will rogers / backbone / topanga canyon

Saturday was looking gloomy and overcast - perfect biking weather! Met at Los Liones & West Sunset Blvd at 8am - Ken, Peter, Louisa, Jen, Derald, and me. Parked on the first block of Los Liones, and made the intros. Louisa printed up some SBMBC membership cards for us newbies too. To get to the trail head, we had a bit of road riding to do first. 1/2 mile up West Sunset and left onto Palisades Drive for a few miles, turning left at Verde De La Montura, then immediately right onto Michael Lane. The trail head (Trailer Canyon Fire Road on the map) was about a half mile down Michael Lane on the left hand side. Sidewalk is available to ride for most of the surface street journey, so you're out of the path of cars. Parts are overgrown though, so watch out for weedwhip. Met up with Mark at the trail head, investigated Jen's mysterious squeaky bottom bracket, test rode Louisa's light-as-a-feather Santa Cruz, and we were on our way.

The trails started out with a couple miles of fire road climb, with a few level spots (whew!) scattered throughout. Not quite as steep and intense as the first half of last week's Laguna Wilderness ride, but about twice as long. Utterly exhausting for a coddled midwestern flatlands singletracker like me - I've really got to work on my endurance. I was stuck at the back of the pack all the way up, but the west coast hardbodies barely budged off their big ring! The climb took about an hour and then we reached the "hub", a flat spot where several trails connect, outfitted with a port-a-potty (toilet paper included!), trail map, recycling bins, and a spectacular view.

From there, we hopped on the Will Rogers trail, part of the Backbone trail network. Will Rogers was forested singletrack with a couple short climbs for the first 1/2 mile, and after that, a skinny speedy exposed rocky run that let you go wild for a few miles. We stopped under a large oak tree, our halfway mark, and at that point, our group split in half, as some people were out of water. We had two options:

1. "UP": Finish Backbone trail and end up where we had hopped on from the fire road, and cruise down the fire road & surface streets to the cars. The catch was, it involved a LOT of up.
2. "DOWN": Ride Will Rogers in reverse and hit a singletrack to the surface streets. The catch there was that you end up a ways downhill of Los Liones and you finished up your ride with hilly heavily trafficked asphalt riding at peak temperatures.

Worried I was close to bonking, I nearly chickened out and initially opted for the easier way "Down", but Jen inspired some wacko part of me to try (her famous last words - "Nothing else on my schedule today!"). The first 1/2 mile of "Up" was tolerable, short twisty climbs with a few fast runs. And then we hit "The Washout" - about a mile of loose rocky poofy exposed 45 degree slope. The climb itself was tough, but with the sun beating down on your back, and the rest of its rays reflecting violently off the white rocks right back into your face, I was riding (ok, ok, 99% walking it) with a hairdryer blowing in my face.

Finally we hit the top of the mountain, took in the sights, and began the descent. Riding the trail back down to the fire road was no problem, and the fire road itself took about 15 minutes to speed down. It was so hard to believe we had climbed up all of it! The valley next to us held some scattered luxury homes and clouds creeping in along side. Everything looked green and luscious and I welcomed the cool breeze that accompanied the progressive drop in elevation.

Once we got back down to the balmy 68 degree perfection of the trail head, Louisa checked her bike computer and declared the day's stats: a 3000 foot climb during our 19 mile trek. Amazingly enough, after baking in the sun for 3 hours without a ghost of a sheltering cloud, the last few miles of Palisades Drive was completely overcast and gusty, and the temp dropped to about 50. We rolled up to the cars completely drained and ravenously hungry. After deconstructing the bikes for travel and shedding the dirtiest of shoes and shirts, we hit up a nearby Greek/Mexican/American joint. They had a million things on their menu, but I settled for the plainest option - a cheeseburger & fries. Toasted bun, freezer-burned patty, crisp greasy fries, and loads of ketchup. There's nothing like a deathly unhealthy hot post-ride meal.

The delicious single track at the top of this ride is worth the sweat and tears, but be prepared for a lot of it - a full CamelBak and 2 Clif Bar's worth, at least. I recommend Laguna for a shorter run and the Santa Monicas for the day after a marathon-prep spaghetti-eating contest.

details & directions (via south bay mtn biking club) if you want to try the park out yourself:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sat. July 7: Trailer Canyon to Will Rogers Trail. B Level. TS 3 & EL 3. This ride starts with an optional few miles riding up Palisades Drive, followed by four miles of climbing on the fire road, up to the top, and about 4 miles down the Backbone oak tree. Then we’ll turn around and head back to our cars.

Directions to: W. Sunset Blvd & Los Liones Dr, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
From South Bay area: 405N, 10W into PCH north, turn right onto Sunset Blvd., then turn left onto the first street on the left, Los Liones Drive. Park on the first block of Los Liones. If you reach the first traffic light, Pacific Palisades Blvd., you have gone too far. About a 40-minute drive from the South Bay.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++