Riding the Waterworks Trail should be the highlight of any ride with the many options around Ladera Ranch unless you’re a dope.
…like me.
Trying to expand Gravel Bike California’s footprint for our Send it Series rides, a few months ago I went down to Orange County to get a preview for our March ride that my friend Jason completely mapped out.
We started the ride before we could see the sun so when he led me off to some single track I was a tad fearful my eyes weren’t ready.
Technical skills aren’t my specialty, but I had to trust in Jason that there was going to be a payoff and it did bigtime.
My skittishness wore off around every turn as my confidence picked up along with the G Forces.
I probably overuse the term rollercoaster for my favorite downhill rides, but the Waterworks Trail definitely earned that distinction.
There was also plenty of opportunity to catch air, but I had to temper my freedom to fly a bit as my Osmo Pocket was threatening to fly out of my co-pilot bag at any point.
I wanted to do this loop again, but the rest of the route called which unfortunately led to the demise of the camera when it chose later to eject itself.
That sucked….but so did crashing into cactus minutes later taking weeks of discovering and pulling out needles from my skin.
Soon after this ride, we went in covid lockdown causing the cancellation of the Send it Ride and taking this experience a bit off of my radar.
Over time, the anger of replacing the camera and the embedded pain wore away and I started to remember what fun the Waterworks Trail was.
It might be awhile until I make it back down there, but I’m happy I can relive it!