So for Saturday September 11th, we all decided upon going mountain biking in Rowland Heights at Schabarum Park. Well to be exact, it was my idea but Sean picked the venue.
Ryzzie and I leave pack up the bikes and leave around 7 AM to be at the meeting spot around 8 AM. After an easy Saturday morning drive we arrive at our destination, which was altered slightly due to the fact that the park charges $6 for parking (but Starbucks is free!). We call up Stephen only to discover he is just getting ready to leave. Facepalm...
To kill time we decided to go find the trailhead so we could start right away when Stephen & Shannon arrived. After a short ride up the main street of the park, the GPS was telling us we were running parallel to the track. Time to turn around. Sean asks a police officer where the equestrian center is (one of the stops along our trail). The officer directs us to some place miles away, so we ignore his directions and go up a short hill blocked by a gate. Several soccer games are going on in the grassy field so we tread lightly. Eventually Sean finds the trailhead hidden by some brush and trees. Now that we know where to start, we head back to collect our friends.
By now the Crabneys had arrived in their monster mobile (Shannon's truck from work, a full sized 2500 HD with 8 foot bed). We spent a short amount of time oogling the expensive rental bikes, while I tried my hand at doing stoppies on them. Very fun! Shannon had to get her biking legs ready so we cruised around the parking lot for a bit. After about 15 minutes, we were ready to attack the trail.
Our congregation met up around the trailhead and stared at the steepness of it. Right away Sean, Ryzzie & Shannon decided they were not going to attempt it and walked their bikes to the top. Stephen and I wanted to give our best effort. He made it about 50 foot before finally stopping and pushing his bike up the hill. I was making a good climb but ran into problems. If I leaned too far forward, I would loose traction in the back and the rear wheel would spin. If I leaned too far back, I would wheelie the bike and couldn't steer. The latter problem manifested itself and I was attacked by some vicious tree branches. Eventually I too lost power and had to push it up. Talk about a heroic beginning to a group MTB ride :P
Once we were at the top of that first hill, we found a really easy hardpack trail. This trail led on for about a mile to the equestrian center where I made a wrong turn (due to my GPS unit accidentally getting turned off). After some coaxing of the GPS unit, we found the correct loop (hidden behind some fences and trees of course). This is where the real fun started.
The elevation gain was brutal. Roughly 700 feet in less than a mile. We stopped every couple hundred yards to catch our breath. Eventually we were greeted with a very good view of the valley (mmmmm....SMOG). We climbed for another 30 minutes or so before deciding we had enough. The hill just kept going and we were gassed.
After yelling and screaming "Who picked this trail?!" we turned around and headed back down the hill. Here's where the real thrill of mountain biking comes in! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Barreling down the hill we yelled ahead to any hikers that we were coming. Sean mostly yelled "AAAAHHHH NO BRAKES!!!" I fell over on a switchback because my rear tire nudged a rock the wrong way.
At the bottom we waited for the girls to catch up. It was concluded that the downhill segment was the ultimate in badassery. I stole Stephen's bike for a bit to perform some more stoppies. The girls finally arrived (after navigating around some horses) and we headed for the park exit.
We all packed up the bikes, tended to our sore muscles and headed to Souplanation for some tasty noms.
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