RR: - Holy Jim -> Main Divide -> Trabuco (12/3)

[Pain Freak]

Where's thre RR?

[sauce]

both freeways from la are accident-ridden thanks to idiotic usc (not ucla, of course) drunks i'm sure ... still sitting in fricking traffic bummed as hell w/ only my pocket pc to keep me company. u guys have fun w/o me ... boo-hoo! I really wanted to do this ride! ::hits the dashboard::

[Keith B]

It was a sweet ride. Lots of people didnt show up which we put down to a combo of Dean's (?) party last night and the wind. I took lots of piccies as usual - Trabuco was awesome

[RidetheRAAM4]

Originally Posted by Keith B

It was a sweet ride. Lots of people didnt show up which we put down to a combo of Dean's (?) party last night and the wind. I took lots of piccies as usual - Trabuco was awesome

I bailed due to the wind. The wind is really howlin where I love and I wanted to escape the wind today

[kentonn]

Originally Posted by RidetheRAAM4

I bailed due to the wind. The wind is really howlin where I love and I wanted to escape the wind today

Sorry you missed it... There was very little wind on Holy Jim... No wind on Main Divide and Trabuco.

[Geronimo]

What's this talk about wind? I don't recall any wind.

[mtnbikej]

Originally Posted by kentonn

Sorry you missed it... There was very little wind on Holy Jim... No wind on Main Divide and Trabuco.

The wind was really bad riding in from Live Oak. Once at the HJ parking lot it was all but a distant memory. We did West Hosrethief to Trabucco and it was really nice.

mtnbikej

[CalEpic]

Wind was not a factor. I finally cleaned all the switchbacks on Holy Jim. I let out a big "Yes" after the one towards the top.

Trabuco was awesome as usual. Even better since I didn't flat this time. Thanks for taking that bullet for me Ken.

10 riders in the group plus Rachel, her husband and another friend that we loosely rode with.

Justin and Jeff are not human. Those guys grew a beard waiting for us at the top of Holy Jim and Trabuco.

The single-speeders earned their stripes today. Justin, Jose, Rachel's husband (sorry I didn't catch your name). These guys were all pushing big gears too.

I had my camera but it never left the case. Hopefully Keith will post some pics.

Great day today!

C

[tkblazer]

craig, i agree with you 100%... justin and jeff are some freakin strong riders.

lets see those pics keith!

[singletrakk]

Awesome ride today!!Didn't think the ride would be a go considering the howling winds.Showed up at the parking lot and others from the group rolled in.Don't think I've ever seen that parking lot so full before.The wind was blowing so hard we all decided to carpool in to the trailhead.Thanks for the ride Craig.Yes wind was no factor on this ride.Once in the canyon it was barely noticeable.Great ride up Holy Jim and Trabuco.Chilly temperatures when you were standing around,but made for perfect conditions when you were climbing up.Holy Jim was really nice,not overgrown like it was in the summer.Trabuco was awesome as usual.Keith even got a pic of some us by the christmas tree decorated compliments of Warriors Society. Great ride guy!!

[mtnbikej]

Originally Posted by singletrakk

Trabuco was awesome as usual.Keith even got a pic of some us by the christmas tree decorated compliments of Warriors Society.

Ya like that huh? I have riden by that tree I don't know how many times and never really noticed it. We decorate it every year....kinda a tradition. We had about 25 members show for the tree decorating.

mtnbikej

[Keith B]

I'll post the pics under the Trail Talk bit later tonight.......

[klutter]

Ten of us decided to show up today; Jeff (singletrakk), Jose (shinken), Keith (Keith B), Craig (Calepic), Mark (outlaw), Neil (1x1clyde), Kent (kentonn), Russ (Jawbreaker), Matt? (El Borracho) and myself. It was pretty windy down at the intersection of Trabuco Canyon Road/Trabuco Creek Road. Originally, we were going to pedal the fire road section, but we wised up and opted to drive to the trail head. Luckily, when we got to the trail head, the wind eased off. Today was a good day to climb Holy Jim. The wind wasn't a factor and the temperature was "climbing friendly". Unlike Craig, I wasn't able to clean every switchback. I don't how well everyone else faired on the switchbacks, except for Jose, he was really glad he was running 32x19 on the 29ers. I think he cleaned all the switchbacks too. The
section of the Main Divide from Holy Jim to Trabuco were easier than the sections from Blackstar to Maple Springs. Although, I did walk a portion of "the wall". I arrived at the Trabuco trail head in time to see some riders from Warriors Society ascend to Los Pinos. The top of Trabuco was covered in leaves, which made picking lines a bit challenging, but overall Trabuco was in great shape. About a 1/4 of the way down Trabuco, Russ got a flat.
After the main descent, Keith endoed on one of the many rock gardens, but opted to save himself and not the bike. The end result; the derailleur started to act up. Luckily, Keith had one of those new "self-healing" derailleur, and the problem went away. Jose managed to get a flat 200 yards short of the parking lot.


The total mileage today fell short of the 28 miles. I think we ended up doing ~20 miles. Nonetheless, it was a good ride. Thanks to everyone who showed up.

[klutter]

posted a rr under trailtalk, feel free to add stuff there.

[LBmtb]

Originally Posted by klutter

posted a rr under trailtalk, feel free to add stuff there.

Thanks Justin, added the other "RR" type posts in here. Looks like a fun ride. I slept in today though.

[Keith B]

Really fun ride today. I had intended to ride in to the HJ trail head but the wind was howling down the canyon so I was grateful for the ride - Cheers 1x1Clyde . It was a bit chilly stood around at the bottom of HJ but after 2mins the layers started coming off. My legs didnt feel good today - HJ seemed like a lot more effort than usual but the views were great thanks to the wind. Main divide was alot of fun and yielded lots of good photo opportunities. Justin and Jeff were smoking along today although I think we were all disappointed that Justin didnt do the Upper Holy Jim detour that he was so keen to do

Trabuco descent was excellent as ever - mildly out of control would be a good way to describe it! Mild turned to wild at the bottom when I went OTB whilst going over some large rocks. I managed to unclip and jump over the bars landing perfectly on my feet - must have looked awesome! The bike however fair worse with a bent rear mech, which oddly cured itself 5mins later and then went back to skipping in all gears by the time I got back to the car! It was a general 'bad bike' day really - the rear shock was noticeably bouncy and by the end of the ride it had dropped from 155psi to 75 - so there's another problem to fix! I wasnt the only one with mechanicals thankfully - Ken got a flat jsut before the Xmas tree and Jose got a flat not 30seconds back from the car!
As the icing on the cake I think I picked up Andys cold in Aliso yesterday as I've got a temperature now!

Hopefully man and machine will all be fixed before next weekends final USA 06 ride for me

[dstepper]

Excellent reports, thanks for the pics.

I always get a kick out of the Warriors and their X-Mas Tree on Trabuco. Did you guys remember to bring up any ornaments?

[Sprockethead]

Glad you didn't get hurt Keith. Looks like it was a beautiful day out there today. Way to go guys. Holy Jim is taxing on the mind. It just seems like the switchbacks never end.

Lot's of rest Keith, the body aches suck. We rode Turnbull today and eventhough I can barely breathe, I was able to make all the hills, even on the college side. But after the ride, I'm done, get me a bed.

[kentonn]

Originally Posted by CalEpic

Trabuco was awesome as usual. Even better since I didn't flat this time. Thanks for taking that bullet for me Ken.

C

Good job on the '100% switchback success'! Oh yeah, I think I am the new flat tire guy. Five flats in the last five rides...
Great ride everyone, what route is next?

[Wrecker]

You sickies need to get some rest, before you get the rest of us sick! Then again, maybe I can keep up with you if you have a bit of a cold

Sorry to have ride n go, early in and out, but my daughter had a dance recital rehearsal today. Nice to meet you all thoug, or see you again. Although I must say that my legs ache thinking of riding Jose's gearing up Holy Jim (ouch--great job today).

Thanks for letting us tag along for the bits that we did....along with me was my bf (not married--and you guys better not scare him off with that talk! ), John and our friend Greggie-poo. I know he'd love it if you all call him that next time you see him (heeheeh).

It was gorgeous out, with the wind clearing things up and Trabuco was in the best shape that I've ever seen it (in the whole 3 times I've been up there). Hope to catch you all on the trail again soon!