Albert Einstein once said, "Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving." We heeded Al's words and went out to get some exercise in an adventurous sort of way - downhill bike riding on Sulphur Mountain.
Since it was a nice Saturday morning, I called the local bike shop in town and inquired about a flyer I saw advertising an 18-mile downhill bike ride. My brother and sister-in-law had given us gift certificates to this bike shop as a Christmas gift so I figured this was the perfect time to use them. When I spoke to the lady on the phone I told her I was interested in the downhill bike ride. After taking down our height and weight so that they could adjust the bikes accordingly, she then proceeded to ask me if we needed a guide. I told her we didn't need one (since it was an extra $50) and that we'd be there in an hour.
When we arrived, the first thing she asked us is if we knew how to change a flat tire. I said, "Sure, you just get that patch and put it on the tube." She stopped me right there and said we needed to get a guide. Turns out I'm glad we did since she went on to explain we'd be up in the wilderness and obviously knew I didn't know what I was talking about when it came to changing a flat tire on a $5000 mountain bike.
Once we got our helmets, gloves, water bottle and bike loaded up in the truck, we headed to the top of Sulphur mountain. The mountain is located between Ojai and Ventura and we were at about 2,000 ft of elevation. The trail we were going to ride down provided scenic views of Ojai, which is a quaint little city with lots of artists and health conscience people living there. After unloading the bikes, our guide taught us the importance of learning how to properly shift the gears on our bikes and had us practice by riding around on a slight incline where we got dropped off. I hopped on my bike a got the hang of it pretty quickly since I just rode a mountain bike in Vancouver back in September. Rae on the other hand, she almost ate it before we even got to the trail head. According to her, she hasn't rode a bike for years. On top of that, she never rode a bike with more than one gear before. You're probably wondering why I would put my wife in this situation. Well, I assumed that she knew how and she never raised any concerns prior to this. Anyway, she eventually got the hang of it.
The trail was mostly like a dirt road with lots of switch backs and some inclines thrown in the mix. The best part was the downhill sections where you could just let gravity take control and just enjoy the ride. In fact, the faster you go, the more stable the ride. These bikes were built to be abused and I didn't hold back too much. As for Rae, let's just say that she didn't want to hurt the bike. Although, that reminds me that she did kind of hurt both the bike and herself during one section of our ride. She was riding along the right side of the trail and then just decided to fall into a patch of grass along the path. It was almost like watching it in slow motion the way it happened since we weren't even going fast at all. If only she recalled the words of Albert Einstein, "in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving".
Anyway, we got to see all sorts of things on the way down the mountain like cattle grazing and oil seeping up out of the ground. After about 11 miles we reached the bottom of the trail portion and then rode another 7 miles back to the bike shop along the river. It was still downhill, but very slight. By this time, my butt was aching. Why don't they make bike seats more comfortable. After mentioning this to my guide, he told me the secret. It's all in the pants. Apparently they make these bike shorts that have padding in the right areas so it cushions the ride. Wish I had know this beforehand.
Three hours later we arrived back at the bike shop slightly in pain from the hard seats and glad we did it. Exercise and sight-seeing with a bit of adrenaline rush makes for one great adventure.
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