Jamshyd had a treat for us this morning. Meeting at the north end of Las Virgenes Road, he took us up an apparently newly opened fireroad--a pretty gut wrenching climb right out of the box--that eventually dropped us into Chesebro Canyon. A nice magical trip by Dr. J. Here the 10 of us are meeting just before dropping into Chesebro.
From left: Rod, Roger, Warner, Jamshyd, GregA, DavidN, Vic, BrianG, Dean, & my bike being
crushed beneath the tires of this unruly horde.
The morning started off cool, but quickly warmed up. As we travelled up Chesebro Canyon we came across many hikers and runners trying to get in some exercise before the sun got too hot. Although we passed many of these people who were on foot, quite a few eventually passed us during our many Yenta-ing sessions. You can't stop a true RCYer from his yentaing. But riding is still our primary motivation and so.....
Jamshyd climbing over a technical rock face on Sulphur Springs Trail--
note his determined look
Arriving at Shepherd's Flat the decision was made to head down the trail known as Gas Pipe or Broken Spoke or Las Virgenes Trail. Personally it is one of my favorite trails, being a trail that I can ride without dabs and yet with just enough sections to invoke the fear and adrenalin of a possible catastrophic crash. Boy, I love this sport!!
Some photos at my favorite Kodak Spot
Rod negotiating a technical section
With a glowing heart,Warner descends
"well-lubed" by Dean and "well-hydrated" by Rod
Greg flexing his biceps during his technical descent
Dean hanging on during a technical drop
David descending at "high" speed
Brian enjoying the warm day....but are those reptilian hands?
After reaching the bottom of Broken Spoke, we turned left on Ahmanson Fireroad, climbing up to the Bell Canyon Connector Trail which then climbs up to the top of the Bell Canyon residential area.
Vic and Jack (see inset) waving to the throngs of fans lining the trail
At the very top of the connector trail is a short, very steep and loose section. Rumor has it that many a cup of coffee has been won and lost thru high stake wagers at this infamous spot......
We then had a quick pavement ride to the top of Bell Canyon where we connected with the series of dirt switchbacks that lead to the fireroad parallelling Bell Canyon. That brought us to the new singletrack trail that winds down into the Ahmanson Ranch property.
A look back at the singletrack that descends from the top of Bell Canyon
The view towards Ahmanson Ranch
Clear, blue, warm skies
Back at the cars, most of us had lunch down the street at the little Mexican Cafe whose name escapes my deteriorating mind at the moment.
Check out Rod's great topo map of this ride's 14.5 miles and 2000 (seems like 3000) feet of climbing at http://briefcase.yahoo.com/rodb12
Click on Topo 2004 and then Top of Las Virgines 25Apr04
Until next time,
Sincerely yours,
Robco Baggins