Another Simi Super Mini-Epic

Inspired by my mini-adventure last weekend, I thought that I would take another journey into the outback surrounding our home in Simi Valley.  However, this time I decided to modify my route a bit to make sure that I had enough energy to truly enjoy the experience along the Rocky Peak fireroad.  That did not exactly happen, but it was much less exhausting than my mini-epic last week.  I also had the advantage of being able to trade my custom Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper for the Specialized Hard Rock Sport that I rode last week.  My S-Works has been out of commission since I broke the chain and had to replace the derailleur in a mishap a few weeks ago.  Although I very much like my Hard Rock Sport.  After all, it is the bike that got me back into mountain biking after years away.  However, there is a reason that my endearing name for this red bike is “The Tank”!  The bicycle is solid and reliable, but relatively heavy.  Here is a look inside the turret of The Tank.  It is great to have it as a back up to the B-2 Bomber, my personally built S-Works Stumpjumper.  (Please excuse the quality of some of my camera phone photos) 

The two bikes are good in different situations and I like them on different rides for different reasons.  However, it cannot be denied that the B-2 is much more expensive than the Tank.  The Tank is good on fire roads and fairly flat off-road riding while The B-2 Bomber excels on the ultra-rocky downhills that I encountered on the descent of the Hummingbird trail on this, the second of my Simi Super Mini-Epics! 

This time I started out on the Old Santa Susana Pass Road instead of taking the energy-sapping trip up the small trail through Corriganville.  This part took a while but eventually I arrived back at the entrance to the Rocky Peak fireroad, the scene of my mini-epic of the previous week.  Instead of taking the Rocky Peak fireroad all the way to the Chumash Trail, I thought that I would check out the Hummingbird Trail down from the fireroad.  In theory this was an excellent idea, in practice it was not so hot!

From the top of the Hummingbird Trail, it didn’t look too bad.  It looked like a nice rolling trail down the side of the hill.  Little did I know that just over that rise, the trail becomes much more formidable in its descent down the side of Rocky Peak.  It was a good thing that I was on The B-2 Bomber with dual suspension and not The Tank with a single suspension!  I would have never made it down on The Tank!  The singletrack was littered with foot-deep rutts between large rocks as it snaked in and out of the native sandstone formations that cover the mountain.  The singletrack finally reaches the monolithic sandsone formations that dominate the midpoint of Rocky Peak.  As the trail snaked between and over these formations, sometimes requiring a bit of hike-a-bike, I encountered some impressive scenery that included caves and rock chutes.  As I cleared the stoney midpoint, I began to encounter a little bit more dirt than above as I reached more of the alluvium at the bottom of the hill.

This is not a trek that I would recommend to anyone but experienced mountain bikers.  In my attempt of this trail descent I wore knee and shin guards, elbow pads and a full-face bicycle helmet.  Even with my past experience to guide me I crashed 3 times on my descent.  With the padding I walked away with a few bruises, without the padding who knows what would have happened.  If you have the experience and plan to give this trail a shot be sure to wear at least Leg(shin & knee) guards (I use my old roller hockey shin/knee guards), elbow pads and a full-face helmet.

I hope that you have enjoyed the writeup as much as I enjoyed finishing my Second Simi Super Mini-Epic.  Hopefully you are a little less bruised by the whole journey than me! 

Super Mini Epic

This past weekend, I ended up riding a Mini-Epic mountain bike ride, if you want to call it that.  I originally only wanted to take a ride into Corriganville to see the end of a trail that I had only followed halfway up the hill toward the Old Santa Susana Pass Road. 

 So I headed into Corriganville, crossed the railroad tracks and headed east up the hill on a trail that runs through the cut toward the Old Santa Susanna Pass Road.  Emerging near the top of the the Old Santa Susanna Pass Road, I decided to head up the Rocky Peak Fire Road to see what was up there.  Following the fire road to the top at an altitude of approximately 2,600 ft, I passed the top of the Hummingbird Trail and continued along my way, by this time determined to make it to the Chumash Trail for my return trip home down the mountain. 

Once I got to the top of Rocky Peak, the trail flattened out and gradually began to slope down toward the north.  In this photo, I am looking back up the trail to the south.  The post marking the turnoff at the top of the Chumash Trail appears to have been repeatedly burned and cannot be read.  Luckily I ran into a nice couple that were just exiting the Chumash Trail onto the Rocky Peak fireroad and was able to confirm with them that it was indeed the Chumash Trail.  It was then just a couple mile descent that was rocky in a number of sections that required more than one dismount.  The trail winds down from the Rocky Peak fireroad through some very impressive scenery.

From the bottom of the Chumash Trail it was a ery uneventful descent on roads home.  The grand total of my mini-adventure was ~13 miles, not too bad for this weekend warrior.