FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA

Activity: Mountain Biking (Also a hiking trail)

Distance 11+ miles, 900’ elevation change, duration 90+ minutes, rated Moderate

Date: December 29, 2019

Night Rider

It’s crazy to find a mountain bike trail, (which by the way also has hikers), in the middle of Fullerton which is OC suburbia. But the funny thing is the trail has a country feel about it and is set up pretty well to allow that feeling. This area is partially hilly and the trail goes through some places that you couldn’t put a house very easily so why not a trail? The trail skirts the back of neighborhoods, and incorporates some parks. The Fullerton Loop Trail is an eclectic mix- mostly dirt single and double track, with some sidewalk riding, asphalt, and even maneuvers around some equestrian trails, as well as railroad track. There is a little lake and some side excursions you could throw in.

We threw in just such a side trip. We headed up to a little peak that over looked the OC and even LA County. My sailing, and mountain biking partner Steve and I took in views of an awesome sunset which quickly went from twilight to plunging us into darkness.

Night riding is what we had come to this trail for, and apparently it is a thing here. In fact, we met more riders along the trail in the dark than we did during the day. It is a thrill ripping along on a trail in dim light, and limited visibility with the beam of your bike light reflecting on the dust particles thrown up by the bike in front of you, and your head lamp reflecting on the cloud of your breath, (we were riding in Winter), both obscuring your vision and adding to the excitement.

There is a nice mix of flat as well as hilly riding. Some of the ride is through barren land, some is through neighborhood streets, sidewalks and along busy roads. But the cool part is the night riding and the different aspect that it adds to mountain biking.

Because it is such a crazy sort of ride we got lost in the dark a couple times. We also lost each other once or twice due mostly to the lead rider concentrating on the trail ahead, the next bend, or tree branch, and not turning around to make sure he still had the other rider in tow. The other reason for the separation, and the second rider falling behind, was because… well… I wrecked on a steep, rutted out section. The problem is I tried to take it easy instead of yelling, “Yeehaw!” and throwing caution to the wind. You might think that taking it easy on a difficult section, if you don’t want to wipe out, might be a prudent thing to do, and you- like me would be wrong. I guess you just have to commit. But instead… I started hitting the brakes to slow down and I started skidding on the steep hard pack, which had a light layer of dust on it making it slippery. Once the back tire started going a little sideways I hit a rut then it was it over. A little flight time, a muffled yelp, and I landed hard right next to a cactus patch. (Key word is “next to“, so it could have been way worse.) So besides a couple of bumps, bruises, and a little bloody finger print on my cell phone from slight road rash… I called Steve to “stop”. Dusted myself off and I was good to go. All part of the Adventure.

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Thanks for joining Steve and myself as we were “Pursuing Balance Through Adventure“ in the dark, on a bike and not always in control, but perhaps that is part of the adventure. Obviously on this ”Night Ride” I did not quite find that balance that I seek, lol. Please take a moment and COMMENT, LIKE, FOLLOW and SHARE. If you happened to have ground in grass, dirt and dried blood stains on your favorite shirt don’t fret just go to SHOP APPAREL and pick out a new high tech, moisture wicking, performance shirt with the PBTA logo. There are many adventures categorized by area in the menu above. Find some that inspire you and go out and grab some nature by the horns. (Not literally… bison are not as adorable as they look.) Each location is it’s own website and needs to be Followed separately.

Happy Trails,

Roger Jenkins

Pursuing Balance Through Adventure