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I keep a personal tradition of doing some kind of extended run or ride each Christmas Eve. It's my moment to take a deep breath after the bedlam of shopping and parties and friends that always leaves me slammed this time of year. Some years it's a run around the neighborhood, others around the local trails. This year, I took my mountain bike out to explore some new local trails.

I generally kept a leisurely pace, and stopped often to take pictures and enjoy the scenery.

I've got ~120M of photos from the ride, so I'll upload those as soon as I have a little time to prune them and batch 'em up for upload.

Photos are loaded and posted on the map. Enjoy!

(Map: "'07 Christmas Eve Ride")

I felt weak heading out. I rode the loop around Rocky Peak & Chumash on Saturday, and I wasn't sure how much I'd recovered in just two days. But I warmed up after a while, and was soon rolling comfortably up Las Llajas Fire Rd.

I reached the gate to the ranch, and stopped to take a couple of pictures. I'd only seen one cow so far, in the brush on the side of the road. I wondered where I'd find the rest of the herd.

From there it's a long, slow grind up to a small flat where the Rocky Peak Fire Rd meets Las Llajas. As I neared the top of the climb, I noticed a couple of bikers resting up ahead. They waved, and I said hello once I was close enough. "No matter how many times I do this climb," I said, "it just sucks every time." They laughed as I pulled up and introduced myself.

"Dude," one of them said, "the beauty of that climb is that once you're done, you still have all that." He pointed to the brutal climb up the north end of the Rocky Peak Rd.

We chatted for a few minutes, comparing notes on local trails. They mentioned that they're members of a local mountain biking group, VenturaCountyBomb.com, which I'll have to check out. Seemed like good guys.

I said I was headed for my first ride down Devil's Canyon, and the older of the two grinned. "You'll love it," he said. "If I had time today, I'd be heading that way myself. When you get done, you'll be wet, and your bike'll be dirty."

They headed up Rocky Peak (the way I ended up going the last time I came through), and I settled my butt on the grass to drink a bit of water and rest for a few minutes. The plan was for a long ride, and I was in no hurry.

Devil's Canyon was absolutely amazing. The turnoff from the Las Llajas Rd. is pretty obvious, but I took a photo anyway for future reference. The trail itself is some of the most amazing singletrack I've seen in this area. It's a challenging ride, and a few short sections are bikable only for extremely skilled riders. You're basically riding down a stream bed, so there are lots of crossings. As I was warned, I rolled out the bottom of the canyon drenched and dirty, and grinning ear to ear.

Unfortunately, I did manage to startle another horse. Another case of plain bad luck. I was pedaling comfortably along through the gravel that is the last ½mile of the trail, and managed to enter a wide clearing at the same time as a couple of horses and riders. The lead horse spooked a bit, and threw the rider, who ended up tangled in her stirrup. Luckily, the other horse stayed very calm, and I was far enough away that I quickly laid my bike down, and started talking to the riders in a clear, calm voice. They responded in kind, and in a few seconds everything was back to normal. They waved me through, and I walked my bike past and continued my ride.

That's two horses I've spooked in the last few months, and in both cases, I can't think of anything I could have done to prevent it. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I don't want anyone hurt, and I don't want any more friction between the MTB and equestrian communities.

It had been just about 2 hours since I'd started out, and before I knew it, the trail dumped me into the tail end of suburbia. I found a shady spot to rest for a bit, and noshed on a Clif bar. The weather was perfect, sunny and cool, and before long I was itching to get moving again.

There's been a bit of new development at the north end of Topanga Canyon Rd. lately, so I knew I'd have to explore a bit to find Johnson Fire Rd. The security guard watching the construction site didn't know, so I decided to just kind of explore a little and see what I could see.

Two minutes later, I met up with a mountain biker headed up the same road I was. I asked if he was headed for the Johnson Fire Rd. "Nope," he answered. "I'm going up Rocky Peak and coming down Johnson."

He was kind enough to point me in the right direction, though, and after the security guard at the gated community waved me through, I had no trouble finding it.

I'd wondered whether I should be headed up a route that he was planning to descend, but I was in my groove, and up for adventure. And adventure is exactly what I found.

The Johnson Fire Rd. is a very challenging climb. Lots of technical rocky sections, and even the "easy" sections keep you on your toes. I can't wait to go back and do it again, but I'll make sure I start my ride with Johnson.

About 20 minutes up the road, I found an abandoned burned-out house. It must have really been something at one time. Several levels, a modestly sized pool, and a spectacular view. I can't help but feel for whomever lived there. They lost something special.

After that, the suck started, and I was too busy keeping the rubber side down (and singing Bing Crosby Christmas tunes in my head) to take any more photos.

After what seemed like hours, I topped a rise and spotted the north end of the Rocky Peak Rd. cutting across a hilltop nearly due north of me, and at about the same elevation. This was great news: I was getting close to the end of the climb!

Just a couple minutes later, I spotted the rider I'd met earlier heading toward me. We stopped and talked for a couple of minutes, and he said that the Fire Road was really close. "If we weren't talking you'd already be there."

It was very close indeed, and after a quick stop to get a photo of the turnoff, I headed north toward the Chumash trail.

For some reason, I always get a boost seeing that burned-out post that marks the intersection of the Chumash trail and the Rocky Peak Fire Rd. And today it was a huge milestone: the official end to all climbing for the day. The sun was dropping into the western sky, and it was getting cooler, so I put on my arm warmers and zipped up my jersey before heading down.

During the climb up Johnson, I'd had second thoughts about my plan to come down via Chumash. It's a challenging trail, and I wondered if I really had the energy to descend safely. But when I hit the Rocky Peak Rd, I knew I didn't want to climb over to the Santa Susana Pass. I decided to head down Chumash, but ride conservatively. If I felt too tired, I'd just hike-a-bike whatever sections I didn't feel safe on.

I needn't have worried. After a few minutes' rest, I was good to go, and enjoyed my best run yet down Chumash. Everything flowed smoothly, and I was actually carrying speed through some of the rocky uphill sections. Very nice indeed, and a fantastic way to finish up the day's ride.

At the time, I said that I wouldn't try climbing the Johnson Fire Rd. again, that it was just too much of a pain in the ass. But now, after having a full day of rest and feasting and family, I can't wait to head back for another go. Maybe a loop that starts up Johnson, and then north along Rocky Peak to Devil's Canyon...