Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

Fort Ord, Monterey, CA
December 2, 2006

Today (12/2) I had a great ride at Ft. Ord with Cohenfive, Thesuperone and Addictionms. It was a bit cool at the start, but it finally warmed up to short sleeves weather. We started at East Garrison and Cohenfive led us in the wrong direction, up Trail 15. But we eventually found our way to Trails 50, 49 and 43, which led us to the top of the Goat Trail (41). With very few stops we were moving fairly quickly, and it soon became evident we needed to add some extra miles. So at the bottom of the Goat Trail I suggested climbing Oil Well and Skyline roads, and then going down the old Sea Otter course (47/48). That corner of Ft. Ord is the first place I felt comfortable enough to ride solo so I was curious to see if I had improved since the last time I had ridden there.

The climb to the top of Hurl Hill (Trail 47) took about half the time it used to and I made all the climbs out of that steep canyon for the first time. However, it is very disappointing that my knees, which really hurt most of the day, can not keep up with my aerobic capacity, which has improved tremendously lately. Trail 47 is in excellent shape, better than I've seen it in years. We also did that seldom used, and very primitive loop off Trail 47 down toward Hwy 68. Since we went past the first entrance, we decided to do it counterclockwise instead of the usual clockwise, and I think that's a much more fun way to do it. Once we climbed out of the canyon back to Skyline road Thesuperone and Addictionms decided to head back while Cohenfive and I continued on out Trails 11, 50, and lots of little trails and backtracks until we finally found Blair Witch (59).

Although it is still pretty nice, Blair Witch has been cleaned up a bit and several trees and obstacles have been removed. We then tried to make our way back to East Garrison but there were a myriad of unmarked trails going every which way, and we chose the wrong one. We eventually made it back, but not the most desirable way. Cohenfive registered 29.5 miles, but we finished a half hour faster than our stated goal of riding for six hours. Trail 50, recently reported as being messed up by an equestrian event, was obviously groomed while we were out there. It is now in really good condition and one rain storm should make it perfect. Great ride and nice meeting two new guys!

Click on an image to enlarge it

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Goat Trail Addictionms
Goat Trail		 Thesuperone
Goat Trail		 Cohenfive
Goat Trail		 Cohenfive
Goat Trail
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Addictionms
Hurl Hill		 Trail 47 Thesuperone
Trail 47		 Addictionms
Trail 47		 Thesuperone
Goat Trail
Thesuperone
Trail 47		 Cohenfive
 Addictionms
Trail 47		 A Special(ized)
day		 Cohenfive
Trail 50		 Cohenfive
Trail 50
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Cohenfive
Goat Trail		 Cohenfive
Hurl Hill		 Cohenfive
Trail 47		 Cohenfive
Trail 50		 Cohenfive
we lost?
 

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