Ride Report "Don't go that way." "Not goin' that way." "No, seriously, we're going this way!"

Inspiration Point - Pasadena

It was a bunch of strong, skilled riders. Let me tell you, if you wanna get better at this sport, ride with people who are better than you. These guys are great - we give each other plenty of sh!t, but these are my friends, and they put up with me. That takes some patience, as my wife would be all too quick to point out.

This is a big ride. Our normal route has us doing roughly 22 miles and somewhere between 4000-4500' of climbing. Seven of us to start out at 6:30 to beat the heat: Hollywood Rich, Stef, Josh, Mark (abuck55), Ian (kaboomims), Tom (T2 in our circle), and me. However, our man Stef ended up getting shut out...Ian had picked up a Process 134 form Coates for Stef to demo. All good. Except that in the parkinglot before the ride the bike ends up falling over and bending the derailleur hanger. No bueno. Well, no, none of us has a spare, so we attempt to bend it back and SNAP! No ride for Stef. Bummer - he's a strong rider, and we all felt terrible about it. But we eventually got started around 7 am, and off to the climbing!

Got up to the ruins, rested and ate, and were about to head across to the road climb, when some hikers coming up lower Sam Merrill tell us about a bear coming up the trail. I thought it was going to continue up toward the ruins, so I try going up the connector to the road climb and get around it. The bear had other ideas. When it popped its head over the bushes (not on film) I was about 10-15 feet away from it. Luckily it moves away up the trail, but then it looks back at us as if to say, "Don't even think about following me!" It was a look you don't ignore, and won't forget. At that moment I heard, "Don't go that way." To which I astutely replied, "Not goin' that way." We do get some footage, got pretty lucky that this bear wasn't in a bad mood, and eventually got on with our ride.

[video=youtube;l67HQzUjBoY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l67HQzUjBoY&feature=youtu.be[/video]



Whew!

The rest of the ride was less eventful. Thankfully.

The Dragon performed great. I'd tell you that it doesn't climb as well as the old bike, but I haven't been doing much serious climbing lately, and so that surely contributed to my pain. Half way up Lower Merrill, I decided to unlock the suspension - it was taking more energy to power over the rough stuff on the climb than the susp. would sap out of me. Once I did, life was easier. I did notice that I no longer had 29" wheels, especially on the short, chunky stuff. The smaller wheel transmitted more of the impacts up to me, but I think I'll adjust. Also, the tight turning is different...this bike seems to like getting the front end around a tight switchback early, which I'll have to adapt to. But I'm not worried about it. Those moments when I felt like it was safe to open it up, the bike just came alive. Problem is, this is mostly a high-penalty type of ride, and those moments didn't happen too often today. It's all good.

By the time we got across the mountain to begin our descent on Sunset, I was feeling spent. I bailed at the water tank and headed back to the car, getting roughly 19 miles and around 4000' of climbing. It was a tough but thoroughly enjoyable workout. The others continued on to finish Sunset and hit El Prieto.



The weather was good. Very clear (for a SoCal day anyway); visibility was great. It did warm up pretty fast, but we had all of the big climbing done before the serious heat hit us.

Middle Merrill was very soft and sketchy - we all seemed to feel that it required a little holding back due to poor traction. Lots of dusty silt and sand.
Sunset was actually better, but had a section of loose, chunky rocks. I usually enjoy Middle Merrill most, but this time Sunset was more fun.
Finally, Tops Burgers afterward! We earned it!

 

really cool that you got it on video - sweet photo of all the nice bikes as well

 

Pat,
Thanks for posting it. We had a blast today!! I might have peed my shorts a little today! That bear big and close!

 

super cool! so if I wanted to look this ride up to the ruins, what would I search for on Geoladders? Thanks

 

I showed my wife the video, and she yells "Holy Sh!t!" at the same time the video did! Too funny.

Man, I close my eyes and I can still see the bear's pupils! WTF!!!

 

Just search for "Inspiration Point" and this exact ride comes up.

I think I want to wait until it cools off just a bit before doing it again. I had gone thru all 100 oz of water by the time I bailed on Sunset.

 

I see a full DH bike and kit in the picture. Is there a shuttle run that requires a DH bike up there?

Cool ride report and close encounter of the ursa kind.

So I am not sure I followed you - when you unlocked the suspension it climbed better? Was it chunky or technical or was it smooth fireroad stuff? When your shock is locked out, is it fully locked out, or does it allow some suspension action?

 

I would not say requires a DH bike but there a few shuttle companies shuttling the Merrills. They use Upper and Middle Merrills then Echo Singletract over to Sunset. I am always surprised that that many OC folks don't ride the Gabs...good stuff out there.

 

No DH bike required, but this area is shuttled as Dean said. That guy wasn't part of our group. We just found an empty spot in the shade while we ate. It was pretty crowded up there yesterday.

I initially had the shock and fork locked, which really seems to be close to a true lockout - enough so that when the climbing got chunky, I found that I was having to use more leg strength and body-english to get over some of it than I wanted to. (I think smaller wheels...coming form 29er to 27.5er...made this phenomenon more noticeable.) I then tried unlocking the shock and dialing back the compression damping on the fork for this chunky climbing, and I was happy - it was now taking much less energy to climb. On the fire road portion (about 3 miles) , I locked it back up and it was fine.

 

Ahhh, ok. After messing with various lockouts over the years I have come to the conclusion that I never need my fork locked out completely, and the rear is best with some ability to absorb as well, unless I am climbing pavement. Modjeska - as locked out as I can. STT - some suspension ability front and rear even though there is no chunk at all. Keeps traction better which keeps forward momentum better. YMMV.

I had my Fox CTD shock tuned (basically re-engineered) by Avalanche and now the "climb" position is still pretty active - not a true lockout, but more like the climb switch on a Cane Creek. It's hard to describe, but it feels like the "climb" position still allows sag, but prevents the shock from moving too much. Before, the "c" position basically held the shock up and prevented movement except for a hard hit. Different suspension designs require different types of shock treatment. The Endorphin is fully active, so it relies on the shock for any type of pedaling platform. There is no mechanical platform such as VPP, Maestro or DW. A linkage driven single pivot (such as your Kona) stiffens with increased chain pressure, I believe. If so, you would never need/want a full rear lockout except on pavement.

Sorry for the thread detour. Let's get back to bears and long days in the saddle.

 

Something is missing in your group shot...ME!!

Just bc I hate climbing now doesn't mean I won't.... Hahaha. So jealous of not being able to experience the Dancing Bear. Glad you guys had a great time!!

 

Sorry Rox! :-(
I thought you converted to the other side. jk.
I miss riding w/ you.. Next ride!

 

We don't like to venture outside the orange curtain

 

Thats pretty awesome you got the bear on video. I hope I never run into one on the trail ! I would rather see bears and Mountain lions at zoos. My buddies and I did a shuttle run in the Sam Merrills/Eaton saddle a few months ago. Great riding out there.

 

Great vid clip Pat!! Did you go back alone!?!?

Good to see you in the vid Mark!!

 

I believe that clip was captured on Ian's phone. I might have taken out my phone, except I had it in my head that I was going to go around the bear...turns out the bear had right-of-way on the trail, and I had no problem yielding!

@Herzalot - I simply have to be taught through experience the best way to ride up the chunk on this bike (still learning). Whether the suspension stiffens with chain tension - :?:. The main pivot is really low, just over the BB (see pic), so maybe not?



I do know that it bobs a lot when pedalling without it locked. But, now I understand that I'll take that trade-off for the increased traction and "rideability" of an active suspension when climbing rough/rocky terrain.

 

This is nowhere near as cool as your near-bear experience:

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/video-oh-shit-a-bear-2014.html

 

Some of the comments are pure comedy!

 

"If you listen close, you can hear the bear yell STRAVA! before jumping out onto the trail..."

Priceless!

 

Funny vid, yucksters. Way to get out and experience the naychah. Thanks for the share.