San Ysidro group assault–Santa Barbara Muni Club
For the first time since Cal. Muni Weekend '05, the Santa Barbara Muni Club called for a group ride down San Ysidro, one of the longest, most scenic and plain fun downhill rides in the area. This trail has symbolic value for me since, 28 months ago, it was my first hardcore muni adventure. I still remember having to walk around the switchbacks because I couldn’t turn on steep shale hairpins, and whenever the rocks showed up (often), I had no chance at all and had to walk as well. My legs were sore for five days after that first ride. I remember watching Nathan Hoover bash down the first part of the big railroad tie stair set and thought it was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen.
What was dead obvious this time around is the crazy amount everyone has improved over the last eight or nine months. Not so long ago a good run down San Ysidro meant you’d ridden the whole thing, probably taking many tries to clean the tougher sections. Now the boys are not just trying to make it and survive, they’re using this trail as a vehicle for experimentation and high performance, busting out big sketchy moves and following improbable and sometime perilous lines on the flanks of the steep, rocky rolling that maxed most everyone just a year ago. With the level of riding so high, it’s getting to be quite a challenge to hang with the locals. Josh, Morgan and I have to drive 100 miles from LA to ride with the SB crew, but the thrill is always ours.
Josh will post pics later tonight.
JL