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
it. "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. 🙂