I'll make it short (what else from someone my size). I think we had eleven people show up for today's ride on a beautiful Sunday morning in August. It would have been twelve, but Dean showed up after we had left and we never saw him until the best part of the ride....lunch. Temperatures were very moderate for this time of year, and felt especially good considering the hellish temps of July. Anyway, it was up the main canyon we pedaled, forking to the right for the climb up Baleen Wall. After the climb of the 3 Hills we headed down Gas Pipe/Broken Spoke/Taco Hill. The trail proved to be as challenging as ever, with new ruts and soft spots adding to the excitement. At the terminus of the trail we turned right on Las Virgenes Fireroad and stopped for a group photo before we turned left into Ahmanson Ranch.

Although RogerE had already jettisoned out of sight, the remaining 10 pose:

Mitch, Joe, Brian, Reuben, Andy, David, Jamshyd, Rob, George, & Matthew

Into Ahmanson Ranch we headed, adding additional miles of fireroad climbs and descents.

Jamshyd, with Matthew hot on his tail, travel through the golden hills of Ahmanson Ranch

After looping through Ahmanson we arrived back at the Las Virgenes Fireroad which we took back up to Little Baleen for the tough climb back into Chesebro Canyon.

The day was filled with minor crashes and spills....Brian banged his leg against his bike stem, George went down hard after hitting an old rusty half-buried pipeline, and Jamshyd fell over when he lost a cleat bolt and could not unclip. But all in all it was a fine day of magnificent riding, and it concluded for seven of us at the Adobe Cantina where we had some great food, drink, and gab....and a sip of $400 a bottle tequila.