When Heaven and Hell collide!

[dirtmistress]

Here is a picture to help with the withdrawals, remember back to the Morton Peak climb. Actually that is the only part of this ride that is hellish at all and it is not that bad due to the views.

I was the lucky winner of the bike at cost. Hum what to do?

Great day, excellent seeing everyone, big thanks to Don's Bikes, the shuttle people and all that helped making this a excellent day. Was the leave covered singletrack threw Thomas Hunting Grounds sweet or what?

Dean

That ride was so fun I'm still sitting in bed sipping coffee and thinking about it! Everybody was so "on" and the weather was fantastic! SART can be such a drag when it's hot and full of 6mph gnats! Yesterday was perfect!
Makes me long for Downieville and Cannell trail and France!

[sheclimbs]

Thanks to everyone for an amazing day. Margaret, Russell and Co. thank you so much for putting this event together. I've been riding SART for years and this was by far the best time I've ever had out there. (And probably my longest mileage ride to date). As Liz said everyone was on and that made for a fantastic day all around. It was great to meet some wonderful people and to reunite with some long lost trail mates. Still smilin' and longing for more wonderful rides like this one!

Lynn

[ShinKen]

That was a sweet ride!! the 20 something miles after the post office where the best I have done on SART (maye b/c I never done that section). Thanks to Russell, and Margaret for keeping everything under control. I got to hang with the A group after the post office. Not sure why if I havent been riding for almost a month So, I thank the guy leading it (name? ) b/c he waited for us and kept it at a nice fast pace too. This ride is one for the books for sure. Great to see all the old faces and the new ones!! Cant wait to do it again.

[Revalimage]

Immense thank you's to everyone that was so fun and kind and encouraging on this ride - hope to play in 'hell' with you all again VERY soon!

Seems I was with the 'faster' slow (2nd group) so every time I stopped to take pictures, there was no one in front of me, and there was no one behind me, we were spread pretty well. Except for the loose sandy down hill, I was plenty slow - and the sweepers were close I don't mind expose at all, but loose is sucky even on fireroads! Loose and exposure = - Guess it's just another mental thing I need to tackle with more experience, I'm ready to go again

Now on to the few pictures I took.

Hugs to all, Julie


Okay - since I have not been able to figure out how to 'label' pics...

The view was spectacular!
The only 2 others I ever found behind me?
Waterfall on fire road climb - lunch break - and Christmas is right around the corner!
EXPOSURE?? Most of the time there was some bushes to catch you
I know there is a group photo from this camera - hoping to see soon

[Johnny Dirt]

First, I want to thanlk Russell, Margaret, Al and the rest of the crew at Don's Bike Shop. You guys did a great job!

It was such a fun ride, great to see a whole bunch of old friends and meet some new ones as well. This was my very first time on the SART and it couldn't have been better! I definitely want to hit this again in the spring or at least the lower part thru Thomas Hunting Ground soon, that ST was awesome!!

I brought my camera to take some pics but when I turned it on....no memory left. So I just kept on riding!

[russell]

I wanted to give a big thanks to everyone for coming out and making this event a success. I saw a lot of big smiles today and I think it had a lot to do with the crew we had.

Thanks to Don's Bikes of Rialto for sponsoring us. I would also like to thank Margaret and Al for all their help in getting this ride organized.

It seems like everyone had a good time and that's all I could hope for.

For me it was just awesome to expose some new riders to the SART west of the post office and to the Morton Peak single track. It was great to put some faces to names from STR. Again, thanks to everyone for a great ride.

Here are some stat's from my GPS:
Total Distance: 36.93
Total Time (including breaks): 7:20
Total Ascent: 2862
Total Descent: 7710

Here are the photos I took from the ride.

I counted 45 people in this picture!




Denmo finishing up the first section of single track after the post office.


Roger doing the same.


Wendy


Brent showing some love to the Morton Peak climb.


Brent at the top of Morton Peak


Brent on Morton Peak single track


Wendy on the Morton Peak single track


Nancy and Roger

[rollingmomma]

Russell WHAT?? I thought we had agreed to photshop a beatiful smile on my face instead of that terrified exhausted face after the exposed section... GOSH DARN IT!!!! That was fun! Thanks Again for the pics!

[DISCO]

I love fall, watching the colors turn and inhaling the delicious crispness of impending frost.

Thanks for sharing.

[russell]

Russell WHAT??

I think if you look closely you will see that smile.

[rollingmomma]

Just spit on my screen.... HILARIOUS!!! You truly are the GREATEST RIDE ORGANIZER EVER!!!!

[sheclimbs]

Congrats to Rollingmama until yesterday's 40 mile ride her longest ride to date was 10 miles. Way to go girl!

[Pup-n-taco]

Sunrise while on the 10 FWY to meet up with the crew at G's house.


RIDE RIDE BREAK RIDE RIDE BREAK RIDE SOME MORE

The sunset on the way down from picking up the cars at the trailhead.


To Russell and all who helped organizing and who were friendly along the way (which really was everyone) THANKS, this was an awesome ride and an awesome day!

p.s.-Russell, next time don't forget your pasties. Thanks again man, a truly great time was had by all.

[denmother]

First off, thanks to Russell, Margaret and Don's Bikes for a simply marvelous day of riding.

Roger, myself, Wendy, Ann and Andy all decide to ride our "Big Bikes" as some of us are training for Maxwell's PushAKona ride next month.

Our ride started off and within the 1st mile we come across Terry who has a broken chain and no tool. A nice gentleman on a Litespeed lent us his chain breaker and Roger happend to have a master link. Roger fixed the chain and we were on our way. We found out that Terry's friends had invited him on the ride but they did not divulge the full extent of the ride. Since he was alone and Ann was playing sweeper we decided to ride with him until lunch at the Post Office.

Then I hear a ting, ting, ting noise and I pull over to investigate. Low and behold, I find a broken spoke. We wrap it around the other spokes and keep riding. Every uphill I find that my brake pads are rubbing. We stop, tighten the akle and the dropouts and the problem keeps happening. Finally Andy suggests that we loosen the brake pads. So for both the fireroad climbs, I ride with no brakes. Fortunately I remember at the last moment to have him put them back in place before the downhill.

All in all it was a great day. I am so proud of my new buddy Wendy (Rollingmama) who finished the entire ride on her new Specialized SX Trail bike. We have been riding for the past few months and her longest ride before yesterday was 10 miles. She is really a trooper and has no fear. My hat is off to you!!!

And to my newest DH buddies, Ann and Andy, thanks for hanging with us all day, you 2 are truly good friends!

The day started out a little stressfull due to the chaperoning and the slow speeds but, if the tables were turned, I would be eternally greatful. I would just like to say to Terry's friends, shame on you!!! Never take a unexperienced rider on a ride and then leave him alone on the trail!!!

I was sorry that we didn't get to ride with anyone else but truly happy to see that everyone stuck around for pizza and beer. So nice to see so many familiar faces and new ones too!

Denmo out!

P.S. No pictures, sorry

Stats:
36.41 miles
5.21 hours
7246' descent
2459 calories

[1FG rider]

Thanks to the crew at Don's Bicycles for an excellent job putting this ride together. Just a lot of fun riding and hanging out with a bunch of other riders. I'm still a little sore and am going out to get a much needed massage later this afternoon. Congrats to all the SART virgins for hanging tough and finishing up a grueling ride.

Getting ready to ride from South Fork


Fall colors starting to show














Short regroup at Glass Road








Time for the long grind up Middle Control




Finished with the first part of SART. Still a long way to go!

[russell]

Oh BTW I lent my second adventure pass to someone (I cant remember your real name or STR name) and didn't get it back. If you have it can you please PM me. Thanks.

[LukeTrailrider]

We found out that Terry's friends had invited him on the ride but they did not divulge the full extent of the ride. Since he was alone and Ann was playing sweeper we decided to ride with him until lunch at the Post Office....

....I would just like to say to Terry's friends, shame on you!!! Never take a unexperienced rider on a ride and then leave him alone on the trail!!!

I rode with Terry after the post office to the end of the last fireroad descent and I tried to help him out as much as I could. I must say that I was quite disgusted with the behavior of his so called friends. They essentially abandoned him and when they actually did wait for him they spent the time disparaging him and his riding ability. And it's not like they all were particularly strong or skilled riders themselves; I frequently got stopped behind them because they lacked the technical skills to navigate the terrain. I suppose I could have went ahead of them, but I didn't want to leave Terry in their incapable hands. Later, I found out that a member of Terry's group was actually his brother in-law, which made them look even worse.

I've received some private messages and one personal insult in response to this post. I want to make it clear that it was not my intent to disparage or deride anyone. I apologize if I offended anyone.

[dirtmistress]

1FG rider, thanks for the photo of me making the log!

DenMo, it would have been nice to ride with your whole crew for sure! At least we all had fun!
Next time tell Rollinmama to come out on her "KickyPew!"
She still looks like an actress! Cannot figure out who!

[rollingmomma]

They essentially abandoned him and when they actually did wait for him they spent the time disparaging him and his riding ability. QUOTE FROM LUKE

WOW.. that is to bad. Hopefully, they maybe learned from the kindness of strangers that we are all in it together and you ride WITH your buddies.. After all that is what makes it so rewarding.

Liz I hoped you kicked out your hip when you said "KICKPEW"

I am thinking Elle McPherson, Jennifer Aniston maybe... LMAO... dare to DREAM!

[agisguy]

Here's a few more pics...

[1FG rider]

I was feeling pretty good after the long grind up Middle Control and after a brief lunch break we headed out for the last part of Hellride 2009. This part was all new to me and the decent down the mountain was unbelievable. Lots more exposure, incredible scenery, and sketchy sections of off-camber, sandy corners that had me white-knuckling most of the way down the mountain.





















Such a relief to finally make it back


Rest of the group trickling in






Its not a real ride unless there's blood. Autoduel donating some blood and skin after going down hard.