RCY RIDE
REPORT
Malibu Creek State
Park
The Bulldog climb, the
M.A.S.H. set, the Malibu Fire
Sunday
03-02-08
The Santa Ana winds blew out
Saturday's wet, foggy cloud cover to display clear blue skies for Sunday's
ride. There was an excellent turnout of eleven
riders that began the pedal into Malibu Creek State Park not much after the 8
a.m. start time. The Rock Garden proved to be a bit of a challenge as the
recent rains made for some water obstacles and patches of mud.
Rod pedals thru the
last of the mucky, boulder-strewn Rock Garden
Jamshyd
walks thru an unrideable section
Next up was the old M.A.S.H.
television show filming site. Last weekend there was a celebration here
that marked the 25th anniversary of the filming of the last episode. Today
it was 3 old doctors trying to revive a rusted-out Korean War army
ambulance.
With Jamshyd in the
driver's seat, Joe and Rod hang on for dear life!
After the four of us finished
exploring the MASH site, we had to face the inevitable. The Bulldog
climb. The other 7 riders had not waited for us, but eventually everyone
made it to the top of the legendary 3 1/2 mile climb.
The 'breakaway'
group poses at the top of Bulldog:
From the left: Efi,
Roger, Shannon, Mitch, Aaron, Mark, and Paul
6 of the riders took off to
finish the rest of the ride, while Efi stayed back and joined the main peloton
that now numbered five. We headed down to the Corral Canyon parking lot
and then over to the fireroad that leads to The Elevator. It was here that
we discovered the charred hillsides that were caused by the Malibu Fire at the
end of last year.
Efi, Joe, Rod and
Jamshyd pose in front of the blackened hills
A closer look
Up the road we
pedaled, passing this monolithic rock
A burnt oak
silhouetted against the sky
In spite of the fire
(or perhaps because of it), green life struggles to come back all around the
blackened landscape
It is not only green
life that struggles to come back.
Efi insisted on
taking this photo of Old Robco overlooking Malibu Canyon
Road
A fast descent brought us to
Malibu Canyon Road where we split yet again into 2 groups: one took the road
back and the other sought out single track via the Tapia Spur Trail. 4 of
us then headed on over to the Santa Fe Cafe where we met 4 of the other riders
for nourishment and talk. We were even joined for lunch by the lovely wife
and handsome son of Jamshyd, thus rounding out a great day in beautiful
SoCal.
Have a great
week!
Robco Baggins
