Aliso-Wood and Laguna Coast Wilderness Parks

I rode TnA first time in about a year.

Not sure why I picked today wife out of town traveling tomorrow. Not the best idea but I was drawn to it seemed ready padded up.

First time on the Spur.

Top section little overgrown little chewed up and some way too big braking holes... Freaking people that don't know how to ride.

Midsection uneventful.

Had not seen the Crux in a while so I stopped kind of high slid down it.

I will still ride to the right side. Just didn't want to clip a pedal and go down.

The big right hand drop just after the crux was a bit bigger and I hit it kind of hard... Come back to that.

The rest of the rock section was pretty much as I remember.

BUT that last big drop right hand turn as you head into the final run out is huge now...

@herzalot
@Obsidian

The picture does no justice... From takeoff to landing it was four and a half feet or so...



I am struggling a little bit on those big drops on the new bike.

I did not ride that today. There's some lines to the right. Kind of steep to you. I'll have to come back and take a look.

Long story short, it seems on the new long bike that I'm not hucking as efficiently.

Since the bike is longer it seems like There is a longer time where the front wheel is in air and the back wheel is still on rock which then allows the front wheel to come down more... I hit a little bit forward than I'd like.

Maybe I need to ride it more speed...

Maybe I need to stay a little more centered and pop off the ledge....

Just seemed different to me...

Oh beautiful afternoon riding in Laguna!!!

I think I'm going to go ride that ledge right at the top of Lynx and practice or something.

The bike does great on steeps and other things that I feel very comfortable. Very good on RockIt etc. I've just noticed that some of the hucks I'm not landing the way I want

I know I'm actually talking about mountain biking skills. What am I thinking?? LOL

 

I'll chime on this since I've been hitting TnA on the regular again as of late. That last drop is indeed a spicy meatball these days with an almost uphill landing. It was once roll-able but not anymore. The drop is definitely quite doable as an FYI but can be pucker inducing if one does not commit. I've scared the out myself more than once off it in the current state

 

If I ever ride again, I will need to go check it out. Looks about the same as my last photo there...


Although with the bike in your photo, you can tell it's not just a tilted slab of rock.

The problem I have had there in the past is landing my back wheel heavy on the rock below your cranks and consequently bending my rim. That hasn't happened since changing to my new rim (DT Swiss EX 521?), but it was the death of my Race Face ARC Offset and my DT Swiss M 1700.

I can't generate enough speed coming out of the creek bed to do more than a slowish manual plop. But that was back in the day when I used to ride. Maybe I'll get on my bike this weekend. I haven't ridden since memorial day.

 

It's bigger now for sure. I don't know if some of that dirt to see at the bottom is gone or what but I've ridden many many times. I used to ride it weekly. Like you, it's bigger!

I'll try to figure out how to take a a better picture next time. The bike is kind of up close. It's more of a hole below or something.

On the Bronson I could keep a little more speed and huck plop as you say decently.

Definitely didn't have enough speed Yeah I'll have to do the right hand side kind of roll drop I guess.

Anywho, just reporting from the trail. Most the rest of it was all good. Definitely feels different on the shorter travel bike than Bronson... Although I'll add the Spur is immensely capable now that I've got it all together the way I like it.

 

Ha, Ill admit I havent been doing that drop lately-the last time i did it I almost ate some serious S#@t. Used to roll it-Like others said its way bigger now, like the one on Car Wreck.
but I do the awkward little drop to uphill landing at bottom of BVD every time no problem, bottoming out both ends. Go figure...

 

The distance from where my glove is (just above the back of your saddle) to the crease below your rear wheel is exactly the same as in my photo. Your photo is taken to the left of my photo, looking up the hill. It appears none of that has changed.

 

That was my 61st run in the recent years...

Go ride it and report back

It's the landing (below / out of frame of my pic.. where that nice dirt in your pic is...) that seems different not the takeoff...

Or perhaps ... I'm just becoming an old chicken!

 

It's definitely bigger than it was a few years ago. It was a little two footer the first time I rode it 10 years ago or so.

But yeah - not much different in the past year. I hear you with "becoming an old chicken..." Injuries will do that to a person.

 

Agree it is slowly been getting bigger... And the new bike didn't help the confidence...

I'll be taking another look at it, but I may just ride to the right....

That's the first time I haven't hucked that in years!

I need / need to continue to take my own advice better. Better to be careful today and ride tomorrow then ride today for the last time!! LOL

Not worth a hospital trip and months of recovery or permanent damage

 

Seems like There used to be another rock at the bottom that made it an easier transition, less of a hole and rollable. Also more dirt on the landing has eroded away. but its been gnarlier like this for at least a couple years,

 

Another observation for Laguna coast.. holy crap. The sand came out of nowhere...
Suddenly It's deep in a bunch of places... It started to sand up about a month ago and then bang. It's officially dried out and is deep in a few places...

Also noticing I'm breaking traction and drifting a bit. We're officially passed. Good dirt.

Back to the drop. Yeah I know it's been getting worse I think with the Bronson I just rode at a speed and confidence that allowed me to just shoot off that... Braking before it and looking at it closely ..is not a good idea

 

Yeah that drop has become bigger but what makes it more spicy is the landing being somewhat uphill currently. You can't see that from the two pics above though. Therefore it is more challenging than in the past due to the harsh-ish compression. That pretty much sums it up.