I love living in So Cal
#1
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I love living in So Cal
Took my Craigslist special on a legit ride today. The temps were in the 70's so it was short sleeves and shorts the whole time. Some excellent views, all from the same spot.
Downtown Los Angeles.
The Coastline.
Snowcapped mountains in the distance.
Downtown Los Angeles.
The Coastline.
Snowcapped mountains in the distance.
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#3
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Top of Reseda, actually. I don't think La Tuna would get close enough to get that kind of a shot of the ocean... unless you meant Tuna Canyon (no La).
You're brave to take a guess based on just those distant pictures, though. To me, most of So Cal looks the same I also recall similar views from the top of Bulldog Canyon.
You're brave to take a guess based on just those distant pictures, though. To me, most of So Cal looks the same I also recall similar views from the top of Bulldog Canyon.
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Lol reason I guessed la tuna because I never saw downtown from top of reseda but then again I haven't been to reseda in a while, I live near ventura blvd and sepulveda so I take hayvenhurst to get to dirt mulholland so from the top of where I start I see all of the valley and the Santa Monica bu not the downtown. By the way I freaking hate bulldog.
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Well, I think I took that picture from Rogers Fire Rd, which is near the Top of Reseda.
Bulldog is a masochistic adventure to be sure.
Bulldog is a masochistic adventure to be sure.
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#7
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How do you get to the trails behind JPL? I couldn't find it last week and when I asked the gate guard, he only pointed me to the small trail that works its way back to Foothill.
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When I go to JPL all I do is el prieto(sp) which I take to go up and down. I have taken the brown mt fire road to get to el prieto couple of times it's a 4 mile climb to the gate if you hang right yo get to the el prieto single track and I have never been to the left side and one time I did the single track behind the camp site( I did the naked crow race)
#9
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I love So Cal too. Thanks for sharing those photos..
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Just curious:
What do you mean by a legit ride?
Have you posted pictures of your Craigslist special? I'm interested in used treasures people have found.
Nice pictures; thanks for sharing.
What do you mean by a legit ride?
Have you posted pictures of your Craigslist special? I'm interested in used treasures people have found.
Nice pictures; thanks for sharing.
#11
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I posted the whole story of my find here. Thanks for viewing!
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I'm originally from San Diego (which we natives don't call SoCal because we call it San Diego...we are too proud! LOL!) I am a 4th generation Californian, great grandparents buried in San Diego and San Francisco, but I haven't lived in the state since 1978.
Anyway, wanted to tell you all that I spent a week at Christmas at Camp Pendleton Marine Base, by Oceanside/San Clemente. My son is also a mtn. biker, and we rode all over the base. Since it was the holiday we rode into usually off-limits restricted live-fire training areas in the Santa Margarita Mtns. and up along the Santa Margarita River. I didn't see any single track, but it was all dirt roads.
One day we drove to the top of the Santa Margarita Mtns. where we could see that snowcapped mtn in your photo, which I do believe is San Gorgonio, and also San Jacinto Mtn. covered in snow. One year in winter, 1976, I snowshoe-backpacked to the top of both of them. We could also see Palomar Mtn, the coast and the two islands: Catalina and San Clemente. (San Clemente is owned by the Navy--it's an awesome island if you can get permission to go there. I was lucky to be a volunteer on an environmental project out there in the 70's and have been out there a bunch of times.)
Anyway, there is a killer steep grade going down the Santa Margarita mtns which we rode down on mtn. bikes. Some of it is paved, some is dirt. I have some photos, will have to post them later on.
I would move back to San Diego County now but I don't think I could afford it, and no one is going to buy my house here in Arizona anyway, since half of my town is already for sale.
I would surf in the morning and bike in the afternoon, and go backpacking on the weekends. Just a dream, right now...
Elizabeth
Anyway, wanted to tell you all that I spent a week at Christmas at Camp Pendleton Marine Base, by Oceanside/San Clemente. My son is also a mtn. biker, and we rode all over the base. Since it was the holiday we rode into usually off-limits restricted live-fire training areas in the Santa Margarita Mtns. and up along the Santa Margarita River. I didn't see any single track, but it was all dirt roads.
One day we drove to the top of the Santa Margarita Mtns. where we could see that snowcapped mtn in your photo, which I do believe is San Gorgonio, and also San Jacinto Mtn. covered in snow. One year in winter, 1976, I snowshoe-backpacked to the top of both of them. We could also see Palomar Mtn, the coast and the two islands: Catalina and San Clemente. (San Clemente is owned by the Navy--it's an awesome island if you can get permission to go there. I was lucky to be a volunteer on an environmental project out there in the 70's and have been out there a bunch of times.)
Anyway, there is a killer steep grade going down the Santa Margarita mtns which we rode down on mtn. bikes. Some of it is paved, some is dirt. I have some photos, will have to post them later on.
I would move back to San Diego County now but I don't think I could afford it, and no one is going to buy my house here in Arizona anyway, since half of my town is already for sale.
I would surf in the morning and bike in the afternoon, and go backpacking on the weekends. Just a dream, right now...
Elizabeth
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Nice pics,but seeing a major city on a ride would be a bummer. Having said that, I don't want to live there but a nice long vacation from the cold and snow would be great. Thanks for the pics,it's good to see that someone is riding.
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Elizabeth, can't wait to see those pics! It's cool that you can see the same mountain from San Diego as well as Los Angeles, isn't it? I live near those mountains and ride up parts of them on a frequent basis. Too bad we're moving back to the San Fernando Valley because we want to have children and we want to be close to the in-laws.
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I am eternally grateful that millions of people still love living in SoCal.
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Why's that? It keeps them out of Nine Mile Falls?
btw if it wasn't for family living around here, I'd want to live in southern Washington or Oregon. Much greener without too terribly cold of weather.
btw if it wasn't for family living around here, I'd want to live in southern Washington or Oregon. Much greener without too terribly cold of weather.
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Hey urbanknight if you ever wanna do JPL let me know I'll probably go there sometimes this week if I can barrow m friends bike, mine is in the shop and it's gonna be in there for a while but let me know anyways.
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OK, well later this evening or tomorrow I will try to figure out how to post photos!
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Originally Posted by Mark Twain
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Ok, here are some photos taken in the Santa Margaritas on Camp Pendleton. The directions on Bike Forum for posting photos do not match at all what I see on my screen. How do you make big pics, not thumbnails? It says there is an arrow by the attachment icon, but I can't find an attachment icon, nor see any arrow. No instructions that I can find tell how to post big photos, not thumbnails. Very confusing setup.
Okay, photo 1 is starting out near the top. There are areas of grasslands up there, and areas of oaks and chaparral. There are a couple of springs with ponds. I can post those, too, if you want to see them. Moving on down the list, we get to the paved part. It's paved because it is a lot steeper than it looks in the photo. The last two photos have views of Palomar and one has San Jacinto and San Gorgonio. I climbed those two peaks on snowshoes and camped in the snow up there back in the 70s. Hope you enjoy these!
Elizabeth
Okay, photo 1 is starting out near the top. There are areas of grasslands up there, and areas of oaks and chaparral. There are a couple of springs with ponds. I can post those, too, if you want to see them. Moving on down the list, we get to the paved part. It's paved because it is a lot steeper than it looks in the photo. The last two photos have views of Palomar and one has San Jacinto and San Gorgonio. I climbed those two peaks on snowshoes and camped in the snow up there back in the 70s. Hope you enjoy these!
Elizabeth
Last edited by azbackpackr; 01-05-10 at 05:39 AM. Reason: trying to figure out how to post photos
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Regarding the good-natured ribbing about people who still prefer to live in So Cal, (they should stay there!) I left in 1978 to move to Hawaii, Big Island. After marrying, living off the grid in a cabin I built myself from scrap lumber, having 3 kids, etc., we left the island and moved to Tucson, Arizona. Southern Arizona reminded me of So Cal because of the various landscapes there: desert, chaparral, oak woodland, and pine forest. I like hiking, and didn't get into mtn. biking until I moved to eastern Arizona in the White Mtns. I got involved as a volunteer at a mtn bike festival: After being a street cyclist my whole life I became a mtn. biker at age 47. Within a year I had my starter bike, a Schwinn Mesa. I now have a Stumpjumper FSR comp. Unfortunately our mtn. bike festival no longer is a happening.
I know people pick on us Californians because we tend to move all over the place, and lots of Californians build big fancy houses in areas where the locals can't afford to build big fancy houses. I kind of feel the same way about people from Phoenix who have second homes in my area. I've certainly never been able to afford such a house in my entire life!
Generally, if you ask people from California who have moved elsewhere if they were actually BORN in California, they will tell you no, they were born in Michigan or Ohio, etc.
Since my great grandmother and grandfather arrived in San Francisco in 1857, having sailed with their baby around Cape Horn in a sailing ship, I think I am probably as native a Californian as you are going to find, except for Indians. But I left there 31 years ago and have no solid plans to return. It is beautiful but too crowded. Where I live, I go out on the trails to hike, mtn. bike, or in winter cross country ski, and I seldom see another person. The road biking is great, too, if you have good lungs. Most of my riding is done at elevations of 7500 feet to 9,000 feet. I have to drive only 5 minutes to the nearest trail, or I can ride there. There are no views of cities from the local mtn. tops. Our tiny town is 90 miles from the nearest freeway onramp, and over 200 miles from a mall or a large commercial airport (ABQ or PHX). There are drawbacks to living in such a remote area, of course, but the hiking and mtn. biking is superb and wonderful. We have wonderful wildlife, especially elk, deer, pronghorn antelope. I have seen all the large predators as well: bears, mtn. lions, and Mexican wolves.
I know people pick on us Californians because we tend to move all over the place, and lots of Californians build big fancy houses in areas where the locals can't afford to build big fancy houses. I kind of feel the same way about people from Phoenix who have second homes in my area. I've certainly never been able to afford such a house in my entire life!
Generally, if you ask people from California who have moved elsewhere if they were actually BORN in California, they will tell you no, they were born in Michigan or Ohio, etc.
Since my great grandmother and grandfather arrived in San Francisco in 1857, having sailed with their baby around Cape Horn in a sailing ship, I think I am probably as native a Californian as you are going to find, except for Indians. But I left there 31 years ago and have no solid plans to return. It is beautiful but too crowded. Where I live, I go out on the trails to hike, mtn. bike, or in winter cross country ski, and I seldom see another person. The road biking is great, too, if you have good lungs. Most of my riding is done at elevations of 7500 feet to 9,000 feet. I have to drive only 5 minutes to the nearest trail, or I can ride there. There are no views of cities from the local mtn. tops. Our tiny town is 90 miles from the nearest freeway onramp, and over 200 miles from a mall or a large commercial airport (ABQ or PHX). There are drawbacks to living in such a remote area, of course, but the hiking and mtn. biking is superb and wonderful. We have wonderful wildlife, especially elk, deer, pronghorn antelope. I have seen all the large predators as well: bears, mtn. lions, and Mexican wolves.
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Yeah!!!!!!! Screw em' all! Let's all street race!.................Wow.
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I really hope you're not serious. Street racing puts a lot of people in danger, not just the racers and on-lookers. As someone who has lost my mother in a car accident due to a careless driver (not her fault) and have known bystanders killed by street racers, I frown on this sort of thing, and I believe I speak for others when I say so.