Gridley is one of those trails that you must respect, its loose, dry, rocky, steep and dangerous. The trail begins at the end of Gridley Street on Ojai, a beautiful two mile long road edged with big old colorful houses, the ones that are shown on Home Living magazine and such, wild flowers growing on the side ditch and mainly fields of avocado trees. The hardness of the trail begins on the pavement where a 25 percent ascent serpentines to the trail head, it is on that climb where one can briefly evaluate the freshness of the legs (if you drive up that road and park at the trailhead you are fucking up). Once the trail is reached is time to hike the bike, the first 500 feet of trail is composed by big rocks, log steps, loose off camber gravel, loose rocks, dead foilage and bigger rocks, while most of it is rideable, if you have the skills, its better to save some calories and throw the bike on your back, it gives you a chance to properly warm up the legs. Once back on the saddle one climbs a wide fireroad at the edge of more avocado fields for about a mile until the singletrack is reached. The rest of the climb goes from shaded singletrack with a diversity of foilage, to loose off camber gravel, to a mile long rock garden where there is no line, to more off camber gravel ascents. There are four major switchbacks, the first one being a wide and loose gravel section thats easily carved, the second one has more loose gravel combined with sand, the third one is basically three big rock steps that turns tightly to the right where more steps await, this is the most technical section of the trail, line choice is vital, otherwise getting off the bike is inevitable. The fourth one is nearly impossible to climb, it rest at the end of anoff camber gravel section, the turn is basically a 180 degrees and the grade has to be in the mid twenties, making traction non existant if you are running cross country tires. The last mile is a flowy, fast and somewhat tacky singletrack, shaded by the mountain itself. Over the last year this trail went from sketchy fun to dangerous fun, the drought has erosioned the soil and now the sharp edgedrocks that where once buried under soft dirt are maliciously waiting to hit your rims and throw you off the line. Is the difficulty of the climb what makes this ride so memorable. The descent requires you to be on your shit, to have the suspension dialed and to be willing to go over the bars at least once. So what's so beautiful about this mountain, now that I made it sound like the worst day ever? The challenge itself, this is one of those rides that will have you asking yourself "what the fuck am I doing?" It will make your legs burn and your hands hurt, but isn't this why we ride for? To conquer the mountain and be humbled by it at the same time, to feel small and powerful, to crash and keep going, to get in deep touch with nature, to be all alone knowing that you are the only human for miles around, to reach the summit and see the entire county and think how unimportant we are as individuals. To be amazed by how powerful the planet is and to learn to respect the mountain. This trail will ask for a small part of your cycling soul, and you will gladly let it go.
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