March 26th
Time for another bike ride! Woke up early and left La Quinta and headed for the Crafton Hills Trails in Yucaipa, CA. We arrived about 9:30 am and found a little trail-head to park at. We BARELY fit the Maj in a parking spot by hanging the back end out over into the shrubbery. Whew!
We had everyone dressed, helmets on, gloves on, jackets on, snacks packed, and bikes ready within minutes of arriving. The mountains were so green and seemed to go on forever.
We took off on the Crafton Hills/Three Hawks trail. The first section was a really fun little single track with lots of little switchbacks. A new skill to learn? Switchbacks with a kid on your bike. Yikes!
About a mile or more up we met up with the main Crafton Hills Ridge Trail which is basically a giant fire-road that goes straight up the mountain. The climb up was not pretty. The kids got cold so we stopped to put on jackets. Then came hunger. Stopped for a snack. Then my chain broke. Stopped for repairs. Then hunger hit again. Stopped for a snack. After a few repeats of this we were tired, still somehow hungry, and a little bit discouraged. We would say, “let’s just make it to the top of this hill”. Then the hill would turn into another steep climb and we’d have to talk ourselves out of quitting again.
Just as we had given up hope, another couple came speeding up the mountain past us. Yes, they were super fast, they didn’t have kids on their bikes! We met with them for sometime as they tried to figure out how we had our kids with us that high on the mountain! We learned about their love of life in America since moving from Germany. Then they told us to not give up. One more mile and this trail would all be worth it!
You know that point on vacation with kids where you are in such a loss as to why you thought this was a good idea? That’s where we were. Despite that, we pretended we were still doing awesome and kept peddling (Despite Fletcher’s constant request to return to the Maj). One more mile and we finally made it to the top. Or what we decided the top was. Instead of staying on the Crafton Hills Ridge Trail we took off on the Regional Park Trail (per our German friends suggestion). They were right!!!
As soon as the downhill began, the kids moods INSTANTLY changed. Wahoo’s and giggles and “MORE MORE MORE” is all we heard. The trail down was EXTRA smooth and fast. Tons of switchbacks, little mini whoops and more. Perfect kid trail.
Once at the bottom we had to ride a long road to get back to the Maj. Brian rode ahead with our new biking friends who kindly filmed us on our ride down (I think they were shocked still that we could go that quickly with a kid on our bike.). The kids and I stopped at the Yucaipa skate park to rest while so Brian could come save us. There was an event happening that day with tons of kids. Riley’s favorite thing! Crowds of kids!!
By the time Brian came down, we were ready for lunch. We drove back to San Elijo State Beach where we had reservations for the night. Though it was cold and windy, it was great to be back at the ocean for sunset.
Another adventure down! What’s next????
RV Life Crisis 