Me and the Moonlander!

Fire Station #4 - March 4, 2012


Night Ride - Took off after the boys were asleep. Quick ride up the hill to San Marcos, Fire Station #4. Awesome night out. With a warm breeze. Camera - Panasonic Lumix.


Short ride, but with all that is going on, I will take what I can get. The route.

Distance 6.4 miles
Elevation 693 feet
Moving Average 10.4 mph

Quick/Short Ride - March 5, 2012


Nice, quick, loop at La Costa Preserve. I used a new descent to get back to San Elijo Hills(water tank). I had a limited time slot to get my ride in with Nathan staying home today. Many Thanks to Mor Mor for watching him.


I did a retest of my speed up to the top of La Costa Preserve. Back on February 13, 2012 I made it to the top in 19 minutes 32 seconds. With a moving average of 6.3 mph covering 2.06 miles. Post #70 on page 7. Today I made it to the top in 19 minutes 1 second. With a moving average of 6.5 mph and covering 2.07 miles. 31 seconds faster on the fat bike. Cool! Elevation to the top is about 540 feet.


Benches at the entrance to the Switchback Trail.


This is also where you can turn South and go down the Nascar Trail.


Do to the time constraints I opted to take this descent down into Oak Creek Ranch and then over to San Elijo Hills. This is a very steep descent, that in many ways is a waste of all the work you did to get to the top. Neat view looking over at San Elijo Hills.

Distance 4.8 miles
Elevation 824 feet
Moving Average 7.5 mph

SEH Loop - March 6, 2012


I linked up several trails inside San Elijo Hills to get up by Double Peak.


Throw in a little hike a bike for something different.


A few of the sections were really rocky. I should have lowered the air pressure on the tires.


Overlooking San Marcos. Dark clouds and cooler temperatures. A pleasant change for San Diego.


Small pond up off of Questhaven Road.


The route, clockwise from the bottom left.

Distance 8.3 miles
Elevation 1155 feet
Moving Average 8.9 mph

Secret Trail - March 7, 2012


New way to the Ridge line Trail on top of San Elijo Hills. Looking across at La Costa Preserve(Denk Mountain).


Down and around the backside on the Secret Trail. So much for being a secret.


The trail tightens up and the flowers are in bloom.


More photographs of the trail and South lake at the bottom.


Still in love with those Big Fat Larry's(tires).


Next I rode over by Elfin Forest. This is a newly found trail that has eluded me for years.


Unfortunately this trail has just been widened so that horseback riders can ride side by side. Dept. of Parks and Rec. were out installing the water bars today.


Made it to this undisclosed location.



Distance 11.7 miles
Elevation 1863 feet
Moving Average 7.9 mph

Wednesday Night Ride - March 7, 2012


A couple of weeks back I got invited to do a night ride with a group out of Oak Creek Ranch(Just down the road). So I got the thumbs up from the Misses and off I went. Ride started at 6:00 pm sharp. Left the house, hit the back trail and 10 minutes later I was talking with a whole bunch of riders. I did not count, but my guess was over 20. Not bad for a winter ride. Next thing I knew I was being asked questions like "hey did I see you at Bike Bling the other day", or "you stopped in at Kings Paddle Sports. I was the guy from the bike shop up stairs". My thought was uh-oh, these guys aren't just weekend warriors. So to put it bluntly I just got pulled around the track by a bunch of really good riders and there I was on a 40 pound fat bike.


Since I was playing catch up. I did not get a whole lot of photographs. This stop was to wait for a rider with a flat tire. The front group was long gone. It just so happens that we lucked out and caught them coming back from an outer loop.


Tonights route. The great part was 90% of this was new to me.

Distance 16.0 miles
Elevation 2277 feet
Moving Average 7.7 mph


Here is the GPS tracks from the whole day!

Today's Distance 27.7 miles
Today's Elevation 4140 feet

Off to the Hot Tub. Oh and I went down tonight. Front end washed out descending a steep section. Smacked my left shin pretty good.

Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever.

i really need to get one of those bikes... and you really need a Go Pro

Cody1771 said:

i really need to get one of those bikes... and you really need a Go Pro

Click to expand...

My GoPro Hero bit the dust the other day. I have been talking with GoPro about a replacement but I believe I am out of warranty. I should be picking up a Hero 2 soon!

Water Tank Trail - March 8, 2012


After yesterdays night ride. I just had to get back out to explore these new trails.


Off the South side of the mountain I picked up the new single track.


Down in the canyon heading North.


Nice little water fall.


Interesting how this agave is able to grow right out of the rocks.


Cool hike a bike across the steam.



Distance 6.7 miles
Elevation 872 feet
Moving Average 6.4 mph

Gear said:

My GoPro Hero bit the dust the other day. I have been talking with GoPro about a replacement but I believe I am out of warranty. I should be picking up a Hero 2 soon!

Click to expand...

I don't know what you're using to capture these images but they sure are great. Nice job! I always hit your thread for your daily trek.

TangoBlue said:

I don't know what you're using to capture these images but they sure are great. Nice job! I always hit your thread for your daily trek.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliments on the photographs. The last couple of rides I have been using a small Panasonic Lumix for the majority of shots. The photographs that look like panorama's are taken with the iPhone and an app. called Pano. Further back in the thread, any shot with me riding was taken with a GoPro Hero. Looking forward to another great ride!:bike_rider:

Hey Justin, I'm digging your thread. It looks like you're having a blast on the ML. I looked at a Pugsley last year, but talked myself out of it. I'm thinking the wider Moon might be the way to go. I like Surly bikes for their simplicity and had a Karate Monkey as a grocery getter.

I got a Barbour International for my 40th this year. I think we're both pretty fortunate guys. Here's to the next 40!

24HOURSOFNEVADA said:

I think we're both pretty fortunate guys. Here's to the next 40!

Click to expand...

Absolutely! Keep the rubber side down. I hope our paths cross again soon!

Point A-B, March 9, 2012


So this morning I am standing around helping out at my boys running club(elementary school). When Dave says he is going to ride his bike over to Baja Designs. "Oh really, I know a couple of trails we can take," I say. For the next couple of hours Dave keeps hearing "if you look over there we can take that trail and it will come out over here". Followed by "This looks cool, lets check it out!" Needless to say it was not the Point A-B ride that he woke up thinking about this morning.


Comments from me "Lets take the high road!" as we ascended the trails towards Double Peak.


Side note - Here is a shot of the rim and how Surly cut some of the weight out of the wheels with these holes. That is the liner and inner tube protruding. I think it acts like a bead lock at low tire pressure.


Came across this interesting mail box. Not in the picture but of interest was the empty coffee cans laying around to look like bullet casings.


Dave was being a good sport about all the side trips. So I treated him to a Coke. On second thought we should of had lunch but it was still early.


The end goal - Baja Designs.


While Dave was making a transaction. I was busy trying to figure out how to mount the Fuego on the Moonlander. Turns out they have battery packs!



Distance 20.3 miles
Elevation 2071 feet
Moving Average 8.3 mph

Single Track Sunday - March 11, 2012


Single Track Sunday. Tony(TD64), Dave and I headed out this morning bright and early with the time change for a nice little ride.


Now thats Fat. Tony's tire up against the Moonlander.


Here is an interesting piece of gear that Tony had attached to his helmet. This is a great idea and one that I will be looking into getting with all of the solo rides that I am doing.


Loved this lower section of the mountain.


We crossed the street twice. A great loop.

Distance 11.0 miles
Elevation 1795 feet
Moving Average 6.3 mph