26 May 2012 - Weedpatch San Clemente

[Sun Dance]

Saturday morning I woke up to, "Get out of bed, we're going mountain biking!" Jeff's good at waking people up. Of course, it's hard to refuse to get out of bed for a mountain bike ride. That coupled with the fact that it was already going on 10:00am finalized the decision. Jeff took care of this beginner from start to finish - got a Camelbak ready, switched out the pedals for my street shoes, gave me tips on riding technical climbs and descents, and even hung back with me at the back of the group to make sure I hadn't died. Jared graciously let me borrow his sweet Turner with full suspension, 6" travel front fork, disc brakes, upgraded shifters, etc. etc. etc. Suffice it to say the ride was a dream.

We met our full group out at the end of La Pata at the Dog Park in San Clemente. In attendance were Tom, Big Jeff, Jeff, Kelli, me, and two other guys whose names I forgot but who were very good riders. Weather was a beautiful 70° and sunny.

Blue Chair
The ride started with a trail called Blue Chair (I still have yet to see the chair). It generally stays flat and contours around the hills, but it has a bridge and a few steep drops and climbs. I made it across this bridge but didn't yet have the ability to climb more than halfway up the ten-foot slope on the other side. Pulled a wheelie and fell right over, skinned my knees on the hardpack. I learned soon thereafter that when you encounter a steep climb like that, you want to lean your weight forward over the handlebars to keep the front wheel on the ground. I also learned that if I had the fancy clip-in shoes, I could double my climbing power by pulling on the pedals in addition to pushing on them.


First 3 segments of Blue Chair: 0.85 mi.


Wall Street
At the end of Blue Chair's third segment, we bombed out down the hill to Wall Street. Climbing the little knoll to the top ended up difficult, and I'll admit to walking partway up. The downhill portion of Wall Street was fantastic. Jeff taught me to put my weight back behind the saddle and to use my front brakes in concert with my rear brakes. By finding the balance here I gained the power of the front brakes but the control of the rear brakes to keep me from endo-ing like I did last time I was out. Those downhill swooshes are an absolute blast.

Segment Distance: 0.5 mile


Don's Crossing
This section continued the drop into the bottom of the drainage and had an extremely steep 30' climb out the other side that I'm pretty sure everyone walks. The rest is a steady climb up to the intersection with Oregon Trail, Over The Hill, and Short Cuts, part of which I also walked.





Segment Distance: 0.55 mile


Over The Hill
Another enjoyable downhill section with swooping turns.
Segment Distance: 0.53 mile


No Tools
No Tools is the flattest, easiest section of the ride. It's so flat it almost makes you feel like you're not pedaling. I'm not sure exactly why it's called No Tools. Maybe it's because the trail is so smooth and easy that you'd never get a flat or break anything, so no tools are required. Alternatively, people considered tools may be shunned from riding this section.




This little drop is actually much more difficult than it looks, mostly because the bottom two-thirds is obscured by the bushes. It drops about thirty feet into an area known as The Jungle, where Ankle Biters (Poison Oak) are known to work their evil. I was mostly urged to walk my bike down this drop, with one person saying "it's a long walk out if you get hurt," but I ended up back-weighting and literally putting my stomach on the saddle, along with my feet out to the side in an outrigger-type maneuver. Miraculously, I made it down without falling. These trails can get technical.


Segment Distance: 1.56 miles


Dog Park
The climb back out of the Jungle presents the longest climb of all the segments of the ride, but it is surprisingly well-constructed so as to minimize steep slopes (read: lots of switchbacks). I had little difficulty pedaling all the way to the top without stopping. Partway up the climb, there is a set of two bridges in rapid succession on opposing switchbacks. You do have to lean over the handlebars and really keep pumping to make it around the turns, but by this time I had gotten the hang of it and I viewed it as a good accomplishment.



Segment Distance: 1.14 miles, 395 vertical feet


Overall Weedpatch Ride - 5.23 mi, 1090 vertical foot gain/loss, about two hours, only two crashes.