Very, very off the beaten path...

[inte]

Our group left for a quick ride around a friend’s “backyard”. The adventure started in short order…





A few teaser photos…













































Plenty more where these came from

[inte]

The crew assembled…




And left Rick’s place on an (unphotographed) & epic backyard singletrack-trek. This was the spot where people made their choice: easy / interesting route.



and we got there.




Beyond the sketchy section lay a bunch of fun roads.




The playground by the mine:





So that’s the summary… next comes the details…

[inte]

Dustjunkie, Design4D, Flyingo, and myself left “the” OC for the trip over the Ortega “here’s a good corner to throw your bike away” Highway towards the inland empire & freedom from pavement. Meeting up with Allan near the peak, we took the back way down the mountain – a blissfully unpaved descent into a tapestry of epic multi-acre estates.





…and then we promptly got a flat.




Dustjunkie was on the phone letting Rick F know that we had an excuse for being late and that it wasn’t his fault.

Really.

It totally wasn’t Dustjunkie’s fault.

We would have been completely on time were it not for the flat.

It was all the flat tire’s fault.

That was the only reason we were late.

Just want to be clear on that.

So we arrive at Rick’s & following a quick (& probably very necessary) “please don’t be stupid” rider’s meeting we’re on the trail :




The bottleneck started at the first obstacle – a loose, ledgyish section of trail that required a quick look before heading up.




Huh.

[inte]

The results of the trail scan was basically something to the effect, of “Yep … it’s loose & rocky.”





DJ was on it pretty much right off …





So far so good …




Um oh…











Assistance comes…





And option #2 begins … this is loose stuff…





















Rick F demonstrates his knowledge of his backyard … on a thumper…
















And then…




















Let’s do thing thing…











…and …















Flyingo run #1 was just a scouting attempt….





As he was resetting, this blue bike went by… only bike that took the centerline right off the bat.











Then Flyingo came screaming up the hill.






























Just caught Alan as he came up the hill.
That 625 does have a 1st gear y’know












Riceless attempt #1:





Attempt #2






Attempt #3





Attempt #4





At this point he took a break & Design4D went








You can see what the momentum was doing at this point based on the position of the camelback tube





At this point it became a battle of will over rocks to get the SE up the hill…














Coach Rick:





Resting?





Nope.





Help.












Back to Riceless…


Attempt #5




































Finally everyone was up & it was time to move on…





Next, we had to go down.

[inte]

Continuing on we rode through terrain that looked suspiciously like Baja …








Unusual trail positioning…











And then we got to the hill…







Flyingo weaving…













Riceless…







DJ


























Design4D

















Then it was time to go look for some shade…











Couple little bottlenecks happened up the trail … just around the corner from here someone was down





Waiting his turn…





After reaching the end it was back to Rick’s place for some BBQ & fish(stories) about the day’s ride. DJ, Flyingo, Allen, D4D, & myself then took off to head up the back way to Ortega & on to Orange County…

[demenshea]

Wow...now you guys are TOUGH!!

I am in awe...

[UberKul]

Man that looks like a ton of fun! Big bikes for that trail and your spotters were hungry for carnage! Me thinks there was some profanity going on in a few of those helmets.

[OldPete]

Harah! For the gray haired guy. Fun pictars...for sure.

Way back in the '70s I found it much harder going down hill.

[louwees07]

Thanks for sharing. Great pics. Where are these mean trails at? I want to go!!!
Lou

[motorrad]

Inte, awesome ride and pics.

This is the type of riding that is motivating me now. The pics toward the end reminded me of Burro Schmidt tunnel (2on2off post) in the Randsburg area. Ortega looks like some tough off-roading, nice to have a group of friends to help out. Great post.