Bad shape...

So my brother and I went for a ride in Whiting Ranch this afternoon. This was the first ride in the park since it was reopened after a 8 month closure following the So Cal fires of late last yet. It was a little disappointing (sorry to ruin any hopes of the 'good 'ole days...)

Most of the entire first 2 miles of the trail, the flat part leading up to the hill climb, was all sand. And not just a little sand, but deeeep sand. It seemed as if just as you were getting up to speed, one of these 20 foot sand "traps" appeared and all the momentum was lost. It was a bummer...that used to be such a cool part of the trail.

Then came the hill climb...It started out ok, and was, for the most part, the same as always. There were still lots of sand traps but most were avoidable, and there were lots of piles of ash or soot mixed in with the sand. There was no shade, and the sun was hot. It was probably due to the time of day, but, there used to be some nice trees and shrubbery along the trail that provided a little relief from the sun...not so today.

Nick and I decided to climb dreaded hill, and then have some awesome downhill sections. Dreaded was good, and the down hill was also good. Some sand, but not bad.

Single track was good. Not nice and shady like it used to be, but it was ok. This was where I had the most fun...for the first time in my riding career, I flipped the bike, almost end-over-end, and flew over the handle bars. How you might ask. This is how...

So I was moving along at a pretty good speed, and then the trail started to take a turn to the right. I naturally applied a little brake, and prepared for the turn. Once I hit the turn, which was nothing but a small sandy downhill drop, my front tire sank in about 6 inches of sand, and the front handle bars pivoted to the right spinning 270 degrees making them backwards from normal. During the process, because I was already applying a little brake, the sliding of the front end caused me to clamp down harder on the brake (not on purpose) and over I went. Fortunately, I was not going very fast or it could have been very ugly. I landed on my wrist, and scuffed up my knee a little, but that was all.

After I got up, reset my front end, and fought my way through a couple dozen more sand traps, I hit the road.

Oh, and to top it all off...my bike was not liking life today. Couldn't shift when I needed to, but was able to shift when I didn't need to, and my clips did not want to me clip in...it was a battle, but I do admit that it was fun.

It wasn't the Whiting Ranch that I once knew though...