[MikeD]

Yet another day off, and riding today was a bust (maybe I'll hit mission trails real quick, we'll see), but I was looking at www.mountainbikebill.com and Sweetwater looks like a pretty nice XC ride. Anyone familiar with it? Hints/tips, or want to come and ride along/guide (most likely in front of me...)?

There's not a hell of a lot of singletrack locally, is there?

I can't wait to ride Cuyamaca...has any of it opened back up since the fires? Will it open after the winter is over?

MD

 

[mealsonwheels]

Yet another day off, and riding today was a bust (maybe I'll hit mission trails real quick, we'll see), but I was looking at www.mountainbikebill.com and Sweetwater looks like a pretty nice XC ride. Anyone familiar with it? Hints/tips, or want to come and ride along/guide (most likely in front of me...)?

MD

I'm open for a ride Sunday afternoon. PM me and we can work out a time and place to meet.

 

[MikeD]

Sorry, I forgot to type "tomorrow" into my post. Got to make the most of having weekdays off. Don't think I'll be able to do it Sunday...thanks for the offer, though, and I'll PM you if I can make it after all.

MD

 

[Orvan]

Try starting Sweetwater from Steel Canyon side through the resevoir. The front side from the County Park is tore up and wide open boring nothingness.

 

[BullittX]

I can't wait to ride Cuyamaca...has any of it opened back up since the fires? Will it open after the winter is over?

Most of Cuyamaca has been open for a couple of months now.

mark@sdmba.com

 

[MikeD]

Really? I guess there's a lot of snow up there at the moment...when's the best time to ride it? What are the directions to the trailhead(s)?

MD

 

[BullittX]

Yo MikeD

Czech out the trailhead page on slocalmtb.com for the "classic loop" at Cuyamaca State Park. Have you ever ridden Iron Mtn? There is some fun techie-switchbackie stuff there, just watch out for the hikers. How about the CR& HT from Loveland Resevoir up to Belle Bluff in Hellpine?

mark@sdmba.com

 

[Fonzie18]

Sweetwater is probably toast right now...I live close to these trails and have ridden them when they are wet, not too much fun. The soil is very clay-like and makes your bike 50 lbs heavier within 50 feet of riding!!!! Not to mention the fact that most of the trails are used by the local equestrians, which means lots of horse shiat.....


-ALF

 

[MikeD]

Yo MikeD

Czech out the trailhead page on slocalmtb.com for the "classic loop" at Cuyamaca State Park. Have you ever ridden Iron Mtn? There is some fun techie-switchbackie stuff there, just watch out for the hikers. How about the CR& HT from Loveland Resevoir up to Belle Bluff in Hellpine?

mark@sdmba.com

Mark, how do you get to the Iron Mountain trailhead? mtbr.com has useless directions, and I didn't see it on socalmtb.

MD

 

[cbcbcbcb]

Check here for Cuyamaca:
http://www.mountainbikebill.com/Cuyamaca.htm

There has been unbelievable water damage to the trails, especially Middle Peak. What used to be a long mostly middle ring fireroad climb is now a granny gear slog up, across and through too many rocky riverbeds to count. And it has rained several more times since I was there last. Not that there is anything wrong with that...

And check here for Sweetwater:
http://www.mountainbikebill.com/sweetwater.htm

As you get to point C on Bill's map, look to your right. There is a web of trails all through this area, including some sweet singletrack. There's plenty to explore. I rode this just over a week ago, right after a rain. Conditions are mostly fine. There are a few unavoidable puddles and the steep just east of the Gazebo (Point D) is thouroughly rutted out. Other than that, it was great.

Good luck!

 

[MikeD]

Great info; thanks!

MD

 

[mealsonwheels]

Mark, how do you get to the Iron Mountain trailhead? mtbr.com has useless directions, and I didn't see it on socalmtb.

MD

Take the 67 east to the intersection of Poway Rd. Park along the 67. The trailhead is about 100 yards south of Poway Rd. and heads east to a saddle. You'll turn right at the saddle and head up to the summit of Iron Mtn. The signs are very obvious. Expect to see many cars at the trailhead. Let me know if you go on a weekend.

 

[cbcbcbcb]

Here's a month old ride report from Iron Mountain you might be interested in. I've edited it slightly since I don't have permission to repost it from the author. Miles was fine with it, so here goes.

/cb

Well,

Miles and I opted not to do any of the regular rides today and instead headed out to Iron Mountain. I had never been and Miles had only been a few times but not in the past 1-2 years.

The trailhead was clogged with vehicles, but nobody else was out riding. Just a TON of hiking type peeps. For some reason, a large majority of them like to carry ski poles with them but I guess it's just a hiking thing.

We headed out on some loop Miles knew that started with a gradual fire road. After about 1/2 mile, we started to turn up. The comparison is sort of like climbing the water bars at Cowles. Only on this particular trail, you just kept going up and up and up! I think that only about 15% of the first climb was rideable while the rest put us into the greater hiker population. There was a DH after the first climb but again, only about half or a bit more was rideable. The trail was steep and littered with steps, ruts, and sharp turns containing each of the previously mentioned items. Not much exposure, but no real lines to speak of especially for a couple of reasonably talented XC dorks.

After hiking the better part of the way up the second climb we stopped to enjoy a nice snack of vile orange circus peanuts. About a minute or two after we stopped, two trail runners came along and asked if one of us was [Someone]. Instantly wondering how in the hell anybody out there knew my name I said "I am". To which they replied "we found your wallet". I thanked them profusely and didn't even bother looking in it at the time. I apparently had forgotten to zip the pocket in my pack that it was in and it bounced out somewhere along the trail. Fortunately, when we got back to the car and I looked into it the large sum of $3.00 that I had in it was still intact!

After that climb, the riding actually improved a ton. The next DH was a lot of fun and not too technical. Some water bars but nothing else too bad. After two hours we made it to a sign indicating that we had traveled the huge sum of 3.3 miles! Well, now we had to climb up Iron Mt. proper. The first 1/2 was pretty gradual but after that the fun started. The rocks got more prevelant, the ruts got deeper, and the water bars were put in some absolutely heinous locations. We made it to the top and enjoyed the views for a while. You can see Sycamore, [Mission Trails], and Black Mountain from the top so it was nice to see all of the other areas that we ride.

Now, the fun began. Time to go down. We started down and after about 2 minutes Miles decided to see what it would be like to execute a partial endo. He didn't hurt himself too badly but may have jinzed himself a bit for the rest of the descent. We rode down and checked out most of the trickier spots first before attempting them.

There were a lot of hikers and most of them were surprised to see two idiots trying to ride down this trail but they were all nice to us as we approached. We managed to make it down almost the entire trail and only had to really walk a few sections. We tried several of them repeatedly though and Miles cleared a few more than I did (he was on his quasi-trailbike after all).

After riding this trail I can definitely say that Noble is novice compared to Iron Mt. Imagine the staircase multiplied by 2 and put about 30 of them on one trail and you have Iron Mt. I'm not sure I'll go back regularly but it's a fun one to do every once in a while.

[Someone]

 

[MTDBIKE]

Iron is better on a weekday due to less hikers that might attack you with their ski poles. Mt. Woody has a better flow and can be partially shuttle, and Cleaver is extra find but no possible shuttle. It's good idea to use a bike bell for Woody and Iron.

 

[Discodncr]

Iron Mtn. is a little crowded with hikers on the weekends. But there is a less travelled route on the way back. When heading up Iron Mtn. proper you'll come to the split in the trail where one goes to the summit and the other goes left. Take the one to the left, this trail offers some bike carry training on the way up. You'll come to a saddle that faces west, take a break here. The next part of the trail is downhill and challenging. You drop down into Rattlesnake Creek (no creek, this is SD county). Then you're back to grinding and hauling your bike. It's not that bad. Once you reach lunch rock, it's all downhill from there (my favorite part). This trail drops you down to Ellie Lane. I guess that's a good enough reason to call it the Ellie Ln. trail.
There is a price to pay either way you go. Hardtail, you'll enjoy the uphills, or go with a mush bike and enjoy the downhills.
This trail gets a big thumbs up for the workout and the challenging fun.