RR: Bret Maiden run & Farewell to Matt ride.

[dstepper]

OK I will get this started.

Nice riding with you folks that I do not ride much with.

Ride was a El Moro/Laguna Wilderness Parks. With the usual suspects for trails. I had a good ride with good company thanks! Bret did good on his new Rig, he went right to the tech stuff on his first outing and did great. I had the only flat of the day and I think Jose took a digger on T&A, other than that I think it was uneventful.

Matt I am glad to have rode with you a couple of times during your break, now go back to AZ and "Do Your Homework"!

Here are a few pics, again thanks for setting this up Bret.

[roadkillross]

nice pics for sure. nice new bike bret

[guero]

thanks for getting it started steppie. very nice shots you posted too! today was a blast. i really didnt know what to expect on the 29er s/s. one of the first things i noticed was the slower turning speed when negotiating the flowing area of fenceline. i quickly got used to that and then another big difference was the nearly instant transfer of power to the wheel to the dirt, it really gets up and go's. standing up and mashing on the pedals really wasnt as bad as i thought it was going to be. i could really use some new shoes soon though, i have NO tread on the outside of my right one and could feel my foot resting uneven on the pedal. i surprised myself and only ended up walking the last short section of missing link and i knew i'd be walking the "wall" on willow, but i made it half way up the first section, then got on, then made it a 1/4 the way up the next steep section. the next section i walked wasnt until that last steep part before the rattlesnake resting area. riding the tech stuff sure was a blast! t&a was awesome, it was really a trip to go from bombing down it indiscrimantly on my huckler (sniff) to really having to pick my lines with my whopping 80mm of travel. the reba really was great, it took the edge off of the small stuff and on the bigger stuff it was good too. i'd "lockout" the compression for the climbs so i would "bob". doing the rock-roll on the t&a play area wasnt too bad either. lol, i quickly learned taht the bigger 29er wheel really intrudes on the space that i was used to on a 26er when leaning back behind the seat, i had a few butt rubs from my tire on t&a. a few of us did the rock-roll on and rob was the only one to hit the top huck, and him and dale were the only ones to hit the huck to the right on the rock-roll. after t&a we headed up willow and then back into el moro and over to rattlesnake. we rode the tech section and then hiked back up and rode back out rattlesnake and back up to ridge park. rattlesnake on the 29er was also pretty fun. i admit i did take the pu$$y line off to the right on the first drop, i wasnt too sure if my 80mm fork and me still being a newbie to the 29er would offer me enough confidence to roll the center area. anyhow, picking and choosing my lines as i went down the trail was fun, again, i would normally blast through the middle for the most part on the huckler.

when i pulled my bike out of my car, my front tire was flat, so i guess steppie was the only one to flat on the ride, but i somehow flatted in my car. i took out the POS roadie style tube the johnny whom i bought it from had in the front and it had like a 12 inch slice down the middle. im just glad it survived t&a and rattlesnake!!!

we hit mustards for some post ride grubb and called it a day. now im resting up because im playing hockey tonight...my legs are gonna hate me!!!

good times guys!!! and gal (BOB)

gouge, get your pix and vid up eh!!!

[LBmtb]

Sweet photos, Dean! Most of my camera work today was video stuff. I'll probably post a few pics later and look for a video either later tonight or tomorrow.

Riding fun trails with fun people is a ton of fun (enuf fun for ya?). Doing T&A right off the bat was kind of cool since you're nice and fresh.

Shan and Bruce, where'd you guys go?

Sarah, you've been itching to do T&A for a while now and you skip out?? jk. Apparently Sarah's not feeling well and wasn't even sure the ride was still on.

Food at Mustards was tasty!

[tkblazer]

wow bunch of you guys showed up for the ride... sweeet! pics are great as usual, nice to see you're liking the niner so far bret

[Sprockethead]

Sweet pics Dean. Glad you're liking the 29'er Brett. I'm sure I'd be taking the pu$$y line too on my first ride. Maybe next time I'll see you taking the top huck at T&A on a 29'er. Work sucks, I'm in VA but atleast it's warmer than SoCal, can you believe that?

[TURNERob]

All I have to say is you all will NOT want to miss Gouge's video when he posts it up (you'll see why)

Good ride today, this was only my 2nd ride in 6 weeks and I felt pretty good regardless. I think this was the 1st ride where I've actually started/ended a ride with Steppie. He was always going ahead to get pics of everyone which was very unselfish.....thanks Dean! Starting out with T&A was a good call, did a couple hucks and felt nice! I have newfound respect for you SS'ers. I tried Bret's bike for the last 1/2 mile or so and I about died on the last climb, makes me think maybe I should stick with gears

It had been awhile since I've ridden with a lot of you guys, I have to say "I missed you guys"

[bananaseat]

nice rig, guero. happy trails

[JamR]

Nice to see everyone out there today.....sorry I could not stick around to finish the ride with you. Had a 12:30 meeting to get to.

I plan on doing a climb-fest similar to what I did today sometime next weekend if anyone is interested.

I'll post the proposed route later.

see ya

[mcgrath]

Yup, good riding today boys. Gouge, you better post up that video if Rob is liking it so much.

Wait, if it's making fun of me, then don't.

[dstepper]

and a were's Waldo in the last picture?

[Pain Freak]

Brett, you need a bigger tree.

[LBmtb]

Here she is!

Right Click & Save As (20.8mb).

or

[dstepper]

Nice job editing Jorge. Decent quality video for a point and shoot camera.

Dean

[CalEpic]

Nice pics and vid. It looks like you guys had a great time. The new rig looks sweet Bret. That was really nice of Rob to blow a kiss to those that didn't make this ride

C

[roadkillross]

nice vid. good song. amazing u can shoot soo on target while riding.. good huckage for that vid

[guero]

nice edit gouge! each vid is getting better and better!

[TURNERob]

Great vid Gouge, that is probably one of my favorites!

Craig that kiss I blew was just for you

[Kid A]

nice video (george) and nice job riding the new rig Guero. since i''ve gone soft (f/s) a few years back not sure i could ever ride a HT on some of those trails again. sure the bigger tires absorb a bit but you certainly were working alot more on that bike then the heckler. not even gonna mention the SS climbs...i've never been there and not sure want to. your a better man than i. good stuff - keep it up!

[Shannon]

[quote=LBmtb;46095]Sweet photos, Dean! Most of my camera work today was video stuff. I'll probably post a few pics later and look for a video either later tonight or tomorrow.

Riding fun trails with fun people is a ton of fun (enuf fun for ya?). Doing T&A right off the bat was kind of cool since you're nice and fresh.

Shan and Bruce, where'd you guys go?

Sorry George! I told you guys Bruce just got clipless pedals. The poor guy was just getting his foot clipped in when you guys were alread