SoCal Road Trip

In need of an adventure and change of scenery, we looked towards some southern California hot spots we’ve been wanting to visit.  Our plan was to focus our time around two IMBA Epic trails and explore smaller areas in-between while camping.

En route from our home in Sedona we camped in Joshua Tree for one night of our four day adventure.  We were quite surprised by its beauty.  Sunsets and sunrises were amazing as well as scrambling around on the rocks.  Unfortunately no mountain biking. Yet.

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree sunset Joshua Tree Sunrise

Using MTB Project to scout our trails, we decided that the San Juan trail was our first destination and it did not disappoint.  We chose to ride this 21 mile ride in its entirety without shuttle.  Apparently shuttling is a popular way to ride this since the last half is one big ripping downhill.  Ride details from MTB Project: San Juan Trail

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Upper San Juan
The upper parts of the trail were fast and flowy in the trees.  I found myself scouring the thick forests for mountain lions that we were warned about.  Luckily I only heard things that accelerated my pace.

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San Juan Bridge
Mountain bike inspired bridge construction

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San Juan Trail
The final descent was well over a 10 miles with everything from rocky, switchbacky, to fast and flowy.  And the views did not suck!

San Juan Trail San Juan Trail

Next, we headed south down to San Diego in hopes of finding some goods before our final planned destination just east of town.  We hit up some bike shops in hopes of finding some nice legal riding spots without much luck other than some small parks that had some short fun loops.

San Diego

Finally we arrive at our main destination ride just east of the city in the small town of Pine Valley for the Noble Canyon IMBA Epic.   The 30 mile ride we did as a loop included some steep climbing to get to Noble Canyon trail, but it was well worth it!  The 9.7 mile Noble Canyon trail offered lots of variation including wide open vistas, sweeping meadows, and oak forests with rocky creek crossings.  This was definitely the highlight of our trip.  We look forward to returning here soon!

Noble Canyon IMBA Epic Noble Canyon IMBA Epic Noble Canyon 3 Noble Canyon 4

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