B
Bill Porter
Guest
I got up at O-Damn early this morning to get in a birthday ride up on the San Juan trail in the
Santa Ana Mountains between San Juan Capistrano and Lake Elsinore here in sunny SoCal. I ended up
going with one of my SS riding buddies. There were a few other thinking about going, but when your
birthday is on the 5th of July, folks just seem to have issues with getting up early (more than the
usual whining). Anyway we arrived at the trailhead around 6:30AM and within 10 minutes we were off.
There have been many RRs on San Juan in the past so I won't describe the trail just check out my
page one it http://www.mountainbikebill.com/san_juan.htm. This was the first time I had rode the
trail since August of last year (I know what the hell I'm I doing only riding this thing in the
summer) so I was looking forward to the ride. I was pretty stoked that I managed to clean the bottom
10 switchbacks however, while doing this my SS buddy did his usual of pulling away. For the rest of
6.6-mile climb up to Lunch Box Rock I was playing catch up to my single geared friend and feeling
awful sluggish and unenergetic. It was not until I got to the rock that I realized that I actually
made really good time. The heat was really cranking up now and it was not getting any cooler. After
a minimalist break at the rock we headed off on the "new" San Juan Trail and then over to the Viejo
Tie Trail. One thing I noticed is that the technical sections seemed well, a little less technical
with rocks and drops looked a little smaller. I was riding a lot more stuff than I have in past. Now
I was by no means cleaning everything and I did leave a small DNA offering to the MTB gods on the
Viejo Tie Trail. The 6.6-mile singletrack downhill proved to be just as awesome as usual. So I would
have to say "Stay Young Ride Your Bike". I am a year better today and I highly recommend chasing a
freakishly fast rider to push yourself .
Bill Porter www.mountainbikebill.com
Santa Ana Mountains between San Juan Capistrano and Lake Elsinore here in sunny SoCal. I ended up
going with one of my SS riding buddies. There were a few other thinking about going, but when your
birthday is on the 5th of July, folks just seem to have issues with getting up early (more than the
usual whining). Anyway we arrived at the trailhead around 6:30AM and within 10 minutes we were off.
There have been many RRs on San Juan in the past so I won't describe the trail just check out my
page one it http://www.mountainbikebill.com/san_juan.htm. This was the first time I had rode the
trail since August of last year (I know what the hell I'm I doing only riding this thing in the
summer) so I was looking forward to the ride. I was pretty stoked that I managed to clean the bottom
10 switchbacks however, while doing this my SS buddy did his usual of pulling away. For the rest of
6.6-mile climb up to Lunch Box Rock I was playing catch up to my single geared friend and feeling
awful sluggish and unenergetic. It was not until I got to the rock that I realized that I actually
made really good time. The heat was really cranking up now and it was not getting any cooler. After
a minimalist break at the rock we headed off on the "new" San Juan Trail and then over to the Viejo
Tie Trail. One thing I noticed is that the technical sections seemed well, a little less technical
with rocks and drops looked a little smaller. I was riding a lot more stuff than I have in past. Now
I was by no means cleaning everything and I did leave a small DNA offering to the MTB gods on the
Viejo Tie Trail. The 6.6-mile singletrack downhill proved to be just as awesome as usual. So I would
have to say "Stay Young Ride Your Bike". I am a year better today and I highly recommend chasing a
freakishly fast rider to push yourself .
Bill Porter www.mountainbikebill.com
