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Flat Broke · 11-26-2006, 02:21 PM

I apologize in advance for no pictures. I think the camera came out once and I'll try and get hacker to post what was shot up in this thread but otherwise the focus is more on ther personal stuff than pictures. This is the first ride of this length and terrain that I've ever done, so I'm sure my brother and I will get better about shooting pics etc.

I must preface this with a huge thanks to Spookydave for inviting us out on what was a bitchen trail only to have to move at a snails pace with more stoping and waiting than I could imagine anyone could want. I was the culprit for a majority of the delay once we got about 2/3rds to 3/4 into the ride, and never once did I even see Dave make so much as a long face about my pace.

So first the good. Everytime I take my hardtail out with the full squish guys, I wonder how I'll be able to keep up once things start going downhilll. Well, with the addition of that 66RC2X up front, the answer is throw your ass back and hang on. The bike railed every switchback I rode with ease. Thow it out wide, rail the line and then bring it back in to setup for the next turn. While the undulating singletrack into switchbacks was fun in the upper and lower wooded areas as you'd come down one small hill, then up another and around a 180; I actually had the most fun on the rocky DH sections(at least the sane ones). While I still had a good amount of energy, I was pretty impressed with the fact that Hack Job and I could let the group ahead of us get a pretty good head start and then by the end of a segment, be right on their rear tires just in time to give em a little more distance before reeling them in again. There was even one segment of the ride later in the day after I had started to bonk that I actually rode a line that even fresh I think I would have been surprised about.

As those that have ridden the trail know, the terrain of the trail itself is actually pretty diverse. You go from loose rock in typical so-cal dusty dirt, to smooth oak leave covered hardpack that gives plenty of grip, to loose dg that lets you get going a little faster than you probably should have before it pulls the rug out from under you as you hit a corner too fast. There were some soft sandy spots in some corners that would catch you off guard, but all in all, considering the time of year and considering that the trail hasn't seen rain in forever, I thought it was still in pretty good shape.

Before anyone gets the impression that I rode every drop and only dragged ass on the hills, let me set the record straight. I dabbed and double dabbed my share of drops and just opted to get off for a few as well, even when I still had some energy. But the ride is actually pretty good from an instructional/confidence building standpoint because there are so many opportunities to take little drops and sketchy lines that you almost can't complete the ride without becoming a better rider.

At Thanksgiving diner, we had jokingly asked my youngest brother if he'd like to go with us on Saturday. Much to our surprise he resonponded with a pretty sincere, "I guess". So after diner, we went out to the garage, pulled down my old Giant Rainier, slapped a seat on it, and adjusted everything to fit my youngest brother Mike. About 8 months ago My brother changed his eating habbits and started an insane workout schedule. 70lbs later he was climbing stuff that others that ride pretty regularly couldn't pull, and stayed on the pedals for far more of the ride than I ever thought he would. Like Hacker and I, he raced BMX as a kid, so it's not like bikes are foreign material to him, but we were still surprised to see him take to the bike and trail so quickly. In talking to him on the ride home, he admited that during the first 1/2mile to mile, he was wondering what he had gotten himself into, but shortly thereafter, fell into his groove and had a great time. Now we just need to get him some health insurance before he gets too caught up in riding.

The biggest burn of the day came when I was asking him about the mechanicals on the bike and checking to see how it shifted etc. when he informed me that he never shifted out of the second ring front ring! Being in shape is one thing; but IMHO having the legs to go on a 12-14 mile ride in the real deal dirt and not drop down to the granny gear is freaking awesome.

The last bit of good is a double edged sword for me.

My younger brother Hack Job has definitely surpased me in fitness and bike handling (at least when he's on a dual 7" deal and I'm on my HT). The last time I rode with him was a night ride at the oaks and he was having to stop and catch his breath while hiking the bike while I could have kept going. Yesterday it was him waiting for me a good majority of the time and hitting lines that my bike was capable of pulling off, but I wasn't.

So now for the bad... I have never felt so damn tired in my entire life. Tired to the point where throwing a leg back over the bike even for relatively flat smooth stuff didn't seem prudent because I was so wasted. I didn't hurt so much as I just didn't have an iota of energy to do anything. There were a couple of spots where I was cursing the freaking trail for the same rocks that gave me a good time earlier in the day. And then to top things off, my quads started cramping and pretty much put a fork in the rest of my effort. Friday I had a runny nose and was sneezing like crazy. I took some Nyquil, hit the sack, and woke up feeling "okay" on Saturday. So I decided not to flake and head to our meeting point. I think that is where I made my fatal mistake. I didn't stop to grab a bite, and perhaps I shouldn't have gone to begin with. My nutritional intake for the night before was 3 little pieces of frozen pizza because I felt like crap. Saturday morning I had a can of Mountain Dew and two leftover rolls from Thanksgiving. Save for a third of a power bar and a good portion of my 3 litres of water, that was my entire nutritional intake until we got back to the truck. I will NEVER do that again. I ended up walking most of the last 2 or so miles and because of that Hacker and SpookyDave got robbed of riding the last portion of the trail at a pace that would have been enjoyable.

Outside of my mega bonk there were no big injuries etc. One guy went over the bars a couple of times, one of them putting him into a sommersault <SP> into a little gully that led to the empty creekbed. Each time I have a feeling that his clipless pedals were the culprit. On a couple of the switchbacks where I was behind him, he'd start to get sketchy, then I think he might have turned his attention to trying to get out of the pedals, which then resulted in a loss of ballance and ultimately a spill. He's now looking for a combination platform/clipless solution.

As far as mechanicals, I thought we were in for a hellacious day when the first flat happened not 2 minutes out of the trailhead. The rider didn't have a spare tube, but luckily one of the other guys in the group runs presta tubes and got him going. I think there were only 2 more flats for the entire ride which considering we had a group of 11 which included 3 hardtails was pretty damn good. Unfortunately the mechanicals weren't limited to flats. The same kid that had the first flat busted his rear derailleur and hanger about 3/4 of the way through the ride. Out came the chain tool and I rigged him up singlespeed, which he was able to use to get back to the trailhead. (This is exactly the type of scenario I was talking about in the UseItorLoseit's thread with regards to learning how to use a chain tool).

So in closing, there should be some pics of guys rolling some of the rock sections somewhere to follow. Thanks again to Spookydave and Mike (El Borracho I think) for being awesome and patient guides, and yes I will go back and conquer the Chiquito trail... just not next weekend and NOT on an empty stomach.

Oh, one more thing. I have to give big props to the guys in the other RR on Chiquito that were rolling some of those rock sections. In the pictures it doesn't look to be that big of a deal and I figured I'd be able to man up and hit em... NOT, the pictures totaly negate all of the gnar that those scenarios offer. What the pics don't show is the exposure to one side of the rocks, and the typicaly sketchball landing that usually leads into a rock laden hairpin with exposure to the outside of the turn.

Chris

Pain Freak · 11-26-2006, 03:17 PM

Killer rr, even without the pics. Good job and remember,

"What doesn't kill us, will make us stronger".

CalEpic · 11-26-2006, 03:44 PM

We've all bonked and been owned by a trail. Hopefully you'll come back and conquer.

Chiquito is fun. I'm looking forward to the pics.

C

tkblazer · 11-26-2006, 04:19 PM

nice RR, its good to see a family outing on the trail... props to Hack Job for stepping up his riding... man i would have loved to join you guys on that ride, i need to make it out there again.

jruiz · 11-26-2006, 04:36 PM

is that a record for the longest RR?

mtnbikej · 11-26-2006, 05:41 PM

Sounds like a really fun ride. After Tunnel, I am sure your brother is filled with confidence. I might have to join you guys next time.

OH yeah.......y'all should have kicked the guys' ass who showed up for a ride like that with no spare tube......a definate no-no.

mtnbikej

Flat Broke · 11-26-2006, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtnbikej

Sounds like a really fun ride. After Tunnel, I am sure your brother is filled with confidence. I might have to join you guys next time.

OH yeah.......y'all should have kicked the guys' ass who showed up for a ride like that with no spare tube......a definate no-no.

mtnbikej

Well in his defense, he was a minor, so I guess the asskicking should fall to his Dad.

But his Dad took his lumps with the numerous bails, so I guess we'll call it even

Their nice folks and I have a feeling that they weren't made fully aware of the extent of the trip by their inviting party so I'm not to quick to blame them.

And yes, Ty has picked up a lot of confidence since Tunnel. I have a feeling that he is on his way to getting more confident in the bike's ability to overcome obstacles. There were more than a couple sections that he could have cleaned if he was just going a touch faster. Hopefully he'll post up whatever pics he got soon.

Chris

spookydave · 11-26-2006, 07:04 PM

Chris, You're alive!

It was a solid ride and an all around good group to ride with. There was 12 of us including non other then El Borracho. The unlucky 13th drove right on by until he noticed he was in Lake Smellsomemore. opps

Anyway like Epic said, we have all bonked. And don't worry about the pace. At no point in time did I feel I was robbed of anything so don't even think that. You 2 or should I say you 3 have the bike handling skills. The fittiness will come with just doing it.

hack job · 11-26-2006, 09:07 PM

ok it was great ride i did get to ride it even if it was in min bursts lol
i dont mind bringing up the rear( no jokes) its easier on me plus i dont worry about having any one break down behind me. i also can move at my pace up the hills ( slow as hell)lol
here are the two pics i got on two different ways to go about things

i will say that i also walked that lol

11-26-2006, 02:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
Flat Broke Bikes don't kill bunnies	Pseudo RR: Chiquito MEGA BONK! I apologize in advance for no pictures. I think the camera came out once and I'll try and get hacker to post what was shot up in this thread but otherwise the focus is more on ther personal stuff than pictures. This is the first ride of this length and terrain that I've ever done, so I'm sure my brother and I will get better about shooting pics etc. I must preface this with a huge thanks to Spookydave for inviting us out on what was a bitchen trail only to have to move at a snails pace with more stoping and waiting than I could imagine anyone could want. I was the culprit for a majority of the delay once we got about 2/3rds to 3/4 into the ride, and never once did I even see Dave make so much as a long face about my pace. So first the good. Everytime I take my hardtail out with the full squish guys, I wonder how I'll be able to keep up once things start going downhilll. Well, with the addition of that 66RC2X up front, the answer is throw your ass back and hang on. The bike railed every switchback I rode with ease. Thow it out wide, rail the line and then bring it back in to setup for the next turn. While the undulating singletrack into switchbacks was fun in the upper and lower wooded areas as you'd come down one small hill, then up another and around a 180; I actually had the most fun on the rocky DH sections(at least the sane ones). While I still had a good amount of energy, I was pretty impressed with the fact that Hack Job and I could let the group ahead of us get a pretty good head start and then by the end of a segment, be right on their rear tires just in time to give em a little more distance before reeling them in again. There was even one segment of the ride later in the day after I had started to bonk that I actually rode a line that even fresh I think I would have been surprised about. As those that have ridden the trail know, the terrain of the trail itself is actually pretty diverse. You go from loose rock in typical so-cal dusty dirt, to smooth oak leave covered hardpack that gives plenty of grip, to loose dg that lets you get going a little faster than you probably should have before it pulls the rug out from under you as you hit a corner too fast. There were some soft sandy spots in some corners that would catch you off guard, but all in all, considering the time of year and considering that the trail hasn't seen rain in forever, I thought it was still in pretty good shape. Before anyone gets the impression that I rode every drop and only dragged ass on the hills, let me set the record straight. I dabbed and double dabbed my share of drops and just opted to get off for a few as well, even when I still had some energy. But the ride is actually pretty good from an instructional/confidence building standpoint because there are so many opportunities to take little drops and sketchy lines that you almost can't complete the ride without becoming a better rider. At Thanksgiving diner, we had jokingly asked my youngest brother if he'd like to go with us on Saturday. Much to our surprise he resonponded with a pretty sincere, "I guess". So after diner, we went out to the garage, pulled down my old Giant Rainier, slapped a seat on it, and adjusted everything to fit my youngest brother Mike. About 8 months ago My brother changed his eating habbits and started an insane workout schedule. 70lbs later he was climbing stuff that others that ride pretty regularly couldn't pull, and stayed on the pedals for far more of the ride than I ever thought he would. Like Hacker and I, he raced BMX as a kid, so it's not like bikes are foreign material to him, but we were still surprised to see him take to the bike and trail so quickly. In talking to him on the ride home, he admited that during the first 1/2mile to mile, he was wondering what he had gotten himself into, but shortly thereafter, fell into his groove and had a great time. Now we just need to get him some health insurance before he gets too caught up in riding. The biggest burn of the day came when I was asking him about the mechanicals on the bike and checking to see how it shifted etc. when he informed me that he never shifted out of the second ring front ring! Being in shape is one thing; but IMHO having the legs to go on a 12-14 mile ride in the real deal dirt and not drop down to the granny gear is freaking awesome. The last bit of good is a double edged sword for me. My younger brother Hack Job has definitely surpased me in fitness and bike handling (at least when he's on a dual 7" deal and I'm on my HT). The last time I rode with him was a night ride at the oaks and he was having to stop and catch his breath while hiking the bike while I could have kept going. Yesterday it was him waiting for me a good majority of the time and hitting lines that my bike was capable of pulling off, but I wasn't. So now for the bad... I have never felt so damn tired in my entire life. Tired to the point where throwing a leg back over the bike even for relatively flat smooth stuff didn't seem prudent because I was so wasted. I didn't hurt so much as I just didn't have an iota of energy to do anything. There were a couple of spots where I was cursing the freaking trail for the same rocks that gave me a good time earlier in the day. And then to top things off, my quads started cramping and pretty much put a fork in the rest of my effort. Friday I had a runny nose and was sneezing like crazy. I took some Nyquil, hit the sack, and woke up feeling "okay" on Saturday. So I decided not to flake and head to our meeting point. I think that is where I made my fatal mistake. I didn't stop to grab a bite, and perhaps I shouldn't have gone to begin with. My nutritional intake for the night before was 3 little pieces of frozen pizza because I felt like crap. Saturday morning I had a can of Mountain Dew and two leftover rolls from Thanksgiving. Save for a third of a power bar and a good portion of my 3 litres of water, that was my entire nutritional intake until we got back to the truck. I will NEVER do that again. I ended up walking most of the last 2 or so miles and because of that Hacker and SpookyDave got robbed of riding the last portion of the trail at a pace that would have been enjoyable. Outside of my mega bonk there were no big injuries etc. One guy went over the bars a couple of times, one of them putting him into a sommersault <SP> into a little gully that led to the empty creekbed. Each time I have a feeling that his clipless pedals were the culprit. On a couple of the switchbacks where I was behind him, he'd start to get sketchy, then I think he might have turned his attention to trying to get out of the pedals, which then resulted in a loss of ballance and ultimately a spill. He's now looking for a combination platform/clipless solution. As far as mechanicals, I thought we were in for a hellacious day when the first flat happened not 2 minutes out of the trailhead. The rider didn't have a spare tube, but luckily one of the other guys in the group runs presta tubes and got him going. I think there were only 2 more flats for the entire ride which considering we had a group of 11 which included 3 hardtails was pretty damn good. Unfortunately the mechanicals weren't limited to flats. The same kid that had the first flat busted his rear derailleur and hanger about 3/4 of the way through the ride. Out came the chain tool and I rigged him up singlespeed, which he was able to use to get back to the trailhead. (This is exactly the type of scenario I was talking about in the UseItorLoseit's thread with regards to learning how to use a chain tool). So in closing, there should be some pics of guys rolling some of the rock sections somewhere to follow. Thanks again to Spookydave and Mike (El Borracho I think) for being awesome and patient guides, and yes I will go back and conquer the Chiquito trail... just not next weekend and NOT on an empty stomach. Oh, one more thing. I have to give big props to the guys in the other RR on Chiquito that were rolling some of those rock sections. In the pictures it doesn't look to be that big of a deal and I figured I'd be able to man up and hit em... NOT, the pictures totaly negate all of the gnar that those scenarios offer. What the pics don't show is the exposure to one side of the rocks, and the typicaly sketchball landing that usually leads into a rock laden hairpin with exposure to the outside of the turn. Chris

11-26-2006, 03:17 PM	#2 (permalink)
Pain Freak Directionally Challenged	Killer rr, even without the pics. Good job and remember, "What doesn't kill us, will make us stronger". __________________ "The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew—and live through it." — Doug Bradbury "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me." — Emo Philips

11-26-2006, 04:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
tkblazer Share the Love	nice RR, its good to see a family outing on the trail... props to Hack Job for stepping up his riding... man i would have loved to join you guys on that ride, i need to make it out there again. __________________ Denmother: I had the sausage sampler, it was yummy! Guero: i'm easy

11-26-2006, 05:41 PM	#6 (permalink)
mtnbikej Warrior Society Member	Sounds like a really fun ride. After Tunnel, I am sure your brother is filled with confidence. I might have to join you guys next time. OH yeah.......y'all should have kicked the guys' ass who showed up for a ride like that with no spare tube......a definate no-no. mtnbikej __________________ http://www.switchbackcyclery.com http://warriorssociety.org

11-26-2006, 03:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
CalEpic STR Moderator	We've all bonked and been owned by a trail. Hopefully you'll come back and conquer. Chiquito is fun. I'm looking forward to the pics. C

11-26-2006, 04:36 PM	#5 (permalink)
jruiz Senior Member	is that a record for the longest RR?

11-26-2006, 07:04 PM	#8 (permalink)
spookydave A little dab will do me	Chris, You're alive! It was a solid ride and an all around good group to ride with. There was 12 of us including non other then El Borracho. The unlucky 13th drove right on by until he noticed he was in Lake Smellsomemore. opps Anyway like Epic said, we have all bonked. And don't worry about the pace. At no point in time did I feel I was robbed of anything so don't even think that. You 2 or should I say you 3 have the bike handling skills. The fittiness will come with just doing it.

11-26-2006, 09:07 PM	#9 (permalink)
hack job Member	ok it was great ride i did get to ride it even if it was in min bursts lol i dont mind bringing up the rear( no jokes) its easier on me plus i dont worry about having any one break down behind me. i also can move at my pace up the hills ( slow as hell)lol here are the two pics i got on two different ways to go about things i will say that i also walked that lol

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