grasslands / crags / upper bulldog

shiny bikes, sweaty bikers, and some rusty set pieces from the tv show m.a.s.h.
(via north ranch mtn biking club)

3146 feet climbed, 20.64 miles ridden, 4 hours of biking in 90+ degree weather.

on saturday i did a brutal/amazing joint sbmbc/north ranch ride up in agoura hills with ken, mike, jim, another jim, huck, graham, and jen. it was originally supposed to be an easy breezy 15-mile ride, more slow-cruising than soul-crushing. the group that gathered at the trailhead was pretty big, so it split into two, and jen and i chose to go with the faster half.

we set off at a good clip, flowing across rolling meadows for a mile or two, and down a few steep hills that would come back to haunt us at the very end of our 4-hour trek. somewhere in the first quarter mile i got stuck in a rut and took a silly spill at a high speed...resulting in the below hurtiness (plus a few other scrapes & bruises on my right side...nothing like the sting of iodine in the morning):



we took a left at the first fork in the trail and rode alongside a shaded rocky creek, fairly technical, a section that required careful pedal placement and no distractions. we emerged from the forest to take a break at the set of the tv show m.a.s.h., complete with rusty old cars.

from there, we rode a bit further on the fire road, passed some hikers, and then took a left to start a strenuous exposed breeze-free 4-mile uphill climb. it took us an hour. maybe two. and it only got steeper the higher we went. after several pit-stops and stalls in the middle of fairly loose technical sections, we managed to avoid heat exhaustion and reached the top of the mountain, where bulldog hooks up with some other trails.

at that intersection, you could see mountains, trails, and tiny cities for miles around, as well as the ocean, which, from our elevation (about a mile above sea level), looked just like more mountains and clouds. simply breath-taking.

we headed onward (and downward, thankfully) along a mile or two of the roller-coaster mountain ridge fire road and then hopped on a short singletrack section. this spit us back out onto the fire road and not long after that we came upon the little moab trailhead. huck & mike boldly tackled this slickrock section that ends in a intimidating steep chute made completely of boulders, while the rest of us took the paved option to a place where we, with fingers crossed and teeth clenched, could watch them descend...



someone mentioned that on a previous ride, a couple had done that chute on a tandem bike! it had to have been done on a "witness". tandem mountain bikes. simply insane.

nobody needed an emergency helicopter ride off the trail, so we continued on for some more up and down ridge riding, another short singletrack section, and then rode an extremely fast dusty fire road all the way downhill to the surface streets, taking a right to head into a campground. at this point, i had no idea where we were, so i will not be able to give you any names. sorry!

we stopped in the campground for refills on water and got on an exposed singletrack that started from a metal bridge in the middle of the campground, and it soon turned into a dusty uphill (more UP! it never ended!). finishing that section dropped us off at a parking lot (not the one we started from unfortunately), that had bathrooms. the trail then took us down a set of steps and right past malibu creek. i nearly ditched my bike and dived into the creek when i saw tourists wandering around wearing just towels and swim trunks. but no, there were still miles to go before i could crash.

by now we had circled back to the original first few miles of the trail, so we had to do the few miles of swoopy meadowland trails backwards. i'll just say that they were much faster and much more fun the first time around. the steep downhills that originally shot us forward at 40 mph had transformed into daunting long bumpy uphills that extracted every ounce of energy in your body, even with your chain on the small ring, in the wimpiest granny gear. there was never enough room between hills to gain any momentum and i was soon running on fumes. the only thing that got me back to the parking lot was the joyous thought of finally getting off my bike, popping off the shoes, and splaying out in the cool grass.

marizel & ken, our ride leaders, organized an amazing post-ride picnic and i got to meet a few more riders. super friendly & funny bunch. my legs were jelly, my brain was fried, my skin was sunburnt, and i was covered in dirt (and a bit of blood). a perfect saturday.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
directions:
405N --> 101N (west) --> exit at the Lost Hill Road, Exit 33
--> turn left from the off-ramp
--> go south about 1 mile to Juan Bautista de Anza Park, which is on the right
--> free parking lot, ample street parking, sprinklers in the playground!
about 60-mins from the South Bay
about 1/2 hour from Santa Monica
google maps
+++++++++++++++++++++++++