I Rode My Bike Today...

OTHRider said:
HA! I used mine as a base layer this morning. It's weird to think of how long ago I got these. Good times on the Heckler.


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:laugh:​
 
Stkx66 said:
Since my daughter is dog watching for us my wife and I stole away to Vegas for a couple of days. Today I drove to Late Night Trail Head Red Rock Canyon to ride. Rather than doing a famliar ride I chose to ride a new trial. Angles Landing trail. With no shuttle I rode the 160 highway for the 6 mile climb. Many cars passed me and I hung to the shoulder. That smells like gas. That one is a diesel. That's a WRX redlining passing another... Just stinky. I made it to the trailhead to ride down in the preferred descending direction. After going off trail I recovered and continued. I found myself on narrow, loose exposed hillside single track. New trail to me and I was by myself so no rush. Fortunately descending the hillside sloped from high right to low left and in my own mental balance It favored me. About 1 mile of riding near the cliff edge looking over here and there saying no.. no broken bones for me today. It dropped down into a beautiful canyon riverbed with plenty of trial work to be seen. 3-4 combinations of rock to ride across. The last 2 miles back to the car was trail single/ double track. I like fast flowing feel good trails and this wasn't that but I suspected it wouldn't be- The trial just more narrow than expected. I'd ride it again- 11 miles/ 1,700 climbing. Las Vegas, Nv.View attachment 95923View attachment 95924View attachment 95925View attachment 95926View attachment 95927
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Niiiiice!
 
buggravy said:
Cheese lap with some extra credit. Bones has been reworked and is a ton of fun. Lots of motors out today. Caught a couple at the bottom of Sheep Corral that kind of held me up, and then passed me on the Death Climb (named on the group Cheese ride several years ago), though they were courteous about the pass. Holy crap I'd really pushed to the back of mind just how bad that climb sucks, especially in the later stages of a ride. Decided to do it so I could take a crack at Montazuma (sp) on the big bike, as I've only done on the single speed lately. Needless to say the heinous braking bumps, gopher pocks, and sprinty flat sections were much more palatable today, and it was good to experience a decidedly faster run. The Flying Purple People Eater continues to impress, and I'm really having a blast on it. 17.1/3102View attachment 95894
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Awesome! I have a Relay now and it is the best bike I ever have ridden! Better than my Megasmash (180/165) AND my SC megatower with cascade link (180/180) (GASP!)
 
herzalot said:
My daughter was going a little stir crazy and I gave her a list of options. She chose to go for a mt bike ride!

She's not an accomplished rider, but I am glad she is enjoying it! We did a few lower trails at Aliso and she did really well. We were going to ride up to the first turn on Meadows then come back down, but she kept going. No - she didn't climb all of Meadow, but she did make it up a few steep turns before I suggested we went far enough. I think she likes climbing better than descending! :eek: :stop: :facepalm:

She did very well on all but the one hardest section of Coyote. Yes - I know some of you had 6 yo kids who could do that. but I am proud of my nugget nonetheless!

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You are a lucky man
 
I wanted to ride something new to start the year so I drove over and just did some exploring on the AZT. I had not ridden this section yet, so it was fun to hit something different. There were a lot of loose, rocky ups and downs. All in all, a good way to start the rising year. 11.58 miles/1,470 feet.

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herzalot said:
Must've been one of those non-posted text rides you complain about!
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It was advertised on Strava by CrazyBear. Too many people signed up, so it was “cancelled” and conducted in secret. Evidently, I’m one of the cool kids.

No iMTBtrails affiliation, and no one shows up to my TH invites anyway, so no ride report here. Posting a ride report to a group of the uninvited would be a shitty thing to do. Strava has the details.

One thing that stayed with me is when we rolled up to the Clear Creek Station to pedal out, we saw Hans and three other strong OTB MTB Club riders. They approached us and stated they signed up for the shuttle but that it got “cancelled,” so they had to make other arrangements. Looking at their Strava results, ultimately, they were better off without us holding them back.
 
I am not really concerned about who rides with whom and who is invited or not. As I said a few posts ago - people ride where they want to ride with whom they want to ride. If they want an open invite, they will post one. If they want to ride with people who they know are reliable and have similar pace and tastes, that makes perfect sense to me.

So post a damn ride report already! I wanna know why Steve had a flat, and who would have worn the bra, if you were still doing such silly things. Route? Mileage? Climbing stats? etc. Spill it.
 
I know there were times while I was in California where a ride happened and I never got a trail invite. Initially my feelings were hurt, no doubt. I remember a member who has now moved out of state who used to get so angry when he was not invited. So angry I had to sit down with him a couple of times to help enlighten him that people move in clicks and that mountain biking, especially, had several additional important criteria. Probably the most important is personality alignments, but also:
- Number of Riders
- Climbing Ability
- Technical Ability
- Distance Ability

How we conduct ourselves here contributes the most to invite probability. Obviously having thicker skin to things we don’t agree about. However, being more receptive to differences, and topics increase the ride invite opportunity.

I designed and taught a class at Northrop Grumman titled, “Be Likable”. It was designed around helping new employees that want to advance in the company. A point I would make in the course was, “It does not matter what your resume states, how much experience you have, or if you are the most qualified person interviewed. If the interviewer does not like you, you are NOT getting the job! So be likeable!”

In fact, I got several promotions at NG not because I was more qualified, but because I was more likeable and they saw the “potential” for me in their leadership role.

My point is that I am NOT saying there are unlikeable people on imtbtrails, but what I am saying is identifying ways to be MORE likeable to a broader spectrum of people will likely get a person more invites to go putt bikes with others.

Now we return you to your normal programming schedule… :cool:
 
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I rode my bike yesterday. Palm Canyon Epic! First time for me in this truly special place that lives up to its name. A couple months back I mentioned that New Years Day, with the lack of work commitments and school shuttle, would be a good day for me to bite off a bigger chunk of a ride. PCE was mentioned, and within 24 hours a small but mighty crew had been assembled, and a plan hatched. The route that we settled on was the official entrance to PCE (which I understand isn't actually the most common starting point) to and through the wash. From there it was off to Hahn, and then a finish/exit on Cathedral.

Play by play from my perspective: The first section trends down, but with some punchy climbs that really spike the heart rate. The theme of this section was fast and flowy, but loose and exposed. This is not the terrain I thrive on, and I fell off the back, but not to the point of really slowing the pace. Someone else donated some blood towards the end of this section after a tire slipped out on one of the punchy climbs.

The two chunky sections before the Portrero followed, and were the highlight of the ride for me. I think they are called Meteor Shower and Asteroids on Strava, but for this ride they were dubbed The Sh!t, and The Sh!t part 2. High speed, and quite chunky, but other than carrying speed this section was low consequence, with decent margin for error. Just a let 'er rip kind of riding. @redwoods pulled a way a bit up front (a theme for the day), and the rest of of stayed right together for the duration of these sections. In all seriousness this part was some of the most fun I've ever had on a bike. Just straight up, unadulterated, kid-like fun is the best way to describe what this part was like for me. At the very end of this section is where one member of the group experienced a flat. A stubborn pinch flat that ultimately had to be tubed, and required some minor attention for the rest of the ride.

From there did the slog up The Sand Wash. Light suck factor here. After all I'd heard/read about what a buzzkill and energy suck this part is, I was pleasantly surprised that it went by relatively quickly and painlessly. I mean, it sucked, but not nearly as badly as I was expecting it to suck.

After a break at The Oasis we made our way over to Hahn. I know this was the highlight for some. For me it was just aight. Great trail, but like the first section, the technicality comes more from maintaining a line on tight, loose, exposed terrain. Only light chunk in a couple of sections. Fun, but not what I'd call my jam, and also like the first section this is where I fell off the back of the pack.

Finally, a finish on Cathedral. Cathedral is badda$$. Super chunky, steep, pretty loose and exposed, but with a well defined groove that just keeps you where you're supposed to be. The choice just becomes do I ride this feature or walk it. Confidence was high by the end of this ride, and from memory I rode everything other than 2 really gnarly switchbacks, and kept good pace with the group. It was over more quickly than I expected, and was a killer exclamation point on a killer day.

There was a lot of chatter leading up to this ride, and I was told in the beginning that, much more so than many places, the group really makes or breaks a ride out there. I can definitely see how being on the same page, in a multitude of ways, is even more important than usual, and how the fact that the place can be hard on both bikes and riders necessitates keeping the group on the small side of things to minimize the chances of ride derailments. Overall this experience was at or near the very top of my list of good days on the bike, and I can't wait to go back and do more. As mentioned in a different thread, it was super dry. Not a single water crossing or even sign of water to be had. We also had the place more or less to ourselves. We only. encountered one other group of 4 riders, and one group of 2 hikers. Not many pics taken today. Stats were 24.6/2048, that felt like much more.
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buggravy said:
I rode my bike yesterday. Palm Canyon Epic! First time for me in this truly special place that lives up to its name. A couple months back I mentioned that New Years Day, with the lack of work commitments and school shuttle, would be a good day for me to bite off a bigger chunk of a ride. PCE was mentioned, and within 24 hours a small but mighty crew had been assembled, and a plan hatched. The route that we settled on was the official entrance to PCE (which I understand isn't actually the most common starting point) to and through the wash. From there it was off to Hahn, and then a finish/exit on Cathedral.

Play by play from my perspective: The first section trends down, but with some punchy climbs that really spike the heart rate. The theme of this section was fast and flowy, but loose and exposed. This is not the terrain I thrive on, and I fell off the back, but not to the point of really slowing the pace. Someone else donated some blood towards the end of this section after a tire slipped out on one of the punchy climbs.

The two chunky sections before the Portrero followed, and were the highlight of the ride for me. I think they are called Meteor Shower and Asteroids on Strava, but for this ride they were dubbed The Sh!t, and The Sh!t part 2. High speed, and quite chunky, but other than carrying speed this section was low consequence, with decent margin for error. Just a let 'er rip kind of riding. @redwoods pulled a way a bit up front (a theme for the day), and the rest of of stayed right together for the duration of these sections. In all seriousness this part was some of the most fun I've ever had on a bike. Just straight up, unadulterated, kid-like fun is the best way to describe what this part was like for me. At the very end of this section is where one member of the group experienced a flat. A stubborn pinch flat that ultimately had to be tubed, and required some minor attention for the rest of the ride.

From there did the slog up The Sand Wash. Light suck factor here. After all I'd heard/read about what a buzzkill and energy suck this part is, I was pleasantly surprised that it went by relatively quickly and painlessly. I mean, it sucked, but not nearly as badly as I was expecting it to suck.

After a break at The Oasis we made our way over to Hahn. I know this was the highlight for some. For me it was just aight. Great trail, but like the first section, the technicality comes more from maintaining a line on tight, loose, exposed terrain. Only light chunk in a couple of sections. Fun, but not what I'd call my jam, and also like the first section this is where I fell off the back of the pack.

Finally, a finish on Cathedral. Cathedral is badda$$. Super chunky, steep, pretty loose and exposed, but with a well defined groove that just keeps you where you're supposed to be. The choice just becomes do I ride this feature or walk it. Confidence was high by the end of this ride, and from memory I rode everything other than 2 really gnarly switchbacks, and kept good pace with the group. It was over more quickly than I expected, and was a killer exclamation point on a killer day.

There was a lot of chatter leading up to this ride, and I was told in the beginning that, much more so than many places, the group really makes or breaks a ride out there. I can definitely see how being on the same page, in a multitude of ways, is even more important than usual, and how the fact that the place can be hard on both bikes and riders necessitates keeping the group on the small side of things to minimize the chances of ride derailments. Overall this experience was at or near the very top of my list of good days on the bike, and I can't wait to go back and do more. As mentioned in a different thread, it was super dry. Not a single water crossing or even sign of water to be had. We also had the place more or less to ourselves. We only. encountered one other group of 4 riders, and one group of 2 hikers. Not many pics taken today. Stats were 24.6/2048, that felt like much more.
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Rad! I think you and I like the same kinds of trails - something where we can keep speed up, but with features, chunk, drops, berms, kickers and the like to keep it entertaining and child-like. Not huge exposure or consequence, snd not requiring trials-like skills to navigate. While most riders gush about Hahn, I too thought it was "aaiight" (a step up from meh, but a step down from wow).

And the stats out there lie! 2000' of climbing will take 4000' out of your legs! Good job, PCE-NYD crew. Still waiting to read DDD's version.
 
herzalot said:
Rad! I think you and I like the same kinds of trails - something where we can keep speed up, but with features, chunk, drops, berms, kickers and the like to keep it entertaining and child-like. Not huge exposure or consequence, snd not requiring trials-like skills to navigate. While most riders gush about Hahn, I too thought it was "aaiight" (a step up from meh, but a step down from wow).

And the stats out there lie! 2000' of climbing will take 4000' out of your legs! Good job, PCE-NYD crew. Still waiting to read DDD's version.
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YES to all of this! :thumbsup:
 
Mikie said:
I designed and taught a class at Northrop Grumman titled, “Be Likable”. It was designed around helping new employees that want to advance in the company. A point I would make in the course was, “It does not matter what your resume states, how much experience you have, or if you are the most qualified person interviewed. If the interviewer does not like you, you are NOT getting the job! So be likeable!”
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I taught high school for a while and my philosophy was that a primary focus for the students should be to learn to work together.
 
herzalot said:
I am not really concerned about who rides with whom and who is invited or not. As I said a few posts ago - people ride where they want to ride with whom they want to ride. If they want an open invite, they will post one. If they want to ride with people who they know are reliable and have similar pace and tastes, that makes perfect sense to me.

So post a damn ride report already! I wanna know why Steve had a flat, and who would have worn the bra, if you were still doing such silly things. Route? Mileage? Climbing stats? etc. Spill it.
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You brought it up to me. What are you worried about?
 
buggravy said:
I rode my bike yesterday. Palm Canyon Epic! First time for me in this truly special place that lives up to its name. A couple months back I mentioned that New Years Day, with the lack of work commitments and school shuttle, would be a good day for me to bite off a bigger chunk of a ride. PCE was mentioned, and within 24 hours a small but mighty crew had been assembled, and a plan hatched. The route that we settled on was the official entrance to PCE (which I understand isn't actually the most common starting point) to and through the wash. From there it was off to Hahn, and then a finish/exit on Cathedral.

Play by play from my perspective: The first section trends down, but with some punchy climbs that really spike the heart rate. The theme of this section was fast and flowy, but loose and exposed. This is not the terrain I thrive on, and I fell off the back, but not to the point of really slowing the pace. Someone else donated some blood towards the end of this section after a tire slipped out on one of the punchy climbs.

The two chunky sections before the Portrero followed, and were the highlight of the ride for me. I think they are called Meteor Shower and Asteroids on Strava, but for this ride they were dubbed The Sh!t, and The Sh!t part 2. High speed, and quite chunky, but other than carrying speed this section was low consequence, with decent margin for error. Just a let 'er rip kind of riding. @redwoods pulled a way a bit up front (a theme for the day), and the rest of of stayed right together for the duration of these sections. In all seriousness this part was some of the most fun I've ever had on a bike. Just straight up, unadulterated, kid-like fun is the best way to describe what this part was like for me. At the very end of this section is where one member of the group experienced a flat. A stubborn pinch flat that ultimately had to be tubed, and required some minor attention for the rest of the ride.

From there did the slog up The Sand Wash. Light suck factor here. After all I'd heard/read about what a buzzkill and energy suck this part is, I was pleasantly surprised that it went by relatively quickly and painlessly. I mean, it sucked, but not nearly as badly as I was expecting it to suck.

After a break at The Oasis we made our way over to Hahn. I know this was the highlight for some. For me it was just aight. Great trail, but like the first section, the technicality comes more from maintaining a line on tight, loose, exposed terrain. Only light chunk in a couple of sections. Fun, but not what I'd call my jam, and also like the first section this is where I fell off the back of the pack.

Finally, a finish on Cathedral. Cathedral is badda$$. Super chunky, steep, pretty loose and exposed, but with a well defined groove that just keeps you where you're supposed to be. The choice just becomes do I ride this feature or walk it. Confidence was high by the end of this ride, and from memory I rode everything other than 2 really gnarly switchbacks, and kept good pace with the group. It was over more quickly than I expected, and was a killer exclamation point on a killer day.

There was a lot of chatter leading up to this ride, and I was told in the beginning that, much more so than many places, the group really makes or breaks a ride out there. I can definitely see how being on the same page, in a multitude of ways, is even more important than usual, and how the fact that the place can be hard on both bikes and riders necessitates keeping the group on the small side of things to minimize the chances of ride derailments. Overall this experience was at or near the very top of my list of good days on the bike, and I can't wait to go back and do more. As mentioned in a different thread, it was super dry. Not a single water crossing or even sign of water to be had. We also had the place more or less to ourselves. We only. encountered one other group of 4 riders, and one group of 2 hikers. Not many pics taken today. Stats were 24.6/2048, that felt like much more.View attachment 95990View attachment 95991
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It was truly awesome to see your stoke. As I said elsewhere, I probably PR'd every segment trying to keep up with those monsters leading the way through.
 
SnakeCharmer said:
It was truly awesome to see your stoke. As I said elsewhere, I probably PR'd every segment trying to keep up with those monsters leading the way through.
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Yeah, the pace was brisk. I was surprised to see J say he PR'd the sections before the Potrero, and we were all more or less grouped up. I was definitely on the ragged edge. Our total moving time for the day was 3:05.
 
Danimal said:
more like, Riding a Gravel bike is like riding a Road bike with some dirty fun thrown in. :sneaky:

I no longer ride the Roady and use the Gravel for road, and hit dirt too! It's fun, kinda like riding a hard tail SS is fun but not in an Enduro Bro sorta way. Don't limit yourself, have fun whatever your jam is!
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I have to agree. It's so easy to just roll out from the house and throw-in some dirt wherever you find it!
 
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