A day off in So Cal

So, my boss came to me yesterday and told me that I am near my PTO cap and that I had to take Friday (today) off… oooo… twist my arm J

Its nice, cool, and overcast in So Cal today, so I figured a hearty mountain bike ride would be fun.
I packed up all my gear, jumped in the truck, and headed to Corral Canyon which is in Malibu Creek State Park, North of Malibu Hills off of PCH. The trail head is located here:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=34.082173,-118.758398&spn=0.001448,0.001749&t=h&z=19

At the trail head, its 51 degrees, very overcast, and misting heavily… I thought it was going to rain…


Got the bike out (Specialized StumpJumper FSR Comp) and getting ready to ride.


I saw this trail (which looked somewhat maintained) from my truck so I headed off to it.


Hmm… 8 tenths of a mile… shouldn’t be too bad, right?


Holy shit its steep!! And the cloud layer is getting thicker. You can barely make out my truck back at the trail head.


A half mile later and there is no reprieve from the climb… and my legs are burning.


Do I wimp out now and turn around already?

My legs say yes…. So back to the trail head I go…

So there is another trail from the trail head that looked like fun.


Narrow path with 300 foot drops…


Hmm… it seems all down here from here…


Yup… the trail goes down into the valley. My legs are tired…


So… back up to the trail head I went. I remember another trail that started off the main road. So I went back down it a little to here:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=34.079116,-118.755357&spn=0.001448,0.001749&z=19


Ahhh… much easier ride.


The burn area from last summer. Its starting to recover…


Someone laid this rock pattern down along the trail. I am not sure of its purpose. No one seems to have messed with it though.


But right near the rock patterns, I found these little caves.


Ooo… spooky J


Looks like someone else has found them too J


One leg of the trail led to this “hill”.


Man, that’s steep.


There were tire tracks going up the path so people have ridden down it. Hrm… too steep for me J


Going on an hour now and I am getting hungry. Decided to go back to the main road and head back up to my truck.


Right near the trail head…


Man… and hour and 10 minute ride and I averaged 3.4 miles per hour. I think that the next time, I will start where I left off. That last trail was manageable.


Still, it was a good ride and I am happy J


Bike back in the truck.


Heading down the long and VERY winding road back to PCH. The blue along the horizon line is the ocean.


Getting back to the area of homes.


You can see the ocean better here.


Man, people will build their homes anywhere just to get a view. There is a home being built at the bottom of that power pole… along side the long drop…


Almost to PCH.


It was an hour back to home and I was hungry. So I stopped at McD’s. nom, nom, nom…


Good day off so far.

Then tonight, my wife wants to go out to dinner and then have some “alone” time at home.
Sorry folks, there wont be pictures of that J

 

sweet pics ea!! looks like a blast!

 

nice pics but i dont see a tacoma.i see that titan

 

i know, i know... i am working on it
the lease is up this year.

 

you know you killed the bike ride with MC Ds but it does taste so good

ok we will let it slide. how do you like the titan?

 

i know, huh? horrible food to follow up that good bike ride . i wanted to go to subway, but subway doesnt have a drive through and i wasnt going to leave my bike in the back of my truck in a busy parking lot.

the titan? it has tons of power, it is fast, it can tows awesome, but gets horrible gas mileage. here is a comparision of the titan vs the tacoma to made:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...09-dc-tacoma-first-impressions-long-read.html

really though, the titan that i have has been very good to me. absolutely zero problems mechanically. all i have done in 4 years is change the oil, replace the whiper blades, and put on a new set of tires. the interior, however, is starting to rattle like crazy. thats one thing that i am looking forward to with the tacoma is that the fit and finish will be better than the titan (i am hoping anyway).

 

Great job, feel like I was right there with you.

 

Looks like a good bike trail! I like overcast days.

 

Nice bike. I've been dying to get back out on the trails, but with work/baby/wife/house, I haven't had time in almost a year.

I wish we had trails like that around here.