RR Holy Jim, Upper And Lower

[ShinKen]

Great ride Neil and crew!!had a fun ride. Really COOL to see everyone out there!!
there was like 4 or 5 groups!!!

hmm yes it was freaking COLD!!! and yes I wont drive up the fire road no mo!! that shiiatt sucksS!!

[Von-Skipp]

Soo cold up there, but worth it. I ended up doing Upper Holy Jim then heading to Trabucco. Upper was sweeettt and in good shape execpt for a rut or two. Lots of iced over puddles and tiny patch of snow along the main divide going to Trabucco.

I even had a Shinkin encounter, that was cool.

[DeeZee]

Originally Posted by Von-Skipp

Soo cold up there, but worth it. I ended up doing Upper Holy Jim then heading to Trabucco. Upper was sweeettt and in good shape execpt for a rut or two. Lots of iced over puddles and tiny patch of snow along the main divide going to Trabucco.

I even had a Shinkin encounter, that was cool.

We couldn't roll with you. Waited quite a bit for that other rider to show. Then he turned around half way up HJ

PC and I ended up not doing Upper HJ and elected to do Trabuco.

Fun Fun Fun!

[ericfoltz]

Saw a few of you out there on MD today. I was heading the other way from Horsethief. Kind of funny how MD was only wet on the uphills.

HJ is in great shape.

[JOx2]

Originally Posted by ShinKen

Great ride Neil and crew!!had a fun ride. Really COOL to see everyone out there!!
there was like 4 or 5 groups!!!

hmm yes it was freaking COLD!!! and yes I wont drive up the fire road no mo!! that shiiatt sucksS!!

im not gonna tell everybody that "you Shinken went OTB at one of the switchbacks". i got the front seat watching it in slow motion.

[OMR]

Today mountain bikers took over Holy Jim. I looked out one time and all I could see were bikers everywhere on the trail. I even had a Neil sighting. He went by me so fast, The only way I could tell it was him was the Ho Ho Hoes he said as he zipped past... that and I've got to get to work! There were so many groups it was hard to separate them. The last time I saw Gene was in the parking lot at the wash. The guy I was riding with made (yeah, that's right made) me ride up to the trail head parking lot. I had to miss all that rutted road ride up to the Holy Jim parking lot. Oh well, we encouraged riders from the warmth of the car on the way up. As you all know, the trail was in great shape... except for a certain huge rut on upper Holy Jim, which I couldn't seem to get out of once in. All in all, a great ride with A LOT of riders.

Every one have a Merry christmas... but don't get soft, the Rwanda Ride waits on the 29th. See you there. Gene, you can ride sweep with me.

[bighit8]

I wanted to try that ride but thought I was gonna have my kids today. They had a party with their mom. Plus I got home from work at 12 am in bed at 3am. You guys would have worked me anyhow! sounds like it was fun.

[genusmtbkr5]

Lots of riders today doing this route, about 40+. With that said, riders left at various times, some left as early as 6:30am and 7am! I got there at about 8am and saw the amount of cars parked. We saw several leave around 8:15 followed by more around 8:20 and 8:30. Tim aka Jasonmason and I left the wash are at 9am giving everyone and chance to ride their ride without being rushed.

We ran into Gabe on Trabuco Creek Rd on the way in as he riding out then Neil driving out. As Tim and I climbed HJ, we saw Kurt(rmb socal riding) with Leslie(madre) and a couple others, Jose(ShinKen), Mudman and Jarod.

We were about 3/4 mile from the top of Lower HJ and Tim got a flat, got it fixed and rolled on. Finally got to the Main Divide and saw several hikers coming down. They told us that there was huge group ahead. We caught up with JoJo(JOx2) and then ran into Carl(Phod'Up) and LoisMustDie. We ran inot another rider who informed us that a ranger was kicking everyone off the mountain. According to him, they closed portions of the Main Divide from Eagle to ITT. Tim, JOx2 and I were within 1/3 mile form Upper HJ and was turned away, so we headed back down the Main Divide to LHJ where we saw Willie, Sam(Bandman), Maxwell and many others. I spoke to other riders and was told they were turned away from bagging the peak as well. Those waiting at Upper HJ were told to head down. Tim and I waited at Lower HJ for others to come down UHJ. Saw Carbon Carrie her hubby Larry and Keith(kparsons) and 2 others form an earlier start. Once we knew that was all, Tim and I headed down.

Holy Jim is in great shape! Both going up and coming down was nice. It's nice to see and hear water in those streams again. I guess it wasn't complete not being able to descend Upper HJ. Bummed that Tim didn't get a chance to go down Upper HJ. Oh well, there's always another time.

Until this mix up about what is open and what is not is cleared up, I would stay off the Main Divide. The penalty could be a $5000.00 fine. They are serious about it and the ranger informed me that they knew about the confusion and is trying to fix and update the website. Check it before you go or you'll get turn around like we did.

BTW, JoJo you did great! Holy Jim is not easy for any newb that has been riding for about a year. I must say, Willie kicked butt on this ride. Never did caught up to her. Willie, you will do fine on your quest for that feather!

I didn't take many pics, but here's a few anyway.

[JOx2]

This is by far the most grueling ride I've ever had since i started riding October of this year. First of, This is my first time up Holy Jim and main divide (i think). As a newbie it blows me away, i don't know what to expect so there i went.

About 8 miles out i almost feel like going back but i keep telling myself, don't quit now, almost there, almost there and you can do it, you can do it,
just keeps motivating myself. And at one point i was a lone rider, pretty much most of the time going up as i cant keep with with them faster riders. Mentally i am strong but physically the climbs is taking its toll on me and i realized i need better supplements and stronger legs for this kind of trails.

And I am just so happy to see fellow STR and non STR riders coming back down, made me feel i'm not alone, well i'm not, its just they're way ahead of me, and after they pass there again alone by myself. One of the things that made it hard for me is the gusting cold winds, i got 4 layers and only peeled one going up and put it on again on the way down.


As soon as i entered Holy Jim trail, i knew im up to something, i knew right away this is not going to be easy for me so my plan......just to keep going and going, There's 3 of us entered at the trail Maxwell and Sam and little by little, every seconds they start to pull away from me until i cant see or hear them anymore.

Gene, Tim and I almost made it to the top but a ranger on quad halt us and ask to turn around, at that point I got mixed emotions, one, i get to enjoy the descent now, and two, it suck as we were just maybe 1/3 of a mile to reach the top, but we STR riders obey the law. So there's a good reason for me to go ride Holy Jim and Main Divide again.

The Descent: It was a BLAST riding back down!!!!!!!!! an adrenaline rush.


My thanks to Gene for getting me into this ride and making sure everybody is in check (No one is left behind), will never forget this one.

[ericfoltz]

The gate is closed at Indian Truck Trail but there are no signs about the closure. According to the closure map, MD is open from Joplin east/south.

Did the Ranger catch the four motorcyclists that went around the closed gate at ITT?

[genusmtbkr5]

Originally Posted by ericfoltz

The gate is closed at Indian Truck Trail but there are no signs about the closure. According to the closure map, MD is open from Joplin east/south.

Did the Ranger catch the four motorcyclists that went around the closed gate at ITT?

Didn't hear anything about that, but he would not let us go in either direction from Lower HJ. He headed towards ITT. I asked him if it was ok to wait there for the rest of our group there at LHJ and he said yes. As Tim and I descended LHJ, we saw him coming back from that direction. We were the last in our group of mtbers to leave the trailhead. Informed hikers of the closure on their way up. Don't understand the mixup. They should post signs at the trailhead at the bottom of HJ if they don't want anyone up there, at least update their website. I'll call Debra Clarke and find out and post the info.

[sdyeti]

Glad to hear that the ride was great (except the closure mix-up). Sorry we couldn't get out there to ride with you guys today...I want to get Dan out there to ride when we get back from vacation on 1/4.

We rode with the Manns today up to Thomas Mt. (Dan and I turned back at about mile 14 because we had to get home and get ready to catch a 7 am flight out of SD). I was whipped! Anyway, will save the details for another RR...

Hope to be out there soon with you!

[DeeZee]

Originally Posted by genusmtbkr5

Didn't hear anything about that, but he would not let us go in either direction from Lower HJ. He headed towards ITT. I asked him if it was ok to wait there for the rest of our group there at LHJ and he said yes. As Tim and I descended LHJ, we saw him coming back from that direction. We were the last in our group of mtbers to leave the trailhead. Informed hikers of the closure on their way up. Don't understand the mixup. They should post signs at the trailhead at the bottom of HJ if they don't want anyone up there. at least update their website. I'll call Debra Clarke and find out and post the info.

a few motorcycles a a guy in a White truck that pulled over when we were climbing. Was he a ranger ya think?

We went down Trabuco to avoid the traffic on HJ

[Sprankle]

It was my first time up HJ. we tried to make it to the peak but were turned around by the ranger probably1\4 mile from the top. I rode with dirthead the whole time after coming across him broken down on lower HJ. He lost the bolt that holds his rear caliper on but a shoelace and some duct tape kept us going. The highlight for me was reaching the snow. Sooooo coool!!!

[jasonmason]

What a gorgeous day to be out riding! Cold in the early am, but warmed up nicely and was incredibly clear up on the main divide. Don't know how you adrenaline guys got up and out as early as you did though - that's a little too cold for me...

I hadn't been up LHJ since the Toad Festival and was a little rusty on some of the stream crossings and switchbacks. Gene cleaned 'em all on the way up; i was happy to settle with around half of them. The flat i got on the way up really came into play later when the ranger turned us around 1/3 of a mile from UHJ - without that 10 minutes we probably would have made it. Oh well, next time. As it was dropping down LHJ was SWEET! I'd only climbed it previously, so now i've got that ticked and now have most of the vq route ridden. Went otb at the last freakin' switchback on the way down trying to catch gene and my knee's a little stiff now, but next time i'm cleaning them all! Just waiting for an opportunity for Motorway at some point, hopefully before the race, so i'll have the whole route in my head.
Great to see such a big turnout for this ride. Didn't actually see all of everyone except for the start, but 40ish all out on the same trail is impressive! Looks like lots of people out there training...