Who's Riding Where???

Ocpop said:
Sunday morning ride to saddleback peak via maple springs then across main divide road and down Motorway. At least that’s the plan. But if I bonk then will take the short cut down Joplin. @Lost Kiwi will be leading the way, he’s a beast. I’m in decent shape but a middling climber. I know many of you guys do this ride as an appetizer before breakfast, so come out and show the new guy how it’s done! Plan on meeting at the gate at 7 am.

Paging @DangerDirtyD and @Danimal
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Stoked you are taking charge, octopop.:thumbsup: Cough, Trailhead invitation, cough cough. :)

Walking a bike down Joplin bonked out sounds like an interesting challenge. :stop: The climb out of Old Camp could be the undoing. That’s a bad place to be in dire shape. Been there. Not worth an intentional repeat.
 
@Ocpop

As the others have said, I wouldn't treat Joplin as a bailout... And I wouldn't personally go down it if I were in bonk mode. There are too many spots where it requires 110% focus and 20% luck. Ask the Professor who is still nursing an elbow that looks like the Eye of Sauron. @mike recently said that 90% of riders will walk some of Joplin. I think he lowballed it... :laugh:

Also... If you start at Maple Springs, bailing out on Joplin puts you on the wrong side of the mountain. You'll have the climb out of Old Camp :gag:, and then you'll have decision time on STT. If you go down the Luge, you have the whole run from Cooks to Silverado on Santiago Canyon Road. I've done it quite a few times and it's scary. If you ride STT out to the end (only 300 feet of climbing from Luge back to Modjeska Grade), and hang a right on Modjeska Grade, you can cut some off, and enter Santiago Canyon on the slightly downhill, mostly flattish section of Santiago Canyon Road.

However you get back to Silverado, you will have the slog up Silverado Canyon, which is approximately 5+ miles and 1000 feet from the tree farm. Not a great way to end a ride (Done that...:gag:).

If you're bonking at the peak, the easiest way back down is to go down Maple- just watch for the knuckleheads in the 4x4s. Hopefully, with the rain, the gate will be closed. One can dream... Even though it's a fire road, there are several launchable water bars... Make the most of what'cha got.

The second easiest way back down is actually to head across Main Divide to Motorway. That is only 6 miles and 1200 feet from Four Corners. Most of the climbs are short, and it trends downhill. The long one at Bedford can be walked in under 10 minutes.

Edit: I left descending Harding off the list, because the dozers have been "fixing" it for the last couple of weeks. A Harding descent makes the return pretty easy, but you will still have the slog up Silverado at the end.
 
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Thanks guys. I wrote my post late last night and wasn’t thinking clearly. I figured I’d just shoot down Joplin and call my mamma to come and pick me up.:p Honestly, I’m not too worried about the Maple Springs climb if i take my time. I figure that after the climb to the Saddleback Peak, it might be easier coming down Joplin as opposed to going across main divide Road and down Motorway but maybe not? I know I can always bail and come back down on Maple Springs. I’m stoked though, been wanting to bag that peak forever!
 
Ocpop said:
Thanks guys. I wrote my post late last night and wasn’t thinking clearly. I figured I’d just shoot down Joplin and call my mamma to come and pick me up.:p Honestly, I’m not too worried about the Maple Springs climb if i take my time. I figure that after the climb to the Saddleback Peak, it might be easier coming down Joplin as opposed to going across main divide Road and down Motorway but maybe not? I know I can always bail and come back down on Maple Springs. I’m stoked though, been wanting to bag that peak forever!
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I'll echo the comments above. I'd bag the peak and head back towards Motorway. You can decide when you get back to Maple Springs if you have the legs to get to Motorway or just want to blast back down Maple Springs to the car. The out and back to the peak is still a solid ride. Have fun!
 
Ocpop said:
Thanks guys. I wrote my post late last night and wasn’t thinking clearly. I figured I’d just shoot down Joplin and call my mamma to come and pick me up.:p Honestly, I’m not too worried about the Maple Springs climb if i take my time. I figure that after the climb to the Saddleback Peak, it might be easier coming down Joplin as opposed to going across main divide Road and down Motorway but maybe not? I know I can always bail and come back down on Maple Springs. I’m stoked though, been wanting to bag that peak forever!
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Like the others are saying we'll head to the peak and then see how we feel as to which way we come back. It'll be either back down Maple Springs or across to Motorway if we have any legs left. Fingers crossed the rain tomorrow gets the gate closed!
See you Sunday:thumbsup:
 
Faust29 said:
...We've all bashed our heads against the Herz wall at some point. :Roflmao
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Even I have.... :bang:

But I still don't know why he's bashing his head against the wall. Did I miss some subtle sarcasm or irony or am I just wrong? Sounded to me like he thought he could just get picked up at the bottom of Joplin and call it a day! Don't answer. The horse is dead. Moving on.
 
I might head to bonelli tomorrow morning...
Want to ride
But after my drive train acting funny I want somewhere to test the 22 tooth after some maintenance. Somewhere I can scrape by without relying on the granny if I need to. Haven't been since I moved from Covina, so place to test it.

Put some more cash toward the new wheels at the shop this morning... Getting closer and closer to nbd. And goodbye front derailleur
 
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