 Rides We've Done in 2007 |
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Rides We've Done in 2007 |
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Peter's Canyon to Santiago Oaks, up The Bitches and down the Chutes and back. December 31, 2007 Our last ride for 2007...kind of sad. I didn't take very many pictures today, sorry about that. Fred showed up for his first ride with the OCRiders and promptly killed us all on the climbs. Turns out that Fred is a full time runner and is in great shape. We'll just have to get a couple of extra beers in him to slow him down a bit. Here's the GPS data of the ride. Anyway, so long 2007, we had many an excellent ride with you this year and 2008 should be just as good. |
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Lower Peter's Canyon to the Santiago Oaks through the Weir Canyon Loop and back December 22, 2007 A pretty big turnout for this semi-epic ride which stretched 20 miles and included over 3,700 feet in elevation gain. The weather and trail conditions were spectacular. Get the ride GPS data here at MotionBased.com. Sunday we did a lap of Santiago Canyon roadie ride but no pictures were taken in order to protect the dignity of grown men in tights. You can see the GPS stats of that ride right here. |
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San Juan Trail - Out and Back December 15, 2007 Several of us have been doing roadie rides the past couple of weeks owing to the sketchy December weather so a little mountain biking on San Juan Trail was a welcome change. This morning the sun shone and the trail was in near perfect condition. We pedaled up to Coctail Rock and turned around and headed back down. 12 miles and 4,100 feet in elevation gain: Get the GPS data of the ride on MotionBased right here. |
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Santa Ana River Trail Roadie Ride December 2, 2007 It was supposed to be a nice "easy" spin but that was before we got passed by a half dozen would-be hammer heads. Dave's testosterone kicked in and off we went on the chase. We made it down to Huntington Beach in what must be record time. Ultimately Dave and Trey wore down the hammer boys and dropped them about a mile before PCH. It was pretty sweet. |
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Peter's Canyon Mountain to the Sea Roadie Ride December 1, 2007 It rained hard all day Friday and come Saturday morning the rain had let up. But it was cold! The pictures are few and were taken by my iPhone. |
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El Moro and Laguna Wilderness November 24, 2007 A stunning day for a ride in El Moro Park and Laguna Wilderness. Kathy called this ride and turned most of us on to the parking area at the end of Ridge Park Road. Nothing like starting the ride off by bombing down Nothing Better To Do. Sure beats the hell out of pedalling up the mountain from the Laguna Wilderness parking lot. Get my GPS stats on MotionBased.com. |
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El Moro and Laguna Wilderness November 24, 2007 Ryan was busy kicking some ass on this ride and he took some great photos too... Oh and BTW, Ryan has lost over 20 pounds since he started riding with us. Good job Ryan! |
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Peter's Canyon to Santiago Oaks, up The Bitches and down the Chutes and back. November 23, 2007 Hey, how 'bout them Cramptons!? Dave's daughter Jen joined us on this ride and did the whole thing. She was awesome. |
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'Twas the day before Thanksgiving and the Peter's - Oaks - Weir loop sounded like a good idea... November 21, 2007 John B. shot a movie of Ryan and I coming down from the top of the Bitches. Two days later Mr. Friendly Ranger informed us that the trail was closed. Click on screen grab on the left to download a 1.9MB QuickTime movie file. We rode 21 miles and gained 4,000' in elevation on this day. |
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Peter's Canyon Mountain to the Sea Trail November 18, 2007 Definitely chilly on this morning's ride. Around 30 miles out and back, we averaged 18.2 mph. Not to shabby. See the GPS stats here. |
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Peter's Canyon to the Santiago Oaks, up the Three Bitches, down the Chutes and back through Peter's November 17, 2007 A solid 15 mile ride on a perfect day for riding. See the GPS stats on MotionBased.com right here. |
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San Clemente "Dog Park" November 10, 2007 Mike, Greg, John and Samuel hit the Dog Park Trail in San Clemente. Mike reports: "The weather was perfect and marked the return of Greg after his painful shoulder injury. Our group of four managed to run across a couple of new trails so this was a partial loop with an out and back beginning at the tree crossing. Recovery was at Oggi’s off Alicia Pkwy." |
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Pismo Beach, CA November 10, 2007 Dave and I got the opportunity to go on a weekend trip to Pismo Beach with some of the guys from TBR and ride some new Suzuki QuadRacer R450s. It was my first time at Pismo and first time riding a quad. What a trip! Special thanks to Gabe from American Suzuki (he's the guy catching big air in some of the pictures) for allowing us to try out these fantastic play bikes. |
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Moab, Utah - Pictures by Trey November 3, 2007 Trey kept his camera busy for this epic trip. Click on the picture to the left to see his shots. |
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Moab, Utah November 3, 2007 Adam, Craig, Dave and Trey drove out to Moab, Utah for the Ellsworth Moab Jam 2007 sponsored by Ellsworth Bicycles. Upper Kokopelli Trail, UPS, Porcupine Rim and more starting at 9,500' in elevation and finishing down at the Colorado River... I can't remember all of the trails that we rode this day and incredibly I left my Garmin GPS back in the motorhome, but all I know for sure is that this was the most epic all day ride of my life. Ellsworth did a hell of a job hosting this ride, providing a shuttle to the top as well as breakfast and dinner on both days. The four of us elected to head back home on Sunday rather than do the scheduled cross country ride. We were just too hammered. |
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Laguna Wilderness October 28, 2007 Yeah, pound it... With the fires still burning in the Santa Ana Mountains we headed to the coast for a ride. The Santa Anas were starting to blow again and brought the smoke from the inland right to our lungs. It was probably not the best day to be out riding. We washed the ash out at BJ Brewhouse afterwards. |
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October 20, 2007 No rain this weekend but very very dry, in fact the next day all hell broke loose in the Santa Ana mountains with wind driven fires that are still burning as of this posting. GPS stats here. Click on the QuickTime movie clip to download a 4.6 MB movie of Bob Walker almost making the climb out of the wash at the bottom of the Chutes. |
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Peter's to the Oaks to... October 13, 2007 It sprinkled Friday evening but was "clearing up" on Saturday morning. Dave, Ryan and I took a chance on the trail conditions and headed out through Peter's Canyon to ride up to the Oaks and Weir Canyon. We made it through Peter's and about a quarter of the way through the Oaks but had to turn back due to the muddy conditions. Oh well, next time. GPS stats of the ride right here on MotionBased.com. Note to self: Sometimes it's okay to sleep in on a Saturday morning. |
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Maple Springs Road to the top of Santiago Peak October 8, 2007 Santiago Peak is the Southern of the two peaks that makeup the Saddleback Mountains (Modjeska is the other), and at 5,687' it's the highest point in Orange County. While the actual gain in elevation from the gate at the end of Silverado Cyn. Rd. is around 4,000 feet, our total gain for the ride was 5,697'. Hmmmmm. We clocked 21.8 miles round trip. Here's the GPS stats. Great weather and decent trail conditions. |
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October 4, 2007 It's been a nice summer this year with the new extended Daylight Saving Time schedule. But all good things must come to an end...for a while anyway. And we saw a really cool Tarantula Hawk Wasp do its thing on a poor tarantula at the top by the bench. All part of life's cycle of renewal. Click on the screen shot to download a 5.4MB QuickTime movie of the Hawk Wasp dragging the paralyzed tarantula away. |
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Peter's Canyon to the Santiago Oaks, up the Three Bitches, around the Weir Canyon Loop and back September 29, 2007 This is my favorite ride, it has everything you could possibly want all rolled up into a great extended loop. The weather was fantastic and, thanks to a rain shower a few days earlier, the trail conditions were perfect. 20 miles and 3,700' in elevation gain. Here's the GPS 411. |
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Fullerton Loop September 15, 2007 The Fullerton Loop is considered by some to be a very remedial mountain bike ride. Yet this place can bite you in the ass hard. Those of us who have ridden the loop can tell you the weird crash story or two. This Saturday we added another weird and scary crash tale to the books. Dave was speeding down the fastest part of the trail, launching off the top railroad tie to catch some "big" air. I was stationed just below to capture a picture of him mid flight. I kind of got the picture but then had to run for my life as Dave headed right for me. I dodged the impact but my bike, which was leaning up against the fence, took the hit from Dave. His head taco'd my rear wheel. Fortunately Dave was okay but it was an ugly crash all the same. Moral of the story: Be careful, even in the easy stuff. |
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The 2007 Amtrak Century September 8, 2007 The skinny tire contingency from OC Rider showed up in force for the annual Amtrak Century from the Irvine train station to the San Diego station. We covered about 103 miles and were treated to a fairly strong tail wind for most of the ride. Robert Salazar from TBR met us at the finishing area with cold beers and a motorhome for the return trip. For Samuel and Mike Bynum it was their first Century ride and they both finished very strong. |
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September 3, 2007 This night riding on a road bike is cool (double entendre intended). Another beautiful sunset in the middle of a hugh heat wave along the Peter's Canyon Mountain to the Sea Trail at the Back Bay in Newport Beach. Me thinks it's why we live in Southern California. We were joined by Dave's daughter Jen who put in her longest ride ever. Congratulations Jen! Jordan was back at it fully recovered from Sunday's blow-up and we were joined by John Searl who's been absent for several months with work and family duties. Greg had a flat on the way back and I captured a little video of the repair action. Click on the movie screen to download a 4.5MB QuickTime movie. |
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Oh God it was hot on this ride through Peter's Canyon to the Three Bitches and back September 2, 2007 42 years separates our youngest member Jordan from our oldest, Greg. 100 plus degrees. Some interesting numbers made for an interesting ride. Young Jordan put in his longest ever mountain bike ride on this day and in some grueling conditions. The trails were hot and dusty but the kid soldiered through it. We climbed about 2,000' over 15 miles. Afterwards we went back to my house for a dip in the pool and a couple of root beers. Pretty good stuff! |
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The Path Bike Shop hosts a social roadie ride they dubbed The BOUY Ride. September 1, 2007 From Tustin Brewing Co. to the back Bay in Newport Beach this was the first ever roadie ride hosted by The Path. We clocked 30 miles and rode back in the darkness with our lights glaring. A very casual pace and a keg of the brewhouse's finest greeted us for this enjoyable social ride. Lots of fun! See my GPS stats of the ride at MotionBased.com. |
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August 25, 2007 We don't do this ride enough. You start and finish at Cook's Corner and get a full lap of Whiting Ranch, the STT and the Luge out of the deal. Very nice. Weather wise we caught the tail end of Hurricane Dean which cooled our heat spell just for the ride. GPS specs of the ride right here. A 2MB QT movie of the climb to the flag on the right. |
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August 18, 2007 Oh man it was hot. We rode all of the good stuff but skipped riding to Top of the World and down Meadows in the interest of self-preservation. See the GPS ride stats here. Mike tells a little joke at the top of Rockit. Click on the QuickTime screen to download a 748kb movie file. |
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August 11, 2007 It's good to be the King! GPS ride stats here. 4.9 MB party movie clip there and ride and party pictures over yonder on the left. |
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July 26, 27, 28, 29, 2007 Flats, spills, drops, miles of single track, beer and Irish Car Bombs. Enough said. Click on the picture to the left to see a ton of pictures. Click on the movie screen shot to the right to download a 3.8MB QuickTime movie of Jen dropping the "Flow Drop". She did it with style. |
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Aliso Woods July 21, 2007 16.7 miles and 3,000 feet in elevation gain, it was overcast and humid for the entire ride but we beat the inland heat this day. Recovery followed immediately at BJ's Brewhouse in Laguna Hills. Good stuff. |
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July 14, 2007 16.5 miles, 4,700 feet of elevation gain, not too hot and not too many bugs. That's all ya need to know to gauge this great ride. Click on the left to see some of the ride photos. Click on the right to download a 3.8MB QuickTime movie of us gabbering at the end of the asphalt section of Maple Springs Road. |
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Laguna Wilderness...Again July 7, 2007 We chose to ride Laguna Wilderness again in an attempt to beat the heat wave that was in effect. It kind of worked. Young Jordan (only 13) brought out his brand new Iron Horse that he had just picked up from The Path Bike Shop. Both were impressive. See the GPS data of the ride here on MotionBased.com. |
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Laguna Wilderness June 23, 2007 It is a jungle out there. We came upon this real life battle between a snake and a lizard. Judging by the missing tail on the lizard it appears as if he had survived previous tussles with trail users. We didn't stick around to see the outcome but here's hoping they went their separate ways. Oh, and the ride was awesome! We clocked 12 miles with 2,600 feet of elevation gain. Plus Ryan took us on a new leg of the ride called "Nothing Better To Do", somewhat technical and very rewarding. |
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Summer Solstice 2007 June 21, 2007 And what better way to celebrate the first day of Summer (and the longest day of the year) other than riding through Whiting Ranch and up the Santiago Truck Trail to the flag at the top of the Luge. Greg was kind enough to bring along a thermos of his famous margaritas to share with us. Thanks Greg (and sorry I tried to kill you on the way down by my not so brilliant block pass)! GPS view and data of the ride right here. |
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Aliso Woods Regional Park and then some... June 16, 2007 Great weather and a large turnout greeted us on this early Summer morning ride. We clocked 18.5 miles and over 3,000 feet in elevation gain. Besides the usual ups (Mathis and Cholla) and downs (Rockit) we also rode the out-and-back called Disneyland which starts at the top of Meadows and heads out to the bluffs overlooking South Laguna's Pacific Coast Highway. Very nice. We ended the ride with pizza and beer at Oggie's off of Alicia Parkway. |
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Holy Jim Trail to the Main Divide, across and down Trabuco Trail June 2, 2007 A great epic ride as always. The weather was ideal and the trail conditions were the best that any of us could remember. The rocky decent down Trabuco destroyed Trey's new rear tire and cost Bob a tube but other than that we plowed through the ride in great time. We parked at the Holy Jim Trail Head and clocked 18 miles with 6,200 feet in elevation gain. GPS details of the ride are available on Motion Based right here... |
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The Santa Ana River Trail from Anaheim to Huntington Beach May 28, 2007 The three old men of OC Rider, Dave, Greg and I, finished off the extended weekend with a blast down the river trail to Main Street for a coffee and back. 42.5 miles and 1,750 feet in elevation gain total. GPS data of the ride right here. |
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Sunday, Bloody Sunday May 27, 2007 Day two of our weekend cycling trifecta had us doing a shuttle ride of the Aliso hills. We met at the Art School and shuttled to the Top of the World where we dropped down Canyon Acres. We were joined by 13 year old Cameron, a neighbor of Mikes, and he proved to be totally up to the task. Then we shuttled up to the top of 5 Oaks. Akos took off about 5 minutes before the rest of us and things got interesting when we found him passed out in the middle of the trail. Apparently Akos flew over his bars and banged his head hard on the rocks. It took us about 5 minutes to help him come around. Terry took him to the hospital where they performed a CAT scan and found nothing serious. Good news. As of now Akos has no recollection of the days events! Scary. |
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Laguna Wilderness Park Cross Country Ride May 26, 2007 This Saturday we kicked off the three day Memorial Day weekend with a ride of Laguna Wilderness. The weather was good and we had a fairly large turnout. That's me on the left onboard my new Niner R.I.P. Sweet ride. We did over 10 miles and 2,200 feet in elevation gain. Get the GPS data here. |
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The Path Bike Shop's Annual Bikes-n-Beer Ride May 20, 2007 The Path Bike Shop in Tustin put on another Bikes-n-Beers ride this year. Excellent weather and a huge turnout greeted all who rode. At 18 miles and 2,000 feet in elevation gain it was a fun but serious ride. 13 year old Jordan and Paulina, on the left, completed the entire loop. They were possibly the youngest riders there. Way to go you two! GPS map of the ride here. |
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May 19, 2007 16 miles and 4,000 feet in elevation gain makes the STT to Old Camp ride a good one. Pictured on the left Greg tries to take out the camera man. Thanks buddy. Pictured on the right Samuel and Matt decide on whether or not to drop down into Old Camp proper. Click on the picture to download an 8.8MB Quicktime movie of their discussion. GPS map and data of this ride are right here at MotionBased.com. |
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Mother's Day Family Ride at Peter's Canyon May 13, 2007 What better way to spend the afternoon on Mother's Day than to get the whole family out on a ride at Peter's Canyon. This beautiful afternoon the Hirschmann and Erion family hit the trails at Peter's for a fun spin. Moms Suzanne and Monica did great. Jordan, the youngest in the group, even made the climb to the top of Big Red. When the riding was over we were treated to singing and dancing by Marina and Jordan. It doesn't get much better than that. |
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Santiago Oaks with the Weir Canyon Loop...After the Burn May 12, 2007 In March a brush fire burned most of Santiago Oaks and Weir Canyon resulting in a closure of the area until just recently. We rode here for the first time since the burn and were treated to some amazing scenery, a barren but uniquely beautiful landscape. The Parks Department did a fantastic job of removing all traces of the Fire Department's tracks in the hills that were created while they were there battling the fires. In a few years the hills will return to their natural state but in the mean time we get to see them exposed and enjoy a snapshot view of part of the cycle of growth in our Orange County hills. GPS of this ride right here... |
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The 24 Hour of Adrenalin Hurkey Creek Spring Fling April 28-29, 2007 In years past we have always signed up as a 10 person corporate team for the Hurkey Creek 24 hour Spring event. This year we splintered into 2 person 8 hour teams, the thought being that we could enjoy ourselves more by not having to do a middle-of-the-night 10 mile laps. It worked! And Bob Walker and Adam Burndum cranked out eight fast laps to bring home a hard earned second place in the class. Congratulations to you two!!! The rest of us slackers only did 2 laps each but achieved our goal of riding with friends and having fun. GPS here. |
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April 21, 2007 It rained heavily the night before and we were treated to the absolute best trail conditions in recent memory. Click on Ryan (left) for Craig's pix and Craig (right) for Ryan's pix. GPS data of the ride is here. |
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April 14, 2007 We started our decent at Jenks Lake, nearly 7,000 feet in elevation, just below Big Bear proper. The weather forecast was calling for rain and snow for that evening but we were treated to clear skies and mid seventies temperatures. It was beautiful. We rode 14.5 miles; a good chunk of the Santa Anna River Trail. Big turnout of 12 OC Riders and two trail guides. Craig's pix on the left and Trey's pix on the right. See the GPS info here at MotionBased.com. |
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OC Riders' Greg and Sam celebrate their Birthdays at the Erion home March 31, 2007 39 years separate these two strong riders. Sam turned 16 on this day and Greg turned 55 a few days earlier. We celebrated this evening at the Erion home. Good times were had by all. |
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Laguna Wilderness March 31, 2007 Another splendid morning in the hills and valleys at Laguna Wilderness Park. We rode 16.5 miles and climbed 3,300 feet in all. See the GPS details here. |
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Downhill Action On Telonix, Stairsteps and 5 Oaks March 25, 2007 Sundays are usually shuttled Downhill rides for a few of us with big-hit bikes and this Sunday was no different. We met at the Laguna Art School and hauled the bikes and crew to the top of 5 Oaks overlooking Choilla in Aliso Woods. We dropped down 5 Oaks and pedaled up Choilla over to Stairsteps where we descended back to the Art School. Then we hauled the crew and bikes up to Top of the World in Aliso Woods where we dropped Telonix back to the cars at the Art School. Sound confusing? it is. The pictures were taken on Telonix. |
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San Juan Trail Cross Country Ride March 24, 2007 This is a fairly epic ride with a total elevation gain of over 5,200 feet in nearly 17 miles. The hard part is that the first 3,000 feet of gain happens on the first 6 miles of the ride. We all finished the ride with cuts and bruises from the thorn bushes that line much of the trail. Samuel had an interesting get-off down a 40' wash-out but was uninjured. Dave Cully crashed head-on into another rider on his descent and rang his bell good. GPS data of this ride is available here. |
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Laguna Wilderness Park March 17, 2007 Only in Laguna will you find Art imitating Life as we did on this ride where we were treated to this lovely oil painting depicting the very vistas before us. Go figure. We climbed 2,300' in over 11 miles in a heavy mist. It was beautiful. Get the GPS data here. |
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Whiting Ranch Loop March 15, 2007 While Winter isn't officially over yet it might as well be with the earlier start of Daylight Saving Time last weekend. We rolled out of Wahoo's at 5:35pm and finished the loop with some light left over. Fantastic. Here's the link to MotonBased for the GPS info on this ride. |
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Maple Springs Road to the Main Divide and down the Motorway March 10, 2007 We got this ride in just before the fires started the next day. The Santa Ana winds fought us and helped us along the ride, depending on which way we headed. Weather perfect! 4,600 feet in elevation gain and 16.6 miles. You can see the GPS info for the ride by going to MotionBased.com |
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Santiago Truck Trail to Old Camp and down the Luge February 24, 2007 Ryan shot these great pictures on today's ride. Thanks Ryan! He reports good weather, superb conditions and a great turnout. |
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Santiago Oaks Fun Ride February 10, 2007 We put a different spin on this Oaks ride by skipping the Three Bitches entirely...and that wasn't such a bad thing to do. See our "secret" ride route right here at MotionBased.com. |
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Up Holy Jim to the Main Divide and down Trabuco... February 3, 2007 A real ball-buster of a ride this one but worth every pedal stroke. At nearly 27 miles in length and with 7,200 feet in elevation gain this was the longest mountain bike ride for many of us. You can see the GPS info for the ride by going to MotionBased.com. We had a nice lunch and rehydration session at Rose's Cantina afterwards. |
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Whiting Ranch to the Santiago Truck Trail to the Luge and back. January 27, 2007 Most of our favorite rides all rolled into one. 3,200 feet in elevation gain and nearly 15 miles in length makes this loop not only fun but a good challenge too. You can see the GPS info for the ride by going to MotionBased.com. Today the weather was a little bit cool but sunny. The trail conditions were perfect. Eight OCRider.com members turned out. One of them was new to the group; 15 year old Sam Hirschmann found us on the Web and showed up ready to go. Sam proved to be 100% up to the task. In fact we speculated that in about 6 months he'll be moving on to a faster club! Way to go Sam and thanks for joining us. |
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Pinyon Flats January 20, 2007 The Pinyon Flats ride in the mountains above Palm Springs is a must do for every mountain biker. You start at nearly 5,000 feet in elevation and wind your way down single track through some of the most remote and isolated desert wilderness found in Southern California. This is not a summer ride and the key to a successful day is being prepared physically and mechanically. We did pretty well on this ride with only two flats, one broken derailleur hanger bracket, one blowup rear hub and one huge hematoma on Bryan's hip after he visited a rock pile unexpectedly at the bottom of a wash. It's a long ride at about 25 miles and takes most of the day when all goes well. We all planned for the worst by packing lights along, extra tubes and spare parts. Fortunately the lights were not used...this time. Here is a link to my GPS activity of the ride on MotionBase.com. The route shown includes the 23 mile drive to the top. |
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Chino Hills / Carbon Canyon January 13, 2007 A few of the OC Riders braved really cold weather on this morning and did a 12 mile loop at Chino Hills. Good trail conditions and sparse crowds were the reward for riding in stiff winds and low 40s temperatures. Afterwards we had breakfast at the Original House of pancakes in Yorba Linda. Nothing like pancakes on a cold morning. |
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San Clemente January 13, 2007 A big turnout in San Clemente for this mid-morning ride. Mitch Bynum snapped the pictures. |
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Santiago Oaks with the Weir Canyon Loop January 6, 2007 An absolutely beautiful day on this ride. It had rained a few days earlier and the trail conditions were perfect. Most everyone made the climb coming out of Weir which is really telling about how good the traction was. We had a new guy, Ryan Taylor, join us. He had found OC Rider on the Web. Ryan proved to be a very strong rider. Poor Mitch Bynum suffered from leg cramps which pretty much knocked him out. He managed to finish the ride put was in a great deal of pain. We also crossed paths with Frank's group out on the loop. |
