RR:VQ/CC Guided Ride 2/16/08

[KeepsWhatHappens]

Great people...great weather... great ride. Good times....

I only did the Motorway loop so hopefully the rest of the ride went well.

Now onto the pictures.

I'm sure others will fill in words later on.

Thanks to all the Warrior Guides (Chris and Gene especially) for making this ride happen.

KeepsWhatHappens

(remember to click on the pictures to see them larger)

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Riders start rolling only 10 minutes late.

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Crossing the gate at Blackstar.

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Waiting for Gene and Chris.

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Finally rolling..

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The fun begins!

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Riders climbing the first switchbacks on Blackstar.

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Suzanne crests the first hill.

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Riders waiting at Beeks Place.

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Debbie caught with a mouth full of food.

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Gene at Beeks.

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Chip aka Chipster and Rob aka Alpine Rob.

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Chip, Rob and me.

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Ned completes a grueling climb on his singlespeed.

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Chip and Rob reach the top of a steep hill.

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Alpine Rob.

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Riders heading east along Main Divide near Eagle Road.

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The top of Silverado Trail formerly known as the Silverado Motorway.

[KeepsWhatHappens]

More pictures...

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Re-grouping at the top of Silverado aka Motorway.

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Rachel aka Wrecker shows off her "clean" bike.

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Rob aka Alpine Rob descending Silverado.

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Descending Silverado.

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Descending Silverado.

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Descending Silverado.

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Re-group at bottom of Silverado.

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Trail Angels representing..Vickie, Danielle, Debbie, Paula and Rachel.

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Suzanne calls out "Rolling" to get the group moving up Maple Springs.

KeepsWhatHappens

[LBmtb]

Nice. Motorway doesn't look as bad as I thought it would be. Thanks for the photos!

[Wrecker]

Looks can be deceiving...don't judge a book by its cover...yadda yadda yadda.

Quite loose and rocky in sections, there was a nice pic of the big rut, and a few water bars--some steeper than others (watch your speed on them), plus one wash out section that could probably be riden by the greatly skilled, but the consequence for mishap looks serious. Overall, not as bad as I thought it would be and I'm not as good as I'd like

I think it's almost like a different trail; John loved it cause it was more interesting.

[Keith B]

Great ride today despite my heavy cold and cough. Motorway isnt as bad as I'd thought and aside from one diversion and the last 1/3mile being double track it was jsut as I remembered it........sadly so was the Maple Springs climb!
Some of us didnt realise there was a cut off to get to the peak so some turned back at 4 corners but I pushed on through the snot and heavy breathing (more so than usual and not a phone in sight) and went up to Modjeska to take some snaps of the fire damage.

Harding looks pretty toasted in places but there are large areas that are untouched as you can see...

Lots of eagles and birds of prey out and about taking advantage of the lack of brush to spot small animals, dogs, children etc.

Highlight of the day had to be the P51 Mustang flyover - I want one of those so bad!

Good to catch up with old pals Rach, John and Gene and meet some new faces - Impy on her 1x9 putting in stupendous pace with a pulse reading that was only slightly above what mine is at rest - or thats the way it felt at the time. Alan had recently had some metal wear removed from his leg and was braving through the pain.

Huge thanks to Gene for arranging my day of pain.

Top of Motorway





Couple of little rollers to ride over



Alan delighted with not having to carry his Ti hardware up Maple



Getting towards top of Maple



Impy and Alan swear they saw this machine in a Sci-Fi porno. They shouldnt be allowed near a television without adult supervision



My house down there somewhere



Looking across at Harding. Agent orange or fire damage you decide



The canyon opposite Harding - sorry dont know the name



Old Camp clearing now has a wide double track leading down to old camp proper and the base of Joplin. (Note to self dont take someone up there as a first date at night.)



Wide view of fire damage from near top of Modjeska



More trees torched on Maple



My legs can hardly wait to experience this again in 2 weeks.

[bighit8]

Originally Posted by KeepsWhatHappens

Great people...great weather... great ride. Good times....

I only did the Motorway loop so hopefully the rest of the ride went well.

Now onto the pictures.

I'm sure others will fill in words later on.

Thanks to all the Warrior Guides (Chris and Gene especially) for making this ride happen.

KeepsWhatHappens

(remember to click on the pictures to see them larger)

Attachment 14372
Riders start rolling only 10 minutes late.

Attachment 14373
Crossing the gate at Blackstar.

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Waiting for Gene and Chris.

Attachment 14375
Finally rolling..

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Attachment 14377

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The fun begins!

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Riders climbing the first switchbacks on Blackstar.

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Suzanne crests the first hill.

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Riders waiting at Beeks Place.

Attachment 14383
Debbie caught with a mouth full of food.

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Gene at Beeks.

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Chip aka Chipster and Rob aka Alpine Rob.

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Chip, Rob and me.

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Ned completes a grueling climb on his singlespeed.

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Chip and Rob reach the top of a steep hill.

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Alpine Rob.

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Riders heading east along Main Divide near Eagle Road.

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The top of Silverado Trail formerly known as the Silverado Motorway.

Who is the shorter blonde girl in picture 12. Does she drive a brown xterra. If she does I followed her down Chapman and right on Tustin. Small world.

[slayer]

thanks for the pics.

what time did everyone make it back to the cars?

[ocmtnbiker911RN]

Hey John, Thanks for the nice pics. Had a great time.

[KeepsWhatHappens]

Originally Posted by ocmtnbiker911RN

Hey John, Thanks for the nice pics. Had a great time.

It was a pleasure (as always) riding with you a few different times today. See you at VQ finish line.

KeepsWhatHappens

[Vickie]

Originally Posted by bighit8

Who is the shorter blonde girl in picture 12. Does she drive a brown xterra. If she does I followed her down Chapman and right on Tustin. Small world.

Small blonde in picture 12, the one with Deb - is Daniella, nope, she drives a white p/u

[Vickie]

John,

As always, great shots of the beautiful day we all had today. It was incredible to be out, and pre-riding some of the CC route that I've never been on - Motorway and MapleSprings. Yeah, it's now under my belt and I know what to expect in another..YIKES, 2 weeks. Well, they say the more you ride something the shorter it gets.... I could only hope!!

Everybody did an outstanding job, and Deb, you are my hero...you went all the way to the Peak!!! You ARE my inspiration! Luv you girl!

The chow at Taco Mesa was good too....Nice to hang with Suzanne, Mark, Gene, Deb, Danielle, Colette, Alan and the others that strolled in.

Hope everybody had as good a day as I did!!
Here are just a few shots I took..the two "i don't know pictures were taken on the way to four corners.......the others at the bottom of motorway.

[bighit8]

Originally Posted by Vickie

Small blonde in picture 12, the one with Deb - is Daniella, nope, she drives a white p/u

Cool, I saw a car with a warriors society sticker and switchback stickers.Thought maybe it was her from what I saw of the person in the car.

[Impy]

Thanks gene and chris and everyone for an awesome ride and great company. It was great to meet so many nice folks - Debbie was my inspiration to grind it up to the peak, keith kept my mind off the numbingly long climb to 4 corners, suzanne it was great to see you again and ride with you, gene you are such a sweetie for looking after all of us, brandon you rocked and it was great to meet you, steve thanks for the escort down the mountain esp after alan (aosty) flatted. Also good to meet all the trail angels there, man you girls rock (vickie and danielle and paula) and of course rachel - nice to ride with you again. And everyone else too.

Honestly, even if I DNF VQ I will be stoked to just get to participate in an event with this many cool people.

[genusmtbkr5]

Pretty good turnout considering the route change. Those who came got a chance to see and ride the Silverado Trail since the fires. Like most said, it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good either. It use some TLC, maybe knock a few inches off those water bars and get some of those brances and boulders clear. I'll talk to Chris and see if we can get a work crew up there. some rains and a few hundred riders coming down and it will be great.

The ride it self was uneventful. I only lost 2 riders out of 46, 1 for a sore back and the other for a mechanical. i ended up coming down the MW really late. I saw a rider with a flat and gave him my tube and by the time I got to Maple Springs, I was 30 min behind. No way was I going to try to hammer and catch them when i have to do another ride up Maple Springs tomorrow.

All in all it was a success. Riders adhered to the rules and I think most got what they came for. I will give my report to Chris and he may forward it to the FS. Hopefully, they(FS) will allow more of these with less restrictions. We had 14 guides and 32 riders in all and I'd