Hammer's Super Hero Loop

[boat440 0]

I wanted to give a thanks to Craig (Hammerin Hammon) and recommend his ride for advanced riders. He has another ride coming up this weekend (12/9) you do not want to miss.

I meet Craig at the Home Depot/McDonald's at San Macros Blvd off of highway 78. He had already ordered his Egg McMuffin and a healthy Orange Juice. A die hard Honda rider, he has his trials bike (an XR440 with a hopped motor and a new rear tire). I knew I should have changed my tire.

After our meal we headed north to the riding area. It was cold, rainy and the lighting was flat. We proceeed north on Twin Oaks Valley road until making a turn on some non-description road. I don't know how Craig found this place, but that's for another story. The day before it rained all day. It was very slick, muddy and wet. We started up a fairly steep grade. I was going pretty good until we came to this step-up ledge. Not having enough momentum, my first fall occurred. Well I pick-up the bike and walked it down to try it again. Having a kick-start DRZ, I need to get that magical button. Again try it again and this time I got to hard on the throttle combined with the the poor traction and go sideways and get stopped at the same step-up. Craig was kind enough to show me how. A little embarassing, but heck after dropping and picking the bike up twice I put my pride aside.

We continue on more uphills with deep large ruts, bowling ball sized rocks and off-camber sides. These were easier as we got to the top of the mountain range. We started going down hill down and it was quite slippery. I lost the feel of my back brake (due to the mud and slick surfaces) and was cautious not to lock it up and slide sideways.

We did lot's of single track at the top of the mountain range. It was great. Some of it was steep both ways but fun. We came to a real "hero" hill climb. I watched Craig climb it and he was going sideways(rear wheel spinning) and decided not to follow. Had I had a better rear tire with less slickness I will try. Finally we went up these long sweeping hills. Again they are challenging. but when you make them the exhilaration is tremendous.

The mountain range runs parallel to I-15 a few miles west. it is remote and quite hidden. I recorded the tracks in my GPS as I you could never find this area yourself. We are lucky to have such a challenging yet close area to ride. Overall we did 22 miles in just under 2 hours.

I recommend to advanced riders to go on HH's ride. Yes, you will be picking up your bike but your riding skills will improve. I look forward to another ride with Craig (great attitude and ride lead) and his hero loop.