While RL and Priscilla were enjoying their weekend getaway and Jeremy and Khoa were reminiscing about their Big Bear trip, I had the pleasure of riding with “The Moe“. Saturday we met at the Albertson’s parking lot on the corner of Jamboree and Chapman. Moe has never ridden Santiago Oaks therefore I was looking forward to giving him a tour.

Knowing what I knew about The Moe, I had no doubt in my mind that he’ll be able to handle what S. Oaks has to offer. His weapon of choice for this ride was the new KHS Flagstaff 29er.

After passing through the park, we approached the dreadful 3 “Bs” (B = female K9). On the 1^st B, which is the steeper of the three, we both climbed until about mid-point. I was the first to lose traction, then Moe. We dismounted off our bikes and hiked to the top. We then immediately got on our bikes and started on the 2^nd B. A quarter way up, there is a cut-off on the right hand side. This is a singletrack that runs parallel to the 2^nd B. Moe and I took this route which is slightly easier than the fireroad. The 3^rd B was uneventful as well with the exception of my chain dropping. It was a long grind up but well worth with what the descent has to offer.

Overall it was a blast. Always a good ride when you make it back to the car in one piece. I did notice that The Moe maybe directionally challenged Several times during the ride, as we approached a turn or a split, I would yell out either “left, left” or “right, right”…yet The Moe would go the opposite way … hmmm, we’ll have to keep an eye on that one…

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All of us lucky enough to go out and ride Turnbull Canyon on Saturday got to see one of the most elusive, stealthy animals on the planet… The Moe. The Moe is very similar to the mysterious cougar who prowls the bars of Orange County searching for the unsuspecting young buck. Wait, wait, wait… I’m thinking of the wrong cougar.

No, the mysterious cougar that The Moe resembles is the feline that is seldom viewed by the public. More often the mysterious cougar has probably seen a mountain biker 10 times before the mountain biker has seen the cougar once. The Moe, via the power of the internet probably has the same 10:1 ratio or seeing mountain bikers to being seen by mountain bikers.

Anyway, enough about The Moe and onto the Turnbull Canyon ride report! Turnbull Canyon claimed its first victim when, not even half-a-mile onto the trail, our friend Ryan got his chain stuck between the bottom bracket and the crankset. A twisted chain link later and Ryan was cruising back to his car. This was a great downer for all of us and the depressed mood pervaded the band of bikers for the next few miles or was that depressed mood more a result of the nasty climb? Either way, we were all bummed for Ryan.

Turnbull Canyon has lots of fun parts to it. We decided to take the 2 mile fireroad climb in. Yes, it is actually fun. We followed this by switchbacks going down and then switchbacks coming up. We capped off the great ride with a sweet singletrack descent that dropped us off on the streets below our car. I’m not much of a roadie but the last singeltrack, with its exposure, is worth having to grind out a half-mile road climb back to the car.

All in all, about 1500 feet of climbing in an 8 mile double loop. Lots of fun. Hopefully, we’ll have Ryan riding with us again soon. And for your viewing pleasure, never before published video of The Moe. The Moe is the biker wearing blue riding the silver bike. He sometimes looks like he is struggling on the trail… that’s because he is.

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