swoopy sullivan canyon

(via spannertech)

the starting point for saturday's ride was up in the hills above west sunset blvd. beautiful area packed with multi-million dollar homes & their requisite infinity pools, plenty of street parking, and most important, sweepy swoopy trails leading up into the santa monica mountains. had a sizeable group this time: louisa, jen, marizel, peter, ken, jim, matt, gerard, victoria, and moi.

we started off with a few miles of fairly level shaded singletrack, packed with "dipsey doodles" (baby roller coaster rides for your bike), one steep dropoff, and some tight switchback turns. after that warm-up, we hit a mile-long climb that was exposed and gave us the first taste of the afternoon heat. the ascent took us straight up to the fire road/hub, where several trails in the santa monica mountains intersect.

a NIKE station (that i skipped seeing) is located near the sullivan canyon hub. it used to house missiles reserved for attacks on russia and other unsavories of the 1980s. i will take a look next time. there is supposedly a vending machine up there too.

the first singletrack trail that louisa lead us on had a tight switchback turn that led to my first fall of the day - and handlebars twisted out of kilter. ken gave me a manual fix, and then we hit a moderately steep 50' descent covered with loose rocks, denying us any traction and making the bikes pretty much unsteerable. after maneuvering that, we encountered a super narrow (8"-wide for most of it) section that hugged the mountain, had a steep dropoff to the left, and sloped downhill. the trail was in poor maintenance and that, combined with my eternal bullheaded need for speed, provided me with the perfect conditions for a second spill.

we got spit up back onto a surface street, bombed downhill for a mile or two, and hopped on a scenic ride that ran on the bottom of a canyon. of course, what you go down you must come up, and this 2nd steep "up" of the day was a rough one. i made it up with the help of several pit stops and we were once again back on the fire road at the top of the mountain. 15 more minutes of climbing the fire road brought us to the top of the sullivan canyon trail. it was all downhill (and almost no pedaling) from there, and that shaded 1st leg was even better in reverse.

our obligatory post-ride chowfest took place at a votre sante ("to your health") in brentwood. it was surprisingly close to the trail head, and surrounded by plenty of parking. it's a small space, maybe a 20'x 30' seating area, simply decorated with soothing b/w photography. delicious, healthy, colorful food too. i recommend the blackened salmon salad (tender & fresh fish) and the raspberry spritzer (no sugar added!). hopefully i'll have room for a bite of their tempting pies & cakes when i come back for seconds.

18.2 mile ride. 4 total crashes. a zillion calories burned. maybe a zillion and a half. can't wait to do it again next weekend.