This was a 72 mile, 12,000 foot ride from my house to Santiago Oaks, Chino Hills, up Sierra Peak and down Blackstar Canyon.
The route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49816455
This ride began in Villa Park at 6:15 in the morning with Kyle. Four miles later, on the very first drop of the day, I misjudged the entry to the technical Powerline singletrack. I lost control, bounced off the trail and the bike, which tumbled down the steep hillside. Luckily, I somehow managed to miss all the boulders and came out of that wild fall completely unharmed, which was great because I had a big day planned.
We continued on with the journey.
Chapter 1: Santiago Oaks
We rode down Deer then over to Weir Canyon. We opted to go up the challenging Rock Garden and then take Upper Weir Canyon to the top of the hill. From there, we dropped Centipede into Lower Weir Canyon. We took the secret exit behind the homes out of the park. A mix of pathways and road brought us to Chino Hills
Chapter 2: Chino Hills
We entered the State Park from the very steep Casino Whoops Trail and headed straight over to San Juan Hill via the South Ridge Road, as Kyle wanted to check out Yellow Brick Road. After descending Yellow Brick Road, we took Water Canyon into Ranger Ridge. We charged up this pretty hard. Kyle decided to go down Faultline so he could return home. I continued on to Gilman Peak via Raptor Ridge and then the North Ridge. At Gilman Peak, I took Baumer's down and then jumped across to the South Ridge. I descended back into the valley via Bovinian Delight and then climbed back up Raptor Ridge to Faultline. I descended Faultline, then back up via Sidewinder which was a new one for me. Bane Ridge down, then back up Bane Canyon Road so I could check out some more new terrain: Pomona Ridge, East Fenceline, Long Way Around, and 3M.
3M is now my favorite Chino Hills Trail while Faultline, Yellow Brick Road and Baumer's all tie for second favorite.
After 3M, at the bottom, I took Brush Canyon back up to gain Skully Ridge and then over to more new terrain: Bobcat Loop West into the steep ARnaudeau which took me out of the park. I spent thirty minutes stretching out on a neighborhood playground as my lower back was beginning to be intolerable.
Chapter 3: Sierra Peak and Blackstar Canyon
A brief bit of road and Santa Ana River Trail brought me under the CA-91 to the foot of Sierra Peak at Coal Canyon Trail. After 2500' of continuous climbing in the late afternoon heat, I felt pretty cooked. I sent my wife a text to ask her to pick me up from Blackstar as I was not really up for the additional 1+ hour of road riding back from Blackstar to my house. I descended Boobytrap and the other Blackstar Canyon Singletracks to arrive at the trailhead where my wife was waiting with my car. I recovered nicely in the cooling temps. I could have rode home, especially after gorging myself on pineapple and watermelon, but I was happy to get out of the saddle. Besides, who wants to bike Santiago Canyon Road anyway? My ride ended at Blackstar Canyon Trailhead about 10 hours after I began.