Noble Canyon!

[allison]

Get ready to miss NFL Draft Day because we're riding the Tour de Noble! 28-30 miles, 4500ft of climbing. Lots of rocks, boulders, singletrack, stunts, and great views.

Make sure if you sign up you're prepared for at least an 8 hour day. The pace will be moderate. We just don't want anyone running out of food, water, bike supplies (tubes, air, etc), bonking... We should be able to stop and refill hydration packs and bottles. Just bring your bike, helmet, plenty of food and water, and you'll end up with a smile on your face at the end!

Included in the Tour we'll be traveling up the trecherous bottom of Noble through .5 mi of rock garden switchbacks, descending 1-2 miles of beautifully sculped singletrack, experiencing the painful Alpe d'Wheez pavement climb, ascending the breathtaking (literally) Indian Creek climb. We will continue on the undulating upper Noble trail to Penny Pines. A short break and water re-fill will ensue, followed by a quick climb up to Big Laguna Lake, where we'll play lizard in the sun and eat lunch.

Next we'll be off to descend a short singletrack, and begin our descent down Noble Canyon. This includes swoopy flowing singletrack through leave-strewn singletrack and a canopy of trees, and has many stunts, such as the log jump, Widowmaker, Barney Rubble, the rock playground, and will eventually wind down to Stairway to Hell.

From there we will climb out and cross over to our final ascent up Whore (this was the beautiful descent from the beginning, but now looks much different in the afternoon, following a lot of miles and climbing). Our last descent will be down the rock garden switchbacks and will end at the original trailhead parking lot.

Post-ride food includes BYOB at the trailhead (for those of you of age) and Mexican food at Mananas just down the freeway in Alpine.

I have never camped out here, but there is a campground at Laguna that sounds decent (showers, running water, etc.) that is a national forest campground. They take reservations also.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/cleveland/re...g/laguna.shtml

Be prepared in case the temps may be cooler, as it is at about 5600ft in elevation.

You will need to drive down to the lower trailhead that morning, or ride down, then climb up, ride down, and climb up again, but that'd be a really long day!

If you want some ride stats, check out geoLadders: http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=944

For anyone on the fence, here's a few photos from our last ride:

[genusmtbkr5]

Looks beautful! I wish I wish I could go but I work weekends and I can't get that weekend off. I'm already taking time off for the Toad festival and the Traverse, maybe I'll see you guys at those events. Enjoy and let me know when you and Justin are riding in OC anytime soon. Gene

[allison]

Okay, time to start getting a final count and sort out the details.

We'll be meeting at the lower trailhead in Pine Valley at 8:30 am. Be prepared to be CLIMBING at 9 am! If you prefer/have to do bike maintenance at the trailhead, get there a little earlier.

Here's a link to the geoLadders info (includes link to get to trailhead directions, as well as ride profile):

Geoladders -- Xtra Credit Indian Creek BLT Noble

If for some reason the directions don't work, or you've got any questions, just send me a PM or post and we'll straighten it out.

If you're bringing along others please do the RSVP thing and let me know how many so we can try to get a decent head count and know how many to expect.

We'll have a white Tahoe with ride spot stickers on the back and we'll be the dummies with downhill bikes (Blue Enduro and red Socom). DH bikes not necessary, but Justin doesn't have anything else to ride and I'd rather have fun on the descents and dislike the climbing.

Weather should be good. I read there was some snow up there last weekend, but the weather should be clear and hopefully it won't be too soupy. If it is we may need to re-evaluate while on the ride, but for now we're planning to do the same route we rode a few weeks ago.

[Jordansrealm]

Sounds fun but I dont think I could make 4500ft of climbing...

[PacMan]

I'm in. See you there.

[mechmann]

i will be doing all that climbing on my 43lbs DH bike.

it will be a tough day!

[Edog]

I'll be there, I think I'm just going to drive down from OC, looks like it should only take a couple of hours!

Did I see somewhere we can get water on route, can I count on that or bring water for the whole ride??

Did I see somewhere we can get water on route, can I count on that or bring water for the whole ride??

[bjammin]

Originally Posted by Edog

I'll be there, I think I'm just going to drive down from OC, looks like it should only take a couple of hours!

Did I see somewhere we can get water on route, can I count on that or bring water for the whole ride??

Did I see somewhere we can get water on route, can I count on that or bring water for the whole ride??

Hey man, glad you can make it, it was fun riding with you on Sat. There is water via a well/pump at the top of Noble.
Ben

[Schecky]

Originally Posted by Edog

I'll be there, I think I'm just going to drive down from OC, looks like it should only take a couple of hours!

Probably should budget more like three. Depends on where in the OC.

[allison]

Originally Posted by Edog

I'll be there, I think I'm just going to drive down from OC, looks like it should only take a couple of hours!

Shouldn't be *too* bad. You could also probably take 56 across from 5 to 15 to cut out some additional time/miles if you take 5 all the way to 8. I dunno for sure, though.

We go straight down 15 to 52E - 125S - 8E. It takes us about 1.5 hours from Murrieta.

(Someone post if those directions are wrong )

[allison]

Aight peeps. We're looking out for 8 riders.

We'll be the dummy's with DH bikes that are NOT shuttling to the top

[bjammin]

I'm psyched! It's been too long since I've ridden this trail.

[tkblazer]

man i wanna go, but i'm too lazy to wake up that early haha

[PacMan]

Originally Posted by tkblazer

man i wanna go, but i'm too lazy to wake up that early haha

Oh come on Nam. Plenty of time to sleep Saturday night. Besides, I want to see that Reign paint job. I'll be rolling my Reign as well.

[allison]

Originally Posted by tkblazer

man i wanna go, but i'm too lazy to wake up that early haha

Now you know how we feel when we have to drive to OC or LA!

I'll be up at 6. It really shouldn't be more than like 1.5-2 hours early in the morning.

[PacMan]

See you guys at 0830. I'll be in a red Ford Freestyle.

[Sprockethead]

Just got back home, it was a fantastic ride. A little longer than scheduled but we had a blast. Look for photos from Allison later. Thanks to all that showed up, Allison & Justin for setting up the ride, and Mark and Aqua for showing us the way.

[tkblazer]

ok peeps... where the heck are the pics eh

[allison]

Originally Posted by tkblazer

ok peeps... where the heck are the pics eh

I'll post 'em in the morning. I'm tired

[ShinKen]

Originally Posted by allison

I'll post 'em in the morning. I'm tired

what morning is that?