Trails – Page 16 – The Ramblings of MTBBill

Utah Weekend – Little Creek Mesa

Day Two had out at one of my all time favorites in the area, Little Creek Mesa. Sean had ridden one of the loops out here, but had not been out to the point so I was more than happen to do some showing around.

We started out in the main loop and worked out way out the the western rim of the mesa.

Western Rim Little Creek Mesa — Western Rim of Little Creek Mesa

We then worked out way out the North Point.

Gooseberry from Little Creek — Looking at Gooseberry Mesa from the North Point of Little Creek Mesa.

From the North Point we continued on around and hooked up with Magic Carpet Ride.

Back at camp we enjoyed tasty beers before working on some bourbon while solving world hunger. Well maybe not world hunger, but may have put a dent in the bikes in wilderness issues. Ugh maybe it was which sections of the Pacific Crest Trail should be open to bike.

One thing we certainly did figure out. It did not suck to be us on this day.

Utah Weekend – Wire Mesa

Man did I have great weekend near Hurricane Utah. Sean was out on an excursion in Utah with RV, his dirt bike and some MTB action on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We set Apple Valley as our rally point and we were soon off to Gooseberry Mesa to find a place to park the RV for the weekend.

After setting up the RV we had enough time left in the day for a ride so we hit up nearby Wire Mesa.

Wire mesa with Zion in the background — Sean on Wire Mesa with Zion National Park in view

More views of Wire Mesa — More views from Wire Mesa

The Wire Mesa trail does lots of bobbing and weaving right along the rim of the mesa. The trail seems longer than it actually is. The views are just great.

We pretty much used all of the remainder of the day. It was a great opener ride.

La Costa

This was my kind of way to spend a Monday morning. Taking a spin around at La Costa.

The trail system is bit beat up with braking bumps and braids around obstacles which there is a plethora of rant material to work with on this subject, the biggest one is there is just not enough good legal singletrack in coastal North County. There is good legal singletrack here so it is highly popular and ends up taking a beating.

More ATT playtime

It has been quite sometime since my last ride out at Anderson Truck Trail. The upper section known as “World Cup” is pretty much gone now (or in major disrepair). It was never an above board system as it was on a combination of USFS, private and Indian Reservation lands. The various groups finally got together to put a kabosh on access.

ATT on its own is a good climb and descent but its just not the same without the challenges of World Cup.

There are still spurs and loops that can be done from four corners. House of Pain, Spicolli 1 and Spicolli 2 (Your trail names may vary) provide some lollipop options before returning down ATT.

No matter what your opinion is on the current situation regarding World Cup, the descent down Anderson Truck Trail is still worth the effort to climb.

Tour De Wrightwood

I had a great time yesterday with Sean McNew and Bill O’Neil checking out the goods around Wrightwood. Sean was a tour guide extraordinaire! My prior experience in this area has predominantly been the Blue Ridge D route. Sean has spent a large deal of time working in the high desert not far from here and he has the good on this area figured out. I’m already ready for a return visit!

Lake Hodges Dawn Patrol

Got a in a dawn patrol ride out at Lake Hodges with my sweetie this morning to beat the heat. Looking East

Local Perch

My rock perch for a break on this afternoon’s ride in the San Marcos area.

More Laguna!

Some shots of the after-work ride on Thursday up in the Laguna Mountains with Steve. The toes are still a bit of distraction but things are better than last week. The weather was pretty freaking awesome with low-mid 70’s and a nice breeze.

Toe Bone is connected to the …

The toe bone is connected to your leg bone. Your legbone is connected to your hip bone… After gimping around for a week and being mighty gentle with my stride for a couple more weeks on a work trip, I got on the bike this morning. It was good to be back on a trail but man could I tell I have been slacking. My left toes were doing okay until I got into sections that required some mashing on the pedals. In the techincal bits I was surprised how just about any body english move made me unpleasantly aware that my toes play a role in executing that. I think I will need to be a bit more selective about where I ride for the next couple of weeks. But yeah its good to be riding!