Yesterday morning I made it out for dome trail fun with my Father-in-law. He had a friend that had been encouraging him to try this section of the backbone out above Kanan of am Encinal. While most sections of this trial have a reputation for being a little, um strenuous for lack of a better word, this section is a fantastically fun few miles of easy single track. We made it there early and the place was empty. We climbed for about an hour and a half on relentless, but only 2% or so grade, on the hard pack all the way up to the main fire road.
The weather was perfect, cool in the 50’s and just enough overcast to keep things from getting warm. From the top we had clear views from Redondo to the Chanel Islands. The way down was fun, never too fast and a great low stress way to get out on some dirt.
The grand finale was rolling into the parking lot, full club of 30 or so people, on a basket bike with fenders. You would have thought I just rolled off of a space ship, not the trail head they we getting ready for. No disparaging comments, just shock and a little wonderment. Ironic thing is that the Trek with low trail 650b conversion handled better going up and coming down with 10 lbs of junk in the basket, than any “Mountain” bike I have ever owned. It was a fun way to spend the morning, not my usual ride at all, but I be looking at ways to work this stretch into a longer ride in the future.
Nothing extraordinary, just more fun than the car, easier too. One thing of note, is loading up the Wald basket with 20lbs of stuff. The Wald factory hardware is lacking in so many ways it could and might be its own post someday. That said, it was actually passable for the ride home. Nowhere as nice as when mounted to a solid stiff rack, but with a little attention, the handling was still leaps and bounds better than my bikes with high trail front end geometries. Putting this old Trek together was one of the better ideas I had last year.
