RR: Blackstar to Beeks (newbie ride)

[Kid A]

The final count confirmed = a sh!tload of riders.

We climbed, we drank, we cleaned, we bombed the decent.

Some rode the entire way, some walked,

Some used granny others braved the climb on SS's.

Some on fully's others went rigid.

Some were newbies, other were OG's

Some brought beer, some drank beer

Some took pics, some just smiled.

I believe all had fun.

All the BS aside - really wanted to start this off so I can be the first to say thanks to all who put it together (in particular Gene) and those who joined in.

I had a great time and was great to finally meet up with some of the peeps (George, Bret, Craig, Nam, lucas, matt and the rest of the gang, etc,) ride along side some good friends (even if only for a short bit). J-dirt and Boats,and met a bunch more (Andy, benjamin, patrick, etc)- all you guys rock!.

Anyway, am sure others will post much more detail including some great pics, but wanted to get it rolling!.

[jcampbell]

SS Rigid 29er for me... It was her maiden voyage up to Beaks. Being rigid, she is a rough rider!!... on the way down.

Yes thanks for the fun times, I am sorry I had to bail out while everyone was cleaning. Just want to say thank you for the beers guys. I believe Andy towed them. I not saying I'll tow them next time, but I will buy them.

[Chewyeti]

Wow is about all i can say!

totally rad ride, and a first time up blackstar for me! (ive only hit the golfball from skyline)

but i would also like to thank all those that organized this ride, and made it what it was!

i took some crappy cell phone pics i can upload in a bit...

Thanks for a Killer RIDE and the beer!
Aaron Cox a.ka. ChewYeti a.k.a the tard that was collecting all the beer caps LOL

[Rkoa63]

I would like to say thank you as well to everyone who organized the ride. It was a very tiring experience but I had a great time. I look forward to doing it again....in about 3 years

I can't wait for the next ride on something a little more flat. Have a good weekend everyone!

-Mike

[guero]

awesome ride. kid_a was great to finally meet ya! thanks to rut for the tuh-cah-taaay and to hoosier for the high-nuh-kin. we had an ocrider siting on our way down which was great. congrats to traci and neccros for keepin' on truckin!!! chelle, gene and jSims were playing sweep and were cruising with the latter two riders.

thanks to all who made it happen. thanks to chris vargas who showed up and gave everyone the lowdown on the basics of mt. biking and climbing and what not before the ride.

cant wait to see all the pix!

[TooManyTacos]

man, i woke up super early so i could get ready, but discovered that my throat was swollen and sore. lost another one to ditech! looks like the ride went well though, and you all had fun.

[29erturkey]

Thanks for an awesome ride guys! I was a late comer and only decided to go this morning, but I'm glad I did. This group was a class act and I hope to see you guys back on the trail. BTW, I was guy on the Green Niner if you remember seeing that.

[Johnny Dirt]

Thanks for putting this together Gene. It was great to see sooooooo many riders out there and to put a face with peoples names. I'll post up a few pics after the camera battery re-charges.

[Neccros]

Originally Posted by guero

congrats to traci and neccros for keepin' on truckin!!! chelle, gene and jSims were playing sweep and were cruising with the latter two riders.

Thanks.... yeah being 20lbs heavier than I was last year took a toll.... I got to the first grate and almost came back down but ran into Traci and Chelle and they held me down, slapped me up a bit and told me I had to go, so I said "ok" and rode/walked/almost passed out my way back to where I just came from. Then I kept hearing "Its just a little more...." hehe I numbed that out of my head cause I know it was gonna be a grind.
So once we almost got to the top, everyone practically took off so there was only a handfull of people left once we crawled past the entrance to beeks....

Thanks to all who helped get my sorry ass up the hill(Wrecker, J_sims, Traci, and Gene) and definetly a HUGE thanks to Andy for being the life of the party and a cheerleader(I swear he was about to bust out his outfit!!!)....

Bottom line is "I'll be back...."

Oh and Traci, YOU ROCKED!!!

If I got your names wrong in this post, please correct me!

[CalEpic]

These STR group rides are getting huge!

Staging near the X-mas tree farm


The ringleader passes the pit stop:


TurneRob sporting a non-standard Camelbak accessory:


The riders quickly spread out on the climb:


There are some nice views on the way up:


I forgot to charge my camera battery and only captured a few of the riders reaching Beeks. If you're not shown, sorry:

















Cont.

[CalEpic]

The next riders to the top:



















Originally a few of us talked about going on to Motorway but with the heat, that idea was quickly forgotten.

Fun ride today with a big group.

C

[Letyrides]

Excellant ride today! I hate climbing so I figure the best way to get over that is to just do it and get better at it. This was my first attempt at anything longer than the climbs on the Fully Loop! I was a bit anxious about it but I feel great that I got it done and didn't die.

It was awesome to chat on the way up and meet some new faces..there were lots so I'm not even going to attempt to name them all lest I forget someone. But I must thank Gene for putting this together and being so encouraging to everyone along the way.

[CPATCRASH]

Originally a few of us talked about going on to Motorway but with the heat, that idea was quickly forgotten.

Fun ride today with a big group.

I went to the Motorway and it was damn hot. I went through my 100oz blader and both bottles. You all are smarter than me. I think I'll wait till it cools off before I do that again!!!

Thanks for the picture!

[GeorgiaOfTheJungle]

This was a great ride! Thanks so much to Gene, Chris, Lare-Dog, and Jeff (?hope I got your name right, we just call you wheelie dude as you're usually doing a wheelie when we see you ride); you put together a great ride and had awesome support for everyone.

One of the reasons I LOVE mtn biking is the comraderie, one of the reasons I love STR is the lack of ego and the intense support for each rider, one of the reasons I loved this ride is that it had it all! You guys all rock!

Special props to Traci and Brian for bearing with us and riding that "one more climb" "just around the bend" until you were finally there!!!

Brian, great job you even did a bit of extra credit!

Traci, you are AWESOME! Not only did you accomplish your goal, but you beat Brian into submission and made him turn around with us.

Thanks also to those who helped to cheer us up the hill, and those who turned around to continue cheering up all the way up to the top. OMR and Andy need to wear cheerleader costumes next time

[J_Sims]

Good Times and my Props to all that came, and climbed, and drank and went....

Special thanks to Gene for facilitating this event, as well as all of the support of the Warrior Society...

OMR always a pleasure

Andy watching that Bob trailer bounce around behind your bike kills me.

All of STR great spending the day with you all and a special thank you to Brian for turning around manning up and kickin some serious @$$... You Tracey for being truely committed to attaining your goal. You both are huge inspirations...

Wrecker what can i say

Everyone else GOOD TIMES and see you on the trails

Oh yeah, Brian and Tracey, by the way your almost there...... Sorry could not resist...

[xhuskr]

sounded like you had a great time........sorry my body was not ready for another ride this week after the Santa Monicas........kukos to everyone for the ride. did anyone/anything melt in the heat?

[genusmtbkr5]

This was a great ride indeed! Lots of newbs and vets alike. I'd like to thank everyone for showing up, encouraging each other and also for cleaning up Beek's Place. Like Rachel(Wrecker) said, that's what so great about this sport and this group of riders known as STR.

Thanks to the Chris Vargas and The Warriors Society members for their support and supplying us with the refreshments. Thanks to Club members John E., Jeff P., and Treve M., John(KeepsWhatHappens) for his idea to cleanup Beek's and for taking videos and pics of the ride, nice presentation as always. To Jeff and Treve for the help and encouragement they gave to the Newbies along the way.

Thanks to Club member Lare-dog and STR's Jeff(Hoosierdaddy) for volunteering their time and driving up the cleaning supplies, tools and bevs.

Huge thanks to Rachel(Wrecker) and Jeff(J Sims) for their great job in sweeping and above all for the encouragment you gave to Brian(Neccros) and Traci(surlygal) to keep going on.

Thanks to Club members Andy(Rut) and Gregg(OMR) for turning around and climbing back up to Beek's and cheerleading them on, that was BIG, NO HUGE! And Club member Bob M., Larry aka Lare-Dog, Jeff(Hoosierdaddy) for also waiting at Beek's for us.

STR was in the house BIG! Lots of us have been up to Beek's a number of times and it's rides like this make it special.

This was huge for many of you newbies, I'm sure of that. Of all the times I've been to Beek's, this was the best time for sure. To see someone push themselves to the brink, but continue on and make it to the top is what this ride was all about! A JOB WELL DONE TO YOU ALL!

BIG PROPS TO TRACI AND BRIAN FOR CONTINUING ON and NOT GIVING UP!

NO ONE WAS LEFT BEHIND!

Thanks again to all and stay tuned for the next series in the "NEWBIES ON THE PAIN DIVIDE"

I will post my pics later.

[Hanzo]

I echo the sentiments of many others. Thank you to all who organized this event especially Gene and the folks that brought the supplies. It was great to meet Lety, E-Dog, Jeff, OMR, TK, George, Brewmaster, OTHrider, and many more. Thanks to OMR to helping me find my buddy bringing up the rear and Craig for taking pics.

The whole event was great except that biker in the yellow around the hip weenie grip speedo thing. I guess he was going to model his new outfit for Art.

Brewmaster-Hope the ribs heal up quick.

[maxwell]

That's what this ride was all about for me!

Meeting new rider's heading up for their first time!

Daniel fighting through his stomach cramps, and getting to the top, with a BIG a$$ smile on his face!

Watching Lacey take off at the first turn, and not seeing her until we reached the top. She said she felt GREAT! Then when the decsent came, BANG, she was gone! All of my worrie's of her losing intrest after being off her bike for three week's, shot down with one ride! SWEET!!

Seeing old freind's, that for them, riding BlackStar to Beek's isn't really a challenge, throwing out incouragements to the newb's, and just plain having a GREAT time!
Rut, you my friend, are a BIG reason I mountain bike!!

And last but not least, my boy Jake!
This was his first real climb, 15.6 miles round trip, with 2135 ft. of climbing. Not once did he mention turning around, and cutting it short. He just stayed motivated to get to the golf ball in the distance. Of course when we reached Beek's, and he saw the road to the golf ball, he changed his mind.
At the top, both my kid's we there and more than willing to help with the trash collection, and drinking the COLD soda's!
And for the ride down, Lacey took off! And Jake, he was nothing but smiles! Bunny hopping ruts, and rocks and whatever else he could find!

For all you first timer's up Blackstar, you ROCK!!!!

Thanks Gene!! You made a usually normal training ride, into one VERY special day for me!!

Here's a few pics.........

Jake heading up the first turn to "Pain" Divide.



He's just one of the guy's up this climb!



AKA Rut, stomping up with the cold ones in tow!




A little DHing into Hidden Ranch





Still climbing....



Almost there!!



What more could a Dad ask for?



This is the only picture that I was able to get of him on the way down!



Every time I'd stop, thinking I was far enough ahead to get the shot, he'd come zipping past me smiling from ear to ear, before I could get my camera out!
Once again, SWEET!!

Another GREAT STR ride goes into the book's!!!!!

[KeepsWhatHappens]

Website with photos posted here:
http://www.johnearly.com/rides/Pain%20Divide.html

Video coming tomorrow maaaybe...

Thanks Gene for organizing this and to everyone who helped clean up our forest.

KeepsWhatHappens
(John)