The Jims, CNF, 7/16

@Faust29, you married the right lady!

What a ride! Short and brutal. I felt like I was dragging a cinder block behind me all morning. But!... Great to make lemonade, get HJ virgins on the trail, and ride with inner circle members.

Weasel had a jump on us while Joe and I waited for the guys. They showed, Jose bolted up the trail and was gone, catching the Weez at MD. The MD climb was especially high gravity, but we all had fun once we pointed 'em DH. @Toxicmoto713 aka All-Go Joe was battling cramps and showed how to persevere. Everybody else was plumb tuckered. We dealt...

I had a dull edge for tech riding today, having to repeat a couple parts of UHJ. Also the drop off MD into HJ...I hope Jose can post the vid on my first attempt where I became one with the forest. Luis and Joe crushed it. Everybody did a great job of getting down without mishap, besides me, that is!

Not too many people out due to heat and humidity, but a great time was had with riders from points all around SoCal. Great to make your acquaintance, Mike, Jose and Joe! Great to ride again, Luis. And Moria xox.
 
Here's a few pics from today. I took them on the way up and Jose was long gone, so no pic of him, lol.

@mike
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@Luis
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@Toxicmoto713
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Big, spooky tree down in the creek.
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Glad you all had fun, bummed I missed it. I really did get rallied up and had my gear ready but just didn't have it in me and in hindsight am glad I didn't go.

herzalot said:
"Seems to me that 'maybe,' pretty much always means no..."

Jack Johnson - Flake
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I don't want to be a flake so I'll stop reading and/or responding to invites and continue riding alone. Didn't you flake on your own SS posted ride recently? :rolleyes:
 
Cornman, all good, matie, we'll get some stuff in when it's right. But, you gotta post a shot of the kid's room!! :)

I'm thinking 6:30 is way too late to start, but ya can't beat up the people coming from far away. Ideally, south/east facing climbing should be done in the dark or twilight in this questionable weather. Duh!!!!! :unsure::confused:
 
mike said:
Cornman, all good, matie, we'll get some stuff in when it's right. But, you gotta post a shot of the kid's room!! :)

I'm thinking 6:30 is way too late to start, but ya can't beat up the people coming from far away. Ideally, south/east facing climbing should be done in the dark or twilight in this questionable weather. Duh!!!!! :unsure::confused:
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Didn't even get the furniture moved but got another set of 4 sample colors for the baby girl's room and moved our office out of his new room. Got the other side of a mattress steam cleaned by 8:30am that the MIL is taking and squeezed a Costco run in as well. Biggest chunk done today was all the office stuff that is in his new room. If you all think I'm bullshitting than come take a look for yourselves..

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D!cks
 
Was it worth the drive and getting up at 3:45an for? Why yes it was!
In my opinion it wasn't really that hot but the humidity made it a challenge.

Last time I rode this area I drove up the wash and parked at the HJ trailhead, all I remembered from that time was the slow going up and down the washboard dirt road. So this time I decided to ride up it instead. Better choice in my opinion, definitely more fun blasting down it on a bike.
Not gonna bore you with the early morning coordinating of riders, pick up points etc but it worked out. The only error was looking for a 24hr Subway restaurant along the 5fwy. Jose thought it was a different fwy exit that it actually turned out to be, so yea we looked like the keystone cops pulling u-turns and looking at maps. That made us lose 20 minutes and made us late. Sorry @mike :unsure:

Parked at the start of the wash and we quickly geared up and @Jose m Cepeda @SnakeCharmer (Mike) and I took off like shot up the wash. Just about the half way point we passed a group of riders that had taken off just as we had parked. They were going to do an out and back on the road o_O oh well, at least they were up early and riding :thumbsup:
We met up with @Toxicmoto713 (Joe) and @mike and the trailhead and we took off after Mike's wife Moria was already headed up to the top. Umm correction, Jose took off like a bat out of you know where, seems like he was feeling really good since I wouldn't see him again until the very top.
As we approached the fork to the HJ falls and the start of the climb up, I didn't see a low hanging fallen tree and proceeded to smack my head on it. I hit it so hard I heard my neck crack OUCH :confused: luckily I didn't break my glasses that I placed at top my helmet.

The HJ switchbacks are fun, some require some finessing and strength to get around. I planned to see how many I could clear this time around, lost track around #8 or so and I came up on Mike and Mike who were taking a breather waiting for me to come up. I bragged about how many I had cleared and after we started rolling, I proceeded to dab at the next switchback :oops:

The climb seemed to take longer this time around. I walked more of the upper sections because the air just seemed heavy, making it that much harder. As we neared the top, my head started to clear from the hard hit it took so that by the time time I reached main divide I was able to settle into a steady rhythm to attack the climb on the FR. Oh don't get me wrong though, the FR climb sucks a$$ as well. The best part of the climb was reaching the upper HJ trailhead and seeing Jose and Moria waiting for us to arrive.

The decent was kickass!!! Upper HJ reminds me of some sections of the silver moccasin at Chilao. You have to always be looking ahead at the next challenge being thrown at you. The only thing is that before you know it, it's over and you're back at main divide :unsure: From then on we blasted down the rest of HJ. Following Jose and Joe, I got to eat some dust but we all made it down without incident.

Some pics:

Getting ready to roll
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Two thumbs up from crazy Jose who was psyched for the decent
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Aaaand he's off :D
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@SnakeCharmer weaving his way down upper HJ
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Moria shredding it
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@mike Shredding it as well. If I superimpose Mike and Moria's pictures, they had the same riding style. They both ride smooth!
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Oh yeah, this is what it looks like on Relive:
https://www.relive.cc/view/1086929431

Thanks again Mike for posting up this ride and thanks for the cold brew at the end!
 
Luis said:
Was it worth the drive and getting up at 3:45an for? Why yes it was!
In my opinion it wasn't really that hot but the humidity made it a challenge.

Last time I rode this area I drove up the wash and parked at the HJ trailhead, all I remembered from that time was the slow going up and down the washboard dirt road. So this time I decided to ride up it instead. Better choice in my opinion, definitely more fun blasting down it on a bike.
Not gonna bore you with the early morning coordinating of riders, pick up points etc but it worked out. The only error was looking for a 24hr Subway restaurant along the 5fwy. Jose thought it was a different fwy exit that it actually turned out to be, so yea we looked like the keystone cops pulling u-turns and looking at maps. That made us lose 20 minutes and made us late. Sorry @mike :unsure:

Parked at the start of the wash and we quickly geared up and @Jose m Cepeda @SnakeCharmer (Mike) and I took off like shot up the wash. Just about the half way point we passed a group of riders that had taken off just as we had parked. They were going to do an out and back on the road o_O oh well, at least they were up early and riding :thumbsup:
We met up with @Toxicmoto713 (Joe) and @mike and the trailhead and we took off after Mike's wife Moria was already headed up to the top. Umm correction, Jose took off like a bat out of you know where, seems like he was feeling really good since I wouldn't see him again until the very top.
As we approached the fork to the HJ falls and the start of the climb up, I didn't see a low hanging fallen tree and proceeded to smack my head on it. I hit it so hard I heard my neck crack OUCH :confused: luckily I didn't break my glasses that I placed at top my helmet.

The HJ switchbacks are fun, some require some finessing and strength to get around. I planned to see how many I could clear this time around, lost track around #8 or so and I came up on Mike and Mike who were taking a breather waiting for me to come up. I bragged about how many I had cleared and after we started rolling, I proceeded to dab at the next switchback :oops:

The climb seemed to take longer this time around. I walked more of the upper sections because the air just seemed heavy, making it that much harder. As we neared the top, my head started to clear from the hard hit it took so that by the time time I reached main divide I was able to settle into a steady rhythm to attack the climb on the FR. Oh don't get me wrong though, the FR climb sucks a$$ as well. The best part of the climb was reaching the upper HJ trailhead and seeing Jose and Moria waiting for us to arrive.

The decent was kickass!!! Upper HJ reminds me of some sections of the silver moccasin at Chilao. You have to always be looking ahead at the next challenge being thrown at you. The only thing is that before you know it, it's over and you're back at main divide :unsure: From then on we blasted down the rest of HJ. Following Jose and Joe, I got to eat some dust but we all made it down without incident.

Some pics:

Getting ready to roll
View attachment 30017

Two thumbs up from crazy Jose who was psyched for the decent
View attachment 30018

Aaaand he's off :D
View attachment 30019

@SnakeCharmer weaving his way down upper HJ
View attachment 30020

Moria shredding it
View attachment 30021

@mike Shredding it as well. If I superimpose Mike and Moria's pictures, they had the same riding style. They both ride smooth!
View attachment 30022

View attachment 30023

Oh yeah, this is what it looks like on Relive:
https://www.relive.cc/view/1086929431

Thanks again Mike for posting up this ride and thanks for the cold brew at the end!
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Looks like fun....but I wanna know which ones if you used the Chevy to shuttle up to the top. :rolleyes:
 
mtnbikej said:
Looks like fun....but I wanna know which ones if you used the Chevy to shuttle up to the top. :rolleyes:
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WOW, how stories fly and get twisted... o_O:Roflmao

I ain't saying who it was, but yes, someone got a SHORT ride in a super-badass FORD Raptor. We all saw the truck and I don't blame the rider among us one bit for hopping into the bed to sample the ride. The unnamed rider among us took a short ride (1/4-1/3 mile) up the Main Divide road to catch up to another rider in the party where he unloaded his bike and finished the grind up. I saw it with my own eyes. These are the facts and truths... :whistling:
 
SnakeCharmer said:
WOW, how stories fly and get twisted... o_O:Roflmao

I ain't saying who it was, but yes, someone got a SHORT ride in a super-badass FORD Raptor. We all saw the truck and I don't blame the rider among us one bit for hopping into the bed to sample the ride. The unnamed rider among us took a short ride (1/4-1/3 mile) up the Main Divide road to catch up to another rider in the party where he unloaded his bike and finished the grind up. I saw it with my own eyes. These are the facts and truths... :whistling:
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WTH really??? :speechless:
 
mtnbikej said:
Yup.....fall down/go boom. But I still cleaned the MD climb. :thumbsup:
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Ah ha, so cleaning that little section of the Divide is a big deal then. I see. Is it always so loose and deep dusty? It almost seemed like it had just been grated. Energy zapping.

BTW, the guys werent kidding about the flies at the top of LHJ. Good God, I have never seen anything like that before. :eek:
 
SnakeCharmer said:
Ah ha, so cleaning that little section of the Divide is a big deal then. I see. Is it always so loose and deep dusty? It almost seemed like it had just been grated. Energy zapping.

BTW, the guys werent kidding about the flies at the top of LHJ. Good God, I have never seen anything like that before. :eek:
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You were actually on the nice section. Between Upper Holy Jim and Santiago Peak, it gets a lot rougher...
 
SnakeCharmer said:
Ah ha, so cleaning that little section of the Divide is a big deal then. I see. Is it always so loose and deep dusty? It almost seemed like it had just been grated. Energy zapping.

BTW, the guys werent kidding about the flies at the top of LHJ. Good God, I have never seen anything like that before. :eek:
Click to expand...

It's in pretty good shape right now. It gets worse.

The flies.....yeah, welcome to the Santa Ana's during the summer.
 
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