Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

Fort Ord, Monterey

February 26, 2005

Fort Ord Memories

It had been about 20 months since I last rode at Ft. Ord. A NorCal group from mtbr.com was riding there today but I turned down an invitation to ride with them because my knees have been sore almost continuously since those two consecutive days of riding in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. So I wanted to go at my own pace. I headed out towards the Guidotti Road climb but my rear derailleur wasn't working properly. So I went back to my truck to try to fix it. BigLarry showed up and we finally got the gears working so we headed out and up Guidotti Road. After all the climbing I'd been doing at Annadel I thought Ord would be relatively easy. However, despite it being about the same distance and elevation gain, I found it much harder than Annadel. The climbs at Ord are much steeper. My "hill-o-meter" knees are much more sensitive than any GPS unit. But we are both slowpokes so we took it easy and enjoyed one of the best days of the year so far. BigLarry was a bit slower than me on the uphills, but faster on the downhills, so we pretty much evened out and remained together. The temperature was just warm enough to wear short sleeves for the first time this year and the hillsides were dark green and filled with wildflowers.

After hitting the top of Guidotti Road we headed down Hurl Hill on to the Sea Otter singletrack (Trail 47), but in the reverse direction as done in the race. I was amazed at how much this section has been modified. It is now twice as wide and the former washboard surface has been completely smoothed out. We took the seldom traveled loop to the bottom of Trail 47 and then made our way to the racetrack, and then out Trail 11 to Lookout Point. The section of Trail 47 just below the racetrack has been completely sanitized and some huge steep gnarly climbs have been eliminated. I had never been able to climb all the way out to Skyline Road before but it wasn't that difficult this time. From Trail 11 we took Trails 49 and 43 up to the beginning of the Goat Trail (41). At that same intersection Trail 10 has a huge downhill so I suggested a photo of myself going down it would be nice. Since Ord is not very technical I normally don't wear armor. But I figured there was a possibility of us doing Red Rock Ridge (which we didn't) so I brought it along. At the top of the Guidotti climb I decided it was just as easy to wear it as to carry it so I put it on. I'd been having trouble unclipping my left foot all day so when I stalled on the way up Trail 10 I couldn't unclip and I fell for the second time ever, from being clipped in. The last time was my first day out going clipless. I've had new pedals for months but have been too lazy to put them on so perhaps I'd better get on that. I fell pretty hard on my still tender, recently repaired elbow, but I didn't even feel it. I guess I'll keep them on for the foreseeable future no matter where I ride. 

The Goat Trail, especially the eastern half, was great, as always. It was unusually green, with lush wildflowers and beautiful oaks festooned with Old Man's Beard lichen. BigLarry had been off for a while and I hoped to get a mid week night ride in, so rather than finishing up with the usual grueling one hour climb up Oil Well Road, we took Oil Well Road for a little bit and then made our way down to Toro Greek Estates. We then took the single track that paralleled Hwy. 68 back to the parking lot. We both felt we had a great time and the pace was perfect for the both of us. Below are a few photos. Click here for a panorama shot of the Sea Otter Singletrack (Trail 47).

Click on an image to enlarge it.

Sea Otter Singletrack (47)	Lower Loop Trail 47	BigLarry Trail 47	BigLarry Trail 47	Lookout Point	Trail 43
2nd clipless fall in 4 years	Goat Trail	Goat Trail	Goat Trail	Goat Trail	Badger

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