 This month's route highlights Payahuunadü Valley and educates riders on the complex environmental, geological, and political history of this region. This is a great introductory bikepacking trip for those that mountain bike. A mountain bike or all terrain bike with a minimum of 2.2 tires is required for this month’s trip. 🐺 We give this route our Wolf (classic route) rating because of the mileage and elevation. There are some sustained climbs with some small hike-a-bike sections. 🦎 🐪 this route gets our Lizard (dirt & gravel) and Camel (extra sandy) terrain rating. The unpaved surfaces range from hard-packed to loose gravel, and numerous very sandy and washboard sections, with some rugged, rutted and steep up/down sections but nothing too technical or that can’t be walked. In line with our mission of increasing access to the outdoors we will be prioritizing 50% of the monthly campout spots to new and/or emerging riders from underserved communities in cycling. Our gear library is also available for folks needing to borrow bike bags and camping gear for the trip, unfortunately we do not have any bikes in our gear library (yet).   Our first Wild Wrench Wednesday at re:ciclos was so much fun. We learned about bike anatomy & safety checks and were able to diagnose the community project bikes. Thank you to our organizers, presenters, wrench leads, and all of you that came out. Huge thank you to Reciclos and la eco village for providing us the space to grow and learn. Do you know someone in need of bike with financial barriers to getting one? DM us, we may be able to help. The Next Wild Wrench is the 2nd Wednesday of April. Hope to see ya there!    Last year our February Trip got rained out and instead of learning our lesson... we planned the same campout the same month hoping this year would be different... Cue the rain and the trail closures and half the riders dropping out for fear of mud/rain.  Our organizers rallied and pivoted to one of our favorite more local routes that wasn't on the schedule and was a bit more challenging than the original plan but this group took on the hills and silly grades with no fear.
 Sometimes the backup plan maybe even turns out better than the original plan... We were blessed with perfect weather, clear views of Mt Baldy and Catalina, hero dirt riding conditions, zero mechanicals, a super fun visit to our friends at Topanga Creek Outpost and great trail camp neighbors.  The outpost was setting up for one of their pop up dinners  Sunset Meadow Hikes
 Snow caps and beaches  up & up & up  Goodbye Topanga  The cowbells and costumes were out Friday Night for some twisty turny dark and spooky CYCLOCROSS! The first 20 FTWNB racers raced for free, thanks to a generous donation from one of our riders and the riders turned out! This race was a fundraiser for the WWCC CX Team, funds raised will help us in our mission to bring new developing FTWNB & BIPOC riders into the sport of Cyclocross. Nightmare CX Photos by Matty Skipper FTWNB Field Mens Open We just wanted to look back on the amazing empowering year we had together camping by bike! So much joy discovering all that Southern California has to offer. Together we pedaled 700+ miles on our bikes with loaded gear visiting Regional, State Parks, National Parks and National Forests.                                                   Once upon a Tuesday night many moons ago howls were heard in Scholl Canyon... For the SO SWAT Socially Distanced Summer Ride Challenge Route 2 we give you Scholl Canyon! Scholl Canyon is a good little climb tucked away in the Glendale Hills up Glen Oaks past the golf course and little league fields. Keep going until you get to the landfill gate. Feel free to do some repeats for extra punch and enjoy the quiet of the climb.  STRONG WOLVES (APART) TOGETHER!!!!!!
Ride safe out there and please, pretty please wear a mask out there to protect and respect your fellow Angelinos!
 Dang we miss group rides! Yeah we know many of you are still group riding... but with the current number of Covid-19 cases in LA County we do not feel that it's responsible for our community to be riding in groups right now. Instead this summer we are creating a Ride on your own SO SWAT Summer Ride Challenge. Each week we will be posting an old route from the SWAT archives with route slip and gps link. We'll be creating a finishers board and awarding some swag and digital badges at the end. Complete the route during the week on your own time by yourself or with a roomate, significant other, or social distanced with a quarantine buddy. Upload to Strava and use the #soswat to show us how it went on IG. We may not be able to ride together this summer but hopefully this can help us feel connected to our community and motivate us a bit as we are apart. STRONG WOLVES ACTING TOGETHER!!!!!!  The first challenge route is Summertime Smash (smashing optional) RWGPS LINK - go during PIZZANISTA window hours for a ride slice. This route is best at night or during non-traffic peak hours. Take time to take in the beauty that is our lovely city. Happy Riding!  Ride safe out there and please, pretty please wear a mask!  If you want to participate but are only riding on a trainer these days just log your trainer ride with the same mileage as our route and let us know.
 Photo by @abovefourmedia I started the CX season with a good base of fitness, skills and confidence from riding many miles of dirt leading up to the season. The first race of the season for me was at Calimesa Country Club. I was helping with registration that day and when it came to game time, I felt a bit rushed. After a good start in the Elite Women's race, my chain dropped and I lost a good 1/2 minute to a minute struggling to get it back on as the whole field passed me. Thankfully I was able to make up a few spots and still come in 5th.  Photo by @abovefourmedia What quickly dawned on me as I went into the next couple of weekends of races, was that if I wanted to do well I needed to match the level of seriousness of my competition and get my head in the game. I determined to stop being cavalier and just jump into races thinking 'however I do, is how I do' but then finish with thoughts that I 'probably' could have done better but 'they want it more than me' or 'maybe if I wasn't so lazy I'd actually warm up before a race or start training'. So I enlisted the help of a friend who is a coach and asked him to write me a training plan. It was a huge help and provided me with the focus and much needed direction I needed.  Photo by @abovefourmedia I felt the work I put in payed off and with each race was more confident that the result I got was the best I could do and I was never disappointed in myself. I had some wins in the Single Speed races but only got as close as 2nd 4 out of 10 times in the Elite Women's race. The rest of the elite races I was on a podium spot minus one race in which I probably should have stayed home for as I was not feeling well that day.   Midway through the season I went to Utah with my teammate Rhea for SSCXWC. I really didn't know what to expect. It brought a whole world of fresh air, clearing away a lot of the 'seriousness' that had built up from the SoCal race scene. How could it not when you had to jump over flaming barriers, race up a ramp into and out of a gutted out trailer, dodge other racers wanting to take you out in the Jello pit, shoot up and over deadly steep flyovers and then realize all the while that pretty much everyone is cheating. It was insanity and it was fun.   Lastly, I could not think of a better way of ending the season than at CX Nats in Tacoma with my teammate Diana, our fateful mechanics and partners in crime (Roman and Greg) along with a contingent of other SoCal racers there to wrap up their season too. The weather was truly Belgium. The good vibes and support from spectators and the SoCal family was so awesome. And I was left happy with my 10th place result and all the work that led me there.    Looking forward to more of this with this awesome team of bad ass women.   photo by @the_hoff_  Photo by @the_hoff_ This cx season was a little different than the seasons before. Usually I would be at races the entire season double racing each race day. This time I had to skip races due to work. I was still able to make many of the races...just not as many as I would normally.  Photo by @hanslieber In other ways the cx season was the same: spending time having fun racing with my awesome teammates & friends, being in the pain cave, camping, and partying after.
The season was just as fun and challenging. Most of the courses were pretty technical. I did not feel like I was in the best shape. No matter where my fitness was at I still pushed as hard as I could possibly go. I was happy to have a few wins and to still be able to get on the podium. This season I think we got closer as a team. It was so great to spend so much time together having fun and encouraging each other. Especially the venues we could camp at. We really got to hangout and have some laughs together.  Photo by @the_hoff_ My favorite race weekend was my birthday weekend. We raced and camped in SD. I did not do so well racing that day... but my teammates decorated our team tent, Rhea baked vegan birthday cupcakes for us and for hand ups , Diana brought a case of White Claws, and my friend Hans from SD came to watch us race and brought me a delicious vegan burrito and vegan donuts for me and the team! It was a super sweet day! 
Looking forward to future races & memories with my favorites.  Photo by @abovefourmedia |
