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I’ve got to tell you, we’re getting some great weather here in Southern California. A group of us took advantage of the weather and went out riding this morning. We chose the always fun Fullerton Loop.

I rode my X-Cal while a good friend of mine got to try out the new KHS Tucson. He normally rides a 26″ aluminum bike so the Tucson is different for him in that it is a 29er and it has a steel frame. Most of the parts spec on the Tucson is similar to his 26″ mtn bike.

I just wanted to share with you some of his impressions on the bike:

- the bottom bracket is very strong. He felt that the Truvative Blaze crankset and the Truvativ Howitzer Splined outboard cartridge bearing bottom bracket made a very good pairing. It seemed to him that it was solid combination.
- the steel frame exhibited flex that his aluminum bike normally does not have. This seems to be a sought after trait in steel bike frames.
- he likes the 29er wheels. hehe
- he feels faster on the 29er. Maybe it’s the momentum or the ability to roll over small obstacles, but he definitely feels faster on the 29er than on his 26 inch bike.
- if he was in the market for another bike, he’d be willing to pay a bit more for a 29er with the same parts spec as a 26″ bike.

I also went to the LBS after the ride to tune up my X-cal and have some work done to it (you’ll find out soon what was done) and a couple of the mechanics took turns riding the Tucson and commenting on it. One of them, who used to race an X-Cal and just bought a Salsa Dos-Niner to race felt that the geometry of the Tucson was very similar to his new Dos-Niner. He liked the Tucson.

Just some quick impressions I thought you might be interested in hearing. If you’d like more info on the KHS Tucson, click here.

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Most 29er riders believe that it’s more difficult to endo on a 29er than it is on a 26 inch bike. They claim that because 29er bikes have a longer front axle to bottom bracket distance, you are less likely to endo. Others claim that because the 29ers have a longer wheelbase than a 26″ bike, they are less likely to endo.

Whatever the reason is, they did not try my patented technique for endoing. That is “not paying attention.” For some reason, when I apply the “not paying attention” technique I fall or endo. Even more surprising is that I can do this just as well on a 26â€�? bike and a 29er! This morning, I tried my patented “not paying attentionâ€�? technique and, not surprisingly, it worked again.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the great thing about riding the Fullerton Loop is that it is in the middle of a city. That means I can cut out certain parts of the loop and rejoin the loop by riding the streets. Due to time constraints (I say that a lot) I normally cut out parts of the loop and this morning was no different.

While riding the streets to get back to the loop I decided to drink from my water bottle. As I was putting the bottle back in its cage (practicing my “not paying attention�? technique) my front tire got caught in a little hole in the road, probably 6 inches wide by 2 feet long by 4 inches deep. Of course the hole ends sharply (it would be too convenient for it to gradually slope upwards to connect back to the street, wouldn’t it?) and since I only had one hand on the handlebar, I endo’d.

It was kind of like this but with clips-ins, on the street and without all the protection. Ok, it wasn’t like this at all.

The good news? The Tucson survived the crash. It got a little road rash on top of one of the Deore trigger shifters, but that won’t affect the bike. I carefully inspected the rest of the bike and found that that was the only injury it sustained. Sturdy.

Tucson shifter road rash

The bad news? I added more scratches to my growing collection that began last Saturday when I also fell off the Tucson and now I definitely need a new pair of gloves (is that good news or bad news?). I guess I can thank God that it wasn’t worse than scratches and probably more bruising along my shin. At least there weren’t any broken bones, right? And, as I’m sure you’re all wondering, I did finish the ride. I rode the exact route I normally would, just slightly slower.

Just a quick pet peeve: less than 2 seconds after I endo’d and while I’m still trying to get up a car drives by. That means that the driver must have seen me fall. No “are you ok?�? or “do you need any help?�? Nothing. Is it too much to ask for some common courtesy? Or should I just be happy I wasn’t run over? OK, rant over.

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Jeremy & El Moro Map

This past Saturday my buddy Ivan & I went to ride some trails in El Moro. Due to time constraints and our being unfamiliar with El Moro, we spent some time discussing exactly which ride to do and ended up choosing El Moro Redtail Ridge – Rattlesnake. We used geoladders.com which is one SWEET website if you are looking for trails in the Southern California area.

This ride conditions were great. The sun was shining and when we started our ride, the temperature was probably in the upper 50′s to low 60′s. By the time we finished a long/nasty climb that ended at the 3 mile mark, the temperatures were in the mid to upper 60′s. We were rewarded when we finished that climb with an unbelievable view of the Pacific Ocean.

Jeremy at El Moro with Pacific Ocean in background

El Moro’s views were truly amazing. Thank God for the rain from two days prior; it cleared up most of the smog that usually lingers over So Cal. At one spot we could look north and see the white snow caps of our local San Bernardino mountains peaking behind the hills of El Moro. And if we looked west, we could see the vast blue Pacific ocean stretching to the horizon.

Of course, what’s the fun in riding a new trail without getting a little lost? Below Ivan & I arrived at an option, climb the ugly hill with deep ruts or take the singletrack (not pictured). We weren’t sure where either of them led, so we decided to stick with the fireroad and climbed that hill.

Ivan Consults Map

Thankfully we were again rewarded for climbing that hill when we came across the best singletrack I’ve ever ridden, which isn’t saying a lot. haha. After riding this singletrack I finally understood why one of the guys we met was looking all over So Cal. for epic singletrack. I’m now on the lookout for it too! Sorry, no pictures of the singletrack, it was truly too good to stop for.

On the way back down to the parking lot, we ran into a short, monster hill. I’m not sure what the steepness grade was, but it was definitely more than what I could handle.

Ivan Demonstrating Hike-a-Bike

But what goes up, most come down and the last 2.5 miles was a fun rolling descent to the parking lot.

Geoladders.com Elevation Map for El Moro Redtail Ridge

El Moro gets high praise from me. By the way, does anyone know where epic singletrack exists in So. Cal?

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A small group of us went mountain biking on the Fullerton Loop this past Saturday. We came up with an easy route because one of the guys was a newbie who has never ridden mountain before and I had a minor injury.

Luckily, the Fullerton Loop is conducive to creating new routes because it’s in the middle of a city. The advantage is that you can jump off the loop at certain points to miss harder parts (ie. climbs) ride on paved roads and catch up with the loop at other points. We were able to do this a couple of times to make most of our route flat, with a couple of small uphills.

For those of you who know the loop, we started from the courthouse and rode San Juanita Cooke (SJC) trail to Hiltscher Trail. We rode down Hiltscher until we hit Euclid Street. We then turned around and rode back up Hiltscher trail to SJC trail. We took SJC, using Morella Avenue, to ride to Laguna Lake. After a quick lap around the lake, we took SJC trail to the railroad tracks. We finished off the ride by riding the golf course area into the dam area and then using Harbor Blvd to get back to the courthouse.

Am I the only one crazy enough to “easify” my favorite local trail just so I can ride with a minor injury? And if you’ve done the same, which one have you “easified” so that I can ride?

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Had a great night ride with Moe & Bryan on the Fullerton Loop. It was my first time riding at night and it was a blast!

I rode my Gary Fisher X-cal 29er. Moe rode his K2 with the Sweetskinz tires and Bryan rode a hardtail Diamondback that he built up himself.

I got to rock the new Optic Nerve (nerveusa.com) Savant glasses too. I used the clear lens and I have to say that worked great. Most times I forgot I had them on.

Below is a picture me & Bryan with the glasses still on. By the way, Bryan has never ridden the 29er so he took mine for a quick parking lot spin. He’s considering building up a single speed and I told him that the 29er is the way to go.

If you look carefully, you can see the Sweetskinz (sweetskinz.com) on the K2 in the background. The reflective parts of the tires look pretty cool.

We didn’t get any pictures while out on the trail mainly because Moe & I were huffing along trying to keep up with Bryan, the machine. He’s a machine because he can climb the hills as if he were doing the flats. Ridiculous power to weight ratio.

Lastly, got to thank RL for the Cygolite LED (cygolite.com) he let me borrow. The light was a handlebar mount (which has its positivies & negatives compared to a helmet light). The LED was surprisingly bright, very light & best of all, it didn’t fail me all night. Thanks RL.

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