Holy Jim to Trabuco

Six of us had been planning a post-Thanksgiving ride, up Holy Jim and down Trabuco. A Twenty-six mile course, if you ride the road in, that carves a nice swath across the southern section of the Santa Anas. When Saturday, ride day, rolled around, weather was passing over SoCal. Ron called me to tell me it was raining in Dana Point. We quickly reconsidered the ride and decided instead on the San Juan trail - decomposed granite holds up in wet conditions. But a little later I had a change of heart. I really wanted to ride Trabuco. It's such a great trail. So I convinced Ron and the others to go for it. It seemed a bit risky, Main Divide always seems to show the brunt of any weather system. I've ridden through crap loads of snow, been pelted in a hail storm and have been battered in mud. However, we figured, that if the conditions were poor, we could just return down Holy Jim. Well, we lucked out, the conditions were magnificent, perhaps a bit cool, but not wet and certainly not windy. I couldn't believe it. Both the Holy Jim and the Trabuco trails benefited nicely from a light dusting of rain. My mantra for the day - "The trails are in great shape, too bad I'm not." Unfortunately, my bike was slightly less than perfect as well. Actually, only the rear wheel. I busted a spoke one mile in to the ride (with twenty-five more to go). Without a spare spoke, I kept going and managed to make it about half way before busting a second spoke on Main Divide. I continued and somehow managed to ride the entire descent on Trabuco without further issues. The descent was perfect. With the absence of dust, we rode in a tight group, smiling and hooting through one beautiful section after another. I think that smile lasted for about 12 hours.

Thanks to Ron Leland for the photos. Not only did the weather cooperate, but so did the light. A beautiful day.