I crashed the docent ride out in Weir Canyon, because Dave wanted to do the ride and then hit Mattern. It’s typically a beginner ride, but they did some extra credit. After riding out to the end of Weir Canyon, we headed up a ridge that overlooks the 241 toll road. The wildflowers were out, so we did a little hiking around there. It was a quick ride out and a spectacular lunch.
The goal: Drink beers along a 7-mile ride. Whew!
We brought Spring riding in with style. It was Scott, Dave, Sagit, Akos, Terry and Brent. It was a bold undertaking, but in the end we were successful. It took a while, and we ended up coming out of the park under cover of darkness.
I dig these trees. They’re called Blue Ceanothus. When they’re in bloom, whole hillsides look blue. Dave and Dr. Mike and I did a quick run up to Beek’s Place and back and then headed over to Mattern.
Our monthly Weir/Blind/Fremont ride was in jeopardy of being canceled because there is a huge washout of the trail in Blind Canyon. Dave called the Conservancy and asked them to change it to a Tecate Forest ride. It’s about 6 miles out and 6 miles back. It was a good thing it didn’t get canceled. It was another perfect Spring day for riding. The poppies and other wild flowers are out in force. We had a group of 16 riders and we took it easy and it was all good. Ended the ride with a good lunch over at Tustin Brewery.
The blow-out…
We talk about doing this every time we go by Old Camp. The conditions were right, so we decided to go. The rain has ended, there’s no bugs, everything is green and we knew the water would be running up there, so we’d have a water source.
I met Dave at his place. His friend Jori was nice enough to drop us off at the top of Modjeska Grade Road, which saved us a lot of climbing. We hoisted our full-sized packs and took off at around 3:00pm. We noticed the weight of the packs right away, but we took it easy and made it up there by 4:30pm. Dave and I went into Alaska mode and started making cocktails, setting up camp, gathering wood, filtering water and starting a fire.
As it went dark, we broke out the steaks and some sausage and a couple of side dishes. Just as we were ready to pull the steaks off the fire, Sagit and Jeremy rolled in. We had plenty of food for everyone. It was great to see them, and we all hung out by the fire. We tried to talk them into staying the night, but after a couple of hours, they rolled out into the darkness. The camping was great and we had all the right clothing to handle a kinda cold night.
In Survivor-like fashion, Dave’s luxury item was ice for the cocktails (Jeremy brought us some ice too). My luxury item was a Jetboil, which I used to make coffee in the morning. We rolled up camp and headed out early. It was peaceful out there in the morning. We rolled into Cook’s Corner for breakfast and then back to Dave’s. Overall, an excellent trip and one that I want to do again in a month or so.
Question: What lies behind this door?
Answer: Bartenders in bikinis surrounded by ogling males
This was just one of many places Dave and I visited on Sunday. It has been raining every weekend, so we stuck to the road again today. It was probably a 15-mile ride into the heart of Orange. We hit Blondie’s, O’Hara’s, Paul’s, The District and Haven Gastropub. Getting home was a challenge. Oh, and it rained.
Watched the Oscars and saw Hurt Locker steal best picture away from Avatar. I saw both. Maybe I’m clueless, but it didn’t even occur to me that Hurt Locker was an Oscar-caliber movie. Avatar is a game-changer. It will change the way movies are made from now on and that should mean something.
Just another solo ride from my place. Cruised through Blair Witch and had to turn around because the trail has a pond on top of it now. OK, I ran into a little mud today. Rode around the outer trails of Irvine Park and took a break on the huge sandstone rock pictured above. Headed over to Peter’s and did a loop. I get so frustrated when I ride in there because of the zombie hikers mindlessly wandering around.
