:lol: That sums it up, but I'll elaborate. Having this ride posted on Facebook and being an essentially open invitation, we ended up with 34 riders... a great group from PMBC (who most of us knew anyay), a whole bunch from the OC/STR friends, the South Bay OTB contingent, the Simi OTB contingent, and a few of us NE LA/SGV contingent. We started out with the convey up to Pinyon Flats, having decided to park there after the a break-in last year at the other trailhead. There was a thin crusting of snow on the ground, probably a few days old. It was just enough to feel like a snow ride, but with amazing traction on the damp sandy desert earth under that thin white crust. Knowing Ross, Craig, Jake and others were up front and interspersed through the group, I was fine with hanging at the back, taking random photos, and helping with some mechanicals and stragglers. Sweeping is fine for me. If I was up front, I'd be stopping to take photos and losing my spot at the front anyway, so taking my time and enjoying the whole experience was great. I can't say much about what happened among the faster groups up front, but it seemed like there weren't too many issues. Luis cut a sidewall with a good slice not too far from the start, and there were three other flats I know of. John broke a chain but was on his own for the repair. Anyone else have issues? Groups were leapfrogging each other in places, and I was waiting to make sure everyone got through. It was a surprise for me to see everyone at the bottom of Indian Potrero hanging out and waiting. Knowing the last five people behind me were close by, and some had opted to skip Hahn trail, I continued through and headed up the wash without stopping. But most seemed about ready to go too. They'd been waiting a while. There were several first-time PC riders among the group, and we had to put them through the wash at least once. Adi, John, Jose, Luis and I opted to climb Hahn to the bulldozer. It was a nice climb, and even though a little harder and lot more work, it's somehow mentally easier for me to climb the singletrack than slog through the wash. About a third of the wash-riding group had already arrived at the dozer, and the rest straggled in over the next few minutes. Temperatures had been surprisingly comfortable. I won't say warm, but even 38 degress doesn't feel bad with no wind and full sun. Add some pedal-pumping legs and hard breathing and it was just about perfect. I was out of my jacket and leg warmers after the first mile. At one point I was taking photos during a break, and the SLR camera bag on my chest obscures my view of where I'm walking. I nailed a cholla with my shin, the needles passing right through the G-shock pads I wore. I didn't hear of any other cactus run-ins, but I saw a few cholla branches freshly strewn across the trail in places, so somebody had hit them. Coming back down Hahn was awesome. Since I had waited so long to account for all the group, I had a clear path down Hahn all to myself. Luis and Adi followed, then we headed out Vanterventer to Cindy. We got ahead of a couple of riders, Dave and his friends, and dropped in. At first I didn't recognize Cindy. The top mile or so seemed quite a bit tamer than last time, with many of the baby head rocks removed. In places they were lined up along the outer berm of the trail in a row. Down lower it was still chunky, but also didn't seem as rough or loose as last year. It was a lot of fun. At the bottom, again I was pleased to see the majority of the group waiting once again. There were a lot of smiles! I like that. After hanging out at the Imax lawn for an hour while the drop-off vehicles were being retrieved, we had a great meal at El Gallito just a few blocks down. The place was packed and it wasn't sure if we could get in, so Travis and a couple of carloads headed back on their own. But we lucked out and claimed a table without too much hassle. Thanks Tom for putting it on the calendar, and to everyone that came out and made it such a fun day. And the weather gods... cold, but not in an uncomfortable way. Long live long rides!
Great shots Kanga. We had a great time on your ride. I had my doubts about 34 riders in one place at the same time, but it's a lot of desert and everyone spread out really well. We took a slightly different way down and saw a good sized Bighorn sheep. First one I've ever seen. Really impressive.
Nice Steve. Had other commitments or I would've loved to join you guys since I've yet to ride there. Great pics as always.
Great ride report and the pictures are great!!!PCE is always a challenging and fun ride. Must have been a long day with a huge group.
Wow......that is a hell of a group to take through PC. Still looked like fun. Is there water in the creek @ Indian Portello?
Thanks for the comments. There's no water in any of the creeks at the moment. It will take a good saturating rain to bring them to life again. TahoeDays, any photo of the bighorn? I thought you mentioned that you (or someone with you) got a shot. I saw their "droppings" on the trail in a few places, but never saw any animals. But that's often the case when running sweep for a big group. There were enough in the group who knew where they were going so I think the group naturally spread out into smaller pods. I had radio contact with a few others who remembered to bring radios, so other than the re-groupings at the wash and the dozer, it never really felt like a large group. It was good. Last year we had 32 people, and it went a lot less smoothly, mostly because of a lot more mechanicals. It's been a while since I've put up a RR... other priorities over the last year left me less active on the forums. At the encouragement of a few friends, I'll probably post about those activities soon (though quite a few of you already know). Maybe even a few more RR's... Steve
Wow, what and great ride and ride report. With all those riders, how long did it take to complete this ride?
We were rolling about 9 a.m. and at Imax by 3:10. Add an hour and fifteen for the shuttle vehicle pickup and we were eating a little after 4. I had a 3:30 moving time and a 2:50 stopped time, 30 miles and 3400' climb, 7500' descent (rounded).
Great photos and RR! Wish I could have done this. That seems like a lot of down time to me. Is that number correct?
Me too on this ride, just wasn't ready for the invite I had for the 5th. Pat, you have to remember Steve (aka Kanga) is inhuman and rolls at twice the speed and distance of us mere mortals. That's why his RR's are always so amazing and littered with photos, he rides ahead takes photos of everyone as they all pass, then he scoots to the front and a new section and repeat...
@ Kanga, the pix you posted are spectacular thanks for taking the time to snap shots like a Pro. I checked them out on the OTB site very memorable. It was pretty sweet shredding in the snow what a surprise that was. Im doing the final edits to my GoPro vid and can't wait to share. Good times looking forward to next yr.
It's my secret training method... I call it "Photo Intervals." Though this past ride I was quite content sweeping the back of the pack to make sure everyone got out safe. ;-) Nice! That's a rare and lucky sight!
