5th Wheel Cycling Team

After a week of virtually no physical activity, this handsome man decided he needed to end his dry spell, and America’s finest city would provide the perfect backdrop for his conquests. Unfortunately, I am hardly handsome and know nothing about conquesting, so I had to settle for a solo “night” ride.

I packed my lights due to my 7pm start, and after 8 or so miles of (possibly illegal) singletrack goodness, I was back at the car at 8:30 and the sun hadn’t even set yet. The overall pace was pretty mellow, and the climbing was minimal, but I did manage to finally clean a switchback that had always given me trouble. There was a log ride I wanted to session, but there were a group of questionable looking youths in the distance and I didn’t want to eat it in front of them, so I decided to save it for another day. Overall, it felt great to be back on the bike after a week of sitting on the couch.

Lesson learned: Going riding is way more fun than watching Tour de France replays. It took me all week to figure that one out.

On Saturday morning I found myself making the drive to Noble Canyon for the second consecutive weekend.  Originally I wasn’t going to go since it’s a 45 minute drive and I can be pretty lazy. But when it comes down to it, when Noble Canyon calls your name, you listen; it is the best ride in San Diego.

The crew this week consisted of Matt, his brother Spencer, and Jeremy.

After loading up the truck, we shuttled up to the Wooded Hills trailhead.  As usual, the ride started with some rolling singletrack on the Big Laguna Trail.

There were logs…

and some other logs…

Matt’s failed log roll from Dennis Lui on Vimeo.

and even bigger logs…

Untitled from Dennis Lui on Vimeo.

Once we hit the Noble Canyon trail, the cameras were tucked away since the trail is too fun to stop and take pictures.  It is about 8 miles of descending on tight and twisty singletrack, with enough drops, jumps, and rock gardens to keep you on your toes.

Here is Matt on the “Widowmaker”

We cruised down the rest of the trail with minimal stops.  Unfortunately, Jeremy ate it pretty good on a jump and as he was laying on the ground, this was all I could think of:

Family Guy – Peter hurts his knee

Then, on “Stairway to Hell,” Matt somehow managed to tumble off the side of the hill while he was already off his bike.  No photographic evidence exists, but I found it humorous until he revealed he hit his head on a rock.  He was okay and would have finished the ride just fine, but he got a flat and our experiment to use a 700c road tube was unsuccessful.  I ended up getting my car and picking him up.

Even though this was my 10th time doing this trail this year, the combination of fast downhill and technical rocky sections never get old, and I always end up having a blast.  Unfortunately, I still haven’t been able to clean “Stairway” from top to bottom, but I do feel myself improving with each attempt and it won’t be long before I nail it.  All in all, I can’t think of a better way to spend my Saturday morning.

The lack of content on this site may lead you to believe we are a bunch of posers, but we really do ride bikes. For the non-believers, proof will be provided this weekend.

-Dennis

After years of deliberation and living on the back burner it seemed as though the 5th Wheel Cycling Team may have existed only as a short-lived overgrown idea of founders Vince Camiolo and Dennis Lui. Vince’s pair of mountain bike races in the summer of 2006 and a team effort urban scavenger hunt in 2007 were all 5th Wheel could jot down on a competitive resume. And then more than a year went by.

Sure, we rode our bikes. A lot. But our interest in 5th Wheel waned.

Maybe it’s the fact that Vince and Dennis both purchased shiny new bikes in early 2009, but 5th Wheel is now bolstered by a renewed interest in riding with a purpose!

After almost a decade of suffering (thus getting stronger) on one gear Vince is hitting the trails on a geared bike with a renewed commitment to competitive cycling and 5th Wheel. More than 20 events fill his race calendar between now and the end of the summer, consisting of mostly mountain bike races, peppered with the possibility of a few adventure races. Many races he will be accompanied by other talented athletes acting as guest team members. And co-founder and San Diego mountain bike socialite, Dennis, is rumored to make a race appearance or two.

Two races are already behind us, and reports should be appearing on the site shortly.

Follow 5th Wheel updates on Twitter and keep an eye on the site for race and ride reports, other interesting musings and hopefully some 5th Wheel swag in the near future!