Boobs on Bars

Pete has, lately, been organizing these mountain bike rides through many of our local riding hot spots. Though I wanted to get out to each of them I missed out on three (at least) earlier rides, to Chino Hills State Park the world famous Fullerton Loop, and Marshall Canyon, so when this latest one, to Bonelli Park, popped up on Facebook I made sure I was ready and not let the opportunity pass me by. Now, Bonelli is like a once a week thing for me [yes, you say, we've grown weary of all those Bonelli posts, you say] but, and as I have mentioned before, there are so many interconnected, and criss-crossing trails in the park that it is hard to tire of the place since you can mix it up each time, and thus vary the loops.

the intrepid party of explorers ready to depart

The last time I did a group ride at Bonelli it was with the Girlz Gone Riding, and more specifically geared towards beginners and novices, and I was able to take them on my favorite lakeside detour around the cove. Today we kept more to the steeper and rockier perimeter, damaging legs and egos the whole time. There are some steeps that really force you to push and slow grind, even in the easiest gears. The kind of hills that may have you hunched over so far that you are riding "boobs on bars" - an apropos description I must admit I had never heard before today.

I think the group may have been a bit smaller this morning since some of the usual protagonists are in Portland for the Naked Bike Ride (photos or it didn't happen, I believe is in order), but we had a fun group, a fun ride, and I will certainly be keeping an eye peeled for the next one. Thanks, Pete, for organizing.

kactus kingdom

up to the heliport and into the clouds

this little trail segment, coming down from the helipad, is trickier than it looks

riding through the summer dry