Not For Off Road Use

We all know people who can't imagine spending lots of cash on a bike when you can just go to the Mega-Mart and get a dual suspension 21-speed mountain bike for $200. Tell them to check the fine print. Specifically look for a tag that states "Not for off-road use". This should discourage them. All too often it doesn't.

Above Sierra Madre there's a place called Chantry Flats which is a starting point for a number of hiking and biking trails that branch out all over the San Gabriels. I was scoping out the singletrack to Hoegee Camp (nice, another story however) and on my way back I was watching the Sheriff's rescue helicopter flying low near Chantry. It ducked into a canyon and disappeared from my view and when I came around the next bend, there it was, hovering right at eye-level. This was an impressive sight. The heli was no chintzy two-person bubble job, but rather it was a Winnebago with rotors. Two stories high it was, with three crew members I could see from my vantage point.


I rode on in spite of the brisk wind this monster created up the canyon walls and came upon a young guy minding three department store mountain bikes. One of his friends was at the bottom of the gulch with a broken leg and the others were helping extricate her. The local volunteer search and rescue guys were having the time of their lives putting things right. Perhaps the crash wasn't the fault of the bike, but I'd rather have quality brakes and shocks which actually improve my control ove rwhich way the bike would be going next.