Joplin

Fueledbyex8 said:
I guess I'm one of the lucky ones owning a reverb that came stock on my Hightower, haven't had issues yet" after about a year and 8 months of having the bike. Fingers crossed!
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My 2013 Trek Slash came with a 1st (or maybe 2nd) generation Reverb stealth that was ridden often and worked great for 3 years via an annual bleed prior to requiring overhaul service. In 2016 the internals were updated, and it was rebuilt again 6 months ago before getting shelved. I would not consider it faulty if it weren’t for the reviews here.
 
Ocpop said:
I’m pretty sure I’m going to be the straggler on this ride. I have my doubts as to whether I’ll even make it to the peak.

Anyone up for a shuttle to 4 corners? :)
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I would not plan on a side trip to the peak on this ride, if I were you. You will have your hands full with the elevation we will be gaining, and the difficulty of the descent. I mean that with full respect, but eyes wide open. As @konakc said, this is not an intermediate ride. Some of the experts on this site like to downplay the difficulty.
 
herzalot said:
I would not plan on a side trip to the peak on this ride, if I were you. You will have your hands full with the elevation we will be gaining, and the difficulty of the descent. I mean that with full respect, but eyes wide open. As @konakc said, this is not an intermediate ride. Some of the experts on this site like to downplay the difficulty.
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No problem. I can save THE peak for another day.
 
I got a GO for next Saturday 1/11, 1:00pm roll time from cook’s corner. If ya’ll can join me, great. However, I’m concerned about the condition of Joplin prior to maintenance day. Larissa C is the only Strava rider through there in 2020, and she rode it in 38 minutes (should take 15-20). I have a message out to her to see about conditions and will report back.

@Ocpop , I’m slow too. Some of the A-team is either passing on this ride or treating it like an escort for 1st timers/slouches. Come out as you are, no worries.

@konakc , feel free to roll ahead, or you can borrow one of my lights. This goes for everyone who wants to ride the PM shift. I always pack lights for these backcountry rides, and it might take me twice as long as you to do the loop. I haven’t been able to prepare like for Wildhorse, but I’m doing it because I have an opportunity to ride.

I’m downplaying the difficulty to help improve your MTB existentialism. A good Froind did the same for me on Yaeger, and I appreciated it in retrospect because I didn’t psych myself out of the ride. I rode Joplin once in 2014 and nothing stands out as extreme (the way Yeager has burned drop-ins into my consciousness). Don’t decline because you’re unable to clean technical sections. You can walk. Besides, you might not get a chance to ride the rest of the month, and then where would you be?
 
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mike said:
Which sandbagging wiseass said it was intermediate?
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This guy...The Trailhead invite stated “advanced” in reference to the trail, and I invited all “intermediate or above” riders to participate because we’re all intermediate for the most part, and why be lame and stay within our limits?

Socialists for mediocrity, and we’d never have made it to the moon or beyond the Floop or a fire road.
 
DangerDirtyD said:
This guy...The Trailhead invite stated “advanced” in reference to the trail, and I invited all “intermediate or above” riders to participate because we’re all intermediate for the most part, and why be lame and stay within our limits?

Socialists for mediocrity, and we’d never have made it to the moon or beyond the Floop or a fire road.
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Ah! :):thumbsup:

As we know, part of difficulty is the penalty for failure along with the technical difficulty. Some sports have ratings for each, but not MTB. While Joplin might require advanced skills to clean, the penalty for failure is mostly very low. Dismount when needed like 90% of Joplin riders and have challenging intermediate fun. Even walking, two miles to Old Camp goes quickly. How about a rating for exposure or intimidation? Joplin would rank high...I pucker dropping in every time, but after the first couple of turns and drops you get dialed.

Sad to miss the ride on this OC classic.
 
Although Saturday is not a good day for riding for me, I’m going to make it work. After all, I’m partially responsible for getting this endeavor off the ground.

I’m going to shuttle and park as close to the gate as possible to give myself the best chance to summit. Riding in the dark part makes me nervous, as I’ve never done that before, but I’m game. If I’m not feeling it, I will just descend back on MS.

let’s do this!
 
Ocpop said:
I’m going to shuttle and park as close to the gate as possible to give myself the best chance to summit. Riding in the dark part makes me nervous, as I’ve never done that before, but I’m game. If I’m not feeling it, I will just descend back on MS.

let’s do this!
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Once you drop into Joplin, there is no option to descend back on MS. There is substantial climbing out of Old Camp and some climbing on Santiago Truck Trail - especially if you don't do the Luge. If your legs can handle 4000-5000' of climbing, you should be OK from that standpoint.
 
Ocpop said:
Although Saturday is not a good day for riding for me, I’m going to make it work. After all, I’m partially responsible for getting this endeavor off the ground.

I’m going to shuttle and park as close to the gate as possible to give myself the best chance to summit. Riding in the dark part makes me nervous, as I’ve never done that before, but I’m game. If I’m not feeling it, I will just descend back on MS.

let’s do this!
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I respect that you offered your commitment, so I won’t hold any grudges if you are unable to make this ride. Please don’t go too far out of your way to make this ride. Don’t bail because of fear of the ride, but feel free to bail if you must work or babysit or care for someone, etc.

I’ll bring lights if you need to borrow. Then you can consider your illumination options when it comes time for you to purchase. Unlikely we’ll need them, but just in case.

I am not in great shape, so don’t fret about the pace.

I’m just as responsible as you for this excursion, so we’ll stay together the entire ride upon our rendezvous. Just don’t blame me if you perish, and I obviously won’t blame you if I die out there.

Now that we got that out of the way, I encourage you to start at Cook’s corner with me and take your chances with the loop. Our best chance of success is keeping a comfortable pace. A comfortable pace can climb 10k in a single endeavor. Bring food and plenty of water. What a riot!
 
herzalot said:
Once you drop into Joplin, there is no option to descend back on MS. There is substantial climbing out of Old Camp and some climbing on Santiago Truck Trail - especially if you don't do the Luge. If your legs can handle 4000-5000' of climbing, you should be OK from that standpoint.
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I realize this. I feel if I bonk before the Joplin drop, I can bail and come down on MS.

Most I’ve climbed in a single day is less then 2500’. But I feel if the pace is slow enough, I can climb a lot more.
 
DangerDirtyD said:
I respect that you offered your commitment, so I won’t hold any grudges if you are unable to make this ride. Please don’t go too far out of your way to make this ride. Don’t bail because of fear of the ride, but feel free to bail if you must work or babysit or care for someone, etc.

I’ll bring lights if you need to borrow. Then you can consider your illumination options when it comes time for you to purchase. Unlikely we’ll need them, but just in case.

I am not in great shape, so don’t fret about the pace.

I’m just as responsible as you for this excursion, so we’ll stay together the entire ride upon our rendezvous. Just don’t blame me if you perish, and I obviously won’t blame you if I die out there.

Now that we got that out of the way, I encourage you to start at Cook’s corner with me and take your chances with the loop. Our best chance of success is keeping a comfortable pace. A comfortable pace can climb 10k in a single endeavor. Bring food and plenty of water. What a riot!
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As you know, I’m a noob. I’m pretty fit but I’m not like some of the high volume riders here by any stretch of the imagination. For all I know I can easily make the peak, but on the other hand , I might bonk halfway up the hill. So, with this uncertainty, I’d really like to give myself the best chance possible by shuttling. I think that’s probably about 10 miles of riding that I’m saving before the climb. That’s substantial.
Yes, I’ll borrow your lights if you got em.
 
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