Hidden Meadow Trail &
On
Saturday
12-10-05
A full lineup of 9 eager
riders--DavidR; John; Nelson; Ali; me; and Doctors Rod, George, Joe, and
Jamshyd--showed for the Saturday morning pedal commencing near the corner
of Lindero Canyon and Kanan Roads. In the cool morning air we headed up
the pavement to the Hidden Meadow Trailhead. At the trailhead all sorts of
conversation and clothing changes occurred as riders one by one climbed over the
low gate and disappeared onto the dirt. Doc Rod and I were the last to
leave and, while we were observing a dumpload of top soil being
delivered to a neighboring driveway, we also noticed a sign posted at the
trailhead which caused us alarm and thus to hurry and catch the
group.
Being exemplary
citizens,
we quickly
caught up to and reined in our resident eye doctor
The ride on the Hidden Meadow
Trail was delightful as ever. Some work had been done on sections of the
trail, including some leftover evidence of work done by fire crews as they
prepared for last October's wildfires.
George seen thru
foliage as he descends the trail
At the bottom of Hidden Meadow
we took our usual short pavement ride to the Albertson Fireroad gate, up
Albertson, veering off to the left for the climb to the top of what I'll call
"Little Marbles" Singletrack.
Riders--Jamshyd,
George, Ali, Rod, and Jamshyd--near the bottom of "Little
Marbles"
???
Hey, I
think Jamshyd finally found a way to "lead from the
back"
Upon arriving at the end of
the marbles trail, we turned left at the fireroad to climb back up to the
ridgeline. From here we headed back towards the top of the Long Valley
Trail that would take us into Simi Valley.
Riders pedaling on
the fireroad towards those at the far left waiting at the top of the
Long Valley Trail
Nelson enjoying the
fast descent of Long Valley Trail
John flashes a
smile
David on the
descent
Rod flashes by,
almost too fast for the camera!
It was at about this point in
the ride that we almost satisfied a recent RCY Quest....we almost found
Amy. But alas, one group of riders only gave us a lead, not a
body. We did, however, meet a second group of female riders from the Dirt
Chix at the bottom of the trail, but the only Amy any of them knew was the
sister of the friend of the uncle of someone's cousin. So
close. The quest continues.
We did at this point,
however, manage to continue an RCY ride tradition. We got separated
into 2 groups, never to rejoin. Unbeknownst at the time, Nelson and John
headed back towards Lang Ranch while the remaining 7 decided to tackle
the mountainous area across the road in south Simi
Valley.
Some ride while
others walk a steep section on the hilly terrain
A raven (sounds
better than "a crow") circles over a line of riders
Before we got to the final
descent back to the street, we decided to turn around and retrace our dirt path
rather than ride the road. It's always more fun on dirt!
Rod approaches a
slickrock section near the end of the trail
Jamshyd on the
slickrock
Ali drops off at the
bottom of the slickrock
With a little
encouragement from the photographer ;o), Joe surprises himself by riding the
slickrock section!!!
After a short trip via
dirt back to Lang Ranch and then a pavement pedal via Westlake and
Kanan streets, we arrived back at our cars. A few of us had coffee with
talk added before ending another great Saturday of mountain biking.
Most sincerely,
Robco Baggins
______________________________________________________________
RCYMountainBiking.com
Eighteen miles and 2700 feet of elevation
gain
