its a 6+ mile climb from the lower trailhead to cocktail rock...where most folks turn around and head down. theres also the bonus loop at cocktail rock that will add another 8miles? the loop doesn't take you all the way to bluejay, but close. that said...shuttle this puppy is silly fun. you still get some technical climbing up to clocktail rock, but it's a fun single track from bluejay to the rock garden. and coming down from cocktail rockis sweet. you do this run 2x and it's a workout!

and i'd opt for full susp...IMO

...and junior....some of these are the switchbacks from hell!

leo, if this ride is now an up and back i prob won't do an up and back this sunday.

Being 6 miles up if you climb at 3 miles per hour then 2 hours. But some parts are flatter so you can go a bit faster than 3 miles per hour.

maybe i'll get up to 3.5 mph!

But then of course there is the downhill..... as I recall about 40 minutes down? Junior, I would take a full suspension bike. My XC 100MM Stumpy maxes out through the rock gardens.

For all of those who already RSVP, please note the earlier start time. I heard this ride can take up to 5 hours.

The climbing and descending times I was mentioning are to Cocktail Rock, not the full loop beyond Cocktail Rock. Most likely I will head down from Cocktail Rock. If anyone wants to head down from Cocktail I will be glad to guide down. Also everyone be aware that you will need a parking pass so allow a few minutes to obtain that when you arrive.

I'm jealous - this sounds so good right now! Have fun ya'll

here is my $.02
it should only take around 1.5 hours for the quick people to get to cocktail rock then another around 30 minutes to complete the upper loop (if i remember correctly) then the downhill is around 40 minutes. You can NO LONGER buy the parking adventure pass at the parking lot so either bring one or just get the ticket and pay it off (its the same price as the pass its self, $5) so far we have a very fast group going so i believe we could do it with limited breaks and a decent pace

this is my favorite place, I hope everyone comes and has a great ride

i may even start this one a little early so i get to the top the same time as the rest of you.

hey bet, you can do a reverse shuttle...pedal up and take the car down :)

first time I hear that, but sure is doable, would you like to do 2 runs?

Chris, I need a riding buddy for the climb. I think me and you run the same pace uphill. The rest of them can wait for us at the top!

Chris & Junior.... I'll ride with you, if I can keep up. I've been off the bike for over a month, and i've been sick for last couple of weeks.

hey dom. just getting over something myself, kept me off the bike last weekend.

The best way to get over something is to get under your bike again. Hope you all feel better in time for this fun ride =0)

Pretty darn cool..... we haven't had a large group ride in a while. Remember to bring plenty of water and snacks.... why do I say this? Because last few times I ran out of both :)

well, I rode the trail today, and in my opinion its in great shape, due to the winds there were some tree banches that had fallen on the trail, that is on the upper part, past coctail rock.
Comming down coctail rock its pretty good right now

rode the trail 2 weeks ago and it was awesome. there had been some trail work done and it was in really great shape.

Keep in mind all that this is a "group ride" so we'll try to stick together and not get to far ahead. Especially since i've never done it. If you have radios please bring them. Can't wait specially since this will be the last ride for at least two week due to the rain =0(

rain shmain....this trial is still very rideable during/after rain. drains well. theres also GMR which is a great shuttle which i rode during the last big rain...the only issue there is if you shuttle it, that the road isnt closed for mud slides. that said..this cold was kicking my butt in the gym this morning so i hope i can make it. i'll do a test ride at el moro tomorrow.

Chris, GMR sounds like a fun trail that I want to try. Maybe after the rain we can set up a ride and you can guide us down? How many people do we need to get Chris from (SCOA) to shuttle us?

B.T.W. I hope you all are feeling better cuz next week there will be no legal trail riding =0( so get it while you can!!

hey junior. depends on whether chris a. uses his pilot or gets a van. the pilot holds 8 people, so with chris driving we could get 7 riders. if he uses the van we can get up to 15 riders. i know he wanted to limit use of the pilot this year but i'll check with him. for GMR he's been charging $30 for the whole day, as many trps up as you want. we were getting in 5-6 before people got tired.

as for "legal" trail riding...the parks will be closed with rain but we can still ride the nat'l forest trails (san juan, gmr, luge, sart, the san gabes that are open since fires e.g. wintercreek)

keep your fingers crossed. accuweather STILL calls for a nice sunday morning and rain not until sunday night:
http://www.accuweather.com/us/ca/irvine/92606/forecast-ho...

Here is a quote from the National Weather Service: CONFIDENCE IS GROWING THAT SIGNIFICANT AND POSSIBLY EXCESSIVE
RAINFALL WILL OCCUR OVER SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA FROM SUNDAY THROUGH MOST OF NEXT WEEK...BUT THE EXACT DETAILS OF TIMING ARE STILL UNCLEAR. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THERE WILL BE THREE OR FOUR SEPARATE STORM SYSTEMS MOVING INTO THE AREA BETWEEN LATE SUNDAY AND FRIDAY.

2nd part of report: FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK...THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR RAINFALL TOTALS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES IN COASTAL AND VALLEY AREAS...AND 8 TO 16 INCHES IN THE FOOTHILLS AND MOUNTAINS. LOCAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OVER 20 INCHES WILL BE QUITE POSSIBLE ACROSS FAVORED SOUTH FACING COASTAL SLOPES.

So San Juan faces North/South/West right? We can just wait and see. I probably wont ride it in the rain, with the possibility of flash floods. Plus driving out could get very muddy if you don't have four wheel drive.

george, you're right about the driving out part but if we're done riding sunday by 1pm i think we're fine. definitley worth checking the weather reports again saturday afternoon/evening.

given the rain amounts george mentioned, it's a given the road to the top of gmr will be closed next weekend for mudslides...we'd still be able to slosh thru santiago track trail to the luge :) will have to revisit that possibility next week.

There is no rain sunday , I just talked to the rain guy up there and he said he will postpone rain until Monday

Yep hopefully we can sneak out of San Juan in time (fingers crossed)

incentive to climb and descend that much faster :)

I will be selling umbrella's at the bottom of San Juan Trail for $10ea. You can pre-order and save $2! They will have the AMTR logo screen printed on them. For an extra $5 I can have your name printed under the logo. Just got the new shipment so will have plenty in stock. The New Pink AMTR Umbrella just looks SICK! Next Week........The New AMTR Pink Rain Coats will be arriving!

Do they come with your Pink Bunny logo on them, if so, Ill take one

dont think i'm gonna be able to do this one. just haven't recovered fully from this cold yet. rode el moro today and i was really feeling it. dont think i'm up for climbing san juan yet. if i have LOTS of enegry i may try it later in the day (around 9ish) provided the rains haven't moved in yet. else i do el moro again or whiting.

That's a bummer Chris, hopefully you'll feel better. You can always try half way up? Hey that in itself gives you about 3 miles of downhill :)

Looks like we're ok with the rain, not till night time :)

Yeee hawwww!
Last ride before the storm. Let's go, fellas!

Hey you guys: I think we may have ridden into some poison oak areas on the loop. In the winter, PO loses its leaves. Some of those bare sticks along the trail were PO, and I know I hit a few. You may have, as well. Unless you know you didn't brush against any of those sticks, or you are immune to PO, I'd suggest you apply Tecnu ASAP. Just a suggestion. PO hits me hard, and I always err toward caution if I think I've been tagged!

thanks for the heads up bet. I'm assuming that Tecnu can be bought at the local drug store, correct? I'm freakin tired but it was well worth it =0)

Yes, Junior. They have it at CVS, Rite-Aid, etc.
Hey, thanks for organizing this ride. It was a success in every sense of the word. I'm still buzzing from the high!

Damn, I missed all the fun today. I wish I was there to witness Leo's bike chasing him :)

Just wanted to make sure everyone knew that Geoladders does show 3680 Ft of climbing! I know I feel it now! Great push for everyone!

Whoops not 2400 I think that is to Cocktail rock. So no wonder I was feeling it a bit 3690 no Santiago Peak but still a good work out. Se we did approximately 18 miles of climbing/trail riding plus 6.7 downhill at a pretty good pace.