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A Sycamore Canyon "Homecoming" ride
So Friday evening my wife decides she wants to go visit her parents in
Thousand Oaks (we live in San Diego so it's only about a 2 ½ hour drive). Not a big deal, but it was the first road trip with our son (turns 1 month today) so I figured things would be a little more hectic. Since I actually had a local Saturday ride and probably a Sunday ride planned as well, she told me I could bring the bike and get in some rides while all the relatives sat around and stared at the little guy. I said great, but if I bring my bike we have to bring my truck (don't usually drive it when we visit since it's about as aerodynamic as a brick and neither of us like getting a whopping 19 mpg AND the car seat has never actually been installed in the truck so I didn't really wont to fock around with it either) or get a trunk rack for your car (we'd always planned on getting one for the car but never got around to it). So, we find ourselves hitting the local Performance getting the least expensive yet functional trunk rack we could find. I didn't need any bells and whistles for it since I'd be using it only about 4 times a year. After spending a few minutes doing a dry installation at home, I was satisfied that it would stay on the trunk and get my bike to it's destination in one piece. I then gathered up the rest of my stuff, my wife' s stuff, the baby's stuff, and the dog's stuff so that we could get an early start in the morning. At 4:00 in the AM when the son FINALLY let us get some sleep, we decided that we would not be getting quite as early a start as we had originally hoped. We settled in for a few hours of sleep and were able to depart at about 10:30. After hitting some traffic through L.A., we get to the in-laws at about 1:00. I had hoped to get my Saturday ride done by late afternoon but we still had to meet the family for lunch so that wasn't going to happen. After lunch (and eating a waaaaay to big burrito before a ride) I set out for my ride. My in-laws just moved and their house is directly across the street from Sycamore Canyon/Pt. Mugu State Park so I opted to ride there. I used to ride there a lot when I lived in the area but I hadn't ridden there in 2 years and I hadn't taken the route I was going to do this day ever so it was going to be interesting. When I used to ride there regularly I was nowhere near the rider I am now so this was always a very difficult and long ride for me. The one thing I don't like about this park is that starting where I start, you have to ride on about 6 miles of pavement before you ever hit the dirt. At any rate, I set out at about 4:30 for a late afternoon ride and it was still quite warm and very humid. I wind my way down the opening pavement descent and hang a right onto Ranch Center Road. Back in the day, this little climb used to kill me but I was feeling good today. I just pushed myself and made the 2 mile or so stretch to the Water tower in what was definitely a personal best but more importantly I was not feeling winded at all. After hanging a left down Wood Canyon and enjoying the downhill before the upcoming climb, I just sort of relaxed and enjoyed the trees. The canyon's have many trees and it's always a nice change to ride amongst them when you usually ride among the sagebrush. Partway down Wood Canyon is the Guadalasco trail turnoff. This is entirely uphill and is about 3 miles in length. Again, back in the day there were usually two rest stops on this climb and it was done entirely in my granny gear. Today, I just powered past what used to be the first rest stop and kept the pace up. The humidity was getting to me and sweat was pouring down my face but I kept pushing all the way to the top. I did stop for a minute where Guadalasco joins the main fire road just to enjoy the scenery before continuing. I bombed down the fireroad and took a left to descend down the fun backbone singletrack. I still hadn't decided what I would do at the bottom but I was just going to enjoy the descent while I could. After passing a couple of friendly hikers, I made my way back to the main Sycamore Canyon Trail. Back in the day, I would have just turned left and ridden all the way back home. But I was feeling pretty good today. So, against probably my better judgement I turned left on Sycamore Canyon, left again on Wood Canyon and then left again at Hell Hill. Hell hill is about ¾ of a mile long but takes about 15 minutes to ascend. I also had only ever gone up it one other time in my life, but I decided I'd try to ascend it and then descend down the Overlook Trail before returning home. So, up I go. I made it about halfway in my middle ring before I gave up and ascended the last half in my granny gear. It's fireroad so it's pretty easy going but the air was still and the humidity was awful. Finally cresting the climb was good because at that point you can pick up some coastal breeze for cooling. I then continued along the Overlook trail and the few climbs that it contains before the several mile descent back to the main trail. At the bottom, hanging a left gets you heading in the right direction but I remember reading about a new section of trail that was opened up just ahead. I turned back onto Wood Canyon Trail and immediately took a right onto Two Foxes Trail which is a great little singletrack that just parallels the main canyon road. The park really should open more trails like this because it's so much more enjoyable riding ST than fireroad and you really appreciate the park that much more. It was getting close to 7:00 so I was trying to push my way up the gradual climb knowing that I didn't want to get back too late. Halfway along the length of Two Foxes, I saw three deer! It's always nice to come across some of these graceful animals and just watch them dance their way up the hills. I came to the end of this new trail and joined back up with the main canyon trail for the long grind back home. The pavement rises at a gradual pitch until you get to the very end and you are faced with what we always called "The Black Bitch" because it's a steep, black, paved climb. I was still feeling good though and hit it with more than I'd ever hit it before. I crested the climb and coasted back to the house. All told, I was gone for about 3 hours and I only took one 6 minute break during the entire ride. I just remember how I used to have to stop at all the different spots along the way before whereas today I just kept on going. It's great to be able to go back to a place where you first started riding so you can really gauge your improvement. All in all, a great ride and a great day! |
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