Noble Canyon Take 2

[allison]

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

[Ladd Jasper]

What a difference a week makes! Nothing going on that w/e, should be able to make it down.

[allison]

I'm riding a 33lbs FS 6" bike FWIW. Justin's riding a 29er 1x9, though

We have no idea where Middle Earth is, but if you know, or Bret is there, we can hit that up!

[Keith B]

Erm...if we find ourselves in Middle Earth it'll be trippy!

[bjammin]

Originally Posted by allison

I'm riding a 33lbs FS 6" bike FWIW. Justin's riding a 29er 1x9, though

We have no idea where Middle Earth is, but if you know, or Bret is there, we can hit that up!

I've read about it on another forum but that's all the info I have. Could it be a shoot-off trail from BLT?

[allison]

Originally Posted by bjammin

I've read about it on another forum but that's all the info I have. Could it be a shoot-off trail from BLT?

Yeah it's up there somewhere.

[allison]

Noble Canyon Take 2 is this Saturday (5/5). We'll be meeting at the trailhead at 8 AM! LEAVING the trailhead/riding at 8:30 am!! If you need to do bike maintenance, please give yourself enough time in the morning. It's a LONG day, so please plan accordingly.

We take breaks climbing up Extra Credit for re-do's. Regroup a few other places, climb Alp du Wheez, then a break at the Oak Tree. We'll regroup a few times, break at Champagne Pass. Regroups along the way, then another break at Penny Pines or the campground for water refill's.

Depending on how everyone feels we can try out Middle Earth again. The total for the ride including the campground and Middle Earth, along with climbing back up Whore and descending Extra Credit at the end should be about 36 miles, probably close to 5000ft climbing.

The weather was pretty warm and sunny this last Saturday. I'd assume temps will be about the same this coming Saturday. So, plan for enough water to get you 18 miles and about 2500ft of climbing in 80~ degrees.

We finished up dinner at Manana's at probably 7:30-8 this past Saturday, so if you have afternoon/evening commitments, make sure you know it may be a really long day!

Hope to see some new and old faces out there

[Tom Cosgrove]

anyone coming from the i/e that wants to carpool?
909-921-7924.

[mechmann]

tom...

we may be able to work something out. the tahoe can fit us all, just need to put one bike inside as the rack extension isn't here yet.

[Keith B]

There's a woman at work with a rack extension...it doesnt look right

[mechmann]

i think they look pretty nice, can't comment on the feel...

[Sprockethead]

Originally Posted by Keith B

There's a woman at work with a rack extension...it doesnt look right

We need photos to make that judgement

[cjwally]

Originally Posted by Tom Cosgrove

anyone coming from the i/e that wants to carpool?
909-921-7924.

Tom - Make that carpool work. We need you there br0!

[allison]

Ben are you coming this time? Missed you out there last weekend!

Seems like the weather should be MUCH cooler. Maybe 10-20 degrees cooler than last Saturday.

We'll probably see how everyone feels once we get to BLT whether or not we do Middle Earth.

I'd rather spend more time playing around on lower Noble, as opposed to riding that, but that's just me.

So far we've got 7 showing up!

[mechmann]

i am a big fan of that ST descent after Middle Earth. those corners were PERFECT!!!!!

if everyone is doing OK on the ride, we can try and shorten the ride by taking shorter breaks. if we had stayed at the campground any longer i think several of us would have been napping!

i can also bring my pump, that would allow us to drink from the well at Penny Pines.

[PacMan]

A friend of mine is coming and we were going to leave his car at the top with a 5 gallon bottle of water inside. It won't be cold, but it'll be clean and it'll taste good.

[allison]

Originally Posted by PacMan

A friend of mine is coming and we were going to leave his car at the top with a 5 gallon bottle of water inside. It won't be cold, but it'll be clean and it'll taste good.

Sweet! That'll help out. I don't think we'll be going through as much if it's cooler, though, which will help also. When we were up there about a month ago I didn't finish my 3L at all.

[bjammin]

Originally Posted by allison

Ben are you coming this time? Missed you out there last weekend!

Seems like the weather should be MUCH cooler. Maybe 10-20 degrees cooler than last Saturday.

We'll probably see how everyone feels once we get to BLT whether or not we do Middle Earth.

I'd rather spend more time playing around on lower Noble, as opposed to riding that, but that's just me.

So far we've got 7 showing up!

Yeah, I'm in for sure this time. I had a couple things come up last minute this weekend.
I have no problems with which ever route we do. I'll be happy just to be on "Noble" ground again!
BTW I just saw on the news that a 22yr old woman was removed via ambulance at Hodges this afternoon. From the news footage it looked like it was at the base of the Bernardo climb. Right where they put in the new switch backs that start out the climb.
I hope she's ok.

[PacMan]

Originally Posted by bjammin

BTW I just saw on the news that a 22yr old woman was removed via ambulance at Hodges this afternoon. From the news footage it looked like it was at the base of the Bernardo climb. Right where they put in the new switch backs that start out the climb.
I hope she's ok.

From Channel 10 News:

SAN DIEGO -- Ground and helicopter crews came to the rescue Wednesday of a woman who was injured when she fell off the mountain bike she was riding on a dirt trail near Lake Hodges, authorities reported.

A companion of the 22-year-old bicyclist made an emergency call about 4:15 p.m. to report the accident near Via Rancho Parkway and Interstate 15, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

The caller told dispatchers the victim hit her head and was unconscious for a time, department spokesman Maurice Luque said. A sheriff's helicopter crew went to the scene and, with help from firefighters and paramedics from San Diego and Escondido, hoisted the injured woman onto the aircraft for transport to a hospital. The patient's name and medical condition were not immediately available.

[mechmann]

worst accidents are on the easy trails!!!!!

i am quite shocked that someone could manage to knock themselves out there. one of my worst crashes was on that little rock drop by the stream crossing, but even then i didn't knock myself out! wonder if she was wearing a brain bucket...