u/OG-MTB

The Caldor fire ripped through the lower portions of the iconic Saxon Creek trail aka Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in 2021, towards the end of it's 220k acre run.

These days, transitioning from moderately dense forest to the post-fire wasteland is pretty jarring, although it did open up some views.

Still an effing great trail. https://www.trailforks.com/trails/saxon-creek-trail-mr-toad-s-wild-ride/

Access info for the e-curious:

Saxon Creek trail/Toad's and the trail leading to the top, the Tahoe Rim Trail(TRT), are both legal for hikers, horses, and normal bikes.

ATVs, motorcycles, and electric bikes are banned on Toad's and the TRT.

Cruising through some wild geology in the Sierra. Thunder Mountain has some killer views.

(access info for the e-curious: electric bikes are banned here)

Lily Lake Trail, South Lake Tahoe:

In addition to the crazy talus field work, they did some really creative routing through the lower slabs with rock sidewalk switchbacks linking everything together.

And for the upper switchbacks with the killer views, they crafted 6' tall dry fit stone retaining walls to get them to work. Such great work done by TAMBA volunteers.

https://tamba.org/projects/lily-lake-trail/

(for the e-curious: electric bikes are banned on the Lilly Lake trail)

I'm always amazed at the amount of work done on these talus slopes, scree fields, the 6' dry fit rock walls on some of the swtichbacks, and the basic badassery on display with the execution.

The Lily Lake trail is only 2 miles long, but there were 4,000 volunteer hours put into it...

https://tamba.org/projects/lily-lake-trail/

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For the "new trail curious" folks out there, here's a compilation of clips from some quality riding spots. 33 clips, over ten minutes. It's a loong one. Too long for most.

(TRIGGER WARNING: Electric bikes are banned/illegal on each of these fantastic trails, so poach with care)

Backcountry Cows are rude and literally shit themselves and the trail when they see you.

Had to earn some turns last week and checked off a bunch of high altitude Sierra Nevada Summer goodness:

• true primitive singletrack
• marbles over ball beatings over baby heads in so many places
• wildflower explosions everywhere
• quality tech puzzles to solve
• zero people on singletrack, one SxS on the OHV access trail

These are a few snippets from just one of the trails, Bee Gulch. https://www.trailforks.com/trails/bee-gulch-trail/

This is one of my favorite things to do on a bike - riding blind.

Not knowing where the trail goes, looking way ahead for the next set of cairns, not knowing what is on the other side of that rock(no hucks to flat or pungi stick pits, thankfully), surprises around every corner, and knowing you'll never repeat this sense of wonder on this trail ever again.

https://www.trailforks.com/trails/pinecrest-peak-upper-section/

Some highlights from a bit of an adventure ride featuring:

Amazing backcountry tech through the '21 Tamarack Fire burn zone, no service, no people, amazing views, one set of faintly visible tracks, challenging wayfinding, some high speed DG singletrack surfing, a light sprinkle and loads of fun.

This solo point-to-point ended up being 1,204' up and 3,458' down over 17 miles.

10/10, will do again.

https://www.trailforks.com/trails/charity-valley-trail/

Kind of an adventure to get to early season before the area is logged out/snow banks have melted, but worth the effort.

https://www.trailforks.com/trails/jamison-creek-trail-rock-garden/

Finished with over 90% battery charge left!!!

Understandably, most videos focus on the fun descents. For most people, climbing vids are like watching paint dry, which is why they aren't very common

This one is for the folks who swing both ways - who love a chunky descent, but can also love the chunky climbs. 

Flow trails are a bunch of fun. Their sculpted berms, jumps, and unusually manicured trail bed deliver a real roller coaster feeling, if you can let things rip.

In between flow and janky, stuttering tech is something a little different.

Workflow trails.

Trails that don't always trend down. Trails that require a little momentum or pedaling as you work to create or maintain some kind of flow. Trails that aren't manicured or really "maintained" in the MTB sense of the word.

Workflow = "old school" or legacy hiking trails that can require a bit more problem solving than some of the new school machine built trails.

Still lots of fun, just different.

Tiger Mountain, where electric bikes are illegal, yet plentiful.

In case anyone runs into this...

After six years of faithful service, I started getting random, and false, "low battery" warnings on my rear derailleur. And it started to stop shifting unless I banged on it.

The culprit: the itty-bitty spring inside the contact pin was dead.

So I tore apart a spare charger to recycle a spring pin and busted out the soldering iron.

Good for another six years! (if the chassis keeps holding up)