Palm Canyon Epic 2013

 Conifers to Cacti on Sizzling Singletrack

My buddy Steve had told me about the Palm Canyon ride before, calling it the toughest ride he had ever done… twice, in 2004 and 2005. I listened carefully for I had followed him on a 42 miler in Tahoe and I knew he had done several 50+ milers… so I knew Palm Canyon must have been something. He said he was willing to make the 7 hour drive down from northern California and asked me if I wanted to join him. I accepted immediately. I had thoroughly enjoyed my two previous rides with Steve and I wanted to see what this Palm Canyon Trail was like.

Google Maps had told me my drive would take me about 3 hours… but their masterminds hadn’t taken the day of the week into account. My Friday trip took over 4 hours… with Interstate 15 bumper-to-bumper from Escondido to Temecula.

After 3 rides with Steve I have found he has 2 priorities when it comes to travel:

• Staying at a Motel 6
• Eating at a Denny’s

I didn’t arrive at the Motel 6 until around 9:30. I figured Steve had most likely already gotten his room and was resting up.

I had had a tough time figuring out where the motel office was and where to park. No large neon sign mounted above a couple of glass doors… no OFFICE signs at all. After driving around the hotel 2 times I finally just parked, figuring maybe I would do better on foot.

I soon found the office and also found out why I had such a hard time locating it. This Palm Springs Motel 6 was built in the shape of a 3-legged starfish… with the office in the center.

As I entered the office there was a customer at the counter who was just getting his room keys, so I only had to wait a minute or so for my turn. My transaction went smoothly, except for when she told me I had to take an upper room. I figured there was no use hassling her for the lower I thought I’d reserved, so I just took the keys and thanked her.

As I turned to go I was shocked to see a familiar face walking through the glass door of the office. Steve. He was just arriving. Talk about coincidences!

Steve got his key and didn’t argue about his upstairs room either. There was only one room between us, so we unloaded our stuff and met in his room to talk mountain biking, mostly about our next day ride … Palm Canyon. I always enjoy talking with Steve as he knows more about the sport than anyone else I’ve ever met. He may not know the most about bike brands, or biking techniques, or mechanical issues, or tires, or other special equipment, but … he is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to trails, maps, GPS, websites, photography… and I have yet to meet anyone who rides more mountain bike miles than Steve… riding at least 3 times a week, often 40-50 miles a ride. I believe he would ride more if not for 2 artificial knees.

We met outside our rooms at 5:30 to head for breakfast so we could make the bottom trailhead for the Palm Canyon Epic by 7:00. Steve offered to drive and we headed off to the nearest Denny’s … which was on the opposite end of town. We must have passed 5 places that offered breakfast, but we were not going to stop until we made it to a Denny’s. You see, Steve is a person that doesn’t want to be surprised. He orders the same menu selection at the same restaurant so he knows exactly what he is going to get. He also says he can rely on the amount of carbs he needs for a ride.

After Denny’s we headed straight back to the hotel and packed everything up. The bottom trailhead for the Palm Canyon ride was supposed to be just a couple blocks down the road behind a Vons supermarket. We were to be meeting a guy who called himself “Leadsled” in the MTBR forums.

Once we had decided we were committing to this ride Steve had gone to the MTBR forums and asked if anyone would like to guide two older guys down Palm Canyon. He got several responses, most of which wanted to join us but not necessarily lead us. Leadsled sounded the most promising but we were worried he would not understand that Steve and I were we not trying to set any land speed records on this ride. We were two website owners that wanted to take many photos and gather as much information as we could on Palm Canyon. We wanted to just take our time enjoying the route. Leadsled eventually said he could slow things down for us … and to prove it, he was going to bring his 66 year old buddy along for the trip. He said this guy loved the Palm Canyon Trail so much he rode it several times a year.

Not more than 2 minutes after Steve and I arrived at the trailhead a car pulled up and out popped this young whippersnapper who introduced himself as Mark (Leadslead). He had driven from Orange County that morning and was by himself.

“Where is your buddy?” I asked, having been very interested in meeting a 66 year old guy that was going to kick my butt on a 25 mile ride. “Oh, he had some things come up and couldn’t make it,” Mark answered. “So it is just the three of us?” I asked, already knowing the answer. Mark said, “Yeah, unless you guys have got another coming.” “Nope, we do not have anyone else,” I uttered.

I said, “Well, at least we don’t have too many riders. I went on a night ride the other night and we had 12 riders. I don’t think we rode more than 6 miles in 2 hours. We had mechanicals, people getting lost, people who had to go back early because they had promised a wife or girlfriend they would be home at a certain time… it was pathetic!”

I managed to get all three bikes strapped in so they would not rub or fall over. After throwing our camelbacks into the back seat of the truck we set off toward the top trailhead for the Palm Canyon Epic, in the mountains above.

Riding up to the trailhead gave us a good 30 minutes to get to know each other. Steve shared that he was just getting over having surgery on his nasal passages. He also told us more about his previous rides on the trail. Mark said he had ridden the ride several times and expected the trail to be in great shape.

We found patches of snow under pine trees and a stiff breeze blowing at the top trailhead. Mark stripped down to a short sleeve shirt while the old guys kept their long sleeves on. Steve asked why I was still wearing spandex shorts. I told him I had tried wearing the loose fitting shorts but they always seemed to get caught on my seat at the most inopportune time… almost crashing several different times because I couldn’t shift my weight. without getting my shorts stuck on the front or back of the seat. He said if I fell on the Palm Canyon trail with the spandex shorts I would lose a larger part of my flesh than if I was wearing loose shorts like his and Mark’s. I told him I might try the baggie shorts again now that I had a seat-dropper seat post. Now that I think of it… I’m not sure why Steve asked about my shorts this time, since I had worn the same shorts on our previous two rides and he hadn’t said a thing.

Steve and I had clip in shoes while Mark just sat with platform pedals and tennis shoes. Both Steve and Mark had shin guards, while the only thing I had on my shins were massive poison oak welts I had gotten riding a trail in my hometown of Lakeside a week or so before. Since they had both ridden Palm Canyon I was a little worried about what we were going to ride through.

Mark led us down the Palm Canyon trail and I tried to keep up. Not having ridden the trail I was a little hesitant. Since Mark was pedaling hard on some pretty steep stretches of downhill I assumed there were no surprises and tried to mimic his pace. At times both sides of the trail were completely white while only on a few stretches did we actually have to ride through snow. Having to ride a snowy trail was okay with me as I had done quite a bit of that one week earlier in Tucson on the Bug Springs Trail.

The pine trees soon turned to brush as the trail dropped quickly and became dried out. We began to see more and more cactus except when in the creek beds, where we found small trees and a lot of thick bushes about eight feet tall.

The ride soon took on a repeating pattern. Mark would take off, attacking the trail, with me right behind him for a while. Although Mark was a superior rider (which we had figured before we even started) we also found him to be a real nice and patient person. After about a mile or so Mark would pull over and stop. A minute or two later I would slide to a stop next to Mark, breathing hard while trying to tell him how much fun I’d had on that stretch. Five minutes later Steve would pull up and tell us he wanted to get some more photos. We would take a few photos … and then the sequence would happen all over again.

Many of the times Mark stopped just to adjust his seat. I asked him why he didn’t get a dropper seat post. He said he didn’t want the extra weight. This didn’t make a lot of sense to me… for he must have gotten off his bike twenty times just to adjust his seat height.

Mark and I had many chances to discuss things while we waited for Steve… but I quickly found Mark was not the real talkative type… answering most of my questions by uttering a simple, “Yes” or “No,” and offering little elaboration. A few things I did find out on the Palm Canyon trail were:

• He was riding a brand new bike… a Basher… with 5 inches of travel in both the front and back suspension.
• He had driven 1 1/2 hours from Orange County to get to Palm Springs.
• He always ran Schwalbe tires, which looked really wide. I was surprised when Mark said he had 2.35’s on front and 2.25’s on back, for they looked much wider than mine (both 2.35’s). When he told me they had cost $80 per tire I decided my Kenda Navigals were good enough for me, especially at $36 which included shipping.
• I think Mark thought I was joking when I told him Steve had two artificial knees.

The trail itself reminded me of Bug Springs, a ride I had taken in Tucson the weekend before… except Palm Canyon was about 4 times longer. Both rides were shuttled, starting in the pines and snow… and ending in a dry, dusty, desert. Both featured tons of loose, rocky single track, hair pin switchbacks, and occasional drops off of 2-3 foot boulders. At times I found myself riding on the edge… where one mistake would send me hurtling down slopes at impossible angles, costing me my riding career, or worse.

Both rides offered incredible views of snow capped mountains and a large city below. But Palm Canyon had one feature Bug Springs didn’t… a mile long dry wash.

Steve had previously told me how they had had to push their bikes up the dreaded “Great Sand Wash” on his first two visits… how traveling up this wash was the most demanding task he had ever come up against on a mountain bike, especially since the mercury had reached 100 degrees on those two days in previous years.

When we reached the wash we stopped by the sign, taking pictures and talking about which way we would be going. Just as we were getting back on our bikes a group of 3 mountain bikers came down, made the right turn, and passed us. We watched them head up the wash for a few minutes and then decided we might as well get to it.

As we began to ride up the wash I realized the sand was somewhat firm evidently due to some rains within the past week. I also found the sand to be more ride-able close to the banks, something I had figured out while riding washes in Slab City (link). And the temperature was nowhere near 100 degrees, but maybe 80 or so… nothing like Steve’s previous experiences.

I soon caught up with the 3rd rider who was lagging behind the other two. As I rode behind him I found out some things about him. He told me he was from the town of Hemet. I said, “You probably ride this trail all the time,” since Hemet lay just over the mountain from the Palm Canyon trailhead. I was shocked when he told me this was his first time… he had never ridden this trail before. He said he and his buddies usually rode a trail right in Hemet (I can’t remember the name).

Then jokingly I said, “So, do you live in an old folk’s trailer park?” I had been to Hemet a few times before and knew a good portion of the residents were indeed senior citizens living in mobile homes. My last visit, the year before, was to attend a family friend’s 90th birthday, and… yes… he did live in a trailer court! The young rider probably thought I was some kind of jerk, but he good naturedly said he lived in a regular house.

The Great Sand Wash is about 3.5 miles long, but about halfway up we noticed a trail off to the right running through dirt, not sand. My new friend and I took this trail all the way to the top, where we found his two buddies waiting. They were munching on some snacks. Looking back down the wash I saw no sign of Mark or Steve, so I took out my trail mix and joined them.

Then the two “veteran riders” started giving my new friend a hard time for lagging behind them. At first I thought it must be some kind of inside joke… so I carefully watched my new friend to see how he reacted. But he didn’t react, or at least he said nothing… but his face did turn red. I didn’t say anything… but just sat there trying to figure out why those “superior” riders felt the need to embarrass my new friend. I have seen that a few other times while out on the trails… I guess it is just a case of insecurity.

Just as Mark and Steve arrived the threesome headed out to the north, the way we would be going. My fellow riders looked a lot more worn than I had felt after the trek up the sand. I wondered if maybe they had not seen the trail on the right or maybe they had ridden right up the center of the wash.

From where I’d eaten my snack we rode up a wide dirt road… wide as in maybe 40 feet wide. I said maybe they should call this the “Great Dirt Road.”

Less than a mile north and we came to the bulldozer Steve had told me about. When he had told me about a dozer, I had not envisioned such a huge machine, nor one that looked as if it had been sitting in that spot for several years. While finding a bulldozer on the trail was interesting, the object hooked on the rear was even more thought provoking. It looked like some kind of trailer but we could find no clues as to its purpose. My brother, George, would know what it was… but a college professor (Steve) and a guy with his master’s degree (me) could not figure it out. Mark did not seem to show much interest in the contraption. He had ridden this trail so many times he probably was bored just looking at it.

The tractor site proved to be the head for three different trails… the Mike Dunn, the Art Smith, and the Hahn Buena Vista Trails. It was on this lower part of the ride that I noticed how many signs were made of steel plates with the names torched out of the center… pretty much indestructible.

Roughly 10 minutes after stopping, when Mark and Steve had consumed some sustenance, Mark set out up the Hahn Buena Vista Trail. Steve and I were detained a little longer as we kept trying to get the best angle to photograph the bulldozer.

Near the end of the ride we came up on some peaks that rose high above the city of Palm Springs. At one point the trail climbed right up the back of one of the peaks, then wound right down the face.

Riding down made me think of the last ice cream cone I’d eaten, the kind with the waffle type cone. The first two switch backs were the tightest I had ever ridden… and the penalty for not riding them was disastrous.

Mark told us the last section of the Palm Canyon Epic was called the Goat Trails. He had a certain way he liked to ride them, so much a favorite, that we had to ride back up a trail to catch another we had accidentally ridden by. Just before dumping out onto a dirt road Goat Trails drops sharply a couple of times. I wouldn’t have tried the drops a year previous… but all the practice I’d done since gave me the confidence to give them a whirl… and I made them cleanly.

We loaded up our bikes and gear in the open lot next to the Vons supermarket. The ride had been a total success. Mark said he didn’t mind waiting for us… what he didn’t like was waiting on people that were not prepared, or so out of shape they couldn’t finish the ride. He said he had had a good time.

Our only mechanical was Steve’s flat tire, which sealed when he pumped it back up.

Mark had agreed to drive me back to the trailhead to get my truck, since Steve had a 7 hour drive ahead of him. While driving back up the mountain to the top trailhead for the Palm Canyon Epic I had a good chance to find out a few things about Mark.

As we were cruising back up Highway 74 he told me he was 30 years old and worked in developing construction properties. He said he started working in his dad’s architecture business when he was in high school.

I then asked him how long he had been mountain biking. He said he was out hiking one day (in 2005) when a guy on a bike flew past him on the trail. He said it looked like the guy was having a blast and decided right then and there he wanted to mountain bike.

I started to tell mark about the night rides I had started to do with the ECC club (on Tuesday nights) when Mark asked me if I had purchased that Chinese made “knock-off” light that everyone was talking about. I told him I usually didn’t know what “everyone was talking about” and in fact… now that I think of it, I don’t even know who everyone is! Anyway, I said no, tell me about it. He said they were for sale for $27 online and had over 1000 lumens. He said he had tried it briefly but was going to give it a good workout the following Wednesday. He said his boss was flying in from Seattle and he was going to take him out and kick his butt since his boss hadn’t been able to ride due to the winter weather in Seattle. He said he would email me after the ride and let me know how the light worked. His email told me the light worked great but he was surprised at how well his boss rode. He recommended I buy the light (I did, and so far it has worked great!) even if it only lasted a few rides.

Mark said he had ridden for 3 days in Crested Butte the past summer, so we talked about some of those incredible rides… like the 401 trail.

After dropping me off at the truck I followed Mark west on Highway 74. He had told me it would take more time to go west on the 74 through Hemet but had decided the drive would be nicer than it would have taken just going back to Palm Springs, taking Interstate 10 west, etc. I took the 74 to the 371, to the 79, and finally caught the Interstate 15 in Temecula.

No traffic jam this time. I easily cruised back to San Diego, having had a great experience on the Palm Canyon Epic.

Thanks to Steve Wolf for the following stats for the ride (my GPS did not function correctly). The GPX file is provided should you choose to follow our route. Just Click “View Details” and then “Export.”