So Cal MTB Trip Part 2

 Here are some more pictures of our trip.  Enjoy!

Bloody Nose Trail

  Montana de Oro State Park has some great mountain bike trails, but Bloody Nose Trail is not one of them. Equestrian use has pretty much trashed this trail and is now a sand trench filled with poor attempts at water bars.

My bike getting some sun

Coming down Hazard Peak Trail

Hazard Peak Trail in Montana de Oro SP has awesome flow and is smooth and fast. These trails are beautifully maintained by Central Coast Concerned Mountain Bikers (CCCMB).                                     

 Another cool feature of Montana de Oro were the tool stations along the trails, so anyone can do a little work to keep these trails  sweet.                                                                                               

Cruising

 

Rock-it Trail

  Aliso and Wood Canyon County Park had some fun trails especially for being so close to an urban sprawl.  Rock-it Trail was our favorite trail in the park and has some fun rocky sections.

San Juan Trail

We rode San Juan Trail as an out and back, to Cocktail Rock and back down to the parking lot.  This was of the best rides of the trip and is truly awesome.                                                                       

Sunset SLO City style

So Cal Trip Part 1

  For the past week I have been in Southern California riding some of the great trails down there.  I rode the Hazard Peak Trails, part of Backbone Trail, Aliso and Wood Canyon Trails, San Juan Trail, and the Nobel Canyon Trail.  
  Nobel Canyon was by far my favorite ride of the trip, it features some extremely technically difficult rocky terrain that keeps you on your toes the entire ride.  We started at the lower trail head and rode up Pine Valley Rd. to the third trail intersection after over 2000 ft of climbing we started the awesome descent this is the way to go if you want an epic All Mountain loop.  The trail passes through different ecosystems including Alpine Forest, High Dessert, and Scrub Brush.

The "Staircase to Hell" on Nobel Canyon Trail.

   The climb is a long paved fire-road and is not too bad if it is not too hot.  

Some snow at the top.

    The Downhill starts out smooth and we experienced snow in early January, it then turns into miles of some very chunky terrain that means hike-a-bike for most riders.

Take one.

Take two!

 This ride is awesome and can also be shuttled but climbing to the top is what makes this an epic adventure. 

getting rowdy on Nobel Canyon

Made it down!!!

 If you are in the San Diego area this is a must ride trail for expert and intermediate riders who like technical riding.

Forest City Flow

Last weekend I got out to Forest City to enjoy miles of the fun flow Cross Country trails.  I started at the kiosk, ascended the Sandusky Jeep Road, went around Truckee Ditch Trail to Big Tree Trail Head, and then descended back to town on Ridge Runner and High Grade Trails, a very nice 16 mile loop.

A berm on Truckee Ditch Trail.

One of many creek crossings on Truckee Ditch.

The top of the climb !

The new section of Truckee Ditch Trail.

If you have never been out to Forest City I strongly suggest going, the trails are fun for all levels and there are lots of optional bike features.  All of the trails were beautiful built by the Forest Trails Alliance (FTA).  Happy Trails-Ruffrider

Nevada City Dirt Classic # 3

The last race of this years Nevada City Dirt Classic series happened on September 29, and was a blast just like the other two were. I came in second in the 15-18 Cat 2 division. This time the course was reversed making it more technically and physically challenging, because you had to climb the Halleluiah Trail switchbacks and go down through the "rock garden".

Me on my last lap !

Horn of The Bull Taquaria served great Mexican food, and smoothies made from a bike powered blender were free to racers.

Most of the racers that podiumed in the last race.

 If you did not make it to this event this year be sure to attend next year YBONC race or races to have a great time and support mountain biking in our area at the same time! - Ruffrder

Tahoe Visit !!!

Resting under the Aspens

This week I got to ride some trails in the Tahoe area that I have been dying to ride.  I rode the Sawtooth Ridge Trail in Truckee, the infamous Tahoe Flume Trail, as well as checking out the Truckee Pump Track.  Here are some pictures of my trip.

Flume Trail

Sawtooth Ridge Trail

Sawtooth Trail is a fun 10 mile loop that is littered with lose rock and lots of optional features to keep it interesting. 

 

A fun rock slab on the side of Sawtooth Ridge Trail.

One of many features along Sawtooth Trail

A log ride on Flume Trail

  Flume Trail is an awesome 13 mile ride that starts at the Flume Trail Bike Shop and ends at the Tunnel Creek Station Cafe.  The ride begins with a 5 mile climb up the North Canyon Road to Marlette Lake.  Then you take the Flame Trail, a flat singletrack with beautiful views a Lake Tahoe, giant boulders on one side of the trail and a steep cliff drop on the other.  After the Flume Trail you ride down a fast, sandy fire-road down to the Cafe.

                         

Forest City

A fun rock lip on Ridge Runner

Hi all,  I just went on a great ride up in Forest City.  Forest City is an old historic town in the Sierra Nevada near Downieville from the gold rush era.  Some of the historic buildings still stand in town.

There are many great trails around Forest City, expertly built by the Forest Trail Alliance (FTA) these trails are the epitome of flow.  Today I started at the kiosk went up Sandusky Jeep Road and Trail to Big Tree Trail Head.  I stopped at the beautiful stone bridge to check out the "String of Pearls", a super cool optional technical rock feature.

                                                  

The "String of Pearls"

From there I descended Ridge Runner and High Grade Trails back to Forrest City.  Ridge Runner is around four miles long and is filled with banked turns and and fun optional technical features.  High Grade Trail is one of my favorite trails and is a roller coaster filled with big banks and just enough lose rock to keep it interesting.  Today my rear derailleur cable broke on this trail.

        This great XC loop is around 11 miles long, it is an awesome ride no matter what your skill level is.

"I almost made it"

The awesome view from Ridge Runner.

Tahoe Fat Tire Festival

I just got back from racing Super D at the Tahoe Fat Tire Festival in Squaw Valley  this Sunday.  Super D is a relatively new form of mountain bike racing and is basically Cross Country mixed with Downhill racing.  This race was the last in the Sierra Cup Series.  The course was super technical,  it was steep, fast, and infested with rocks and roots as well as a few wooden features.  It was a lot more technical than the Downiville Classic race courses and was not for the faint of heart. The run was 3.9 miles long, had over 2000 ft of descent, and only 101 ft of climbing!  I came in first place in the Cat 3 Men category with a time of  17 minutes and 31 seconds. Despite two crashes in my practice run.

The results !

 
The race started at High Camp and finished at the Village.

The tram ride up to High Camp

The race was a single run format and we were staggered in one minute intervals.  The scenery was spectacular.

Starting my Super D race run with Lake Tahoe in the background.

This festival also included a Short Track race, a Hill Climb, a Cross Country race, and Downhill, in addition to Super D.  The event also was a fundraiser for Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA).  Hopefully this event will return again next year, it was awesome no matter if you are on or off the bike.  With all the disciplines of racing included at this event you will definitely find something that suites your skills.  Be sure to attend next year, for some great High Sierra racing. 

 On the podium !!!

"Downieville Downhill"

Me at Packer Saddle.
Today I got to ride the awesome "Downieville Downhill" it was insanely fun. This was the first time I got to rip the DH without having to do climbing first, the descent is a lot more fun with a full tank. For those of you who aren't familiar with this ride, it starts at Packer Saddle and ends in Downieville, it drops 5000 ft in 17 miles! The route includes Sunrise Trail a flowy singletrack with banks and rollers, Butcher Ranch OHV Trail a fast steep fire-road, Butcher Ranch Trail, 3rd Divide Trail, and the 1rst Divide Trail.

Me on the top of Butcher Ranch Trail.
Butcher Ranch Trail is steep, fast, filled with rocks and roots, includes countless small creeks, and has a 700 ft climb afterwords.

One of the many tricky creek crossings on Butcher Ranch.
This trail is my absolute favorite trail and includes the ultra technical "Waterfall" (a big ass rock garden).

Me clearing the "Waterfall".

3rd Divide Trail is a wonderful descent, it's smooth, super fast, and has nice airs. After riding a little bit of Lavezzola Road we took the 1rst Divide Trail, this trail follows old ditch grades from the mining era and goes back and forth between singletrack and wide doubletrack. After a few miles of good peddle work we popped out on the paved section of Lavezzola Road witch takes you to downtown Downieville! In my opinion these are the best trails in the area, and if you haven't ridden these yet you need to get out there! There are two bike shops in Downieville that have a shuttle service and rent excellent mountain bikes, Yuba Expeditions and Downieville Outfitters. Thanks to Morgan Hainline for all the awesome pictures! - Ruffrider

Grouse Ridge Epic Ride

Yesterday I attended BONC's (Bicyclists of Nevada County) monthly Gala Ride, and It was tons of fun. This months ride was up at Grouse Ridge in Nevada County. The advanced group started at Loney Meadows and from there ascended up some cattle roads and singletrack to a great view of Bowman Lake and the surrounding mountains.


From there the ride went downhill through some technical lose rock. After that the trail turns into a painful, steep, and loose climb. Then the trail starts to roll Grouse Ridge style, steep downhill followed by super steep uphill. There were lots of backpackers and some folks trekking with some llamas. We rested at a beautiful cobalt blue lake to eat lunch. From there we climbed up to a campground and the access point to hike up to the lookout. From there we descended down some singletrack to what I think was the Grouse Ridge Trail. After that we regrouped near some Native American Petroglyphs. From there we rode some super technical, rocky singletrack to the top of the next downhill.


This descent is basically just a seasonal creek bed / rock chute, it goes almost straight down the side of the mountain except for some tight switchbacks that do nothing to impede the flow of water, and is full of baby heads, rock drops, and small boulders. Despite sounding like hell, this descent is my favorite part of this ride. After this the route levels out somewhat, into a smooth granite face bike play ground. After several miles of fun/brutal riding we recuperated at the headwaters of the South Yuba River. From there the trail parallels Lake Spaulding's shoreline but remained pretty technical with rocks, roots, and log features.

a penstock
After this we crossed the large hydroelectric penstock, bushwhacked a little to find the very end of end of Pioneer Trail and took the end of Upper Pioneer Trail to the bridge that crosses over the South Yuba. From this point we took Bowman Lake Rd. to Bear Valley and ended our journey. This was an awesome all-mountain back country ride, for all of you who live for technical rock trails the Grouse Ridge area is a must ride destination. We were out there for 7 hours probably more than 5 of which were riding. This ride was 24.18 miles in distance, had 3979 ft of assent, and 5063 ft of descent. This ride is so brutal that it was probably the equivalent of a 50 mile ride on normal trails. Thanks for looking -Ruffrider