While here in Southern California we took the opportunity to ride out by Idyllwild. We mountain biked Thomas Mtn at least once back in the late 90’s but barely remembered it. This time we did a loop up the dirt road and down Thomas Mtn and Ramona DH. It’s a tough ride with a good amount of climbing and the DH is pretty rugged in spots. Adventure!
The ride starts with a little warm up of a mile on the highway before turning and heading up through a neighborhood at the base of the climb. Once on dirt the climbing starts and continues pretty steadily for around 8 miles. It isn’t too steep until the very end when you are definitely ready to be done with it. We stopped a bunch to admire the views off both sides of the road.
The DH is a bit rugged in sections with ruts, lots of leaves, rocks, and just generally a wild feel. Once we crossed through the campground it got a bit technical with rocks and some tight switchbacks. The traverses are fast in plenty of places but we kept stopping to admire the view. It’s a long downhill and my hands got tired! If I ever rode this again, I might consider an out and back on the singletrack…it seemed like it would be decent.
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