I Feel Like I’m Being Followed?

Several years ago I bought a bike trailer that attaches to the seat post of your bike and lets your kid ride behind you.  I think I paid like $80 at Target for it.  We’ve used it on and off over the years but a little over a month ago I started taking Noah on mountain bike rides with me.  I take him once a week, usually on Monday or Tuesday.  I even bought him some gloves to make it easier for him to hang on.  He seems to really like it and asks me if we are going when the beginning of the week rolls around.

We’ve mainly been doing the Fullerton Loop (or at least ¾ of it) but he has been asking to go “up in the mountains” so today we rode up through Powder Canyon, above Schabarum Regional Park.

Almost to the summit

I definitely notice him back there.  I’m guessing he adds about 80 lbs. with the trailer.  It is a good workout.  Having the trailer behind me also makes it harder to keep my front wheel on the ground when we are going up steep stuff.  So far we haven’t had a wreck, so that is good.  I’ve been pretty cautious so far but with experience we’ve gotten more comfortable and started to go faster.  We hit 22mph on one downhill today.  He hasn’t fallen off yet; that is good too.

You will also notice I finally broke down and bought a GoPro video camera.  I purchased the Hero3 White version, the cheapest one.  So far it has produced some pretty good videos.  I can already tell that taking video from an angle that you don’t usually see can make for some interesting shots.  The video for this ride was shot (if you couldn’t tell) with the camera attached to my seat post.

Here’s some video:

Double Trouble on Elevator

On a recent ride with Freesia & Jordan, Dad and I were riding up to the spot on a trail in Chino Hills State Park called “Elevator” when he proposed that we ride it simultaneously.  Seemed like a good idea to me.  Jordan captured the footage, below:

Back on the Bike

December proved to be a rough month for the Ferkin Family.  Of course we enjoyed Christmas and spending time with our family.  We were also, however, hit pretty hard by the illness bug.

January has given us some health and that means we were also able to get back out on the trails.  Field got his own bike recently and has ridden with us several times too.  Here is a video from a recent ride in Chino Hills State Park.

Here are a few pics from our ride (click on pic for larger view):

Joek, Forest, and Field at “Four Corners”

Joe riding on “Bovinian Delight” Trail

Field riding down South Ridge

The Steeper the Better

Freesia, Jordan, Joseph, and I all hit the trail today for a summer ride in Chino Hills.  It really wasn’t a scorcher but temperatures in the 80°s, little wind, and some physical exertion can really make you feel hot.  Luckily we made our own wind…by riding fast…I don’t know what you were thinking.

Jordan & Freesia gettin’ ready

This ride included Bane Ridge Trail, which runs from the east side of the Chino Hills State Park.  After encountering a baby rattlesnake (probably about 18″ long, with a lump in the middle of its body, guess it had eaten recently) we headed out along the ridge which features two VERY steep drops and lots of winding single track trail.

Then we headed over to “Elevator” before heading back out more or less the same way we came in.

Here is a video of the action (click “HD” and then watch on Vimeo for bigger, sharper picture):