RR: Vail Lake Night Ride

[allison]

My first night ride of the new dark season. Justin and I got there a bit early, before dark.

EC and BigHouse showed up shortly after, then Luke. We were waiting for the other Eric, but his drive from La Jolla took longer than planned. As Luke is a fast guy, they were gonna catch up.

It was EC and BigHouse's first night ride, and as far as I can tell went pretty well. BH did almost lose his light at one point!!

Unfortunately, Eric's handlebar light died pretty early on, and not long after his helmet light wasn't putting out much steam either. A few times going through Tunnel of Love I heard him, but did not see much light!

It was just after 9 when we got back, so I opted out of a second lap.

A few photos:









Luke and Eric catching up



Lots of snow



I was trying to get a shot of EC's helmet mount. It was up there. No low-hanging branches for that thing!



Good ride for my first night back.

Thanks to all that came out!!

[lukewiens]

Well...my first hosted STR ride went off with only a couple of small hitches, but overall everyone had fun and made it back safely.

Rolled up to Vail lake at 7, Justin and Allison were there already and talking to Rich and Eric (Badass Gravity Guys) while they were getting ready. I geared up and started calling the sixth member of the rsvp'd troop to get an ETA. After waiting for 20 minutes I suggested that they go ahead and start the climb and I will stay behind for Eric Palmer (fellow xterra athlete). He finally showed up about 7:30 and scrambled to get ready. I cut him some slack being that he battled traffic all the way from La Jolla to get there.

So Eric Palmer and myself set a race pace climb up to the summit to catch the group (22 minutes behind). Quite a way to start a night ride I must say....panicked state. Once we got close to the summit we could see the flashes from Allison's camera so we knew we were going to catch 'em. They were patiently waiting for us at the top of the damn climb and we began the descent down to the new singletrack (Thanks guys!!).

The trail was totally lit up with our array of lights....helmet, bar, home-made...and we reached the singletrack. Rich Houseman was out in front of me and since I had waited so long to start the ride I wasn't looking back. He plowed the singletrack as I did my best to hold his wheel.....oh, by the way, his first night ride...coulda fooled me!! We both got down with smiles on our faces and waited for the rest of the group to finish the descent. (ps...the new singletrack is a little trickier at night, but still pretty easy to find a line).

We made our way down Marine Hill and to the new connector to Calf Burner. It looked the new trail was starting to take shape with some people riding it this week; it was marked with little orange flags. We then made our way up the punishing Calf Burner and decided to drop into the Tunnel trail from the top of the fire road instead of going down and around. I think Rich and Eric were already half way down the sketchy drop before I finished suggesting the alternative.

The Tunnel was awesome at night just as it is during the day....Rich had to switch batteries and I got to lead out the second half with his buddy Eric on my tail. I will tell ya, with some killer gravity guys behind me I was pushing hard so as not to end up with tread marks over my back.

All in all a great ride......Everyone seemed to have fun even though my panicked sense of urgency from the initial wait carried through the entirety of the ride.

Thanks to all that came out....It was blast!!!

[allison]

I think we need some more SW Riverside County night rides!

[lukewiens]

word!!

[BigHOuse]

Thanks for the ride guys! We had lots of fun!

Don't be suprised if we show up with 5 HID lights strapped to us next time though!

Full Robby Gordon Styzz!

Bigz

[allison]

Originally Posted by BigHOuse

Thanks for the ride guys! We had lots of fun!

Don't be suprised if we show up with 5 HID lights strapped to us next time though!

Full Robby Gordon Styzz!

Bigz

Haha! We need one of those spot lights they have on boats at the river. That'd be tight. Who wants to carry the generator? I vote not me!

I've just got an older Evolution light (not the smart one) with long charge battery. I forget what else I had on my handlebar, but it's a more expensive light with white light. Neither of mine have brightness settings.

One of us (Justin or I) has a Flight, I think.

OH MAN! I just saw that NiteRider has a wireless light?! That'd be sweet. Time to save up for that (in addition to a 4x bike, Justin's Lunchbox, makeup, Chipotle lunches again...)

[BigHOuse]

My order is in for the latest and greatest from Topeak. Hopefully I'll hook it up soon.

I want to go faster on the DH sections, need more light!

[allison]

Originally Posted by BigHOuse

I want to go faster on the DH sections, need more light!

I need better depth perception than that... Luckily I'm slightly faster during the day!

[sdyeti]

Looks like a good time...I want to get up there and ride at some point!

[allison]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

Looks like a good time...I want to get up there and ride at some point!

We may try to make it a weekly event! Would be nice for a change of pace for night riders that want somewhere different. It's a good course.. though, I think mebbe after the 12 hour race I'm down to just do the course clockwise, instead of backwards That ridge is much fun going down than up.

[lukewiens]

i think i am going to set this up again for next week. i wonder though....should we change the start time with daylight savings coming this weekend??

earlier start....later start??

[allison]

Originally Posted by lukewiens

i think i am going to set this up again for next week. i wonder though....should we change the start time with daylight savings coming this weekend??

earlier start....later start??

I'm down with an earlier start. Getting home at 9:45 was kinda late.

Besides, it'll be dark at 5, so not like we have to worry aobut that

[genusmtbkr5]

Sorry guys, I didn't read the RR till now. I was on a night ride myself. Anyway, looked like a fun ride, with the Luge closed for now, looks like there will be other trails in use.

[allison]

Originally Posted by genusmtbkr5

Sorry guys, I didn't read the RR till now. I was on a night ride myself. Anyway, looked like a fun ride, with the Luge closed for now, looks like there will be other trails in use.

Thank you, Gene!!

[lukewiens]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

Looks like a good time...I want to get up there and ride at some point!

it is set up for next week...come out and join us!!