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I was excited about tonight's ride for two reasons. It was comprised entirely of trail that I either hadn't ridden, or hadn't ridden in the direction I planned. And it was a chance to scout out the Los Robles trail on the south side of the ridge, which connects Rosewood/Space Mountain with Sycamore Canyon.

Evidently the local high school cross country team was training on Space Mountain, so it was a bit of a madhouse. But once I was half way up, I had the trail nearly to myself for the rest of the ride.

I rolled up to the overlook above the picknick table, had a quick look around (I knew I'd be racing the sun later on), and headed down the Los Robles trail to Potrero Rd.

That stretch of trail is, as they say, nontrivial.

Deep ruts, loose gravel, and steep trails reduced several sections to dusty hike-a-bikes, and the trail winds very close to housing developments. If it didn't serve as a connector between some of the best trails around, there wouldn't be much to recommend it.

The sun had already sunk below the horizon by the time I'd climbed back to the picknick table, and I knew I had to hustle to get back to the trailhead before full dark. I met a rider who asked me how much daylight was left. I told him that I wouldn't want to be on the trails past 8:45, and I was bang on target. It was already 8:00, and descending Space Mountain was just hairy enough that I won't let myself get caught on the trails after dark again. Elevation gives you a little grace period, but not much.

I had a great time, and most of the ride was on completely new trail, which is always fun. But I'm really rethinking my plans to ride from the Moorpark trailhead out into Sycamore Canyon and back. It's been a while since I did a ride longer than about 2 hours, and my best guess is that it would take about five hours for the ride I'd planned. I don't want that return trip up Los Robles to become the hellish slog I know it could be on a hot day after 3½ hours in the saddle.

(Map: "Los Robles Trail West")