roadfix

One of my favorite trails is closed for now because of this:

Dirtbike

Yeah the rain pisses me off too. It rained last night and riding around was horrible. Everything is wet and slushy now

Maelstrom 

Umm....holy crap that sucks. At least it is a real reason instead of a made up one. Looks like a stunning ride...

Dirtbike

Where is that?

roadfix

Beginning of the Mt. Wilson Toll Road just north of Pasadena. Landslide happened 3 weeks ago on a clear, dry day in the middle of the afternoon and buried close to 100 yards of fireroad. Amazing no one was on that portion of the trail when it happened...

Brian

Get out of town! Seriously, try the Santa Monica mountians, around Sycamore Canyon. Lots of great trails and group rides. North Ranch Mountain Bike Club should also be able to offer alternatives. A lot of people riding with us were from all over the area.

CranxOC

That sucks bro. The trails down here in OC aren't in that much better shape though. Two of the major ones, Aliso/Wood Canyon and El Morro (Crystal Cove) are missing major sections of trail because of the rain. Where there used to be nice fire-road, there are now gigantic gaps where 100+ft sections of trail have just been completely washed away. I know we needed the rain and all but this is just getting ridiculous! (2 more inches of rain down here and California will have had the second wettest year in recorded history...and we're only 3 months into 2005!)

That's not to mention the fact that it was sunny, warm and dry for almost two weeks which gave me hope for big riding plans yesterday and then - WHAM! - more rain starting on Friday night all the way through Saturday. If the forecast holds up, next weekend will be shot too since it's supposed to rain Wed-Fri...and my wife is leaving town all weekend meaning I was supposed to get two days worth of VERY serious riding in!

Maelstrom 

Get this. Odd situation here. 2 months no snow (for those who don't know this is supposed to be a ski resort) got out last week 15degree c and sunny like summer and dry.

3days straight snow. upwards of 20inches of snow. Good news - not so dry now, bad news...the bears and veggetation are screwed now. No clue whats going on.

Thankfully we didn't LOOSE any trails though. I am still in awe of that first pic.

iamthetas

that is a bummer . we have had not enough for 10 years/then too much here on the east coast for the last 2 years too and its making things interesting to say the leats but at least we havent had any mountains disapear like that. the weather is only gonna get crazier in the days ahead. mark my word

madbiker555

Make a new trail through the land slide . But seriously that must suck.

Edit: Is that another part of the trail blocked in the bottom left corner of the picture?

Billy Brown

The weather is always crazy. Averages have only been calculated, for what, the past 100 years or so. That's not that long. Plus, our science is not developed enough to understand the weather. Meteorology is under-developed.

My statements have nothing to do with whether we should take steps to stop global warming or not.

Akak

Oh, man, you're making me miss my roots! I started mountain biking when I lived in Topanga and rode all those trails. I was about 1/4 mile from Dirt Mullholland and all the trails in Topanga State park. Had some great night rides up there as well. I've left SO much blood and sweat in Sullivan Canyon.

Ever ride that long singletrack down near San Juan Capistrano? Can't remember the trail name but it starts with about a 10 mile singletrack climb that has about 20 consecutive tight switchbacks in the first two miles. Fun fun fun.

Waaaa...I miss SoCal (but not the real estate or gas prices! )

CranxOC

The trail you're talking about is simply called "San Juan" and, you're right, it's an awsome trail. It's actually only about 6 miles of singletrack climbing but you gain approximately 3000 feet in elevation over that six miles and it hits you immediately upon entering the trail so it can feel like 10. The backside loop (once you get to "Cocktail Rock") is great too but you have to watch out for the poison oak that lines the trail on both sides.

It's been a couple of months since I've been on San Juan but, based upon the architecture (the drainage sucks) of that particular trail, I'm going to bet that it's in pretty bad shape right now because of the rains.

Where do you live now?

bulocal

Which trail is the photo from?

CranxOC

Read a couple of posts down and he tells you [us].

bulocal

Oops, sorry I missed the post with the trail name. Anybody been riding the Santa Monica Mtn trails lately? What's the condition? I haven't been out since before the rains in January.

CranxOC

Based upon the fact that we've had the second wettest year in recorded history here in SoCal, it would be a safe assumption on your behalf if you simply assumed they're trashed. That seems to be the case with every single trail down here in OC so it's probably the same up there in LAC.

Akak

Ah, that's right, San Juan Trail. That was about a 2 hour drive for me from Topanga but well worth the trip. My goal was to clean every switchback up and down and I only got close once. Dabbed on the second one from the bottom on the descent. Grrr... I really miss that trail. Great combination of loose, steep climbing at the start with some fun rollers and stream crossings on the upper loop.

I live in Atlanta, GA, now. Found some nice, maintained, dedicated MTB singletrack here but it definitely lacks the climbing. That's probably a good thing since I'm back on the bike after almost 10 years. I don't think I'd make it to the third switchback on San Juan

There are SO many good rides in LA. I had great singletrack without getting in the car and could drive less than 30 minutes to at least a dozen other epic trails. The riding in Thousand Oaks, Simi, Topanga, and Canoga park spoiled me. San Juan was still my favorite though.

Brian

Wildwood, Sycamore, and Chesebro would spoil anyone. I miss them too.

CranxOC

I have yet to "clean" every one of those switchbacks myself. There are a couple that are just so tight that 99% of the riders out there would have to do some dabbing. There are those exceptional few but, for the rest of us hacks, the foot's going down. San Juan is an awesome trail though and I'm fortunate enough to live about 15 minutes from it so it becomes a regular part of my summer rotation.

I've been to GA and, holy crap was that place hot and humid. I can't even imagine riding out there during the summer months...painful!

Akak

I'm not looking forward to it. I just got back on the bike again in November so I haven't tried to ride in the heat and humidity yet. Fortunately, my local singletrack is along lake Allatoona so it might be a *bit* cooler there. The weeknight road rides, when it's still 90deg/90% humidty, aren't going to be fun though.

And back to the landslide...is that the trail that takes you down into Pasadena and right behind JPL? If so, that is one GREAT singletrack but the pollution on that ride had my lungs hurting for a week.

CranxOC

I haven't ridden it but I've heard about it. I generally try to avoid riding up there - or anywhere too close to an inland metro - because of the pollution. "Lung burner" takes on a whole new definition in polluted conditions.

bulocal

What I wanted to know is if anyone has been out on the trails lately now that we've had a few sunny days and if so, which trails are the most ridable despite the rain we've been getting. Does anyone know if parts of backbone are still closed like they were several weeks ago?