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 Post subject: The Joy of a Good BLT
PostPosted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:07 am 
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This weekend, I had the opportunity to ride the Big Laguna Trail/Sunset Trail loop three times on the SS, so.. I took it! I am reminded of how some trails are just perfect. The weather was warm-to-hot, the trail(s) are in great condition, very few hikers and horses were out (horses only in the south meadow) and the big lake still has a little water in it. BLT is like singlespeed heaven for me, and one of the places I like to use to get friends stoked on mtb riding.

Round one for me was El Prado to BLT, counter-clockwise around the lake to the dam cut-off and back to the campsite. I took my Cub Scout Pack and some parents out at 10am and our group included some experienced kids, some that had only ridden PQ with my Pack and three that had never ridden on dirt before. Seriously. I had 12", 16", 20", 24" 26" wheels, not to mention my one 29" wheel, on the trail, with 4 bmx bikes and one dime-store disaster "FS" bike that weighed 40lb and required ten minutes of wrenching to make trail safe before we left!

This one was a cruise, in that my primary goal was to get the group around the "course", keep them all having fun and a challenge, and to ensure they each successfully rode the loop w/o any death march effects. The SS is perfect for that, with just a nice easy spin to keep everyone at a manageable pace and only a few points where I had to surge up hills and stretch us out a little. The 12" wheeled bike riders only rode to the dam and back to camp, sticking with my hiking group, but the rest of us rolled the loop up and around the lake.

On that ride, we encountered a huge group of Dirt Treaders rolling the BLT toward Noble. If you're reading this and were the guys that complimented my kids (such as Max on the 16" BMX'er) or popped a nose-wheelie for the old man, thanks and great to see you! Three of the boys commented that they knew they could make it because the Cubmaster's bike "only has one speed". Yes, son, and that speed is "slow". We sounded like whoopin' indians coming down the roller-coastery Sunset Trail, I am sure. The ride was excellent, and although we did have a casualty, every kid made the ride and was proud of it! (Our casualty was a crash by a skilled sibling with a loose helmet. Washout/OTB onto a small rock, split his forehead, trailside First Aid, rode out a little spooked but went back out with us in the evening and on Sunday. Dad's gonna buy him a new lid and enforce the setup guidelines.)

Round two was after lunch. I dropped off all the boys and their bikes at the rocks in Little Laguna "Lake". With time for myself, I took off for a clockwise run all the way around the long route, toward Wooded Hill, around the south end of the meadow to the dam, up Sunset Trail to the Noble cut-off, turn around and BLT back to Prado. I humped this one, and the 32/17 I'm running was about perfect for my power levels these days. The trail over toward Wooded Hill was empty but for me and a few campers strolling around, and the bumpy singletrack through the meadow pasture was thankfully free of cattle actually on the trail, itself. Just past the lower holding pond, there's a set of steppy-rocks to ascend and make me feel like a real mountainbiker... before heading onto the dam and up the swoopy goodness of Sunset Trail. The minor climb up Sunset was so smooth and fast that it was over before I knew it. I rolled up to the Noble connector and thought about doing and out-n-back, but I began feeling the pull to get back to camp. So, now began the gluttony: the run back to Prado on the BLT is just a perfect singlespeed power and flow run. It's like what Bridges Trail in PQ would be if it were 5 miles long, not near a sewer line and, uh, had trees. Never faster or steeper than my gearing, with sight lines adequate to let me uncork it safely, this BLT section is just a grin factory.

I have been becoming more and more appreciative of the Maverick fork on my 69'er, and the plush travel through the minor rocky sections enabled uninterrupted flow and cush that I just don't get with my other SS with the Black on it. Cheers to you full rigid guys, but not me. By the time I got back to the rocks to check on the boys, I was tired, gritty and stoked from a great solo ride. I chilled with the boys and drank my water bag down as they played a never-ending tag/seek game. Then, two of my dads rolled down to us and asked if we could ride BLT like in the morning, since they'd been leaders of our hike and hadn't ridden the trail before.

Round three was the BLT/Sunset loop in CCW again, but now with the 4:00 shadows cooling the trail from the heat of the day I'd enjoyed earlier on my solo loop. My buddy Bob decided to ride his hardtail w/o shifting to "find out about my cruiser bike thing" but my other buddy was having none of that... Anyway, up at the connector trail about halfway to the Noble cutoff, I realized I was getting tired and sore from hauling my fatass up the trail ahead of Bob, who was keeping about 30' back all the way. We stopped for water and chat, and Bob commented that, "(t)his trail is perfect! I haven't changed gears, once! Now I understand why you have that thing." I told him to imagine his bike without 3lb worth of his shifters, rings, cogs and derailleurs and I saw a flicker of "the SS" in the back of his eyes.

My other buddy was feeling the altitude and the fact that he rarely rides, but the healing power of the BLT stoke was keeping him going. He commented that he was impressed his son had made the ride in the morning, and that he now understood why he was so excited upon his return to camp. He noted that his son now wants a new bike and didn't want to put the pegs back on (I took them off before the trail ride) the one he's got. By the time we got to the Sunset Trail turnoff, I was perfectly prepped to appreciate the couple of hundred yards of gliding down the trail it gives. We swooped and railed all the way back to the dam and everything was perfect until I split a sidewall on my front tire coming down the rocks on the east side of the dam.

It was a small split, but the Stan's sauce wasn't doin' it. So, I swapped a tube in. When I stood after changing the tire, I had that stiff-legged tiredness that tells me I'm near the end of my riding day. Good for me, the camp was only a few miles out and we rolled in to find cold drinks, bananas and such waiting for us and the two guys that had ridden Noble and back up Pine Valley road just arriving, too. I heard that Pine Valley road was enjoyable as ever and didn't even feel guilty about staying up in the meadows all day.

I rode my bike over to the coin-op showers and my legs hurt. Perfect day for a singlespeed ride.


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The following 8 users would like to thank EBasil for his or her post:
Canaan, Dustin, evdog, JHill, Kimba, kreechan, OldDogDan, Robo
PostPosted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:42 am 
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Great TR Erik,

There was hardly anyone up at BLT Sunday.....maybe one or two cars at Penny Pines :shock:

Cannot beat BLT for great trails, amazing surroundings and scenery. Guaranteed stoke.

Locally, PQ is always a good starter ride, but Hodges is also really fun for the group rides on a single speed, especially since the trail (mostly fun ST) extends past Hernandez Hideaway to the dam and beyond now.

Just so your thread has a picture :)

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Ray Dolor
PostPosted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:46 pm 
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Haha! I used a cropped version of that photo to "market" the camping at Laguna to my Pack a few weeks ago. It's an excellent photo! I love those trails when "nobody's on them"! My favorite trailhead is the parking area down at the lower "host trailer" in Laguna Camp. Great trail, free car security and coin-op showers in case you run into a sorority lookin...er, nvm.

Hey, the singletrack to the dam after Hernandez Hideaway is open? How long have I been overlooking that? I've been turning around at the pavement for so long now I've almost forgotten those were there. The piece between the Del Dios Store (whatever it's called now) and Hernandez is my son's "favorite trail of them all."


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:27 am 
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Nice, Erik. Iv'e been up there about 3 out the last 5 Sundays....took today off on account of the predicted heat.
Big Laguna Valley has some good Chi! :mrgreen:





i also like to ride up there with my steel frame, rigid "69-er".

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:53 pm 
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Great read for a rainy day!

p.s. Its an old one that I dug up


Last edited by Los on Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:27 pm 
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Nice TR. :cheers:

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:14 pm 
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Very nice, thanks for the stoke. Going to spend the day up there on Tuesday.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 6:14 am 
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Ahhh, those were the days. Another month to go, healing up this broken collar bone.


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