Ride Report Ultra Quest

OK found it on Troy's Geoladders now - doesnt seem so bad. 40miles and 11.5k ft *cough* still looks like fun though. Love that bit with the rope going up to Bell Ridge.

 

Trust me, the distance doesn't convey the difficulty. Those trails are really tough physically and mentally, it isn't like just pedaling up a graded fireroad.

 

Hence my *cough* comment.

 

40 miles and 11,500 feet of climbing, it wasn't as bad as it sounds...it was worse #-o.

Even as challenging as this was I'm sure you could complete this Keith. You're a very strong rider.

 

Wohoo, I'll have a shot at it next time

 

I'm sure pedaling is the easy part, the HAB is what sucks the energy outta you. Congrats to all that finished.

 

Impressive...hats off to you guys.

How would you folks that rode it compare this to the Traverse? It looks like a few less miles but about 3500 more feet of elevation gain. But like someone mentioned, the numbers really don't tell the whole story of the pain & difficulty.

May 17th looms large for my first race & would love to know what I've gotten myself into. #-o

 

Some of that remote relatively unused trail looks really sweet.

 

Wow! Sounds like a great time! I'd love to do it (support that is--you freaks can ride it)

 

The Traverse is a tough ride. It is a completely different course though. Pretty much all fire road climbing for the whole morning then the descent down Trabuco. This ride took me nearly twice as long to finish as the Traverse.

Great times hanging with everyone after the Traverse as well.

 

Troy how do your legs feel? The hab musta killed your calves!

 

I didn't do this ride, but I've ridden the course seperately, at different times.

The Traverse is not even close to what this ride is. The HAB's on these trails are pretty brutal.
The rewards for them are fun, but they're still brutal.

Nice job Troy on getting it done!:clap::bang::clap::bang:

 

I'm surprised they don't feel too bad. We went up Bell Ridge, down Yeager, up Trabuco, down Bell two weeks earlier and I think that helped with getting the legs prepared for all the hiking.

I did buy a pair of Specialized Taho's specifically for the ride and they really made the hiking more tolerable as well. Matt (Hermit) did the ride in his regular riding shoes which must have been harder.

 

Not even close.

This is what the "RADS" are all about, the gnarliest of the gnar. If it's the course I am thinking the Traverse is 90% or more ridable. These trails are rough to hike without rappelling gear, let alone hauling around the weight of a bike. Hat's off to the people who completed this test, the hardest part is keeping your wits in the course of burning around eight thousand calories while clawing your way through this.

Fantastic write up and glad to hear everyone got out okay. Though I was invited, work was mandatory last Saturday however I might have needed a tent to finish......

 

Whoooooo....

Ouch!
And I thought the Julian Death March was going to be bad :-s

 

that looks like a silly-good time.

 

Anyone have a route that includes the best of the downhill and avoids some of the climbing? If it is point to point that would be fine too.

 

Hey thinkfast glad to hear your enjoyed your ride. Thanks for coming. I had hoped to speak to you at the end but you and Matt left before I had a chance to. Nice photos.

DW

 

doesn't exist. even if you shuttle just ONE of those descents, still like 2k+ of climbing with alot of that pure HAB. san jan-los pinos loop is about 6k climbing total. bell ridge loop around 5000 or so. these are ridge routes with many up sections on the descent.

 

Great RR Troy! Can't wait to see what you do to top this one!

One question: where is that drop down with the hose into the start of Bell? (your first photo) I've been up and down Bell several times and have never seen that.