Inland Empire Mountain Biking - Idyllwild
Thanks to Sam for showing me the ropes at Idyllwild! Next time hopefully we will have more time to take pictures...
Inland Empire Mountain Biking - Southridge Fontana Downhill Race
Southridge Downhill Race - July 12 2009
This was my first time visiting one of the Southridge events. My friend Van let me know about the race, so I decided to check it out on Sunday morning. I couldn't stay long because I am helping out with a church plant in downtown Riverside called Kairos, so I had to split to help setup for that.
Regardless, I had a lot of fun for the short hour and a half that I was there, and I saw some awesome riding! As far as I'm concerned, however, I go by this motto:
"Those who aren't fit for racing..... take pictures of those who are!"
Here are some of the shots from practice on Sunday morning.
If any of these pictures happen to be of you, just let me know if you'd like me to email you a high-res version of the pic. (Or if you'd like me to take down the picture for some reason...)
If you want a print of the picture, that can be arranged too..
Enjoy!
More pictures HERE
Inland Empire Mountain Biking - Jedi Photoshoot
Van and I set out for a little Jedi photoshoot last night...
Here's a few shots of the tabletop kicker:
A cloned shot of the kicker:
See the rest of the shots on the Flickr Photostream here.
Inland Empire Mountain Biking - Chino Hills State Park
Chino Hills State Park is located in Corona, off the 91/71 freeways. This was my first time there, and I decided to enter from the Soquel Canyon entrance.
Apparently, there was a massive fire in November 2008 that really took its toll on the park, so a lot of the trails are still closed. The two different single tracks that we rode seemed like they had not been ridden in ages (either that or I just took trails that everyone knows not to ride!) because they were overgrown with head-high weeds on both sides. Portions of the trail were, to be honest, absolutely ridiculous and I found myself walking the bike through, to avoid the onslaught of weeds to my face!
Overall, it seems like a great place to ride, as it is very well mapped out and there are maps available at the entrance. $4 for day use. Park is open 8AM to SUNSET. They are apparently very strict about this, as our ride went late and we got to the gate after dark. The ranger was there, ready to give me a ticket! After taking my license, he showed us mercy and let us go with only a warning.
Get there early, pay the fee, grab a map for each rider, and have fun. It appears as though most of the single track trails are connected by fire roads.
We rode a very short loop, as it was getting late by the time we got there. Aliso Canyon Trail to Faultline trail to Ranger Ridge trail.
I'll post a few pics and a short view of the weed-fest!
This picture was taken from a break in the weed-ravaged single track named "Faultline Trail". This view is looking south toward Water Canyon.
Another shot from the weeds!
Out of the weeds of the faultline trail, riding down the fire road
Video of the Weed-Fest:
Big Laguna Trail - San Diego
This ride may not be in the inland empire, but it is absolutely gorgeous! My wife and I had a day off together, so we made the trek down to the Cleveland National Forest to check out the Big Laguna Trail. There are many options to this ride, but we chose to start at the Penny Pines "kiosk", which means we entered at the north side of the Big Laguna trail. The trail is ALL single track, and starts out by winding through the forest. It eventually leads you out into this gorgeous meadow that you see above. We felt like we were in the movie Jurassic Park!
This is a perfect ride to introduce beginners to the "real trails", as it is all single track, the scenery is amazing, but it is not technical, apart from a few rocks here and there throughout. There are many campsites in the area, so I could see this being a great day trip/mountain bike weekend camping escapade. Take your camera on this ride for sure!
Big Laguna Meadow.
A view of the Big Laguna Lake.
View from the opposite side of the lake.
Another lake view.
SART Revisited - June 2009
I was feeling the need for some fresh mountain air, so I decided to take a trip up to the infamous SART trail. I rode a 9 mile loop starting from the Angelus Oaks General Store, and ending with the climb up the fire road back to the "parking lot."
Thanks to CHDK, I have some really cool intervalometer functions on my camera. Here's a time-lapse video of the drive up to the SART (the battery actually ran out while I was buying my forest adventure pass).
Here's some video from the SART: WARNING: I cannot be held responsible if this video causes you to develop an irresistable urge to ride the SART! If you develop symptoms of continual distraction from work or inability to think about anything but single track, I advise you head out to the SART ASAP!
8 Mile Jedi Loop
More videos from Jedi! This time reverse views, shot with the camera pointing toward Kendall, who was following me...
--InlandEmpireMTB
Hulda Crooks Park - Loma Linda, CA
This trail is best known as "Jedi", although there are many variations you can take, ranging from single track, to gap jumps, to fire road. The simplest ride is an out-and-back (up and down Jedi), which is 3-4 miles in length. Watch out for hikers/runners, the occasional dirtbiker, and (hopefully least frequently) rattlesnakes.
Directions to Hulda Crooks Park:
View Larger Map
-"Return of the Jedi" and descent of lower Jedi
-"JackRabbbit", "Snail Trail", and descent of Jedi
-"Time Lapse" Video of the Jedi climb (just so you can get a taste of what the trail is like)
Crafton Hills Loop
This trail starts at Crafton Hills Community College and Heads up to Zanja Peak. At the top, you can either continue down to Yucaipa regional park, or loop back around and come down the same single track/fire road back to the parking lot. If you park at the Crafton Hills parking lot, make sure to pick up a permit for $1 at the automated teller machine (follow the signs).
(Click 'larger size' for directions)
View Larger Map
Mentone Loop
Mostly fireroads with some overgrown-fireroad-turned-into-single track trails. This place is overrun by lizards! Not a lot of shade so if you're out in the summer, it's definitely an early morning or late evening ride (I know from experience!). Not a lot of elevation change(read: this is not a super thrilling downhill singletrack), but it makes for a decent ride to get a break from the "routine" trails!
Directions to Trailhead
8 Mile Jedi Loop
Another 8 mile Jedi loop.
This time with a group! Shawn, Van, Johnny C. and Kelly.
Here's the video of the downhill sections.
"Time-Lapse" Video - I set my point and shoot camera to take pics every 30 seconds, and combined them all into a video.
-Enjoy!
This time with a group! Shawn, Van, Johnny C. and Kelly.
Here's the video of the downhill sections.
"Time-Lapse" Video - I set my point and shoot camera to take pics every 30 seconds, and combined them all into a video.
-Enjoy!
Rode an 8-mile Jedi loop today: Hulda Crooks parking lot--> Four corners--> Razorback-->Jackrabbit-->Jedi Peak-->Return of the Jedi-->Lower Jedi--> Parking lot
It was a great ride! No snakes, no crashes!
I also was experimenting and found a way to rig my point-and shoot up with my camelbak and got some video!
VIDEO
-InlandEmpireMTB
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