Rangers remove "No Bikes" signs from Los Penasquitos Canyon

[EBasil]

You read it right: tangible proof that the community efforts coordinated by the Multiuse Trails Coalition and the San Diego MTB Assn. are worth the hours and efforts: the dreaded, yellow "No Bikes" signs were removed from several sections of Los Penasquitos Canyon by Ranger staff yesterday:

--The North Trail
--Little Waimea
--Bridges Trail (singletrack!)
--Sidehill/Lucas (singletrack!)
--Lower Cobbles (singletrack!)

Our work isn't done, and some may miss the "outlaw thrill" of riding the trails the entire community of horsers, hikers and cyclists have been sharing for years, but most of us will savor the importance of legal singletrack being restored at San Diego's Ground Zero for anti-bike legislation.

[EBasil]

Okay, public service announcement time.

If you ride Los Pen/DMM, you know about Cobblestone and how Lower Cobbles is now not only legitimately multiuse and open to bikes, but how the lower section of it is Closed to Horses (in exchange for the parallel section, closed to bikes). The "no horses" section includes the popular Whoops and is the scence for two recent trail alterations. Since there has been some excited chatter today over them both, I made some calls and got the facts:

1. NEW FENCES/CLOSED SECTION of Lower Cobbles.
As part of the Trails Committee agreement to designate parts of Lower Cobbles as "no horses" and the parallel section "no bikes", we and the Rangers agreed that the traffic should be "split" all the way down to the funky road crossing at the base of Lower Cobbles, where one of the new kiosks is. This means that the last ramp-up onto the little triangular mesa, then the right turn back down to Lower Cobbles (before popping up the last ramp toward the waterfalls) gets fenced off.

The fencing does three things: 1) it allows the Rangers and enviros to protect that scrubby grass that lives up on the triangular mesita, which turns out to be special grass; 2) it keeps the horses and bikes apart from one another until the kiosk/crossing point (where sightlines are huge); and 3) it completes the "deal" made for the upper and lower Cobbles multiuse designation.

The fences were put up Sunday, torn down by some evil Hot Air Balloonists (I like the sound and image of that) and then replaced today. The ramps and triangular area have been scarfed up for rehabitation. PLEASE, don't mess with these fences. Please do enjoy the tunnel-like brush trimming job done on the section of Lower Cobbles we'll now all take on our bikes.

2. ALTERATION OF THE BIG WHOOPS on Lower Cobbles.
Somebody cut "lunch box sized" hunks out of the ramps/whoops on Lower Cobbles, just below the lips of each. This wasn't the Rangers, and there is No Plan or Intent to mess with these (these are Not places for fence posts to go in), according to the Rangers, our best friends with this trail. Whoever cut those in did it without approval.

I haven't ridden them yet, but the word is, the cuts make it worse for both cruising and for catching a little air. This may be something we have to go out and FIX, I dunno yet.

Regardless, notwithstanding any wild rumors or conspiracy theories that may spring to mind upon encountering the unauthorized work on the Whoops, then the new fences blocking the old ramps... everything is as good as it can be: the fences were known and planned, and the whoops are not slated for action by The Man.

:cool:

[Evel Knievel]

I'm willing to carry water down then from the creek to make the repairs stick.

[EBasil]

Still no response from the Rangers...and I have to have it before we can go in and do work. There's an ongoing issue with one of the horsemen cutting illegal trails, so it's important that each and every trail work we do is pre-approved. When this guy starts spouting off at the meetings about how "the cyclists do work on trails"...we need to be able to have the Rangers jump down his throat about the difference between approved trail crews and assholes running around with loppers and cutting trails through coastal sage scrub.

I'm still on it, and will post on SoCal if I get a response.

By the way, you are a hybrid rockstar/nut for volunteering like this....living 90 minutes away. :)

[EBasil]

We're a No Go, Evel. See more on SoCal, but Ranger Brown said nix to the fix.

[Evel Knievel]

EBasil what you do to keep a on going working and positive relationship with the Rangers is worth supporting. You type tirelessly trying to get others to help. For that alone I feel I should put Stone brew in your hand.

There are few riding opertunities that I know of in Diego area. That one is worth saving. Shoot they ALL are worth saving.

I also have good memories of that local. My first repeat road trip. I took multiple beginers there that were saying" MTBing is cool. Thanks Eric. " Ah good times.

Q ) Did you get a V-10 ? If yes , when are you showing me ATT ?


I like it best when Rangers/Land Managers give approval to maintain. It's like putting money in the bank. Saving up for when you need a little keep it open please.

[EBasil]

Thanks, bud!

Hey, it turns out that if you roll 200 bike tires over a lunchbox-sized hack into the face of a whoop, it smooths out okay... ;) They're pretty good again. By the time I showed up on Patrol, the edges were smooth and by the time I came back out and down Lower Cobbles, it was pretty much done.

I think Saturday was "Adams Trail a Bike Day" in PQ: I ran into 8 of them when I was on Patrol, one coming down Cobblestone and two that came across Bridges Trail... right on! It'll be next season before my son's ready for those.

I didn't get a V-10 :) I've just been tweaking Jefe, since he's been waiting for one way too long...