RR: Tijeras Creek Hot Bath Newbie Ride

[OMR]

SAR-Boats held a great Newbie Ride today tracing Gene's route done the previous weekend. Well, another bunch of crazy people (I counted 34)showed up to ride in 107 degree temps today. We had moved the start time from 8:30 am to 7:30 am hoping to beat the heat... but Mother Nature had other ideas. She was intent on cooking our a$$es... and she did! We left about 7:45 am and it seemes it was cool for about 5 minutes.

Gene arrived late and had to drop the hammer to catch up. Ran into several others and finally caught up with the main group just before dropping into Tijeras Creek. First time I've seen him sweat!

KeepsWhatHappens (John led a group of extra crazy riders on an extra credit backcountry expedition... where everyone died... or felt like they were dead! There was no wind at all back there!!!

We finally all met with the main group back up at the entrance to the Water Works Trail... where we had to pry the riders away from the refreshments and shade that the carwash center was offereing... little whimpers could be heard at this point.... that would be me!

The jumps at the Water Works could not hold people as the heat was starting to melt helmets and tires. Diving into the trees we all found shady relief and poison oak in the welcome trails. The water crossings were actually a relief from the heat and many could be seen to linger at these crossings.

Once out of the trees the heat seemed to really increase. CC (Cathy) kept offering encouragement to all... in fact all of the girls in the group were tremendous... I didn't hear ONE single whimper... even Traci, who initially had decided she wasn't feeling well enough to ride after spending all night in the pool (don't ask!) turned around and made it through... in fact she picked up her pace at the end and Neil had trouble keeping up with her. And as a matter of fact, Neil is one class guy with his head on really straight!

Props to SAR_Boats (Chris) for taking a page out of Gene's book and hosting a really fun ride. He led from the front and the back constantly checking on riders to insure they were having fun.

Props to Gene for catching up and sweeping... he wanted to join us on the extra credit but decided to lead the main group instead. He made the right choice as we nearly died from the heat. He made another trip to the nearby golf course looking for water for others. We must have looked a strange sight was we wandered into the pro shop looking for a water fountain.

Then is was time for me to put the hammer down as I had a lunch date with my understanding wife. I left the last group and ran into SAR_Boats returning to look for us. Hey, we take care of our own... no one left behind!

Waiting at the end of the road were cold beverages and hot talk... a great way to end the ride.

Props to Rachel (Wrecker) & John for bringing the root beer floats at the end... you can't imagine how good that tasted!

Props to HooiserDaddy (Jeff) for all those one and no handed wheelies during the course of the ride and the excellent beverages that cooled our toungues at the end of the ride.

Great to finally meet the great KidA (recently back from Hawaii... CeeDubb... Tighe ridr... Skinkin (pushing a big gear on the green 29er!)... Ezzyride...Letyrides...Kenton... even a Waldo spotting... awwww, just are just too many to list...major props to all that rode in this heat... you all did a great job. We all survived to ride another day!

OMR

[foofighter]

Great RR Gregg, i'm bummed i didnt get to go on this one but then I'm glad i didnt either...from the temp readings that were posted earlier it seemed really hellish to say the least.

Glad everyone made it out okay

[jeffj]

The stuff memories are made from. Insane memories, but memories none the less

Thanks for sharing.

[genusmtbkr5]

Elvia(ezzyride) and Traci(surlygal) did great on this ride. They both were on the verge of heat exhaustion, so we did what we needed to stave it off. It was hot and the 17+ miles in 107 deg heat is no fun for anyone, but we pressed on.

I didn't get off work till 7am and when I arrived, I met up with Gabe and Lety plus 2 others that didn't know the time was moved up. It didn't take long for us to catch up to the group. As usual, the group was great and kept things light and fun as always. We did what we could to cool down in the streams, but it was still a scorcher.

I led some and swept some. I even got a chance to drop the hammer a bit. All in all it was another great STR event. Thanks Chris(boats) for putting this Part Deux on. Thanks to Gregg, Neil and Traci for hanging back. Thanks to Rachel, John and Ashley for showing up with the Rootbeer floats and other refreshments. Thanks to those who provided the "sodas". Thanks to all for a great time. All you ladies rock! Guys too I guess and Elvia you should be proud of your daughter. I'm sure you are. I'm going to bed.

[xhuskr]

Way to go guys/gals......now go get your heads checked for insanity!

[Neccros]

Im straight up pissed I failed to make it but this humidity BS is killing me....

[Schecky]

Originally Posted by Neccros

Im straight up pissed I failed to make it but this humidity BS is killing me....

You missed a great time. Thanks Chris! I'm glad I went and I'm glad we started early.
It really didn't seem that bad at first, but it steadily progressed and maybe the last 5-6 miles were beat down scorching, once we left the trees-I am glad I skipped the extra credit trails.
All of those guys came back with a little bit of a stern look about them.
I found it much more humid in Seal Beach/Garden Grove than out there.

[SIZE=1]pics to follow[/SIZE]

[autoduel]

As a new rider with STR. I'd like to thank everyone for a great time. The extra credit kicked my quads, but thanks to the support of fellow riders, I was able to push on to the rootbeer floats! Thanks for the shotblocks! I'm looking forward to the next ride and might bring the wife sometime.

Steve
the "other" i-drive

[CeeDubb]

Had an awesome time, Chris. I was riding in great company so I didn't even mind the hellacious temperature.

Gene...lots of props for hammering to catch the group and helping Chris with the sweeping duties. A class act as always.

I don't know about everyone else, but ice cold Guinnesses at the end of the ride was more than enough incentive to crank out the last 4 miles.

Oh yeah...Gene...where's that Wahoo's again?

[surlygal]

Thanks Chris for doing this again! Could you please do me a favor and next time you plan a ride leave the heat out of it.

This was a blast once again, and I just wanted to thank Elvia(ezzyride),for talking me back into doing this ride. . (little pool party last night)
Props to Megan for riding (drunk ), Elvia for finishing - it was tough out there, and everyone else who stepped outside their comfort zone today and that's mostly everyone unless you like to ride in 107 degree heat.

Thank you, off and on Sweepers....Chris, Gene, Gregg, CC and my Hubby Neil. It sure is nice to ride my bike and have fun instead of feeling like i'm holding people back!

Great turnout, Great conversation, Great people to ride with. Thanks everyone for showing up and boiling..

The best part of this ride for me is the HUGE GRIN Neil (1x1clyde) can't get off his face. He just keeps saying how proud of me he is.

His smile has plenty to do with all of you! If it wasn't for the fantastic times and support I get from riding with STR members I would not be riding my bike, So THANK YOU EVERYONE! You all have truely enriched our lives.

[SpuDKnucklE]

Kudos to Boats and Genus and OMR and all the others who made this another awesome(ly hot) ride! The temps towards the end had me thinking I'd gone through the Looking Glass, but I just put my head down, chatted with the Mad Hatter for a while and whamo! it's over!

Now for something weird. I came home (Temecula) over Ortega, where the thermometer in my Xterra was saying 113. At the top it started raining (hard), and by the time I reached the bottom near Lake Elsinore it was showing 74. Wouldn't have THAT been sweet!! An added bonus... an almost clean bike!

Props again, guys and girls, for taking most of the pain out of this scorched ride.

Mitch

[Dagomako]

4 Hours later i still have a headache from the heat! But i wouldnt have missed it for anything! I did run out of water i think around mile 15 or so but i decided to bust out the last two cause i knew ice cold deliciousness was waiting for me!

Thanks again for another awesome ride. I actually got around to meet some really cool people! Thanks again CC for lending me your shock pump and to everyone else who offered to bring theirs for me. I gotta give props to the late night drinkers who made it out! Thanks again!

Marco

[GeorgiaOfTheJungle]

Huge props to all of you for going out today, you're all friken nuts

Sorry I missed the ride, but it was nice to catch up with all of you afterwards. Hope to see you guys in the dirt, soon!!

[Permagrin]

This was an awesome ride, even despite the heat. Thanks to everyone who made it out for the group torture and to Sar and Gene for leading and sweeping. Thanks also for the Guinness - when I heard CeeDubb say Guinness was at the car, THAT was all the incentive I needed to pound out the last 4 miles. This was my first time at O'Neill and I'm looking forward to returning for another round.

It was good to meet all the new folks - too many to name but you know who you are .
Thanks again for another great ride. Taking up mtb'ing was definitely one of my better ideas .

[Waldo]

Originally Posted by Permagrin

Taking up mtb'ing was definitely one of my better ideas .

Mrs Waldo and I had a blast (furnace) out there with all the peeps today. It was great to meet so many new friends and explore some new trails. Sorry we had to cut off the route a bit early, but the Mrs was really feeling the heat. She still finished 14.5 miles with a smile on her face (even when she was cursing me under her breath!). Very proud of her.

Everyone was so cool that I don't wanna try to name names, but I'd be remiss if I didn't thank Chris & Gene for leading & sweeping, Wrecker for root beer floats at the end, and especially CC for being so incredibly supportive. Great people like these can take a 200 degree day and turn it from a sufferfest into a good memory...the first of many, I hope.

I had my camera, but the heat baked my brain so bad that I forgot to use it much. Here's a few:


Encouragement on the first dirt climb of the day. Those people in their air conditioned Coto manors don't know what they're missing!




Good trailside lesson learned: Keep an eye out for stray crank bolts...somebody might need one!




One of a couple climbs on the route...all in full sun!




Nasty, loose steep bit. Some cleared it: Most didn't.



Mudman working it. Those Chumbas will climb anything...



...almost!
Huge props to Mudman for even being out there, riding on a very sore ankle after his epic crash at Oaks the other day. The man's got the fever, and not even cowbell's gonna cure it.



Sorry I didn't get more, and missed all of the singletrack. I saw some other cameras though, and am looking forward to seeing what we missed.

Thanks again to all. STR people are the best!

[1x1clyde]

Another great ride!
Thanks Chris for putting this together, Gene and Greg thanks for keeping me company sweeping and for the great conversation and intro to yet another fun trail!..
Thanks Jose, Shecky, Kid A, Cathy, CeeDub- thanks for cold "soda", Fred- keeping me entertained!-, Jared and Megan for riding under the influence, Nomad, Big Jeff, Elvie for truly "keeping it real", Gabe- wash that stink ass jersey pleeze!- Lety, Gary, Andrew and all the others I am forgetting except the superstar of the day Julia for riding unbelievably strong and confident on a day when it would have been ok to stop, you girl are a true inspiration, right along with my wife...you 2 absolutely killed it!
Here are some pix from today:

The Group









Onward

Julia, Elvie and Fred


Jose and Traci


Lety heading up


Dual Motors




Traci finishing strong on the 1st hill!


Regroup





Dusty trail but lots of smiles!








more....

[1x1clyde]

Chris taking some pix!


Refuel time


Hucking!

Air Gary, bum ankle and all!

















Gene going big!

[1x1clyde]

The water crossings


Jared and Schecky's glove, its in every picture, Chris' glove that is!


Hot Dog Fred


Hot Dog Fred wheelie out


Dual Motors Aqua










Gary hitting it fast


Cathy blasting thru







My favorite sequence of the day, great job Julia...just keep both feet on the pedals...please!







Elive





Elvie still smiling!


Gene knee deep and cleaning up!

Thanks everyone, good times as always!!

[Pain Freak]

A perfect example of a dangerous way to wear a helmet. Somebody help Julia out with the fit of her helmet. As it stands now if she crashed it wouldn't help her much

[nomad]

What a great time today ,despite the heat . I got to do all the extra credit , hang out with quality people , crashed three times & I got a root beer float . It just doesnt get better than that . I think that was the best root beer float iv ever had . good times