Ride Report 1st Annual Chiquita, Ladera, Waterworks SS Lovefest

Yes we all survived! It was great seeing so many STR members out for this ride...a mix of Geared and SS (I think the Geared riders outnumbered the SS riders on this go around). We were greeted by wonderful weather and cheery disposition were had by all!

I do want to thank John (KeepWhatHappens) for guiding this motley crew and Trail Angel Kristine (Single Track Angel) for making sure all the riders were accounted for and none left behind.

Now onto my story: The first part of the ride (first 3 miles) was brutal for me because I slowly getting over my bout of bronchitis. That climb is worse than Cholla...*BAM* right out the gate you're climbing. On my first TRUE outing on the 29'er it was quite interesting my heart rate jumped through the roof and my breathing sucked! I had to take a hit of my breathing inhaler to help open up the lungs a bit. Once we got settled in though, it was good as I was warmed up and getting acclimated to the ride.

Towards the end as we were climbing out of waterworks, I ran out of water and the shot blocks werent taking so I was cramping up big time. BIG THANK YOU to Justin for giving me these magic white capsules definitely helped me finish off the ride.

Thank you to Mike (1FGRider), Sam (Bandman), Gary (Complex), and Nam (to name a few) for cruising with me and Radcliffe as they made sure we didn't just die on the side of the trail . This is what it's about, riding and hanging with 30+ of your STR buddies

John rounding up the riders.

A Trail Angel and her beau and SDYeti and Allison on the right

Konadupee, GHixon, Autoduel

Bandman and 1FGRider

The Mann's graced us today


A rest after the initial climbing

Early morning trail marination

Radcliffe tuning in and getting ready to drop in the singletrack, this single track is awesome


The view, supposedly the property down there belongs to William Lyons (the home builder)

 

Queuing up to drop down another singletrack


We were going down this spine to the valley floor

Down on the valley floor watching the A Group snake their way up the ridge for some extra credit

The Re-Group



SlowSSer and HouseofMusic

"it was THIS big"

The drop from the extra credit

Watch the first rider...House of Music got into a rut and got thrown...a bit hard to see but you can make it out...barely
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Not too shabby of a group eh?

 

It was a beautiful day for a fun STR ride! I was pretty worked from our training ride (VQ training) yesterday, but decided to join the Mann's and about 36 other STR riders for the Chiquita ride. I rode my Yeti (non-SS, of course) but had a blast despite an aching knee/quad.

I was so excited I got to meet so many STR members (Foo, ShinKen, CH4OS, ghixon, konadupee, RichieRich, gennyDV, KeepsWhatHappens, SingletrackAngel...if I didn't remember your name, I apologize...so many folks out there.)

The views and greenery were amazing, and despite one or two hike-a-bikes (for me) I had so much fun ripping down the ridges!

Hope to ride with you all again...here are some shots from the day.

Getting ready to roll


Killer climb up to the ridge...right at the start of the ride!


Riders in the distance


Steep climb


ShinKen and ghixon


Re-group at the end of Playboy


Choo Choo!


Just thought it looked cool


Droppin' in...only one rider didn't make it


Me...sdyeti...in case I didn't introduce myself


Wall ride...Dan (Man blong Gaua)


Lunch with buds...great way to end the ride

 

Looks like fun I want to do that ride again. Great pics Foo, thanks for sharing :clap:

 

Anybody have a better close up pictures or videos of my crash??

 

Looks like everyone had a great time Foo Sure.... Thanks for all the pics and great write up...

 

Great pictures. I wanted to come but had a 2 p.m. I HAD to go to and anyway, I could barely get out of bed.***yawwn*** Please schedule another soon!

 

Not so many photos today as my camera broke about 1/3 of the way into the ride.

Awesome ride overall except for when Singletrack Angel crashed. Luckily she's fine. She's pretty tough.

The "wet feet" crowd had a blast riding through Trabuco Creek 5 times and then crusing through the always fun "Jungle" section. Too bad I don't have any pics of that.

Good times at Daily's afterward too!:beer:

It was nice to meet more cool STR people.

Great people=great ride!


Riders milling about waiting for Foo to show up. He's gonna show up right?


Kristine studying my map notes.


Allison (center) Trail Paparazzi caught on the other side of the lens


Group shot


HABage up to the first ridge.


Singletrack 5 minutes into the ride.


SDYeti leading the group heading up toward Chiquita Ridge.


Shinken, Stuart and others waiting for the group to catch up.


Justin on Rat's Back.


Richie Rich on Rats Back.


Climbing up 241 (yep that's the name of the trail)


Pano looking back on riders climbing up 241.

...then my camera took a dump and I found myself with nothing to do but observe and enjoy the ride. Kinda weird.

KeepsWhatHappens

 

Sooooo grasshoppers, you were all out playing while I was in church!

OK, I forgive you....

I love this area....especially now when it's sooooo green! Great area to ride at night as well.

PS: Hope Christine's all right ... John, take care of your woman!

 

Sorry I missed the ride guys I was VERY MUCH looking forward to it. Unfortunately, my grama has her good and bad days and I was called over this morning. Tried to make it back in time but just didnt happen. Looks like good times were had! Thanks for the great pics FOO and John and SDYeti!

 

Foo, thanks for organizing the ride. I had soo much fun during the ride and It was nice to meet all the other STR members.

 

Foo -- Those white capsules were probably Endurolytes by Hammer. Always good to carry those babies.

Mention my Hammer member ID 96722 when ordering and it will get you 15% off your first order.

KeepsWhatHappens

 

THANKS!

Now remind me where rat's back is in relation to the last extra credit you did?

 

Good job Duan :clap:. Nice RR and pics by all. Sorry I missed it, but I was doing a another guided ride through the "closed" area. Great turnout and the area does look much better green. It's always fun out there. I'll be out there again real soon.

 

Thanks Gregg - I OTB'd coming down Rat's Back and landed hard on my head. Thank goodness for helmets!

I still have a headache, but the good part about landing on your head is that you don't get any scratches on the rest of your body. No cracks in the helmet, but my sunglasses didn't survive - I found the frame but the lenses went flying. If you ever go down Rat's Back and see some black lenses glinting in the sun, they're mine.

I think I need more practice on the Chiquita Ridge singletrack drops...

 

Rat's Back is the one where the arrow was drawn in the dirt at the start of it off the Chiquita Ridge fireroad...it ended down in a valley by an old windmill.

KeepsWhatHappens

 

ohhhh that whole thing is rats back then...cool...i thought the descent into the valley where the windmill was ratsback

 

Or cyanide...:lol:

No, just kidding...Justin said they were Endurolytes...good stuff.

 

WOW! What a beautiful Ride it was! The Climb was a short and steep to start with, still kinda spongy in the morning. It was so nice to meet and see you all! I really enjoyed it! Lets do this again! Thanks to everyone!

 

What a Ride!

What a group!!

I had a great time riding with all of you, and meeting a lot of you for the first time...see you on the next ride!:wave: