RR: Training ride in the Santa Ana's

[allison]

Originally Posted by mrtawney

Sorry for the n00b question-
What is VQ?

Vision Quest

Endurance event put on by the Warrior's Society in the Santa Ana mountains (in between OC and Riverside). 54 miles, 11,000ft of climbing. You get a feather if you finish

[jschwart73]

Originally Posted by allison

We wouldn't take anyone on a ride like this that wasn't capable. The point isn't to kill our friends.

You will have to come down and do a Tour de Noble with us at some point. But, you will need to be able to do like 25~ miles and probably at least 3000ft of climbing. Noble is more than that, but we take all day so it's not a huge deal.

I'm reasonably confident that I could have done another loop, so that would have put me at 18 mi and 3700'. Beyond that, I would have needed to take a break. Whew!

[allison]

Originally Posted by jschwart73

I'm reasonably confident that I could have done another loop, so that would have put me at 18 mi and 3700'. Beyond that, I would have needed to take a break. Whew!

When we do a ride like Noble it is a long/challenging social ride.

We take our time, and make plenty of rest stops. Refill water... that's why it's a full day of riding. Lots of photo stops, etc.

[CC]

Niiiiiiiiiicely done and great RR from all. I'm hoping to do the Santa Ana's from that side of the 15frwy soon.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by dft

glad upper holy jim didn't look to have snow, i'm probably hitting coldwater this weekend. good ride you guys!

haha, does this route sound familier dt?? You have to do this entire route on 40+ freeride bikes or it doesn't count though!!

(just checking) did you guys do; ITT/Main Divide/UHJ/Main Divide/down Trabuco /HJ up/down ITT? Or Coldwater down?? Either way, sounds like a really good training ride for VQ.

I got the VQ training bug this morning, it's about the right time to get some solid rides in!!

[allison]

Originally Posted by deja vu

(just checking) did you guys do; ITT/Main Divide/UHJ/Main Divide/down Trabuco /HJ up/down ITT? Or Coldwater down?? Either way, sounds like a really good training ride for VQ.

Uhm.. I train on my 23lbs bike. But, have fun with the FR bike!

That is the route we did. There is absolutely no reason for me to ever ride Cold Water again. Ever.

[sdyeti]

I've been riding the Yeti...it's 29.9 lb.

Wish I had a lighter one

Originally Posted by allison

Uhm.. I train on my 23lbs bike. But, have fun with the FR bike!

That is the route we did. There is absolutely no reason for me to ever ride Cold Water again. Ever.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

I've been riding the Yeti...it's 29.9 lb.

Wish I had a lighter one

my 5 spot is just under 28 pounds with a TALAS fork, not real light but seems to move out fairly quick. Look into losing a little weight if possible in the wheels, a good place to shave some grams. I run some pretty skinny tires right now for that reason, 2.1 kenda blue groove and 2.0 kenda karma.

If you're partial to masochism, try running a heavier bike until the new year, and then switch back. Wooosh!

[genusmtbkr5]

Originally Posted by allison

Uhm.. I train on my 23lbs bike. But, have fun with the FR bike!

That is the route we did. There is absolutely no reason for me to ever ride Cold Water again. Ever.

Allison, Coldwater really isn't bad. You guys rode that after OMR and I did and when we did it, it was nasty and loose. I could only imagine how much worse it was when you guys rode it. I plan on doing HJ to Coldwater, up ITT and back to HJ route sometime in Feb, weather permitting. Or maybe just go down Trabuco but that would mean going up the "Wall".

[jcampbell]

Originally Posted by allison

Vision Quest You get a feather if you finish

You also get a painful back pain, some hurting knees, a cazy dried salt clump on your face from all the sweat and tears that you fail to realize until you get home after all the people you just talked with and took pictures with, a pretty good funk too, some swear words when a flat occurs, a burst of energy when you get passed by a girl if your a guy, a burst of energy when you pass a girl if your a girl since we all know girls are always in competition with each other, a grin from a girl looking back at you... basically telling you that you suck... if your that guy getting passed, a lack of motivation when you get passed by a guy on an Iron Horse (because you know his bike is heavier that your bike), a weird feeling at the start on whether or not you should be doing this, a crazy race to the hills with people crashing in darkness just after the start, the best sunrise you've seen in a while when cresting the peak after Blackstar, an enduring ride to motorway, a cheer group at the bottom of motorway, some free water and bars if you elect to stop, a thought... when does this road end when climbing the road portion on Maple Springs, a feeling of relief when cresting four corners if you've made the cutoffs, by this time... for some weird reason... you don't see many other riders out and about... I was thinking am I last!, an outer body experience when cresting the peaks if the views are good that day, some really cool snow (usually) on the backside of the peak, a shot of motivation when you see the guy standing at the top of Holy Jim, a relief feeling going down Upper Holy Jim if you feel you're making the cutoffs, some direction to turn right when you hit the main divide again, a question then pops in your head... should I ride this or should I walk this... referring to the drop in at lower holy jim, an awesome ride down Holy Jim, a water crossing that hurts to get off your bike to accomplish, wow another cheer section and a ranger saying slow down, a bad attitude when you get to WHT, a hard right to Trabuco and an awesome downhill, wow... there's that cheer section again, a headache when you hit the bumpy ass Trabuco road on the 4.5 mile trek to the finish, you might also pick up a bananna, a cliff bar and whatever freebie they might have, you get a credit card statement reflecting the amount paid for the race, a t-shirt you might never wear, a number plate to make you feel like you race, some rule sheets and warnings, a great group of new friends that could last a lifetime, a good meal afterwards, a photo of you and your bike ... with the feather, and a feeling of accomplishment no matter if you made the cutoffs or not, maybe a ride in a crammed shuttle van back to your car parked at blackstar with all the funky smelling people inside that just rode for 7 hours and the windows rolled up, sounds great doesn't it? Really the best thing of all... you'll find yourself with a craving to to do more about three weeks after the race.

"You should try it sometime."

[allison]

Originally Posted by genusmtbkr5

Allison, Coldwater really isn't bad. You guys rode that after OMR and I did and when we did it, it was nasty and loose. I could only imagine how much worse it was when you guys rode it. I plan on doing HJ to Coldwater, up ITT and back to HJ route sometime in Feb, weather permitting. Or maybe just go down Trabuco but that would mean going up the "Wall".

I really don't think it'd be that much better ever It's still extremely steep and there is very little maintenance or rides on it.

BTW, The Wall is a lot shorter than ITT!