Another ride from the Archives:
Cleveland National Forest, CA. Today I had the pleasure of riding Los Pinos for the first time. Temps were in the upper 60's with a cool wind at times. Winter is fast approaching Socal.
For awhile this morning it was looking like Darin had scared everyone away from the Sunday Path ride. Earlier in the week he sent out an email with a link to the Geoladders.com website's version of Los Pinos. (A 42 mile affair.) Fortunately it just turned out that folks were just running late this morning.
Loading up Joel's truck:
We stashed Mark's car at the San Juan parking lot were Los Pinos ends and drove up to the Main Divide.
Here we get our start entering the Main Divide:
It's a pretty steep climb up the Main Divide to reach the Trabuco/Los Pinos trailheads:
Once we regrouped we got started on Los Pinos. (Go maybe 20 feet on Trabuco and there is the Los Pinos trailhead on the left.)
I know what you are thinking, "This is a shuttle, how hard could it be?" Well we still have to get up to Los Pinos Peak.
Tani taps out on one of many hiking sections today:
Regrouping at the top of the first climb with Lake Elsinore visible in the background:
A short descent and once again it time to hike to the top of Los Pinos Peak:
The view from Los Pinos Peak:
The first challenging descent of the day was steep with loose rocks. Joel, Tani, Terminaut and I came down it first. Once at the bottom we turned around and looked up to see the guys all stacked up near the top, their eyes as big as silver dollars. Darin had some trouble getting restarted, but I'm not sure whether it will translate on the video because of how far away I was from him:
Once at the bottom of the first descent Tani gets his first flat of the day:
What do you mean it's not all downhill from the peak?
A look at what lies ahead. Fun downhill with some nice hike-a-bike:
Darin fixes a flat:
Josh nears the top of the hike-a-bike mentioned earlier:
Almost there:
Just last Saturday the Warrior's Society had brushed the trail. The challenge from this next downhill section on was to keep the clippings out of your wheels. I had to stop on more than one a occasion because I was dragging a full size bush down the trail. DOH!
BUT, I will take that over bushwacking anyday, thanks to all the guys for the great job maintaining the trail.
Darin finishes off another descent and gets to climbing:
Up and down, up and down. Notice a trend developing?
Flat number 2 for Tani:
Looking down the trail while Tani repairs his flat:
Regrouping:
Flat #3 for Tani, maybe Tani's unscheduled fork mod is the culprit since only his front tire was getting the flats today:
Flat #4 for Tani, with San Juan visible across the way. Switchbacks come into play from here on out:
Frank nears the bottom of Los Pinos:
Josh:
Terminaut takes another run:
Here comes Darin on his second attempt:
Los Pinos was a blast. Quick hike-a-bikes followed by challenging downhill sections. I recommend this ride only to advanced riders who allow plenty of time. There were plenty of sections where a brief lapse in concentration can get you hurt. I also recommend knee and shin guards or leg warmers. Better they take the abuse from the brush than your legs.
Ride stats:
Distance = 10.7 miles
Moving time = 2:32
Tani time (not moving) = 2:27
Here we wait for our drivers to return. Thank you Tani, Joel and Mark for doing the driving today.
A big thanks to Terminaut for leading us rookies down Los Pinos.
Video:
Los Pinos (Please right click and select Save Target As...)
Duration = 13:09
File size = 128.2 MB
“…an economy where clients are cutting back and they're sleeping with their wives again. THEIR WIVES!!!” - Eugene “Gemini” Spellman