Tour of Flanders & Montana de Oro State park
WELL! I woke up not quite as early as I hoped today (Sunday) and did a quick google-search for “Tour of Flanders live video”…and came up with this site:
I was able to pick which language I wanted for the announcers…I missed nearly the ENTIRE race but tuned in for the last 5K (that’s not too bad actually). Fabian, Nuyens and Chavaenel were just about to break away from the front group…happened just moments after I joined the streaming video…and Boonen once again missed the split (HOW on earth can he NOT be at the front and make a split in the last 5K? What is he thinking??) I’m suprised I didn’t wake up Jeannie as the 3 held off the chase group and you can guess who I was shouting for! Gosh…what a finish though…I’m sad I didn’t get up earlier to see more of the race. I’ll read about it later and see how Fabian did…it’s clear he wasn’t able to escape like last year…though I doubt after seeing last weeks win that ANYBODY would let that happen, knowing the results if they let him get away.
And so…I now have seen my first televised racing this year! I wonder if I can find it anywhere to watch ‘at my leisure’ rather than live? That is the only problem. I get up about 4:20am 5 days a week for work…I just can’t do it on the weekend. Well, maybe ONCE in a while…but it’s hard.
And so. YESTERDAY I awoke to another CRAPPY day outside. Strange…the last 2 days were flat-out AWESOME (hot even). Sure…I had to WORK both of those. Now that I have a day off it’s lousy. Mother nature laughs at me yet again. But I WILL have the last laugh today, I promise. I had planned on going out on the road-bike for a long hard sufferfest as I try to attain some decent level of fitness this year. As I sat drinking coffee, it was obvious this was another one of those Central-coast days. The marine layer (ie: clouds) were right down on top of us, just high enough to NOT be considered fog. Looking outside there was nothing but the gray/white of early morning total cloud coverage. Not a speck of blue to be seen. So I shifted plans and started gearing up the Mt bike. Sure, we’ve had enough rain to float ships this year so far…enough to fill our lakes to the top and get the state out of official DROUGHT conditions for the first time since 2008. BUT, it hasn’t rained all week, and we had 2 days in the 80’s and 90’s…so hopefully that dried out my intended trails.
Montana de Oro State Park was my plan. It’s the best singletrack trails anywhere close (and this is 45 miles away). I get a late start and finally leave the house around 10am, bike and gear in the back of my little diesel wagon (btw: I just filled up on Friday…$4.40 a gallon for diesel here in the highway robbery state! $73 to fill my little 16.5 gallon tank, but that will get me another 800 miles, so all in all it’s still my favorite car EVER). As I arrive at the park 45 minutes later, it looks about the same except the clouds are higher here. Temp is prob the low 60’s. PERFECT for Mt biking! Take THAT Mother Nature! Now it only remains to be seen how dry the trails are…she will still be laughing if they are mucky. I turn on my little SPOT unit (so Jeannie can sit sucking coffee and still track my progress/location) and I’m off.
I ride into the park via “Horse Camp Rd”…it’s about a half mile of dirt road that takes me past where all the horse people set up their camps. There are 3 large areas with stalls, pens, camping areas/etc. Today there are literally DOZENS (make that MANY Dozens) of horses in various stages of riding preparation. People and vehicles everywhere. These trails are multi-use…horses, hikers, bikers…we share (as it should be). I have no problem with the horse people, I LIKE horses. I grew up with horses. And so far, I’ve only had ONE negative experience with them (right here in this very park about 2 years back I think). I’m the poster-child of cyclist/equestrian relations. I carry a dinger bell on my bike so EVERYBODY knows I’m coming. When I see horses on the trail, if we’re going opposite directions I ALWAYS find a good spot and pull completely off the trail, get off my bike and stand there, being SUPER friendly as they pass. We usually chat some and they are always grateful for my understanding…sometimes they apologize for going slow (horses plod along) and I always tell them no problem, I love horses. And we part on excellent terms, and hopefully they think that maybe not all mt bikers are conceited buttheads (that wasn’t really the word I wanted to use…but thought I’d keep this post PG rated).
And so…I arrive at the singletrack that goes UP into the park, and it’s DRY! Of course there will be wet spots, there are always a few. But I can get around them or carry my bike past them (it’s afraid of water, and I HATE washing it). The temp is in the low 60’s still now that I am in the belly of the park, light winds rustling about. I still have my fleece jacket on but it’s right on the edge of being too hot. Well…it just doesn’t get much better than this. As I near the top of the first climb, they have changed the trail! There is a new tie-in to my usual loop. The old one had some seriously eroded sections as it crested a small ridge going over into the valley. The park service must be trying to reclaim that area. They do a good job in this park in that respect. So… I get to ride some NEW trail today…unexpected bonus! It’s probably about a half-miles worth, which means HUNDREDS to THOUSANDS of hours of trail-work to make this happen. And they did a GREAT job. The lead-in trail is MOST EXCELLENT! I get to my usual loop and take off. The trail is in great condition. However the dirt on this side of the park is different than the dirt on the far side. This side is some kind of white crushed rock, and it somehow can handle rain and be ride-able the next day. The far side is the dark brown dirt that turns to mud when it gets wet. It might still be ugly, too soon to tell.
I wind my way around the park counterclockwise (my usual route…I do the loop ccw first, then again in the cw direction so I get all the climbs and descents that are available). The climb up the East Boundary trail is brutal (hence why I do this direction first…I like to do the hardest climb when I still have the most energy). It just goes up and up, and near the top is the hardest part. And it has a false summit, with the last 300 yards or so being the absolute hardest. I’ve only cleaned this entire climb (made it without stopping/putting a foot down) twice. And today won’t be a ‘clean’ climb either…I already dabbed a few times down in the lower section for no apparent reason. But I make it up the hard part to the false summit with no further dabs. But that is where the dirt changes to the brown stuff. Thankfully it’s dry already. HOWEVER….it seems some unscrupulous mt bikers were out here earlier in the week when it WAS still muddy. They really screwed up the trail too. They left deep tire tracks that are now crispy-hard. As I try to climb the hardest part of the climb it’s nearly impossible due to the deep crusted multiple tire ruts. Thanks guys. ASSHOLES!!! (so much for my PG rating). I’m not saying this part can’t be ridden today….just not by me. I don’t have the strength just yet to push up through this bad section as it climbs in what I assume is at least an 18% grade. It’s REALLY steep is all I know. So steep that if (when) I do dab, it’s pretty much impossible to get riding again. So I push my aluminum steed up this final bit. After that it’s a bit of light climbing and then one more chunk of serious climbing (rather steep also) to the bench that marks the top of the climb. I arrive at the bench gasping for breath, my heartrate hovering near my max. I’m too hot because I should have taken off my fleece before the climb. But I feel great, and the weather is still PERFECT (for Mt biking). I think it’s maybe around 63 degrees and cloudy. Brutal climb #1 of 3 is complete. Now it’s time to put some gravy on these taters…the DOWNHILL!
I take off to finish this first loop, and it’s now quite apparent just how bad those asshole mt bikers have screwed up this section of the trail. It’s very narrow singletrack (probably about a foot wide) and it’s nothing but deep dried tire ruts. It will take months before this gets worn down to ‘normal’. And up here it turns out the Mt bikers weren’t alone. There are also DEEP horse tracks petrified into the trail. Lovely. A bike leaves a rut a few inches deep. A thousand pound horse and rider leave holes a post-hole a foot deep in the mud. Now thoroughly dried. I didn’t have my camera, but I can tell you this is why you aren’t supposed to go out when it’s wet. I didn’t see the horse tracks as I climbed, I’m guessing they came clockwise and turned around and went back the way they came rather than risk the steep hill when it was so wet. Smart move. But this section of the trail is just devastated. We need a ranger to be out and ticket these people (horses AND mt bikers) when they do this. But alas, we barely have enough state funds to keep the park open. It was slated to be closed a few years back. This was one of the places that was put on the chopping block for budget cuts. I’m glad it was spared at the end. We have nothing like it anywhere else around here, that’s for sure.
So I fight my way over the pockmarked/rutted trail for the next mile or so until it finally shifts back to the ‘other’ type of dirt, where the trail becomes the normal crushed rock and is perfect again. I go all the way down to the trail junction (including the new section). Then I turn around and go back, this time doing the CW route. So I once again fight though the destroyed part, and then the wicked downhill. The upper part that is really rutted bad, but still do-able (as long as you don’t get your front tire into a rut and crash I mean…thankfully which I don’t). But I can see less experienced bikers will have real troubles here. After that it’s all gravy! Steep but FUN! My disc brakes are sizzling when I reach the bottom…NICE! After about a quarter mile of dirt road I’m back on the other singletrack climb…the Barancca trail . It’s totally different than the East Boundary climb. Where the EB climb is mostly straight up with nothing but water-bars, this one twists and turns, and is WAY rocky. And it always has lots of loose rocks of all sizes floating around to make it interesting. And it’s fairly steep in it’s own right…but not as much as the Boundary thankfully. It also has a few switchbacks and they are always covered with rubble. However today the rubble/loose rock and debris is at a minimum. The recent deluge of rains have cleared them pretty well…this climb is about as good as it will be all year. From here on out it will just get harder as the layer of loose stuff accumulates. I clean this climb today. That is rare. I’m rather weak but it’s only because of the excellent trail condition AND the weather. Very soon this valley will be in the 80’s to 100’s temp-wise. All summer/fall long this valley will be a little slice of HOT. But not today.
I arrive back at the start of the loop smiling. And now it’s time for the cream de la creme. The ridge trail. This section has the hardest climb of the entire park. It’s a brutal piece of straight trail slanting right up to the ridge. I’ve only cleaned it ONCE. It’s so steep that it’s always just piled with loose dirt and rubble. The horses go up and down it and they really churn up quite a bit of debris. I’d be afraid to go down it on a horse actually. THAT would be some serious trust in your animal. Well, it turns out that today there is MORE new trail! They have closed this evil climb section and made a new route to the ridge…it winds around the mountain in the ccw direction. The distance is many times what the old one was, but they don’t go straight up…it’s actually rideable! MOST EXCELLENT!!!! And once I make the top of the ridge, well…HERE is where it gets REALLY FUN!
A few years ago the park service closed the OLD ridge trail going down to the coast and made a new one. This one goes from the top of Hazzard Peak (I think of the Dukes of Hazzard every time I ride this part) down to the most beautiful section of California Coast that exists IMO. It’s about a 4 mile trail now, and they really thought it out before they made it. The grade is almost perfect the entire way. They followed the contour lines perfectly as it winds it’s way around peak after peak, heading down down down. By the time I get to the parking lot at the bottom I have a smile on my face that has to be surgically removed! And then I immediately turn around and go right back up without even putting a foot down. The grade is so perfect that it’s a middle ring climb all the way. And once at the top, I get to go down the new section! They have done such a great job here…this park just keeps getting better and better! Kudo’s to the Park Service…you’ve really outdone yourselves! (someday I SERIOUSLY need to volunteer and help do some trail work here).
I finally arrive back at my car with 3:21 actual ride time (about 4 hours since I left my car), and just shy of 3800’ of climbing. And the weather was just pure Mt biking perfection. Take THAT mother nature! Funny how what is lousy riding weather for the road bike is so awesome for the Mt bike. All I need is for it to be dry. And now that should be no problem…I hope our rains are over for the year. And when I am mt biking, winds are not only desired but welcome. On the road bike winds are just torture. Hmmm…maybe the Mt bike is the answer to my recent slump in riding. I know that honestly I enjoy mt biking more. The only problem is that I have to load up and DRIVE somewhere to do it. That’s the real downer. Oh well…so be it. I will Mt bike my way out of my riding slump. Yes. That’s exactly what I will do.
And hey….if you haven’t checked in over at Fatty’s all week, he did a day by day posting of “Fatty’s Inferno”…a short-story about cycling. I loved it! He is such a good writer, and SO imaginative. Check it out..here is the link to his first post.
http://www.fatcyclist.com/2011/03/28/fattys-inferno-part-i-prologue/
And with that I bit you HAPPY APRIL!
