Ride Report: Aliso Woods with a flock of friends

This Saturday’s group ride let us to one of our favorite trails, Aliso Woods. We were joined by some of the regulars as well as some not so regular folks. One of the things that made this ride interesting for Priscilla was the fact that she was riding our newest demo bike the KHS XCT 535. We also mixed up our ride a bit by adding a second climb up Cholla. Joe Solancho suggested that we go up Cholla and then come right down Lynx which is right next to it. So after the fun downhill section of Lynx, we went up about 100 yards and started climbing again…ugh!

Priscilla had later told me that the second time up Cholla she was able to do better on the climb since her legs were already warmed up. But for me, aye, it was just as tough as the first time.

We had a decent sized group out there this weekend, its pretty rare that another female rider gets to come along with us, but our friend Christine was there keeping Priscilla company.

It’s always fun to go in a big group of folks. What we’ve always practiced is that there’s someone that leads the group, then a person that stays in the rear to make sure no one is left behind. We also stop at certain spots to regroup.

Here’s Jeremy flexing, jk! Actually this is a photo of him after going over the bars. We were waiting for him at one point of the trail, and when he showed up, he explained that he went over when his front wheel got caught on a rut on Rock-It.

Here’s a picture that I’m really proud of. This is a shot of Priscilla (on the left) and Christine riding down Rock-It. Even though Priscilla is one of the faster riders at MtnBikeRiders.com, she has a harder time handling down hill sections of a trail. But since she had the KHS XCT 535, and the help of Christine (who recently took a Bike Skills Class), she was able to confidently make it down Rock-It without stopping! Now that’ a big deal! If you’ve ridden Rock-It before, you’ll remember how difficult it could be for the first few times. But after seeing Priscilla take this section on, I would have thought that she’s done it a dozen times before.

Other than Jeremy falling, there were no casualties to report. It was also great to see Lance rocking the big wheels on his new built Vassago Bandersnatch.

This is our mandatory group photo. Jeremy, Lance, Priscilla, David, Joe S., “Preacher Man” and Christine. I was the one taking all the photos and videos.

Here’s a short video of the ride.