Wonder where the other half is. Tonight camped @ said SP, paid $35 to sleep almost on the beach. Very windy.

Last night was way up @ Henry Coe SF, the site of another IMBA epic. Only the XG was way up high and the trail I chose to ride that I found a GPS track for was down @ southern end. No internet. Hot night as I slept under just a worn flannel sheet.

Yesterday I rode the UC trails up on Empire way above Santa Cruz. Christina, friend Will, and 3 others joined up. Deep woods cover in second growth of redwoods. Pedaling trails. Myriad maze. Hot.

Sat night I felt like a scab under my left arm. I picked at it but it didn’t come off. The muscles near the site were sore. I began thinking I might have hit a stick on Sat’s ride. I looked @ the site in the mirror. Shit, there was a ring around a center an that’s what i figured. I showed it @ Sun’s ride. One guy said it was a tick. Man, never before had I experienced this reaction to a tick bite. I brought out my tick extractor tool and asked for a volunteer to remove it. Guy did and successfully removed the mouth parts. Less than 24 hours attachment but I still was concerned during the ride and afterwards. I found a doc in the box and got in just before closing. DR said this can happen but wasn’t concerned about Lymes although she did prescribe an antibiotic.

I rode Sat taking a shuttle up mtn. Strange: shuttle dropped off just short of a ridge. Ride went out the ridge then dropped off the back side. We rode Braille. Then the crunch of climbing out of the hole to ride back down. Rode down west ridge thru second growth redwoods. Spectacular 16 miles, 3,000′ climbing, 5500′ descending.

Today I rode @ Henry Coe. Lots of hike a bike. And hot that affected me. I encountered Paul, a local, who I rode w/ for awhile. I was following the GPS track and a b&W photocopy 8.5 X 11 map. He had a better one plus lots of knowledge. I was concerned I was going to run out of my 70ozs of h2o. He offered me a shorter way back to my van. Steep drop back down Grizzly gulch . My body temp climbed although I did not run out of h20, tomorrow I’ll check how much is left. I drank a glass of ice h2o then put an ice bag around the back of my neck. My temp was 99.9, outside it was 92. I took an almost too hot solar shower in the parking lot. Evaporative heat loss of hot h2o on hot body cooled me down.

Slow internet speed so not pics posted.

Tomorrow maybe Dreggs just S of SF.

I am back into this drive, ride, camp, drive again routine as I move up the coast. I thought about staying a second night here but the $35 is too steep for me. 52 degrees @ 10:15PM. Bed time. Curl up under warm down blanket while being abhorrently rocked from the wind gusts.

Continue to ride thru poison oak cove and still no break out.

Monday and today’s rides were feats of pushing thru in spite of a formidable long step uphill pedal. Daunting. Knowing a long slog is ahead and I am just a few pedal strokes into the ride. All this effort for a fast short piece of downhill single track. That’s what riding can be.

Last night I camped @ Upper Osos right @ start and finish of Little Pine ride after riding a piece of the San Juan trail that Dave Turner suggested. I drove thru LA yesterday b4 rush hour. Fog turned to rain by the time I reached Santa Barbara. Just a huge sprawl of a megalopolis. I-5 to US 101. No jams. Kept my attention focused. I conquered the beast. One and done is my position.

Yesterday I rode a short piece of the San Juan trail out and back. Poison oak trailside in places. On the way back I watched the fog roll onto the mountains above the 3500′ where I was. At the start it was sharp edged fractured rock that changed to decomposed something. Trail in places was a tunnel thru the brush. Prime mtn lion coverage. All by myself. Turned around and pedaled back to XG. Time management was to be thru LA by 3:00.

In Santa Barbara I stopped @ Bicycle Bob’s to learn about the IMBA epic named Buckhorn. My research yielded nobody knows about it and that trails are not brushed and in poison oak terrain. Writer suggestions were to ride Little Pine which shared the same uphill slog but only 17 miles on cleared trail. This lead me to last night’s campground. USFS fee only, senior pass reduces it by 50%. I bought a map which lacked contours. Salesman told me that there were a few spots where I would have to be light on my feet to get across some rock slides.

Uphill is an old single lane gravel road closed to non ORV rigs. Switchback out of canyon was 22%. Early in ride not warmed up physically or mentally so I walked it. I even dropped into granny ring to pedal the entire uphill which reduced the knee strain. Just humped. No tree cover. I places I could see a road continuing, just following the yellow dirt. Pedal pedal pedal, look ahead sometimes for perspective then head down and pedal. One place the road had 3 switch backs up. Shit. OK. Brain is engaged accepting what it is telling my body to do.  Just about 3,000′ climb. I dropped in on narrow bench cut trail w/ exposure. Prolly too steep to hold snow if fell. Bunch of switchbacks and dropping traverses. Miles from the top the trail crossed several narrow steep shale rock slides. Kicking steps into a liquid medium, to slip would to have gone over the edge of a filled in bulkhead and down slide gulleys stopping where? Several of the crossings were very dicey. I failed to take any pics, I just wanted to be done w/ them. I can’t remember last time I was so scared. Other than mentioned slides the trail was non technical.

Maybe pics posted later. I am in Santa Maria at a laundromat finally in internet reception.

Tues I drove down out of May Valley hills to Murrietta and a meeting w/ David Turner, founder of Turner Bikes, maker of the bike I ride: Turner 5 Spot. Warm friendly conversation spilled into lunch time, dave took me to lunch. Turner just rolled out their 1st composite frame, a 29er named Czar, sharing w/ the race crowd @ Sea Otter last weekend. Attracted lots of attention. I met Greg, Jarrett, and Eric that keep the riders on Turner Bikes.

Plan is to fold dried clothes then drive to Montana de Oro a FS XG on the coast that Eric told me about. Tomorrow is Santa Cruz.

Might be internet connection out at XG which is on the ocean.

No internet access @ XG but I did watch the sun set and the ocean wet my feet.

Today I drove further North to Santa Cruz. I am meeting Kristina whom I met @ Red Rock in St George, UT last Dec. She said there is lost of riding to be had here and here I am to take her up on the offer. Santa Cruz is right on the ocean.

This AM I drove back to the Hub in Idyllwild as Brandan said if I liked the Hurkey ride to come back and he would give me another ride. I arrived but he didn’t, Simon filled in for him. Shortly during our conversation we connected that we met in Sedona this spring. That connection made a connection. I mentioned Thomas mtn and he concurred. I shopped for groceries in 3 stores. Not much for choice in this mtn town of 3500.

I drove out rt 74 to Ramona TH where I would start and end. A rider yesterday told me about this ride. First up was 3 miles on paved st highway w/ no shoulders. Headwind on mostly flat pavement. I needed better road riding skills to sit and spin. Next up was 7.3 miles of gravel logging road climbing 2328’in 1 hour 24 mins.  I stopped once near the top. Simon told me I would see the ocean which I must have, it looked flat gray. Back @ the van I studied the map and I was able to see the ocean. Found Ramona trail. 5.93 miles and 43 mins later I was back @ my van. Trail up high went thru tunnels of chaparral oak, their leaves littered the tread. Decomposed granite gave way to fractured rock. Lots of switchbacks, almost all w/ some kind of h2o diversion from dinosaur spines to worst the stiff rubber baffles. I enjoyed myself on the way down after all the work I had no desire to hammer the goods.

Yucca in bloom:

Back @ the van the chilled beer went smoothly down. Next up was a drive back to county XG for a shower. They didn’t charge me admission. Again, the first 0.50 went to get the hot h2o to the nozzle. Drove back to camp spot but someone else has it. I checked out the remaining site which was full on sun and not level. I drove a little further and found a non camp site location that was flat. I just need a level spot.

Tomorrow is LA driving to visit Turner then head N up  to Santa Barbra unless Dave throws something to me.

Back into the world of riding a logging road up to the single track downhill. 10.45 miles to get5.93 miles of single track. That ratio stinks. Sedona was so great as many dirt single track miles could be ridden w/ little road.