RR: Palm Canyon Epic 4/21/07

[CalEpic]

A big thanks to the other Craig (CJWally) for organizing this ride. This will likely be my last ride of the season for this gem before it gets too hot. We had 14 in our group and despite some mechanical problems with Justin's drivetrain (In true McGyver fashion he cobbled it back together to save the day) it was an uneventful ride. I think the only flat was Edog's.

After shuttling up the top, we finally got going.

Descending the first switchbacks:


Grandpa dropping into the wash:


There are quite a few drops into washes followed by short steep climbs back out.

The group at the bottom of one wash


On one of the trickier drops into a wash, CJ Wally stuffed his front wheel into a rock and went over the bars into the rocks.

He landed on his pee pee


Ann and Allison were our token girls this day and they rocked!

Allison dropping into a wash like a pro:


We had plenty of rest and regrouping stops along the way. During one of those stops we played around a small boulder.

Video of Scott from Kernville showing how it's done:
Video of scott - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

We took the shortcut to bypass most of the sand wash slog. When we reached Dunn road many were out of water and feeling pretty beat and took the bailout back to the bottom. It was nice for those of us that continued on since the others retrieved the shuttle vehicles for us.

Five of us, Tom the Bomb, CJ Wally, Bjammin, JFSH, and myself continued on for the real payday on this ride - Hahn Buena Vista trail. The grind up Dunn Road took a lot out of me and I felt a little wobbly descending the loose Hahn trail but it was still phenomenal as usual. We finished with the awesome Cindy Whitehead trail. I was so worked it was all I could do to hang onto the bars for this technical dream.

We finished off with some tastey Mexican food and much deserved cervezas.

[allison]

Thanks for the RR, Craig! I'll have my photos up sometime today and will add to it

Thanks to everyone, we had a great time! Nice meeting those of you I hadn't before.

[dstepper]

Craig thanks for the pics. Justin whats with you and drive trains Patiently waiting for Allison's RR.

Dean

[tkblazer]

justin, i think they bike is trying to tell you to keep is a single speed

[allison]

14 riders all shuttled up to Pinyon Pines with bikes and leg guards. I started out somewhere near the middle, but quickly felt just "off" while riding, so found myself near the back. Ann and I ended up riding sweep the majority of the day, but every once in awhile I tried to jump in front of the group for photos.

The frequent downs and steep ups started wearing on Ann and I, but we enjoyed the descents and had fun riding at our own pace. Even with the bit of rain the area had received the sand wasn't really fun No standing water at all that we saw, though.

The group stopped often enough, so we didn't feel like we were out there in the middle of nowhere

Justin had a few mechanicals early on that caused a few delays. Nothing you can really plan for, though! About 5 miles in he lost a crank bolt. One of the guys got out some zip ties to try to hold it on, but shortly after that I think the chain broke, followed by his chainring snapping into 3 pieces.

He offered to coast the rest of the way and run up any hills, but those that had ridden before said there were a lot of ups and downs and it'd be better to just walk the 7 miles back the way we'd come and drive back down to the cars in Cathedral City. Well, someone suggested he just put someone's small chainring on and at least he'd be able to pedal somewhat. He pilfered mine (at the rate he was going, no one wanted to offer theirs up!).

While switching chain ring's he realized that his crankset was trashed also. The chain broke two more times, but otherwise there weren't any issues. He climbed just fine for the most part.

The 26" slime tube up front worked pretty well (he pumped it up once before it flatted), and the 26" DH tube on the rear wheel was great also.

My new Nevegal's with Stans were pumped up about 3 times, and still letting air out on the trail, but they seem pretty good now.

Anyway, back to the trail. I'd say about 15 miles in or so Ann and I really started getting worn out. I fell a few times (nothing major), and despite all the stops, food, etc . we were just tired. Craig (cjwally) said that it was possible for a bailout at Dunn Rd to just take the fire road back to town. When we got there they suggested just taking Cindy Whitehead Trail down, so it was singletrack instead of a fire road. We took that down. It was the most technical part of the day! We were glad to be down to the cars, and enjoyed some Guiness'.

On to the photos!

The group at the start -



One of the ups and downs -


(Bjammin)





(Ian)



Justin at the top and ? (Aldo?)



Justin (Mechmann) and TomC



(Tim)

Climbing out of another wash -



(Mtbcat?)



(cjwally)

Tim and Ann waiting for their turn on the next rollercoaster section -



mtbcat cleaning a ledge on a climb -



Hey, a rare photo of the photographer



View -



Railing a descent -









Continued in next post...

[allison]

askj

A few photos of me (thanks Andy!!)













The group waiting at the bottom of a wash -









Back of the group -



Trying out a climb -







Yup, he pulled it off!

[allison]

Hey, look, half of my chainring!



The other half, still attached -



"Yeah, that doesn't look right"





The small chain ring fix -



JRA -





















Hmm, more climbing!









The view, further along -

[allison]

Me, dropping in to a wash -



View from CWT -



Last photo of the day, Ann coming down the trail -



That's all folks!

[dstepper]

Very nice Allison. Thank You

[allison]

Originally Posted by dstepper

Very nice Allison. Thank You

No problemo! I love photos and writing RR's Oh, and the mountain biking part wasn't too shabby either!

[Sprockethead]

Hey Thanks All! We had a pretty good time on this ride meeting new people and sharing the experience. My favorite part of the ride was hittin' the Taco Shop. Man was I hungry! Driving through the row of restaurants after picking up the shuttle vehicles was tough, my mouth was salivating and my tummy was saying "Feed Me". Craig and Allison, thanks for the photos.

[Pain Freak]

Wish I could of gone, but had family bizz. looks like the typical great time out there.

[OMR]

Originally Posted by CalEpic

We took the shortcut to bypass most of the sand wash slog.

Is there a bypass of the sandy "march from hell" wash? I thought doing this death march was required.

OMR

PS: Great pics by the way.

[mazer75]

Whoa great pictures!! Looks like you guys had a blast

I have a dumb question. What does "RR" mean in the context of this thread? Recreational Ride? In some other threads I've deduced it probably means Road Race or something.

There are too many acronyms in the mountain biking world!!!

[andino]

RR is "Ride Review" i think...btw awesome pics everyone! looks like it was an awesome ride minus some technical troubles

[grandpa]

What a ride! I love the desert and riding on this trail was awesome. Glad to meet all you guys on this trip. Wish I would of had the water and stamina for Hahn Buena Vista. Maybe next time. And that Guiness at the end, I never thought a beer could taste that good. Thanks all !

[Keith B]

Nice, I think Allison is in competition with me for taking the most photos on a ride!!

Justin's bike is clearly cursed by the demons of off road riding - that thing just keeps on getting mechanicals!

[mtbcat]

Tom -thanks for leading the way down hahn and cindy white head. you were definitely having one what a blast!!

[cjwally]

Everyone that joined the ride. Thanks. I had a blast and I know that everyone had a great time. Thank you Allison for taking the photos. I am loooking forward to riding with all of you again shortly. Hmm....Where to ride next....