Ride #5 Sawmill Campground Trail Second Time Here

Date: May 5, 2012

Location: Sawmill Campground – Angeles National Forest, Saugus District

Distance: 10.36 Miles  Elevation Gain: 1400 feet.

Bike: 1999 Specialized Rockhopper Comp

Ride #5 Sawmill Campground May 5, 2012

EveryTrail Tracker

Okay this is ride #5 and I am back at the Upper Shake / Sawmill Campground trail. The last time I was here I did not make it to Sawmill Campground so I am back to complete that goal. It was a little warmer today than it had been all week so I knew this was going to be a hard ride for me.

I got my bike together and headed up the trail. The first interesting thing I noticed was I was riding a little better. I was actually riding up hill and I went right past the spot where I had to stop to catch my breath on my first ride here. Now this by no means says that I have turned the corner and reached the goal as a moderate mountain bike rider. I am very much still out of shape and still struggle in a big way with hills. But I felt real progress at the onset of this ride.

On this ride I was not going to take the turn off to Upper Shake Campground. I was thinking if I made the trip to Sawmill Campground I could hit the single track and ride to Upper Shake campground on the way back and this would be a really good ride.

After about a mile I was really tired and had to stop for a rest and get some water. The views on this ride are really good and for a rider that is in pretty good shape this is a really good ride. Very few people are on these trails although the fire roads are open to cars and motorcycles so you do have to stay alert.

When I got to the large three way intersection I was really tired and looking up at the climb going to Sawmill Campground was a bit intimidating. I was determined this time to make it to Sawmill Campground so I took in some water and caught my breath and headed up the road.

First thing I noticed was that this road was much steeper than the earlier parts of the trail and this was not going to be easy for me. I had gone about another mile and was wondering just where this campground was and it was hard not to talk myself into just turning around.

As it turns out it was another mile and a half to the top. Now the road at the top was really nice. It flattened out and was just a rolling up and down for another mile. The road then started on a nice downhill to the entrance of Sawmill Campground.

From the entrance it was a half mile ride down to Sawmill Campground. When I rode into the Campground I noticed I was the only one there. This is a really nice campground and I think sometime I will drive up here and do an overnight camp out. 

I found a nice campground and parked my bike against a picnic table. I took a little walk around and checked the place out and decided to spend a little time here and have a snack lunch of some beef jerky and Gatorade.. MMMM Yummy.

Well after my break it was time to head out. I started the climb out and right away noticed that my legs had cooled down and they really did not want to get started again. Okay this was going to really tough to get started again. Maybe cause I am old and fat. Well anyway I did make my way out of Sawmill Campground and back up hill for a mile to the point where it was mostly downhill to the car.

I was starting my decent and thinking this was going to be really fun. However my body had a different idea. I had gone about a quarter mile and I got a massive cramp in my upper thigh quad muscle. Okay I have not had a cramp in this muscle and wow was it painful. It knocked me right off the bike. When I managed to get back up I was a little worried because it was really sore and I did not know if I could ride and walking was going to be even harder. After about 20 minutes it did begin to let up and feel better. I walked around and stretched it out and felt I could continue. After a few minutes of riding again it felt better and I was sure I could continue my ride back down to the car.

After the cramp I know I was not going to ride the single track portion of this ride today. I was pretty shaky but moving pretty good and getting a little speed to my ride. I was riding through some really rocky sections and going a little fast, I pulled my breaks to slow down a little and as luck would have it the front break cable snapped and there goes the front breaks. When I got to a wide spot where the road to Upper Shake Campground intersects the road I stopped to assess what was going on with my breaks. Okay not good, the cable snapped and there was not enough cable to attempt a trail side repair. While inspecting my front breaks I noticed that a sharp rock had torn the side wall of my tire and the tube was poking through. The rest of the ride back to the car was going to be interesting with no front breaks and a damaged tire and about 4 miles of downhill to go.

When I made it back to the car I was glad that nothing else had happened to my bike and was glad that I had no mishaps that could cause pain. This was a pretty tough ride for me but for a mountain biker with good skills and endurance it would be a fairly easy ride and a lot of fun, I look forward to reaching that level..

As Always .. Have Fun..  Don't Die

Ride #4 Devils Punchbowl - Angeles National Forest

Date: April 21, 2012

Location: Devils Punchbowl – Angeles National Forest

Bike: 1999 Specialized Rockhopper Comp

Video - Devils Punchbowl 4-21-2012

My Blog
Okay I was really ready for my 4^th Mountain Bike Ride on Saturday after really bad weather the week before had kept me at home. I decided to try a place that I loved to ride 15 years ago when I was into mountain biking and was actually pretty good at it. I decided to give Devils Punchbowl a try. 

Devil's Punchbowl, starting elevation 4,750 feet but the trails into the mountains will take you up to 7000feet, is a tilted sandstone formation in Los Angeles County. It is a county park within the Angeles National Forest on the northern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains, near Littlerock, California. Short trails within the park showcase the geologic features along the Punchbowl and San Andreas Faults. There are connections to major longer trails leading to the high country. Devils Punchbowl is a truly great place to Mountain Bike, there is just about every skill situation here and every ride here you learn something.

 I arrived at the parking lot and was already amazed, the lot was full. When I used to come here there would maybe be one or two cars in the lot. It seems The Punchbowl has become popular. I got my bike together and headed to the trail head I was going to ride which is the Burkhart Trail. This trail will take me up to an intersection where you can either go to Burkhart Pass and Burkhart Saddle or take another trail that will take you to the Devils Chair, I am going to ride to the Devils Chair on this ride.       

I started riding up the trail and had gone about half a mile and was already out of breath.  There was a little overlook of the lower end of Devils Punchbowl here and that was a great excuse to stop and take some pictures. The beginning of the trail is uphill and very sandy and rocky. You will really give your legs a workout here. After taking a few pictures and catching my breath I continued up the trail. This first part of the trail is a single track that connects to a fire road. It was really hot and I stopped a few time to take in some water as I made my way to the fire road.

After about a mile I reached the fire road and was very happy to reach this point. I now would be riding on a fire road which is hard packed, I was glad to not be in that soft sand.  The fire road is hard packed but still an uphill climb. After about another half mile climbing on the Fire Road it was time for a break. There was a nice spot with some shade and some great views to the north west of the Antelope Valley. 

After my short break I was on my way again up the fire road, the scenery was changing and the desert bushes were changing to Pine Trees. After about another mile I was up to the trail split, one trail heads off to Burkhart Pass and the other heads to the Devils Chair which is where I was heading.  

I was making my way up and actually moving pretty good. Then I hit a large and jagged rock which pinched my tire and tube, and pow the tire blew out and was instantly flat. I was not prepared for this situation and even if I patched the tube I did not have pump to inflate the tire… Bummer… Well it was clear my only option was to walk back to the car which was about 4 miles down the trail. I made it back to the car and packed up my bike. Today the trail won but I will be back and I will make it to the Devils chair. So I just headed home.

Devils Chair... I Will Return !

As Always… Have Fun… Don’t Die

Ride #3 Video Upper Shake Campground and Alley Oop Single Track Video

Ride #3 Upper Shake Campground and Alley Oop Single Track

Date: April 7, 2012
Location: Angeles National Forest, Saugus District
Bike: 1999 Specialized Rockhopper Comp (I love this Bike)

Okay so for Ride #3 I decided to try a ride from my Trails Book and go to Upper Shake Camp Ground Sawmill Camp Ground and a single track called The Alley Oop Trail. This Ride is located in the Angeles National Forest and is part of the Saugus District. You will need a Forest Pass to park in the lot but that is $30 for the year so not a terrible thing.

I arrived at the lot and put my bike together and found the fire road 7N23 which is the main road to take you up to Upper Shake and Sawmill. This road started going uphill (what else is new) and gets pretty steep which reminded me a lot of ride #2 at Ritter Ranch Park. After about a half of mile the Ranger drove by me and it made a good excuse to stop and talk to the Ranger and get my breath.  The Ranger told me the road was in pretty good shape but there were some ruts after the rain last week and wished me luck on my ride.

As I rode the first mile the rode got a little steeper and I could feel I was getting tired but I seemed to have a little easier time of it than I did two weeks ago at Ritter Ranch Park. At 1.5 miles I was ready to take a break and catch my breath. It was a warmer day and I was glad to have plenty of water with me. I stopped and checked out the views to the North East of the Antelope Valley. I had really gained some elevation in the past 1.5 miles

After a short break I was on my way up the trail heading for the turn off to Upper Shake Campground (Fire Road 7N23B). A steady uphill climb as I approached the turn off to Upper Shake Campground. The gate is closed to vehicle traffic as the campground is closed. But it is open to bikes to go through and ride down to the campground. The ride to the campground is all downhill and really fun to ride although in my mind I was thinking I have to ride up this on the way out. 

Once I arrived at Upper Shake Campground it was a bit eerie as it has been closed for some time, maybe 3 years or more. Empty camping spots and picnic tables and so quite except for the birds and the wind blowing through the trees.  After a look around the place I thought this would be a nice place to take a break, kick back and enjoy the shade and quite surroundings. I saw a great spot in the shade under a tree and thought perfect.

 I headed over there walking the bike and thinking this was going to be a great relaxing spot. When I got over there I noticed this buzzing sound that was getting a bit louder. A quick investigation found the source.. A Bee Hive.. A big Bee Hive. And these Bees were not too happy about me invading their deserted campground. Needless to say I was back on the bike and heading out of there. Back up what just a few minutes ago was a really fun downhill but now a really hard uphill to escape the angry bees and my desire for a nice rest under a shady tree only a memory.  I made it back up to the gate and was really tired out so I took in some water and caught my breath and head back on 7N023 toward Sawmill Camp ground.

I was thinking it would be fun to see Sawmill campground because my Pop used to takes us camping there when I was a kid. He would pack up the Camper and head up there with his buddies that also had campers. It was always really fun and I enjoyed it a lot. Well those thoughts helped me continue on as the road got a lot steeper and I got a lot slower and had to stop more often to catch my breath. Fact remains that I am way out of shape and I was feeling it. As I rode up to the junction to Sawmill Campground I was at just a little over 5 miles. There is a big wide opening where 3 fire road intersect, 7N023 which heads another mile and a half up to Sawmill Campground (All up hill) and an unmarked Fire Road which heads up to Burnt Peek which is easily another  4 miles and another 1000 feet of elevation.  When I got to this intersection I was really tired out and when I got off my bike to look around I got a twinge on my hamstring muscle, you know that little twinge you get when a cramp is coming on yea it was one of those. Okay the last thing I want way up here is a bad cramp and not be able to ride. I took the little warning from my body and took a break and took in some water. It was then I decided that Sawmill Campground will need to wait for another day. I was checking my map and Fire Road 7N08 was the road that would take me to the single track (The Alley Oop Trail) and I really wanted to do that single track.

After cooling off for a little bit I decided to go on Fire Road 7N08 and look for the Single Track as described in my Trails Book. It took some looking to find it but after about a half mile on 7N08 I found it. The trail was barely noticeable and the beginning was really rutted from recent rains. I had to think about if I wanted to try this trail as it looked really over grown and steep. Okay I decided to go for it and started down this single track. The beginning was really over grown and I was getting scratches from the brush and I was wondering if I was really on the single track trail or if I was just on some animal trail. After about a half mile I got a really good visual that I was on the correct trail, a sign, and the sign said Upper Shake Campground one mile.. 

Okay it felt better to know I was actually on the correct trail. It was just a short distance past the sign the this trail got really technical, really steep, very tight switch backs and nice steep cliffs, you don’t want to fall here.. I made sure I had no accident by walking my bike around these switch backs. As I got past this really technical section the trail eased up a bit and I was riding through some shade trees with a cool forest look which was fun but I also could not help but think I was by myself and was there any critters out there.. 

After I rode through this area the trail opened up some more and I was able to go faster .. Fun Fun.. but as I came around a corner I grabbed the breaks hard and was ready to lay the bike down as in front of me was  low hanging branches and I would plow right through them, this would really hurt .. I got lucky and stopped about 2 feet from the branches.  I really missed a really painful situation there.. After this point it was just really fun single track the rest of the way down to Upper Shake Campground. As I finished and rode into Upper Shake Campground I was only remembering the fun parts of this single track and I look forward to doing it again sometime. 

After making the climb out of Upper Shake Campground I was back on Fire Road 7N23 and ready to head back to the car. It is all downhill back and I was glad because I was super tired. After a quick 3 miles I was back at the car and this was all in all a really fun and challenging ride that I know I will make one of my regular rides.. 

As Always.. Have Fun.. Try Not To Die..

Ride #2 Ritter Ranch Park, Palmdale California 3-24-12

Ride #2 Video

Okay on Saturday March 24^th I headed out for my second ride on my quest to get back into Mountain Biking. I found a Trail (Fire Roads) that are open to hiking and biking. The Ritter Ranch Park which is part of the Santa Monica Mountain Conservancy. Ritter Ranch Park contains 4,000 acres at the eastern end of the Sierra Pelona Mountains Elevations rise to 5,000 feet in this area. There are several trails and fire roads in this area for riding so I decided to check them out.

 I found Boiling Point Road just off Sierra Hwy in Acton which leads into the Park area. I parked in a dirt area just off Sierra Hwy and got my bike together. First thing I noticed is that the fire road runs right into some fairly large mountains which means this can be quite a climb. I road about  a quarter of a mile up Boiling Point Road and was at the gate for Ritter Ranch Park, there is a sign that clearly states that this is park property which is good to know because I am not out to trespass  on anyone’s property. There is a space for hikers and bikers to go through the gate.

Okay I am on my way and the beginning it an easy uphill but still a bit hard for a really out of shape guy. I had gone about three tenths of a mile and a trail runner coming down went past me. I said Hi and he asked if this was my first time here, I told him yea. He smiled and asked if I was going to the top, now actually I had no idea where I was going but I said yep I am going to the top. He smiled and said well it 3 miles to the top and was a little windy up there as he continued past me. So now I am thinking okay this guy (who looked to be in incredible shape (total Marathon runner) he ran up and is running down so maybe this won’t be too hard. But that smile he gave me when I said I was going to the top had me wondering what I may be in for..

Well I learned fast just what I was in for; I had gone about another third of a mile and was ready for a quick stop to catch my breath (yes I am really out of shape). Okay this was so far a really moderate up hill on a maintained fire road but had some loose spots and ruts from recent rains and as I looked ahead I could see that this was about to really start climbing..

At the one mile mark I knew I was in for a hard ride (Hard only for a out of shape guy) this road was climbing every step of the way so far and I was feeling my lack of stamina. I took a little break at the one mile mark and caught my breath and took in some water. The wind was blowing much harder at this point a rain storm predicted for Sunday the 25^th was in the distance. I thought about just heading back down and calling it a day but there is no fun in that so I began the ride to the next mile.

The second mile was even hard for me. The wind was blowing really hard and of course the road got steeper. I had to stop several times on my way to the second mile marker but I made it. There was a sign post with rules for the park area so I set my bike against the sign and took a little break. There were two red tail hawks flying overhead and were either playing or fighting, I am not sure which but what I am sure of it was pretty entertaining. After a little break there was no way I was not going to the top of this mountain. I got on the bike and pushed on.

As luck (my luck) would have it the third mile was absolutely the hardest. Not just because I was tired out (which I totally was) but because of course the road had to be the steepest that last mile. I stopped a few times and walked some but I did make it to the top and wow what a view. To the south I could see into Santa Clarita and Valencia and to the North I was looking at Palmdale and most of the Antelope Valley. I wanted to just kick back and take a break and check out the views and the area but it got cold at the top. The temperature dropped at least 15 degrees and the wind was whipping around, it felt like at least 25 mph and cold so I was ready to head down pretty quickly.

The ride down was pretty fun but has been a long time since I did such a long downhill. I was more focused on keeping the bike under control rather than trying to go really fast. The loose rocks made the bike slide and get a little loose but still a pretty fun downhill. Back at the gate I looked back at the mountain and thought this was fun but a bit of a stretch for an out of shape guy….. 

As Always... 

Try Not To Die..

Have Fun..

Ride #1 Joshua Tree Trail, Palmdale, California

Video from Ride 1

Well on Saturday March 10th I got back into Mountain Biking. I had been a avid Mountain Biker through the 90’s up to 2003. Due to some bad issues I was out of the sport for 8 years. So first thing was to get the bike out of the garage, clean it up and get it serviced. I took it over to Block Bikes in Lancaster and these guys did a great job at getting it ready to ride.

After picking up my bike I was ready to take a ride but it has been 6 years since I have rode out on a trail so I was a little worried about pulling a muscle or getting hurt. I quickly put that out of my mind and went looking for a trail. First place I checked was the Joshua Tree Trail out here in Palmdale. This trail has been closed for some time but I wanted to check it out because it is really close to my house and I used to ride there a lot. Well as I drove up to the gate I noticed that the trail looked open. I saw a woman coming out walking her dog so I asked her if this area was now open again and she told me it was for about 6 months. . I was really excited to here this as now I can go riding on some cool fire roads and single track. I headed back to the house to get my bike and gear and head back over to the trail. The first part of the trail is a ride up to the trail head on pavement (a closed road). It’s a bit of a climb up on the pavement to the trail head and I was surprised I rode up to the trail head without stopping. Okay for some folks that would be no big deal but I have not been on a bike for 6 years and am very out of shape.

  At the trail head I stopped and looked at my choices of trails to attempt this first ride back into Mountain Biking. I started off on a trail that was a climb to the top of a small hill. I made but had to walk the last 15 yards and I was really breathing hard at the top but it felt kind of good. From there I rode several trails to a nice overlook of the California Aqueduct and took a really nice single track back to the car. All in all a really good start to get back into mountain biking.

Try Not To Die..

Have Fun..