Before I start the actual ride report, here's a bit of
backstory: I started riding about 1 year ago, on an old
Giant hardtail. Back then, I could barely complete my local
5 mile loop without stopping to rest about 4 times (and this
is a loop with barely any hills too!). It's a year later,
and I've been riding my new bike, a Kona Dawg FS, since last
October. I ride about 4 times a week.
Enter the Bulldog. The Bulldog motorway is one of the more
famous (or infamous) trails in our area, the Santa Monica
Mountains of southern California. I'm not sure what else it
compares too, but it's always had a pretty formidable
reputation to me, at least based on other rider's
description of it. Basically, its a fireroad. 3.5 miles
long with ~2200 feet of climbing to the top, near Castro
Peak in Malibu.
My friends had been bugging me the last few weeks to try it.
"Yeah right," I would usually reply, "it'll take me 4 stops
and 3 hours to climb it."
Somehow they convinced me, though. So last Sunday, I rode
onto the trailhead across the street from my house, and took
the mellow single track (one of the ones I used to have to
take rest stops on) the 2 or 3 miles to get to Malibu Creek
park. My friends were waiting by their cars at the park
entrance, and we quickly proceeded onto Crags, the main fire
road through the park.
We rode over a small hill, then up and down a bigger one,
through a long streambed/rock garden, past the old MASH TV
series set (there's an old rusted out jeep and an ambulance
there), and finally we were at the intersection of Bulldog
Motorway. I had done this all before, but all other times, I
would simply pass by the Bulldog...now I was turning onto
it.
Well, not immediately. There was several minutes of BS'ing
as we pondered the task at hand (two of the group had
climbed Bulldog before, and two of us hadn't). After we ran
out of excuses, the climb began. I made a note of the
distance on my computer so I could watch the miles tick off
as I climbed.
It was pretty mellow at first. Typical fireroad. It was warm
out...downright hot in some areas, though occasionally we'd
round a corner and be greeting by a cool, albeit brief,
breeze. Everyone who I'd talked to about Bulldog always
mentioned how it got harder and harder as you went up. So, I
was deliberately taking it real easy, climbing in granny,
1-2 or 1-3 at the most.
The first mile came and went uneventfully. The second miles
was a bit harder, but not too much. Somewhere in there was a
slight downhill section which offered a nice chance to cool
off. Beyond the second mile, I started encountering some
steep sections, and I was really starting to feel it. More
then that, I was getting more and more...how can I say
it...saddle sore. Luckily there were the occasional flat
spots on the trail. Well, maybe not flat spots, but areas
that were less steep then the rest of the trail. These would
give me a precious few seconds and to stand up and try and
recover for the next steep part. I'd need the "rest."
Bulldog starts off as a fairly smooth road, but after 2
miles or so, it isn't maintained very well. I began
encountering the rocky, somewhat techincal sections that
everyone told me about. They aren't technical by normal
singletrack standards, but after climbing for two miles on a
fireroad, they sure looked technical to me, with lots of
ruts and bare rock that you have to find a line through. The
first 2 or 3 of these sections I got through okay, though I
was pretty out of breath at the end of them. Then, I rounded
a corner and saw the longest, steepest section that I had
encountered so far.
I tried to pick out the best line I could, shifted from
granny gear into 1- 2 and started cranking. A few times
the pedals were barely turning. At least once or twice I
seriously thought I was going to have to put a foot down.
Somehow, I made it to the top of the section. I was
nearly completely out of breath, and almost discouraged.
If there was one more section like that, I thought, I'd
never make it.
3 miles ticked off, and I didn't encounter another section
that bad, though, the next half mile or so had some steep
parts. As I approached what I thought was the top, I saw
that the road appeared to veer off to the left and travese
the mountain ridge. My computer said I had gone nearly
3.5 miles...was this not the end?
Suddenly, a gate appeared across my path, but the road kept
climbing beyond
iu. "Phew," I thought, "whether this is the end or not, now
I have an excuse to get off the bike." As I got closer,
though, I realized there was a small path around the
gate. D'oh!
About 1/4 mile later I was happy again. It turns out that
the trail I had seen along the ridge was a different trail,
which ran perpendicular to Bulldog. I had reached the
intersection with that trail, and the top of Bulldog.
Woohoo! Total time from the bottom was about 1 hour.
The rest of the ride, in some ways, was inconsequential, so
I'll keep it short (or try to). We rode east, traversing the
mountain top, and riding through some neat "mini Moab"
slickrock parts. A bit more climbing was followed by a LONG
fireroad descent and a bit of single track that lead us down
to Malibu Canyon road. Next came the scariest part. We had
to cross Malibu Canyon road and ride about 1/8 mile on it to
get to the connecting single track back into the park.
Crossing that road on a warm day when everyone in L.A. seems
to be coming from or going to the beach was not fun! Anyway,
after crossing the road yet again, we finally got to the
Tapia spur trail, a hot, dusty, sandy single track that cuts
back into Malibu Creek park, and then back to the cars.
I know my climb isn't going to be shattering any records. I
still consider myself to be out of shape. Still, I never
thought I'd be able to climb Bulldog without a dab, let
alone an actual rest stop, so I was pretty stoked.
Either Bulldog is easier then everyone says, or I'm in
better shape then I think I am.
Or, I just got lucky. 🙂