Plans Change (or S**t happens)
by Rob Blue on December 3rd, 2006
As the saying goes, the best laid plans…..
That’s how our Sunday ride went, not according to plan. Mikel, Brandon and I, along with our friend Dave, planned on a nice long ride around Sycamore Canyon. The winds have kicked up again in the area though, and with the lack of rain, the fire season is in full swing. Out here, the thing mountain bikers don’t want to hear is that there is a red flag warning. That means the fire danger is extremely high and State Park closures are sure to happen. A good chunk of the best riding is on State Park land including Sycamore Canyon.
I probably should have figure out on the drive over that we were not going to be doing the planned ride. The smoke was pretty obvious and the signs for the closure of the 23 into Simi Valley said it all. Sure enough, the Ranger was sitting there in the parking lot turning everybody around for the day. Cheeseboro was open we were told so off we went.
I love riding Cheeseboro Canyon…. usually. Cheeseboro is easy to get to which is great except on some days, like Sunday, there are just too many people there.
I had to be back by lunch time and we had already wasted 45 minutes of ride time going between Sycamore and Cheeseboro. The weather was actually perfect for riding at Cheeseboro. Sunny and probably mid seventies. Off we went to join the fray.
Actually the ride was pretty good as long a you kept a smile on your face. Yes, we were stopping every couple of minutes to let other riders, runners and hikers by. There was no point in getting upset since with the parking lot that full you knew what to expect. Brandon was having a ton of trouble with his drivetrain. I am thinking his chain has seen better days. His chain just would not stay on the teeth of his cassette. Brandon can lay down some serious torque and he ended up having to walk up the hills since his bike sounded like popcorn when he put any power to the pedals. He finally gave up at the top of the lookout and headed back downhill to the car while the rest of us headed up to China Flats. The picture for this post was taken at the top of China Flats looking out toward the Moorpark fire.
