Last week I rode the San Juan trail, from the bottom to up to Cocktail Rock and back. Not the whole trail, but enough of a sampling to fill a morning and sate my desire for single track. I hadn't ridden the trail for 11 months, which is a long time. Recently I have been going back to Los Pinos, Holy Jim and Trabuco. That's unfortunate, because the San Juan may be the best trail in OC. Of course I always waver on this point. The downside of the San Juan is that it gets a tremendous amount of use. Weekends are crowded for downhill shuttlers. Nothing wrong with that, I've done it many times myself, but riding uphill against traffic can get tiresome. Last week, on a cool Thursday morning, we had the trail all to ourselves. The trail itself seems in fairly good shape. Some of the switchbacks are a bit rough and I crashed on one rocky step down (unable to see the line on approach), but overall the trail is quite fast. The top section is full of luge-like ruts-cum-concavities that seem to give riders a false sense of confidence. It works though, we ran this section downhill faster than any of the others. There are a few loose and sandy sections that will send your rear wheel sliding toward the cliff's edge, so don't get too overconfident. Falling off the trail is never a good idea. I alway make my San Juan mantra -
stay on the trail, stay on the trail. For this reason I love the turns that berm into the cliff. These are my points of confidence, I love rolling hard through those...then I just hope for the best on the outside, cliffside turns. Last there are the switchbacks - carry speed, keep that back wheel going around - they are fun, challenging and plentiful. Resolved: I have to do this trail more often.
Last week I rode the San Juan trail, from the bottom to up to Cocktail Rock and back. Not the whole trail, but enough of a sampling to fill a morning and sate my desire for single track. I hadn't ridden the trail for 11 months, which is a long time. Recently I have been going back to Los Pinos, Holy Jim and Trabuco. That's unfortunate, because the San Juan may be the best trail in OC. Of course I always waver on this point. The downside of the San Juan is that it gets a tremendous amount of use. Weekends are crowded for downhill shuttlers. Nothing wrong with that, I've done it many times myself, but riding uphill against traffic can get tiresome. Last week, on a cool Thursday morning, we had the trail all to ourselves. The trail itself seems in fairly good shape. Some of the switchbacks are a bit rough and I crashed on one rocky step down (unable to see the line on approach), but overall the trail is quite fast. The top section is full of luge-like ruts-cum-concavities that seem to give riders a false sense of confidence. It works though, we ran this section downhill faster than any of the others. There are a few loose and sandy sections that will send your rear wheel sliding toward the cliff's edge, so don't get too overconfident. Falling off the trail is never a good idea. I alway make my San Juan mantra - stay on the trail, stay on the trail. For this reason I love the turns that berm into the cliff. These are my points of confidence, I love rolling hard through those...then I just hope for the best on the outside, cliffside turns. Last there are the switchbacks - carry speed, keep that back wheel going around - they are fun, challenging and plentiful. Resolved: I have to do this trail more often.
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