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Southern Cal Tandem Teams

41K views 258 replies 30 participants last post by  unikid28 
#1 ·
We are about 2 months on our new ECDM and loving it. How about getting a So.Cal.ride going? We were riding Chino Hills today and saw another team for the first time up there. We ride there about 3-4 times a week in Chino Hills. Need a break, to go somewhere else. Who was up there today? Love to hook up....
 
#26 ·
We are tentatively in for Saturday's ride. Only variable is our truck just sprang a CE light. If it needs something serious, I'll have to deal with it over the weekend. If it is drivable, we'll be there. Will confirm in the next day or so. Trail photos look great. Be nice to ride without the water crossings.
 
#30 ·
Oaks Switchbacks

I went to Santiago Oaks this AM with my stoker and some single riders from work. I thought I might run into some tandems there. I did see two going up Coachwhip trail but we were at the bottom. Some single riders exclaimed how they couldn't believe there were so many MTB tandems. That was cool.

That was my first time at the Santiago Oaks. Man there are some tough switchbacks. Granted they are smooth but many were well beyond my riding ability. The ones down Chuttes seemed impossible to me. :eek: The rest weren't too bad. I'll need to be sure to steer clear of the Guadalasco switchbacks if they are harder and tighter.
 
#31 ·
oc-biker, we heard there was another tandem riding there today. Julian and Sally said they saw a red Ventana as they were coming into the park. We heard from a few other single bikes on the trail that there was another tandem out and we were looking for you but no luck. Sorry we missed you. It would have been fun to have 3 tandems together. I'll post something for a tandem ride next month when we have our sitter.
 
#32 ·
Some really nice riding at IRP Saturday. And a GREAT place to practice switchbacks. They were all tandemable as the trail building was nicely done, though it was helpful to follow a tandem up as I copied lines on a couple. OC, if you are the red Ventana, we saw you with some single bikes right as we entered the park. We kept crossing trails as we rode, figuring to run into you at some point.

Zibell and stoker are the king and queen of decending switchbacks, I had to use some serious rear brake to swing the bike around a couple of 'em. We even rode down the Chutes Ridge staircase, but no one else was around to witness. For sure challenging trails, but good stuff.
 
#33 ·
Okayfine, we were on the red Ventana. Very impressed that you guys did all the switchbacks. I have much to learn on that technique. Maybe watching someone do it correctly would help. However, I'm not very good on switchbacks on my single either.

I did see the more direct Chuttes or Old Chuttes as I think they call it. It looked like it might have some good sized drops on it so we went the easier twisty route. I still need to rig up a bottom tube bash guard. Mine is already scared from some rock drops in Idyllwild. It sure makes a horrible grinding sound as it hits/scapes. Were there any steep drops that caused you to scrape?

The 3Bs were aptly named. They kicked up pretty steep. My Garmin topped at 25% on the 2nd B. I think the first might have been even steeper but I was blacking out so I couldn't see the Garmin. ;)

BTW, what brand and model of tandems were you both riding?

See you on the trails next time.
 
#34 ·
Having someone lead you through some switchbacks may help, but practice is the only thing that will definitely help.

Lines and methods differ for everyone, and for the different types of switchbacks. The stuff at IRP, I found success with a simple high-tempo granny gear run - just powering around it, maintaining momentum. One time I followed Patrick's line where he ran the front wide and up the high side, which was difficult but made all the difference. They're all generally wide enough not to need too much finesse by your stoker, which is one way IRP switches differ from, say, Guadalasco switches. There I need more communication with my stoker so she doesn't pour on the power until we're mostly around. But Guad also has some rocky switches, and almost all of them are tighter than IRP.

IRP has the best switchbacks for tandems that I've ridden.

We didn't hit the boom tube on anything. I will stop and walk anything that would threaten the bike or its riders. I'd also be more afraid of snapping the sync chain and the long walk back to the parking lot.

We have a coupled Ventana. Of the four other SoCal teams I know about (five including yourself, OC), everyone's on a Ventana...except, of course, for the fellow who built his own bike *cough cough* :D
 
#35 ·
OC, as Julian stated switchbacks are something that you need to practice at and find out what works best for you. Riding all the switchbacks we did Saturday really worked my upper body (shoulders & arms). We found that we start wide and cut it tight and when the front wheel is pointed up the trail I let my stoker "hit it" and she pours on the gas. Once the front wheel is pointing up the trail the rear end tends to just follow. On desending switchbacks I feather the front brake and keep the front wheel rolling and brake the rear and once the front is around and pointing down I can let off the brake and the rear follows. One thing I just thought was that Julian and I both ride a single crown fork, is your fork a single crown or double crown? I don't think that you can turn a double crown as tight.
We were thinking about giving IRP a try with our son and his tag-a-long. For sure not riding down Cutes ridgeline.
Let us know if you want to ride there again, we're always up for riding with another tandem. Julian and Sally are both strong riders, and we are old and slow but with some skill, we enjoy riding.
As for the 3B's, now that they have all the new trails we try to avoid the 3B's. There are so many other trails that you can link together and have a nice ride without suffering up the 3B's.
 
#37 ·
Ok guys, Nanci and I are always up for a challenge and willing to learn. The ride at IRP sounded great let us know when next venture. We might sneek over and practice since so close...But can you guide me to the switchback trail you are referring to, never been there.
 
#38 ·
OK we set up our sitter for next month. We're set for Saturday May 21st. Does anybody want to get together the big bikes for a ride? I'd like to ride somewhere near OC as I don't want to be paying a sitter for driving somewhere. Last month we got together with Julian and Sally in Irvine Regional Park and had a blast. We could ride there again or Aliso, or El Moro, or Whiting Ranch? We meet around 8:30-9:00 depending where we go. Let me know what you think.

Bill IRP is a fun place to ride we rode a lot of the trails; Chutes, Coachwhip, Cactus Canyon, and Yucca were some of the trails I think Coachwhip had some of the best trails for practicing switchbacks not a lot of incline and a little wider turns.
 
#39 ·
zibell said:
Coachwhip had some of the best trails for practicing switchbacks not a lot of incline and a little wider turns.
Not sure if this may help. Like anything, practice helps. It is awesome to have the trail to practice on but sometimes that's not possible.

As much of a goofball I am to ride with, we constantly practice as much as possible on silly things like parking lot stops, weaving in and around at slow speeds. Also, use the parking stops for practice getting over logs or small fallen trees.

For things like bridges or narrow sections, I may have us practice riding the edge of a sidewalk or something similar (wood chip border at a playground).

Then of course is the old standby, going slow without trackstanding, ride figuire 8s in the parking lot. Then work it in with the parking stops. If you choose a poor line, the back tire gets hung up.

We also try and mix up the trails. Sometimes long straight epic xc rides, others tight twisty singletrack (CLJ can back me up on the definition of tight), other days when possible we just climb and descend. We will even do night rides going backwards on empty trails so we have a new trail / challenge. But again, I take every opportunity to goof off and ride stupid silly stuff in parking lots or parks. It just helps.

Don't push the speed envelope until skills are adequate, other wise you may fall down, been there done that. Now we crash.

Have fun on your group ride.

PK
 
#40 ·
PK - you are correct as always with your advice. You don't need to practice on a trail. So of our best practice habits are also goofing around. Trackstands, tight turns around parking stops, hopping up and down curbs, and also riding over parking stops. Also talking - let you stoker know what you need them to do.
 
#42 ·
Well, we made it over to IRP this morning, great ride but unsure if we went the correct way. Not many riders so it really didn't matter.Here was our path.....Parked at lot 3 and worked our way on Egret and then Pony. Unsure at this time which way, but when in doubt, climb. So we headed up Oak Trail and turned right on Bumble Bee to Coachwhip and then a right on Barham Ridge but somehow we ended up on Chutes Trail, unsure the order...We need a lot more work on descending the switchbacks but we handled the switchback climbs...We are planning on the 21st, hopefully you will take us back to your ride at IRP...
 
#43 ·
Bill, your request for IRP is perfect.

Saturday May 21st meet at lot #3 between 8:30-9:00 ride approx. 3hrs

oc-biker, drdoak, mtn-tandem, blaster if any of you are available we'd love to meet you and have bunch of tandems together for a fun ride. Show the half bikes what a tandem can do. Julian if you guys are up for another drive we'd love to ride with you again.

Hey Bill I'm not sure of all the trail names. Did you guys do the killer climb known as the 3 B's (steep-steep-steep) Bumble Bee cuts off to the right at the start of the 2nd pitch and goes up and over the hill. Anyway we're looking forward to next months ride. Let me know if you go back out there, I can propably meet you on my single. I can meet you around 9:00 and ride for a couple of hours on weekday mornings. Let me know!
 
#44 ·
Just want to post a reminder about the ride we're doing this Saturday May 21st.

@ Irvine Regional Park (parking $5) meet at Lot #3 8:30 and roll out @ 9:00.

The weather should be perfect for riding 70 & sunny, and the rains should pack down any dust.
See you there!
 
#47 ·
Rida29r - does this mean you're bringing that pretty Ells of yours out for some dirty fun? I'm not sure what kind of turnout to expect for this ride, it looks like everybody is backing out so we'll see who shows up. If nobody shows Maria & I will still have a blast, that's what it's about!
I know the poker ride is going on, but the oaks has a lot of trails so it should be fine. The lot we're meeting at is a large lot and the reason I chose it is because there are restrooms for the last minute pre-ride pit stop.
 
#48 ·
Well..."someone" just pulled their back out yesterday (not good), so I'm not sure riding will be part of the weekend now....and riding it by myself is just weird. Or....is it? ;) We've honestly never ridden Oaks on it....and yeh, ton of trails to ride besides. We usually start from the back side of Peters and ride into Irvine. If he's better, we'll be there!
 
#49 ·
Unfortunately for us, my stoker is just getting over a cold. We're going to try a lightweight trip to the beach on Sunday, but probably wouldn't be able to keep up at IRP on Saturday. We'll shoot for next time.

With this number of tandems in the area, we need to get everyone together!
 
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