years that I have seen anyone other than some hikers and the\u00a0a couple of mounted forest service rangers.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
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For me the long stretches of hike-a-bike were well worth it for the views and the techy descents.<\/p>\n
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Of course what\u00a0goes up must come down.\u00a0\u00a0 We eventually did a bit of road interconnect\u00a0 before hopping onto a classic\u00a0Southern California trail.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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We took a break at a campground near the final trailhead to refill our Camelbaks and to grab some snacks.\u00a0\u00a0 The campground was closed for maintenance but the water was still on so we chilled at one of the campsite benches.\u00a0 Within minutes of our arrival the little guy who runs campsite #1 came over, introduced himself and\u00a0attempted to persuade us to kick him a little something for looking after the place.<\/p>\n
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Now, I know your not supposed to feed these guys but he was certainly a veteran of the campground gig.\u00a0 Not to mention he was so damn cute!<\/p>\n
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The final trail was in pretty good shape and it was a blast as\u00a0always.\u00a0 The creeks were flowing well and the one\u00a0pictured above\u00a0got me pretty good.\u00a0 I picked a bad line through the creek and found the deepest part of the crossing and a sizable rock.\u00a0 Combined with my less that stellar effort I executed an endo to a\u00a0perfect 5-point landing in the creek.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That was Brisk Baby!\u00a0\u00a0 There were no other unplanned dismounts for the rest of the ride\u00a0and by the end of the day we had put in about 28 miles and a\u00a0lot of smiles.<\/p>\n