RR: Maple Springs -> Motorway July 9th

[LBmtb]

Good ride today, guys. It was me, Jeff (aka Triscuit), Rob (turnerRob), Lance (ecoDork), Patrick (mcGrath), and Aldo (bananaseat).

Started closer to 7:30 then 7 but the paved road was shaded and at a nice temp. Bugs never really got out of hand although they were out there. Held a pretty good pace to the spot where it turns into dirt. Rested there for a few minutes, gathered up the troops, popped some cubes, and we were on our way.

Maybe 2 or 3 miles up, Aldo, Rob, and I stopped in a shaded area to wait for the others. Waited for probably over 10 minutes and saw Jeff and Lance coming up but no Patrick. "Where's Patrick?" we all wondered. Lance and Jeff had waited for him at a lower spot and even rode down a bit but no sign of Patrick. We figured the reality of the climb had settled in and he had decided to go watch the world cup final? It was a bit wierd because he didn't seem too tired after the paved road.

Continued on up to 4 corners holding our middle gear pace. The heat never became unbearable on Maple Springs, which was a welcome surprise. We huddled under a bush for shade at 4 corners, to rest again, eat a bit, and snap a few photos. On main divide you could feel the sun, especially on that one steep b!tch. I think everyone cleared that one - first for me!

Surfed over to and down the motorway with no injuries or mechanicals. Actually the only slight mechanical was a hole in Rob's tire which stan's sealed up. Didn't see Pat's truck at the lot.

Rob at 4 corners


Patrick!


Lance at 4 corners


Post ride group photo - taken out of a shade = bad lighting


Group at 4 corners - bad lighting again

[Von-Diggity]

Where's Dino?

[LBmtb]

Originally Posted by Von-Diggity

Where's Dino?

Overslept I guess. Where's Bret!?

[TURNERob]

Good call on this ride Aldo, it was a fun loop and the weather wasn't as hot and terrible as I thought it might be. There seemed to be a nice breeze when you needed it most. The climb up the paved road was cool and shaded for the most part but seemed tougher than usual to me for some reason......maybe me just getting old We regrouped where the dirt started and continued climbing......after the Forest Ranger went by us.....more on that later.

George, Aldo and myself stopped a couple miles further up since we had lost sight of the others. We had a good game of rock throwing going on trying to hit the barbeque that was way down in the canyon. After 10 minutes or so Jeff and Lance rolled up and said they had waiting for Pat but he must have turned around....Where's Patrick eh? Right when we were about to roll out I finally nailed the barbeque and George was pissed! I was feeling good and set the pace the rest of the way up to 4 corners. I didn't want to leave the shade and the nice strong breeze that was blowing there as I knew what lay ahead of us......some steep hot climbing.

We rolled out and headed towards the Motorway. After one of the downhills I heard a hissing noise in the front tire everytime the tire rotated around. Crap! I stopped and found the spot...pulled out a thorn of some sort and quickly rotated that spot to the bottom to let the Stans do its job. The hissing ceased and I was on my way again.....gotta love Stans We all cleaned the "hell climb" and made it to the top of Motorway. We were all pretty toasted by then but amped up for the ride down. The Motorway was very loose and rocky, probably the loosest I've ever seen it. You "surfed" down it in quite a few sections which made you stay in focus. After hitting a few very HOT air pockets on the way down we all made it without incident. Got back to the cars and sure enough as I figured those of us w/o Adventure Passes had tickets on our windows. First time I've ever gotten ticketed for that.....oh well I guess I'll pay the $5

Overall a great ride with a good group of guys as usual. Jeff nice seeing you out on one of our group rides....to bad Kippie wasn't there so you guys could have battled it out some more (I think he's still sour about loosing to you in the 24hr OC race).....haha, j/k Matt.

P.S. Bret was too "tired" to make the ride.....uh huh, yeah.

[ECOdork]

Yeah, that'll be the last time gonzo listens to me on placement of the camera for the group shot!

As stated, t'was a good ride with good company! A little toasty on that long nasty climb 3/4 of the way to Motorway, but not too bad otherwise. Lots of loose and dusty though...

Pat, hope you're alright and there is no hard feelings for us blazing on. We stopped at the first bit of pine-tree provided shade but you must have turned around already. Yelled for you a few times. Crazy echo in that canyon!

Jeff, good meeting you! We'll have to ride again.

A good time as usual guys!

[singletrakk]

Good ride today guys!!Nice seein George and Rob again and meeting Lance, Aldo and Patrick.Haven't done Maple Springs in a while.Very nice and easy mellow climb up Maple Springs. A couple steep climbs on Main Divide.The weather didn't seem to fight us too much. Slight breeze up on top. The ride seemed to go by pretty fast. Riding with friends always makes things more enjoyable. Now we're just left with one mystery, what happened to Patrick? Hope to do this again soon guys!!

[dstepper]

Bummer...you guys lost Patrick? I am surprized that you guys did not get cooked out there. I would have, but there again it takes me like 4-5 hours to do that loop.

[mcgrath]

Yeah, I took off maybe a mile after the paving met dirt. You guys smoked me and I didn't want to keep you all waiting. The fly's were just pestering me non stop, so I said f-it and turned around. I was pretty dissapointed in myself. I usually at least finish the rides, maybe not so gracefully but at least finished. Hope you guys didn't come looking for me though.

See you next time.

[bananaseat]

my first time on this loop. very nice ride, and will definitely be added to my rotation.

no worries mcgrath, we'll see you next time.

dino, we missed you... just meant more alone time w/ecodork...

[killa Cali Kid]

[quote=TURNERobThe Motorway was very loose and rocky, probably the loosest I've ever seen it. You "surfed" down it in quite a few sections which made you stay in focus. [/quote]

Looks like you guys had a good ride.Sounds like bugs were not so bad (as my experience a few weeks back) and motorway was a bit sketch (glad to see I wasn't nuts in my prior posting on topic as well).

Anyway, never hooked up with you guys but wondering how long ride took you. Think last time my roll time was a bit under 3hrs (not inlcuding typical breaks)

Sounds like your pace is much faster? (seen some times on geo @ 2hrs-ouch)

Would hate to slow you guys down but certainly interested in joining in this ride or others one of these days. How pathetic would i be?

[Von-Skipp]

Originally Posted by killa Cali Kid

Sounds like your pace is much faster? (seen some times on geo @ 2hrs-ouch)

Check out Manny's time of 1:31. That is craze. I think my fastest time up Maple Springs is 1:10. My best time for the loop is 2:09.

http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=47

[TURNERob]

I think Lance had a computer on his bike for the ride so he can maybe tell you what our actual riding time was for the loop. With the heat we certainly weren't blazin up the trail but still maintained a middle ring pace up Maple.

[killa Cali Kid]

Originally Posted by Von-Skipp

Check out Manny's time of 1:31. That is craze. I think my fastest time up Maple Springs is 1:10. My best time for the loop is 2:09.

http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=47

2 hrs v. 3 hrs. well we found out which one of us is the old, fat guy

Originally Posted by Von-Skipp

Check out Manny's time of 1:31. That is craze. I think my fastest time up Maple Springs is 1:10. My best time for the loop is 2:09.

http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=47

Looks like you need to start wearing your spray-on lycra bUbB!!!

Nice ride report guys. I infact attempted to wake up at 6 a.m. but couldn't do it, I swear!

[ECOdork]

....just checked the computer and it looks like a hair under 17 miles and about 2:40 roll time.
That was probably the fastest ride up MS I've ever done......and I was last after patrick bailed.

2:40....3 hrs...close enough, you should join us next time Killa Cali Kid!

[killa Cali Kid]

Originally Posted by ECOdork

....just checked the computer and it looks like a hair under 17 miles and about 2:40 roll time.
That was probably the fastest ride up MS I've ever done......and I was last after patrick bailed.

2:40....3 hrs...close enough, you should join us next time Killa Cali Kid!

Hmm, Simple logic says-
1) you did it in 2:40
2) you were last up the hill
> everyone else did it faster than 2:40

3) 2:40 is less than ~3:00
> I will be behind you

4) I will be behind you
> I will be last up the hill

4) I will be last up the hill
> that is why you want me to join in

Can't fool me with dat sh!t

Conclusion: I,m down for a ride with you fellas hopefully in near future just treat me kindly

Originally Posted by ECOdork

.......and I was last after patrick bailed.

thats only because i wasn't there, surfing down the motorway sounds like it woulda been fun though. i've been getting lots of practice on Slow or Die at Dale Cerro regarding surfing fresh powder.

[ECOdork]

Damn, that was quite the logical "proof" and you saw right through my game!

In my experience peeps here have always been cool about waiting as long as there is some shade, no whining, and everyone is giving it a strong effort. After all, someone's gotta come in last, right?

Originally Posted by killa Cali Kid

Hmm, Simple logic says-
1) you did it in 2:40
2) you were last up the hill
> everyone else did it faster than 2:40

3) 2:40 is less than ~3:00
> I will be behind you

4) I will be behind you
> I will be last up the hill

4) I will be last up the hill
> that is why you want me to join in

Can't fool me with dat sh!t

Conclusion: I,m down for a ride with you fellas hopefully in near future just treat me kindly