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Help needed identifying Sullivan Canyon single track

5K views 50 replies 11 participants last post by  stencil 
#1 ·
Hi,
I usually ride the casual westridge trail (Nike site and then down to the canyon with all the white bricks "carpets"). I went there last week, kept riding on dirt mulholland, past a yellow gate, and then I found a really cool singletrack. I didn't have time to explore it, and I'm guessing its well known. According to the map, it just ends at some point. Can someone tell me more about this trail?
In the pic you can see my starting point, that's exactly where this single track starts to head down.
Thanks!
 

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#23 ·
i watched a video of hectic a few days ago, it looks like a lot of fun, looks narrow and twisty with lots of big ruts?

a bit like jdrop but less rocks and more tight? cant see steepness on videos, everything looks flat on gopros

anyways here are bits of video I managed to salvage from today, gopro says my sdhc card is not compatible thats why I am having issues, ordered another one

santa monica mountains - YouTube

next time I ride widowmaker I am going to put some speed on it, which is the better route?

at the top split I went right (looked easier but I never got to see left) and then on the bottom split I took left into a rut, looked less smooth but at it wasn't next to the 3 foot drop on the right
 
#5 ·
Farmers is easy singletrack that lasts a couple minutes... Good for the view and something leisure, but not challenging in any way. It does lead to upper Bent Arrow, which is a lot more exciting and interesting. The other option is the Widow Maker, which I did only once and will never do again (according to the wife).
 
#8 ·
jedi has some pretty large gap jumps if you take the difficult jumps lines

some people call first crack widowmaker, but it clearly isnt, its a totally different trail

anyways you got me interested as soon as i get back in town im going to go ride widowmaker up top there and will post back in here thx
 
#9 ·
Yeah I ride Jedi regularly, but I won't try the widowmaker again. It's just a bit past my comfort zone. If you like Jedi, you should try the Westridge singletracks. Most of it is like a tall wooden roller coaster, and there are lots of areas for some good jumps. It's a lot steeper than Jedi, but isn't as loose or rough.
 
#13 ·
Trails off the top of Farmer's Ridge:

1. Bent Arrow (Dead Car) - yawn

2. Itchy (Upper Cookies) - getting warmer

3. Scratchy (Upper Hectic) - finally interesting

4. HeadFake (dead end trail) - There is actually a trail off the right side of the second hump that dumps into the very upper portion of Rustic Canyon. Haven't ridden it in about 8 years.

5. WidowMaker - This is my jam. One more rain and it will be unrecognizable. AGAIN. I love the way our trails change.

I rock J-drop, Jedi's and First Crack weekly. Backbone into J-drop got scraped and is actually kinda fun again! The water diversion bumps actually resemble little jumps.
 
#14 ·
Good luck with Widowmaker - harder with a much higher penalty for failure than j-drop & the other snoozers you're riding. The Hectic trails are pretty sweet right now. Super fast.
And Dusty's right about the backbone plowing really helping that trail - I rode it a couple of months back and it was disappearing. Now that you can actually see trail its really fun again.
 
#19 ·
sorry gentlemen, but I strongly disagree with the difficulty of widowmaker (unless I of course just rode the wrong trail, we will see about that)

Make no mistake its not an easy trail, and i had more grip because of the wetter conditions than the normal dry stuff.

But this is not a difficult trail, I rode it without the need to hop off bike to scout beforehand (usually the telltale sign of a difficult trail), and with plenty of braking power left, a fortune actually. Next time I will put some juice on it.

Jdrop is way more technical, and first crack is steeper and more technical, both IMO are more difficult than widowmaker. The top half of widow maker doesnt even count its like any old trail, the bottom half is like 20 seconds long?

As for consequences of a wipe, squirrl cage actually has a lot more consequences than jdrop, widowmaker or first crack if you gunning for time and drop off the main ledge to the right, thats a nice 20 foot + free fall.

Will post gopro video later tonight (I got most of the trail if not all, definitely the steepest part the bottom half, my new gopro 3 is not so good, it keeps randomly keeps turning off, calling them now for support, I can only film 2 to 60 second blocks randomly)

I really don't want to start an argument though, if widowmaker for you guys is a more difficult trail, I accept that without question, each to their own.
 
#26 ·
Hectic (lower) is really fast but not really too tech, just steep. Easier than the other trails being discussed.
Came across a good discussion + vid & photos of Widowmaker here
I yard-saled so hard on WM a few years ago...I was trying to show off for a group of hikers on the benches at the bottom on my hardtail and wound up riding home with my scraped & bloody ass hanging out of what was left of my spandex. Some dude whistled at me while I was crossing Wilshire Blvd.
 
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