Thursday, December 12, 2013

An inspiring bike and mountaineering tour through Kyrgyzstan -- The Road From Karakol


I just watched the short film of Kyle Dempster's solo bike and mountaineering tour of Kyrgystan in 2011.  The adversity he faces and the adventure he experiences are absolutely incredible.  There is something about the rawness of the footage that really grips the viewer.  I was on the edge of my seat.  What is more, the shots of beautiful mountains and skylines containing even more remote ranges speaks to the desire to simply get out there.  Above is the trailer for the 25 minute film.  I hope you enjoy.

Horse Flats - Angeles National Forest








Trail work and mountain bikes

'Tis the season for trail work.

A touch of rain has been helpful with some recent trail rehabilitation efforts around here.  Not only has the precip loosened up the clay soil to a degree, but it has also helped when working to compact and reshape trails the trail tread.  Below are a couple photos from a recent effort to rework an area that has been chronically eroded.  My hope is the drains will reduce gully erosion through this area and make it safer and more fun for the horses, runners and mountain bikers that frequent this trail (the Huntington Trail in the east end of Ojai).  The trail isn't a flow trail, per say, but it has some nice flowy sections interspersed with small drops through rocks.  More work needs to be done to manage erosion and re-cut a few sections, but it is all ridable and a fun trail for doing laps.

What is more, three mountain bikers from the Thacher School have been hard at work developing a downhill mountain bike trail not to far from the Huntington Trail.  You can view Jon, Grant and Quincy's mountain biking blog here and also see a short video of a test run down the same trail here on pinkbike.com.  These guys have put in countless hours on this trail and are making a huge contribution to good mountain biking trails in Ojai.