SCOTT Addict 10G: Mule Hill To Black Canyon

Today's Route: Mule Hill to Black Canyon

After checking out the Cervelo C-5 gravel bike last June (Mule Hill - Cervelo C5 Test Ride), I felt spry enough for another test ride. After talking to Joe Morgan at Nytro, he suggested the new SCOTT Addict 10 Gravel Bike. I went over to the shop yesterday and he pulled one out of stock. Medium size it was. Took some time to get it set up matching my Fuji seat & stem height. It wasn't perfect, but real close. I'd have to make the final adjustments at home later.

SCOTT Addict 10G ready to roll!

Riding back to San Marcos, I noticed quite a difference in the comfort. Could be the 35mm Schwalbe G-ONE tires, carbon rims, frame geometry or perhaps a combination of all the above? This ride was fast. Yes, even with the mini-knobby tires, I was flying along. Took a few shifts to get used to the SRAM Force 1 vs my Shimano. Also liked the 1x set up with no front derailleur. Carbon rail seat was a bit too hard for me. We added a shortie stem, but it wasn't high enough resulting in a long "reach".


Back home, I added my front bag, a couple of bottle cages from the MTB, seat bag, rear light, GoPro Camera and my 2 bottles. This brought the weight up, but it still was smooth and fast. Monday was Presidents Day and several randos wanted to ride out to Mesa Grande. Can do, let's go.

Dave, Sam & Mike check out SCOTT at JIB

The Mule Hill to Black Canyon route is an interesting randonneur route. There are several sections of dirt in it's 74 miles with about 5000' of climbing, the tough stuff just after the start. Add in the Rail Trail from San Marcos and I'd be hitting close to the century mark today.

Clicked on my Garmin 500 as I rolled away from home and soon found the Inland Rail Trail. Sections of the trail were littered with tree branches and root heaves. No problem for the 35mm G-ONEs at 45/55 psi. Some road travel before I ventured onto the El Ku dirt path and I added a little more dirt by jumping on the San Dieguito River Trail on the way to the start at Mule Hill. Scheduled start time was 0800, but Mike Shaw and Keith Olsen planned on starting early.

Kevin McNulty & Sam on Black Cyn Rd

Met Sam Thomas and we decided to chase down Mike & Keith, who were going via the full Highland Valley Road. As we  looped around under I-15, met up with David Horwitt riding in. Joining up, we kept on a steady course toward HVRd. Following the river bottom, we soon started climbing eastward. It pitches up to double digit here and no grabbing the smaller chain-ring on the SCOTT. There isn't one. Seems the 44T x 44cog was up to the task for this section. Up ahead we spotted Keith and Mike on the 14% climb. Keith bailed part way up on his fixie. Said his gearing wasn't up to this climb. I grabbed the 44 cog and labored up. No problem after that. Easy to reduce the gearing, just add a smaller chain-ring up front!

Dude dries clothes near nudie pool

Sam, Mike, Dave and I made our way over to Ramona. Dave noticed the Hwy. 67 construction sign and kept going straight on Dye Rd., around Ramona. We opted for the "Construction Zone" on Hwy. 67, which amounted to 100 yards of nothing! Regrouped at JIB/7-Eleven. After refueling, noted the ride options from here. Take the dirt up Black Canyon Rd to Mesa Grande OR hard-surfaced via Old Julian Hwy., Santa Ysabel and on to Mesa Grande. We all headed for dirt first.

Last June on the Cervelo C-5, Black Canyon was soft, washboard and dusty. Today it was hard and fairly smooth from the recent rains. This offered multiple stops for the camera: Indian town in the valley, nudie pool and numerous cattle shots. A few mile in, a MTB rider came up and was chatting with us. Kevin McNulty. He used to ride with the randos in the mid-2000's. Also a RAAM 2-Man Team Rider and HooDoo finisher! Kevin has some nerve damage in his feet now and does only short rides. He turned at the old bridge and headed for Sutherland Reservoir.

SCOTT, Sam & Mike at Mesa Grande

Ride was smooth with the lower air pressure and comfy SCOTT carbon frame. After a regroup at the old Store, we were back to a higher speed run on Mesa Grande Road to Hwy. 79. No problem keeping the pace with the roadie bikes. The big, fast, curvy downhill was handled well with the Schwalbe G-ONE tires. We paced-lined into Santa Ysabel for a favorite Rando stop at Don's Market. Busy place today and NO ice cream sandwiches!

The traffic on Hwy. 78 was horrific. We hadn't figured on all the Presidents Day RV traffic from the desert back to the city today. Time to crank it up on the curves down to Old Julian Highway. Once there, it was the usual no traffic ride into Ramona. No stop this time and we paced it up thru town and back onto Highland Valley Road. Dave kept going straight down Hwy. 67 toward Lakeside and the traffic.

Near horse kick on Mule Hill Trail

Only a few steepish rollers on HVR, and the SCOTT gearing made easy work of those. After flying down the last downhill, I turned off onto Mule Hill Trail. The others rode straight on the hard-surfaced HVRd. I hooked up with a rider on a new Yeti Niner. Lots of horse traffic today and it made for careful trail riding. Stopped and let them pass, but still nearly got a kick from a audacious horse! Several mud holes were no problem and the SCOTT handled the soft sand with ease. Dropped the Yeti dude with a 19mph burst and soon rolled into the finish. Handed the Yeti a rando card and soon met the guys at the Chevron Station.

After a few short stories and water refill, I was headed home via the Inland Rail Trail again.

Weather was excellent after a cool start. SCOTT handled well, single chain-ring worked perfectly and the ride was comfy on the dirt and road sections. After fine-tuning the fit, adding a 40T ring and a softer saddle, this bike would be Randos dream!

SCOTT Addict 10 Gravel Walkaround/Test Ride Video

- randorides