STR | SocalTrailRiders.org

allison · 08-25-2007, 07:37 PM

Justin decided, after we were hurting climbing SART last weekend, that I needed to get in some mileage and climbing to start training for VQ. While I'm not totally concerned on the mileage, it's the speed to make the cut-offs that worries me. Needless to say, we're starting on that whole speed thing early.

So, Justin declared 8/25/07 sufferfest day. Gene and OMR spent a good few days trying to convince Justin otherwise, but he was having none of it. He declared a few days ago that we should do our ride AND the newbie ride! Afterall, the newb ride was starting out only 4.5 short miles away from where we'd end up after descending Trabuco anyway. SURE, we're in! Then I realized Friday night that it was probably a bad idea to add an extra 17-25 miles to a ride that is already 31 miles. Hrm.

I wasn't too sure how it was going to go. It was pitch black when we parked and started to climb. Justin had wisely packed two booze cruise lights, and I didn't hesitate to use mine. However, about .5mi to 1 mile up the climb I started getting nauseous. It was somewhat almost light enough to see, so I turned it off. I was sweating like crazy and spending a lot of time wiping sweat off my brow. Luckily it wasn't 80 out. It was about 6:45-7 when I said outloud that I didn't think we were gonna make the newb ride by 8:30. We pressed on. I knew it'd take about 45 minutes to descend Trabuco, and we had about 8 miles from the top of ITT to get over there, mostly climbing.

I think we got to the top of ITT at 7:15. Then we turned left and headed up the WALL. I walked a few bits of it. We got up to West Horsethief at 8 and tried to call Gene. I had 3 bars of service, could see the cell towers, but no connection. I wanted to let them know our status and make sure they didn't mind waiting a few minutes.

We hauled azz down WHT, where Justin had a minor tip over that resulted in a few scrapes. I was having fun and hauling down Trabuco and fell also. Hmmm... We pressed on. About halfway down Trabuco Creek Rd. we tried calling OMR. The call went through, albeit spotty, and he caught that we were about 15 minutes out.

We did get to O'Neill, only unfortunately at 8:45. Thanks to Gene and OMR for waiting for our slow-azzes to take us up to the group. We did catch up, and got to ride with the bubbs.

Some crazy dudes invited us off to another route with some crazy steeps n stuff. No idea what I was thinking, but it was actually not that bad. Genny actually thankfully took us back to Water Works while the other guys went on for additional miles and fun.

We hung out with the bubbs and bubbettes while some of the guys hunked, then we kept going.

Some singletrack, water crossings, regroups, chatting.. . and we ended up back at O'Neill.

Sam, you ROCK. Appreciated the beer I shared with Justin.

Gene sacrificed hanging out, then going straight for food and drove us up to Holy Jim. Then he sacrificed a bolt for me...

Justin and I started up Holy Jim. I wasn't in the highest of spirits, but felt remarkably well considering we were 37+ miles in to a ride. It got fairly warm. I was really sweating buckets. The bugs came out when we got heavy in the trees. Justin did offer up his bug net, but I knew that they'd stop once we were out of the trees. That's about where his quad started cramping. I knew it was bad when he kept walking stuff he normally rides. Then he had me go ahead. At one point he had to ask me to stop riding. Sucked. Not much you can do other than massage, Tums, water, and alternating walking and riding where possible. We eventually made it up to Main Divide. Still a tad more climbing. It went okay. Justin was riding. I was slightly hungry. We turned off on ITT. More descent...

Justin actually cranked it to a harder gear and stood up on the final actual climb that is on ITT. We did stop once for a break and I was worried I wouldn't be able to get him up again. After that, though, he caught his second wind and I couldn't keep up.

About 2 miles from the car I suddenly felt ravenously hungry, and then like I was going to hoark. It kinda passed, and down we continued. I rounded the final bend and saw the truck and smiled BIG.

Early

At the trailhead

Sunrise

Catching up at the newbie ride

Think he is saying, "Look guys, the HORSE is the best bike evar" and they, obviously, are laughing...

Justin eating, photo by Noel

Gouge and his DELL (not Dale)

Joser

Sucky HABbage

Hunking

allison · 08-25-2007, 07:41 PM

Jordan tongue!!

Look at 'em all laughing

Willie hucks (er, not)

Last water crossing

BREW

Time to part-ay

Nam was single, and rigid today

Ride courtesy of STR, and Warrior's Society, and Gene

Dig the camo kilt, eh

At the Holy Jim trailhead... something just don't look right.

allison · 08-25-2007, 07:45 PM

Holy Jim

Happy to see Pain Divide

They were beggin' for a break

The car is JUST around the corner...

MMMMMMMMMM

Last photo... HELLZ YA! Traci, remember I said I'd get it??

Winston · 08-25-2007, 07:47 PM

Glad to hear you two survived.

I think Mother Nature smiled on us today. I even got pelted by a few drops of rain in Laguna. (It was an all too brief tease.)

KeepsWhatHappens · 08-25-2007, 08:00 PM

Seriously -- You guys should be using something other than Tums. Try Endurolytes and Anti-Fatigue caps from Hammer Nutrition. I know many Warriors that swear by this stuff. Also, Perpetuem is good for rides that are 4+ hours.

KeepsWhatHappens (John) --The guy that led the advanced ride.

PS If you try Hammer mention client #96722 and you will get 15% off your first order.

http://www.hammernutrition.com

allison · 08-25-2007, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeepsWhatHappens

Seriously -- You guys should be using something other than Tums. Try Endurolytes and Anti-Fatigue caps from Hammer Nutrition. I know many Warriors that swear by this stuff. Also, Perpetuem is good for rides that are 4+ hours.

Sorry, John, you won't be getting a discount from us

I'm already a Hammer client myself. We were using Perpetuem today. I don't usually use endurolytes because I've been using Elete water in our bladders. But, I guess that isn't enough for Justin, so he may need to start taking them. Sport Legs didn't do it for him (he wasn't using those today, but has previously). Guess it's time to put in another order!

dstepper · 08-25-2007, 08:13 PM

Tough day guys, good job. I can see the VQ being that much harder than what you guys did today.

Dean

genusmtbkr5 · 08-25-2007, 08:13 PM

Nice RR and pics as usual. I'm glad you guys came out and you had fun while suffering. I must say I was pretty envious about your ride. That is some mileage and elevation gain. You guys should get a feather for that ride!

As always, the pictures speak a thousand words, love the effects too. I look forward to riding with you guys now that I have Saturdays off. We will definitely hook up for those training rides. See you soon. Gene

BTW, did you try the mustard?

Hanzo · 08-25-2007, 08:14 PM

Thanks again Allison for the great write up and pics as always!

BTW nice finger on that glove shot!!!

I'm guessin that was Justins idea.

BrewMaster · 08-25-2007, 08:47 PM

Great RR allison and great to meet you and Justin today. Much respect for the miles you guys put in. Though it was a suffer fest, I saw you guys smiling the whole time we rode together. I've got beers for you guys anytime.

J_Sims · 08-25-2007, 08:56 PM

you 2 rule!!!!!!!!!!!!

sandblast · 08-25-2007, 09:12 PM

Awesome ride/ post. Now I am scared to ride with you two in Idyllwild though

.

CalEpic · 08-25-2007, 09:12 PM

That's a big ride any way you look at it. Good job.

C

OMR · 08-25-2007, 10:09 PM

I was really looking forward to meeting and riding with you both today. I always love to make new friends with really, really nice people ... and you both are.... really, really nice that is....

Congrats on the climb back up Holy Jim. Keep doing rides like that (if it doesn't kill you) and you'll easily knock VQ off.

Looking forward to Noble on 9/15... although I will be bringing the squishy bike for that one.

Rest up...

OMR

PS: Justin did not really crash at the Jumps... he was just resting.... on the ground... and luckily, nobody was saw...

bjammin · 08-25-2007, 11:03 PM

awesome, epic adventure.

Dino Brown · 08-25-2007, 11:16 PM

Congratulations!

Made me tired just thinking about the miles you rode today!

PacMan · 08-25-2007, 11:17 PM

Wow--awesome ride. You guys ROCK

You are and continue to be, the wind beneath my wings!!

08-25-2007, 07:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
allison Gone ridin'	RR: Sun up to Sundown, When Rides Collide, or, Suffer Fest & Newb Ride Justin decided, after we were hurting climbing SART last weekend, that I needed to get in some mileage and climbing to start training for VQ. While I'm not totally concerned on the mileage, it's the speed to make the cut-offs that worries me. Needless to say, we're starting on that whole speed thing early. So, Justin declared 8/25/07 sufferfest day. Gene and OMR spent a good few days trying to convince Justin otherwise, but he was having none of it. He declared a few days ago that we should do our ride AND the newbie ride! Afterall, the newb ride was starting out only 4.5 short miles away from where we'd end up after descending Trabuco anyway. SURE, we're in! Then I realized Friday night that it was probably a bad idea to add an extra 17-25 miles to a ride that is already 31 miles. Hrm. I wasn't too sure how it was going to go. It was pitch black when we parked and started to climb. Justin had wisely packed two booze cruise lights, and I didn't hesitate to use mine. However, about .5mi to 1 mile up the climb I started getting nauseous. It was somewhat almost light enough to see, so I turned it off. I was sweating like crazy and spending a lot of time wiping sweat off my brow. Luckily it wasn't 80 out. It was about 6:45-7 when I said outloud that I didn't think we were gonna make the newb ride by 8:30. We pressed on. I knew it'd take about 45 minutes to descend Trabuco, and we had about 8 miles from the top of ITT to get over there, mostly climbing. I think we got to the top of ITT at 7:15. Then we turned left and headed up the WALL. I walked a few bits of it. We got up to West Horsethief at 8 and tried to call Gene. I had 3 bars of service, could see the cell towers, but no connection. I wanted to let them know our status and make sure they didn't mind waiting a few minutes. We hauled azz down WHT, where Justin had a minor tip over that resulted in a few scrapes. I was having fun and hauling down Trabuco and fell also. Hmmm... We pressed on. About halfway down Trabuco Creek Rd. we tried calling OMR. The call went through, albeit spotty, and he caught that we were about 15 minutes out. We did get to O'Neill, only unfortunately at 8:45. Thanks to Gene and OMR for waiting for our slow-azzes to take us up to the group. We did catch up, and got to ride with the bubbs. Some crazy dudes invited us off to another route with some crazy steeps n stuff. No idea what I was thinking, but it was actually not that bad. Genny actually thankfully took us back to Water Works while the other guys went on for additional miles and fun. We hung out with the bubbs and bubbettes while some of the guys hunked, then we kept going. Some singletrack, water crossings, regroups, chatting.. . and we ended up back at O'Neill. Sam, you ROCK. Appreciated the beer I shared with Justin. Gene sacrificed hanging out, then going straight for food and drove us up to Holy Jim. Then he sacrificed a bolt for me... Justin and I started up Holy Jim. I wasn't in the highest of spirits, but felt remarkably well considering we were 37+ miles in to a ride. It got fairly warm. I was really sweating buckets. The bugs came out when we got heavy in the trees. Justin did offer up his bug net, but I knew that they'd stop once we were out of the trees. That's about where his quad started cramping. I knew it was bad when he kept walking stuff he normally rides. Then he had me go ahead. At one point he had to ask me to stop riding. Sucked. Not much you can do other than massage, Tums, water, and alternating walking and riding where possible. We eventually made it up to Main Divide. Still a tad more climbing. It went okay. Justin was riding. I was slightly hungry. We turned off on ITT. More descent... Justin actually cranked it to a harder gear and stood up on the final actual climb that is on ITT. We did stop once for a break and I was worried I wouldn't be able to get him up again. After that, though, he caught his second wind and I couldn't keep up. About 2 miles from the car I suddenly felt ravenously hungry, and then like I was going to hoark. It kinda passed, and down we continued. I rounded the final bend and saw the truck and smiled BIG. Early At the trailhead Sunrise Catching up at the newbie ride Think he is saying, "Look guys, the HORSE is the best bike evar" and they, obviously, are laughing... Justin eating, photo by Noel Gouge and his DELL (not Dale) Joser Sucky HABbage Hunking __________________

08-25-2007, 07:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
allison Gone ridin'	continued... Jordan tongue!! Look at 'em all laughing Willie hucks (er, not) Last water crossing BREW Time to part-ay Nam was single, and rigid today Ride courtesy of STR, and Warrior's Society, and Gene Dig the camo kilt, eh At the Holy Jim trailhead... something just don't look right. __________________

08-25-2007, 07:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
allison Gone ridin'	Continued Holy Jim Happy to see Pain Divide They were beggin' for a break The car is JUST around the corner... MMMMMMMMMM Last photo... HELLZ YA! Traci, remember I said I'd get it?? __________________

08-25-2007, 08:13 PM	#7 (permalink)
dstepper Over the Hill	Tough day guys, good job. I can see the VQ being that much harder than what you guys did today. Dean __________________ If I'm not lost or getting bushwacked, the trail was too easy. Prescott Valley Houses The Path

08-25-2007, 08:13 PM	#8 (permalink)
genusmtbkr5 Single Track Mind	Very nice Nice RR and pics as usual. I'm glad you guys came out and you had fun while suffering. I must say I was pretty envious about your ride. That is some mileage and elevation gain. You guys should get a feather for that ride! As always, the pictures speak a thousand words, love the effects too. I look forward to riding with you guys now that I have Saturdays off. We will definitely hook up for those training rides. See you soon. Gene BTW, did you try the mustard? __________________ Gene"GuidesNewWarriors" *http://www.warriorssociety.org/* *http://www.sharemtb.com/*

08-25-2007, 07:47 PM	#4 (permalink)
Winston Bad 5%	Glad to hear you two survived. I think Mother Nature smiled on us today. I even got pelted by a few drops of rain in Laguna. (It was an all too brief tease.)

08-25-2007, 08:00 PM	#5 (permalink)
KeepsWhatHappens Warriors Society Member	Seriously -- You guys should be using something other than Tums. Try Endurolytes and Anti-Fatigue caps from Hammer Nutrition. I know many Warriors that swear by this stuff. Also, Perpetuem is good for rides that are 4+ hours. KeepsWhatHappens (John) --The guy that led the advanced ride. PS If you try Hammer mention client #96722 and you will get 15% off your first order. http://www.hammernutrition.com

08-25-2007, 08:14 PM	#9 (permalink)
Hanzo .	Nice Job to both of you Thanks again Allison for the great write up and pics as always! BTW nice finger on that glove shot!!! I'm guessin that was Justins idea.

08-25-2007, 08:47 PM	#10 (permalink)
BrewMaster Thirsty	Great RR allison and great to meet you and Justin today. Much respect for the miles you guys put in. Though it was a suffer fest, I saw you guys smiling the whole time we rode together. I've got beers for you guys anytime. __________________ “Very few are meant for a life of notoriety, yet all of us are meant for a life of significance." Erwin McManus, Wide Awake

08-25-2007, 08:56 PM	#11 (permalink)
J_Sims F.T.W.	you 2 rule!!!!!!!!!!!! __________________ If you don't live for something... You will die for nothing Big Thanks to ::: http://www.thepathbikeshop.com/

08-25-2007, 09:12 PM	#12 (permalink)
sandblast Senior Member	Awesome ride/ post. Now I am scared to ride with you two in Idyllwild though .

08-25-2007, 09:12 PM	#13 (permalink)
CalEpic STR Moderator	That's a big ride any way you look at it. Good job. C __________________ ShinKen: OOhhh helLSS YEsS!~!!! JoeTruth: As far as I'm concerned, I could really care less. Just ride your damn bike and STFU already

08-25-2007, 10:09 PM	#14 (permalink)
OMR	Glad you made it back over the mountain.... I was really looking forward to meeting and riding with you both today. I always love to make new friends with really, really nice people ... and you both are.... really, really nice that is.... Congrats on the climb back up Holy Jim. Keep doing rides like that (if it doesn't kill you) and you'll easily knock VQ off. Looking forward to Noble on 9/15... although I will be bringing the squishy bike for that one. Rest up... OMR PS: Justin did not really crash at the Jumps... he was just resting.... on the ground... and luckily, nobody was saw... __________________ OMR .... An elder grasshopper of the Tribe The journey is the thing .... ride like it's your last one... Last edited by OMR; 08-26-2007 at 07:07 AM. Reason: add comment

08-25-2007, 11:03 PM	#15 (permalink)
bjammin STR Veteran	awesome, epic adventure.

08-25-2007, 11:16 PM	#16 (permalink)
Dino Brown Sir Smack-Alot	Congratulations! Made me tired just thinking about the miles you rode today!

08-25-2007, 11:17 PM	#17 (permalink)
PacMan Harden The F*** Up!!	Wow--awesome ride. You guys ROCK You are and continue to be, the wind beneath my wings!! __________________ Less typing...more riding.

STR | SocalTrailRiders.org

Your Southern CaliforniaMountain Biking Community

Your Southern California
Mountain Biking Community