My dreams of chilling outside on the chaise lounge didn’t exactly pan out this weekend, since I spent both days doing wild bike rides at Sullivan Canyon.  The weather was pretty warm on Saturday, so we decided to take the shadier single trail up to the top.  I got almost to the top, then decided I would be having a lot more fun riding back down, so I did that instead.  It was a blast. 

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The Memorial Day weekend actually worked out fantastically for fun close to home activities. We hiked the Gardenland Trail to the overlook at San Vicente Mountain Park, which was a great variation to our usual Sullivan Canyon routine. The Garden Land Trail is a lot steeper than the fire road, so I was very happy in my last minute decision to change out of flip flops and into hiking shoes. I was also quite happy to be hiking it rather than biking it on my first visit. The climb is quite a workout! The Gardenland Trail isn’t as popular as the fire road so it gets a lot less traffic, which is great if you want to feel like your outside of the city for a few moments.

Here’s some more info for hiking in the Santa Monica area:

• Trail Map from Canyon Back Alliance
• Info from the Mandeville Canyon Association

Looks like this holiday weekend will be filled with lots of local activities. I think that maybe we’ll do some bouldering at Stoney Point, but I can’t see traveling much further than that at these ridiculous gas prices. At least the rising gas prices will help put a curb on some traffic though - that’s one way to help the environment!

Thankfully we have access to a lot of great biking opportunities here in Santa Monica, like Sullivan Canyon and the bike path on the beach. I cannot help singing the Three’s Company theme song whenever we are on the bike path, but luckily Partner-in-Climb claims not to find this behavior too embarrassing. However, we tend not to ride the bike path too often, and maybe that it part of the reason. The other part of the reason may be all the people who disregard the “Bicycles Only” signs and use the path as a sidewalk, creating a dangerous situation for bikers and walkers, but who can say.

It is also a bonus that it is drizzling right now and it’s supposed to be much cooler this weekend than it was last weekend. I was sweating buckets by the end of our ride last Saturday! I also rapidly depleted the water in two bottles, so now I am thinking it’s officially time for a CamelBak. Luckily, my Memorial Day holiday starts early and I can make a trip to Helen’s or Performance this afternoon to pick one up.

I am hoping it stays damp and hazy through tomorrow, because this is my favorite kind of weather to ride in. The trails don’t get really muddy and soft, but there is a nice cool mist and it adds a sense of adventure to even really familiar trails. Riding up the Westridge-Canyon Back fire road without sight of the usually expansive vistas somehow transforms the experience and makes it more focused. You can’t see the road ahead or behind, you have no way to gauge how far you have gone or have to go, and so you are really forced to be in the moment and commit to just accepting what lies ahead as it comes. It makes it really fun to come upon a slight downhill and cruise down it when you aren’t expecting any temporary relief at the moment. It’s like a great surprise. Sigh. Too bad I can’t hit the trail right now!

Only 5 hours til the weekend! Happy Memorial Day!

There was a really bad bike accident at Sullivan Canyon this weekend. We apparently arrived just moments after it happened, because emergency vehicles blew past us while we were getting on our bikes. We briefly talked to one rider who said he was asked to call 911 because a biker was down and that fall was so bad that his helmet had been cracked. We rode down a little to see what was going on, and met an off-duty Mountain Bike Unit rider (MBU) who told us that they were clearing the area for the helicopter. He mentioned a few more accident details, and it didn’t sound good at all. I really, really hope that rider is OK. An on-duty MBU soon came down the trail to set up a barricade to prevent hikers and bikers from approaching the accident site. We didn’t stick around too long after that.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Sullivan Canyon can be a dangerous place, but I want to reiterate. By all means have fun, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be cautious. Don’t over-estimate your ability, or under-estimate the terrain. This accident happened only around a mile from the lower entrance to the canyon, but the emergency vehicles were stuck about 150 yards away from the accident due to the rugged trail.

Here’s some information on building a great bike first aid kits and bike safety in general:

• Utah Mountain Biking has DIY first aid kit instructions, plus a great first aid index of injuries
• Bicycle Touring 101 includes homeopathic remedies
• Bike Safety Tips from WebMD
• 10 Ways NOT to Get Hit by Cars from BicycleSafe.com