Henry Coe 10-15 Official Thread

[francois]

Post your ride reports here. Let's see some pics.

fc

[Stalk]

Not the first time Fc talks me into the troubles
Initial plan to stick to B ride with possibility to backup to C endup:

31.7Miles on my computer ( I know it little bit of, so let say 31mile)
Went through 1 galon of Gatorade+Recovery drink, countless number of gels bars.
Can't comment of total climbed, no GPS, but was hella a lot.

Ohh, did I mentioned I endup in A ride? and we took Bonus Short loop "should be 3 miles" (7 miles comp reading), then another bonus loop, then another ... oops, thanksfully last we skipped, I runned completely out of water.

Well, overall I had a blast, and Josh showing us his new trick was just an extra freebie, but still nice.

Crawling away from computer to the couch, feeling completely wasted.

P.S. Big thanks to a Big Man who organized all this. It's was first time to me in HC and I can tell: " What an introduction".

[francois]

Here's my ride report:
This one day, at band camp there was a lot of people with bikes and we rode up then down and it was fun!

Hey good riding with you guys. I'm so happy I made it. 38 people? WTF, that's bigger than most gatherings. That just shows what can be done with some gps planning. Honestly, I think everyone showed up hoping to see BigLarry bodyslam the guys mouthing off on the board.

Good ride. It was my best ride yet at Coe. We were blessed with great weather and even better company. Long live Sportlegs!!

Remember, Auburn Nov 5-6.

fc

[zorg]

Got there early. Started late. We got to meet your friendly Coe ranger who was wondering whether our big ride had an helicopter at the ready just in case...

C ride was good, 19 miles, 3200', plenty of good company (18 riders) and good laughs.

Ride itself: up, then up, then up some more, get off the bike to push, then up some more... Stopped at Kelly lake for a well deserved lunch break. Then, it's a blur, up, down, up, down, get to parking lot, drink beer!

Pics:
1, 2: parking lot
3: Sunchang
4: BigLarry and Velocipus (I believe)
5: Cohenfive up close and personal

[zorg]

Pics:
1. VTT
2. Landscape
3. More climbing
4. Cohenfive and ? climbing
5. ?

[BigLarry]

So here's the tally:

A riders: 10
B riders: 7
C riders: 18
D riders: 0
B/C gap riders: 2 (more later on the confusion caused by this ride)
Crazy rider: 1 (Fast Eddy shows up after all and does own thing, as usual)

TOTAL: 38 riders from MBTR at Henry Coe today!

Oh, we also counted the number coming back and it finally equaled the number going out with a lot of math and figuring.

In general, everyone rode within the class they started. Everyone rode very well and averaged very good speeds. Even the C ride averaged 5.2 MPH, above my expectation. Most groups added bonus loops and still came in between 2:30 and 4:00 PM.

The rides also ended pretty much together too. Amazingly, the B and C rides merged at exactly at the same time going down Grapevine. The A group was only a few minutes behind, but had a couple flats at the very end of their ride that got some of them in an hour or more later.

What helped the good ride flow was the great trail markings by Charlie going ahead and marking the trail perfectly with the orange tags, which I removed at the end. Everyone was helped by the maps made by Dan51. So we didn't waste much time in navigating. Also the three groups meant everyone was going at a similar speed without too much wait for regrouping.

As I was giving ride instructions, park ranger Cameron Bowers saw the huge group gathering in the lot and had a lot of words with me. He said we should have informed the Rangers. He said we needed to inform them so the Forestry Service could have helicopters on standby, or something like that. I mentioned I called the Henry Coe HQ three times and was blown off, saying why was I bothering them to tell them we got a group riding there. I also said I couldn't get a straight answer as to the status of the Coit Rd. washout. Ranger Bowers said I proabably was talking to a volunteer who didn't know better. He ended up letting us go. I suppose 38 riders X $4/car buys some influence.

Great ride happened today! Went well. Everyone had fun. Everyone got back without problems. I'm happy too.


More later. For now I want to say to the other leaders who did so much work:

Thanks Charlie!!!! Doing all the scouting and trail work and marking was magnificent!
Thanks Dan!!!! Helping with all the plans and making up the detailed map was super!

And thanks to many others, Fast Eddy, Plim, and others who offered great advice.

[zorg]

1. 8 legged friend
2. Larry down to Kelly lake
3. lunch time at Kelly lake
4. This way, not this way...
5. On the way to Domino Pond

[zorg]

1. Domino pond
2. On Domino Pond
3. Last pic

Larry and others, thanks for putting together the ride. It was a great time.

[Joseph-da-trog]

What a ride that was at Henry Coe today. I made it twice as hard for myself by riding with my 3 favorite gears. Ohhh! Man did I pay for it. Almost 40 people got a chance to play their music at band camp today, and we all played very well

Charlie’s A class had 10 front men that sang all day long.

Dan’s B class had 8 that ripped cords in the guitar section.

Larry’s C class had close to 20 that rumbled drums in the rhythm section.

The music sounded so sweet today. You should try out this Band camp it is a lot of fun.

Larry’s information made it so easy for a player to find out witch class they needed to be in. Great job to all.

Some pix below

[Joseph-da-trog]

A few more pix

[FSRguy]

My photos are too big (~500k apiece). How do I reduce the file size? Thanks. Never posted pics before.

Bill

[velocipus]

That was well worth the trip! Thanks Plim for the ride.
The B ride went off without a hitch. I heard 4,400' of climbing
8-Track was thinking about continuing on with the A ride and I was about to follow him... Man am I glad he stuck with the B ride.
Here are some fotos:

1.Pre Ride Meeting
2. Larry layin' it down
3.Ranger Bowers giving us the green light.

[velocipus]

1.Lanscape
2. Anza? rest stop
3. Dan? (someone help me out. I don't know his mtbr name... I suck)
4.jrm
5.The Law
6. me and my camera strap

[Wherewolf]

Looks like you had fun! Looking forward to those famous BigLarry elevation profiles. Please tell me that cohenfive did the A ride. I had a nice ride today too.

[Plim]

Even though I had to bow out of the A ride halfway through (and felt like a loser for doing so), I had a great time. You A guys are hella fast! At least I discovered a new little singletrack section while riding alone along Wagon Road on my way back to Lyman-Wilson and the parking lot.

You know what I liked about riding with the group yesterday? Everyone was so damn happy. Being with 35+ riders out ready to have a good time, talking and laughing, joking about the tough climbs - I just couldn't help but have fun.

Of course the perfect weather for a Coe ride, the scenery, and the post-ride brew didn't hurt either.

Thanks to everyone for being there, and special thanks to BigLarry, Charlie, Dan and Shiloh for leading and organizing.

[francois]

Logged in to mtbr since 6:30 this morning <--- loser!

I got up way earlier than normal today cause I was hungry!! Damn Coe!! Good vibes from the ride though.

The real question is... who's riding today with those sore legs. C'mon, 2 loops at demo!

fc

[Plim]

Originally Posted by francois

Logged in to mtbr since 6:30 this morning <--- loser!

You calling me a loser, or yourself?

If it's me, I at least have an excuse - I can't sleep 'cause of back pain.

Man, 6:30am on a Sunday is a boring time.

[Skyline35]

Time: 7 hrs, 4:24 moving
Miles: 31.47
Participants: 10 in the A group
Cool, borderline cold, windy at times.

Route (with map based valley to peak summation notes)
Park at Hunting Hollow
Up Gilroy Hot Springs and Coit Roads, Anza, Jackson, Elderberry Springs, Rock Tower, and Elderberry Springs trails 850 2,600 1,750
Down Jackson & Wasno roads, and Kelly Lake Trail to Kelly Lake
Up Coit and Willow Ridge Roads 1,900 2,400 500
Down White Tank Spring, Rose Dam trails
SE Pacheco Creek Trail to Pacheco Camp
Up Coit Road, Live Oak Spring Trail, Coit Road, Coit Dam Trail 1,700 2,400 700
Down Coit Dam Trail to Coit Lake
Up Coit Dam Trail, Willow Ridge Road 2,100 2,350 250
Down Cross Canyon Trail
Up Cross Canyon Trail, Coit Road 1,450 2,500 1,050
Down Wasno Road, Domino Pond, Cattle Duster, Coit Spring, and Grapevine trails
Coit and Gilroy Hot Springs Road to parking
Minimun elevation gain: 4,250

Mechanicals/crashes: DMFT had two flat tires. WhuGmiT hit the rocks at that last drop in the Grapevine rock garden - "I'm okay!". Yeah, how do you feel this morning? (WhuGmiT wins the award for most exuberant rider of the group!) And there was that...that...I don't know what to call it...that thing Joseph-da-trog did at the top of Cross Canyon. I was mostly amazed you had the energy to hop so high after that climb!

It was a hectic day so I didn't get a lot of pictures; if you would like to see some pictures of where we went I have a lot of pics from my pre-rides in this thread.

Okay, here's what I have from yesterday:

Hunting Hollow parking lot 9:15am:



A and B groups at the top of the Anza to Elderberry climb:



The A group made it to Pacheco Camp about 12:30, here's a few pictures of lunch:









55° at Pacheco Camp:



Here's DMFT's second flat, a pinch flat incurred slamming the rocks in that stream bed right near the Coyote Creek entrance. (The first was just after leaving Pacheco Camp when someone noted out loud that there hadn't been any crashes or mechanicals...never even think that thought much less say it out load...I'm glad that statement merely caused a flat tire because we were maximum distance from home at that point):





(btw - for every who thought my miniaturized floor pump was great, it is a Topeak TurboMorph w/Dial Gauge, sku#TM-2DG)

We easily beat the 6:30 sunset. I was the last to leave, here's the lot at 5pm:



A few of us had dinner at (actually behind) Super Taqueria in Morgan Hill. I was surprised to find Specialized's HQ next door. I knew it's in Morgan Hill but have never seen it before:



I'm getting waaaaay off topic but you gotta like the parking lot markings:



The "Thanks" section:

A group - you guys were great, you made my job easy. I hope you all don't hate me for all those lies I told (how many times did I say "...and then it's all downhill to the parking lot"...) - I just wanted you to see it all. It was great suffering with you guys!

francois and his SportLegs - he tried to help us mortals by passing out SportLegs capsules. Thanks but I wish it was that easy! (francois showed amazing pace on a "slow ride" - can you imagine when he's trying?) Oh and thanks too for mtbr.com.

Fast Eddy - good to see you for a least a little while. It should have been you showing-off these trails.

Plim - thanks for leading us through WhiteTank/RoseDam. Sorry that you had to exit early.

Dan & Shiloh - good to see you guys again. I'm only hearing good things about the B ride so "good job"!

Zorg - somehow we never met? Too bad because I want to understand why a "slow ride" was instigated by someone with the tag line "Faster is not always better, but it's always more fun"? I don't know what you did but great job in starting this ride.

Big Larry - Big thanks to Lorenzo Grande for all the work and grief he went through with the payoff of the shortest ride. Text book unselfishness.

/Charlie

[francois]

Originally Posted by FSRguy

My photos are too big (~500k apiece). How do I reduce the file size? Thanks. Never posted pics before.

Bill

I would suggest downloading Picassa2. Select the pictures, choose export. I suggest 700 pixels, 80% quality.

http://picasa.google.com/index.html

There's a lot of options but this is the best and it is free.

francois

[BigLarry]

So taking care of 38 good MTB riders full of energy wanting to play in Henry Coe is like herding cats in a mouse field. As the ride grew bigger, I also worried that we only had 3 leaders who knew Henry Coe, and little problems could easily cascade into bigger problems as attention was taken to solve a little problem allowed others to occur. And we had no reserve leadership. I had so many worries:

1.A rider would need to be carried out, maybe on helicopter
Didn't happen - very minor injuries only.
2. A bike would need to be carried out with big delay, maybe on shoulders
Didn't happen either - only a couple flats right at the end.
3. With various little problems, the ride would slowly drag into dark.
With conservative ride distances and everyone riding in proper class, pace was kept and most were back by 3PM
4. We'd loose some riders and need to go on search and rescue.
Oops, happened. But only a minor and temporary glitch.

Herding MTB'rs
I had the worst job keeping track of 18 riders. There was also a wide range of abilities. Many went way ahead while I was back with the stragglers. The lead went ahead too far a couple times, even down to Kelly Lake, and missed the D ride stop point. So we all did C ride, but they all were up for it. In fact, A and B rides also did bonus loops out in Henry Coe, but many skipped the Anza at then end - a good trade off really.

A couple times I caught the lead group going very much the wrong way and was able to just call them back in time.

The only real problem was quite confusing at the time, but I put it together finally.

Looking for Jimmy
I met Jimmy (apbt?) on the Demo ride and he's shown up with me on several other rides. He's somewhat quiet but a real nice guy and I always very much enjoy seeing and chatting with him on a ride. I'd like to see him come on some more rides together. He a good prepared rider and generaly follows instructions very well, so he's the last guy I'd suspect would become a problem, and I'm still not sure how he got stranded. But that's how things go sometimes.

Jimmy and his friend started with the B rider group. When I got down to Kelly Lake, the A and B riders had departed already. While eating lunch, someone mentioned they saw Jimmy go down to the outhouse before I arrived with the stragglers. Then I didn't see Jimmy after a while and asked around. Someone said he left with his friend at the tail of the B ride. Jimmy's between a B and C, so I figured that will be Dan's responsibilty. We all had counts and I had my original 18, so I figured Dan would surely wait for Jimmy to get his count.

Once we left and got up top to Coit and Wasno where I knew I'd have radio range with Dan, I called him and asked if he had his count. He said yes he did. I then asked if he had Jimmy with him. He then paused a long while and said "Who's Jimmy?" We then had a debate about if anyone really saw Jimmy or some other riders in an independent group. I then was wondering if I was mistaken about seeing Jimmy in the lot, since he didn't ride with the C/D group. And everyone had their counts.

So I went on down Domino with the C group, thinking everyone had their counts, so Jimmy HAD to be safe in some group. Since I didn't want to loose any more riders, I went in front and slowed down to the pace of the rear, keeping everyone tight in line. With perfect timing, we the met with the B group coming on Grapevine as we came down Domino. I then talked with Dan and his group and confirmed he didn't have Jimmy. I know Jimmy is between a C and B rider, so if he was with the A group or had tried, a big problem was happening. But it was more likely he somehow got stranded in spite of the counts. There was still a debate if the rider was even Jimmy.

The merged B/C/D group headed down Grapevine, and I was was at the end with three of the stragglers. As I went down, I finally decided I had to go find Jimmy. With the faster C riders with Dan, I told the 3 slower riders with me to stay put for a while. I told them they were at a point on Grapevine where all the A riders would come through, no matter what loop. And I would be back for them as well, they just had to stay put for me or the A riders. I wanted to go to the intersection of Cross Canyon and Coit Rd, which was strategically where anyone lost would come back through, and that point also gave me radio reception to both Charle still out with the A group, and Dan on the other side with the B/C group, so as to help relay messages and search parties. I used my GPS to find a short route to that point on the ridge and arrived within 25 minutes of ride/pushing of my bike up the hill.

A few minutes after I arrived at Coit Rd and Cross Canyon intersection, a number of equestrians came climbing out of Cross Canyon. They said they had met two riders on Willow Ridge heading out deep into the park towards Mississippi Lake and the Orestimba Wilderness. The equestrians turned them around and sent them back to the Coit Rd. bail route.

At this point, alarm bells went off. We DEFINITELY had two riders not in a group. They weren't included in the counts somehow. And they were wandering around lost. And I had some C riders waiting for me to come back while the other 14 C riders were finding their own way. Bad scenario.

I radioed Dan to count the 14 C riders that merged with him so we didn't loose any more. We were at the last part of Grapevine where it was hard to get lost anyway. I then went partway down Cross Canyon to radio Charlie to be on the look out and/or form search rescue party for Jimmy. Just as I finished talking to Charlie, I was sooooo happy to see Jimmy climbing up out of Cross Canyon. He said his friend was behind him. He said that he was trailing the B ride, but figured he'd just do his own thing since he somehow got left at the lake after the B ride left. I'm still now sure how that happened but I'm thinking that the A/B ride did their counts after the A/B split into the separate groups and didn't total that to the sum while mixed.

I wanted to get back to my C riders waiting. So when we didn't see his friend after a while, I reviewed with Jimmy the Coit Rd. bail out route. Or he could come down Grapevine with the A riders. Charlie told me on the radio that the A group was climbing out of Cross Canyon behind Jimmy's friend. So I told Jimmy to wait for the A group, let them know what he was doing, and then go on. His friend would be between the A group and Jimmy at the top and for sure taken care of. Indeed Jimmy did what I said and told Francois the one up first (big surprise) that he was taking Coit Rd. back.

I headed back to my three C group guys and was happy to see they'd obeyed and stayed there for 45 minutes or more waiting for me. We were thinking of doing the bonus Anza singletrack, and headed part way up. But I got antzy about getting back to Hunting Hollow and getting the C count before people left. So we instead bailled and went full speed back to camp. A couple riders had indeed left, but we were able to get the fully 18 count.

In all, I only lost an hour. Also fortunately occuring the end of the ride, the other C riders weren't affected by the thin leadership gap. They just had to go down hill and fortunately had merged the B riders to follow.

So in all, it was only a minor issue, fortunately. That this was the worst was a great relief.

[zorg]

Originally Posted by Skyline35

Zorg - somehow we never met? Too bad because I want to understand why a "slow ride" was instigated by someone with the tag line "Faster is not always better, but it's always more fun"? I don't know what you did but great job in starting this ride.
/Charlie

My tagline is only for the downhill portion of the ride We might have chitchatted in the morning, but there were so many people that it was hard to keep track of the names.

Thanks again to all for the efforts you guys put into the ride, it was an awesome introduction to Coe.

[BigLarry]

1.The parking lot - it got even more full
2. Me giving instructions from my view point. Everyone listened well and things went smoothly (pretty much)
Instructions were interuppted by Ranger Bowers asking if I had arranged for the helicopter to fly 100' over our head on the group ride. Pete, I should have listend to you!!

[knobs]

Add two more riders to your count. Having not the skills to wake up early, I and my friend did the "F" ride, ah "Freelance", ride. We actually crossed paths with two of the groups, and removed flags that BigLarry missed, so that makes us virtually part of your ride.

21 miles, 3.5 hours, unknown vert.

Was sad to see that Crest Trail had been bulldozed. Also noticed that equestrians did a bit of branch clipping on Cross Canyon. Trail work is something that more of us should do. Grizzley really needs some care.

[BigLarry]

1. The Anza / Jackson bonanza of a climb
2. C Riders at the top of Jackson / Elderberry
3. Same with view of surrounding area.

[BigLarry]

1. Sung Chang
2. Bill (who I rode with at the Plunge)
3. ??? (Jerry?)
4. A technical section of Elderberry. A deep rut went down the middle of the trail with big rocks and drops. Most walked this section, but I managed to balance on the thin berm and get past the tree in the way to clean this section.

[BigLarry]

1. Riders coming up the Jackson switchbacks.
2. Riding up the mountian into the sky

[BigLarry]

Originally Posted by knobs

Add two more riders to your count. Having not the skills to wake up early, I and my friend did the "F" ride, ah "Freelance", ride. We actually crossed paths with two of the groups, and removed flags that BigLarry missed, so that makes us virtually part of your ride.

21 miles, 3.5 hours, unknown vert.

Was sad to see that Crest Trail had been bulldozed. Also noticed that equestrians did a bit of branch clipping on Cross Canyon. Trail work is something that more of us should do. Grizzley really needs some care.

Sorry to have missed you. You were welcome to introduce yourself and join into a ride if you wished, unless you meant crossing paths in the other direction going out. You would have made an even 40!

Sounds like you did the B ride.

In order to keep up with herding the C ride, I left some flags at the bottom of Anza, figuring I could get them at the end of the ride. When I came back, they were gone. Other C riders were also helping me to collect flags. Did you see any others I missed?

The Elderberry Springs / Rock Tower intersection is very tricky. Charlie marked it better than most airport runways, with dual flags on both sides like this. I got plenty of these flags in my pockets for souvenirs for anyone on the ride. PM me and I'll mail you one.

[BigLarry]

1. Lunch gathering at Kelly Lake. Note some finding our position on Henry Coe map.
2. Now the group with a view of Kelly Lake.
3. Zorg!!! The man who started all this madness with his simple request. He looks so peaceful and innocent resting on the log there, doesn't he?

[BigLarry]

1. Leaving Kelly Lake. Do you count 18 riders? Or is that 17, or 19, or.. Can someone help me count??
2. Pile up waiting to cross a very technical section with a very steep 20' downhill followed by a big pile of rocks in the stream. (not visible in this picture). What you can see is the riders on Coit Rd. What is not obvious is they're all pointed in the wrong direction. Just about then they started moving - all in the opposite direction. So much for map reading earlier. Fortuntely I called them back and had them zipping along in the right direction.

[BigLarry]

Going out, those in the lead had extra energy and kept going all the way to Kelly Lake, with direction assistance from Fast Eddy. This is why the D ride was passed up, which was OK.

I don't know if the C riders in front had a chance to look around at the top of Kelly Rd., but it's one of the best views of the park.

1. Great view of Coit Rd. (our return path) from the top of Kelly, also showing the washout. Beyond is Cross Canyon where the B riders went. Beyond this is White Tank Springs, where the A riders went. Beyond this is Mississippi Lake and the Orestimba Wilderness where Jimmy almost went.

2. View from Coit Rd on the return of Kelly Rd. where we went out and the above view was taken. So this is the same view looking back at each other.

[BigLarry]

1. Going down Wasno Rd. "Was no road like Wasno Rd." to Domino Pond
2. Nice scenic singletrack down Domino
3. Finally keeping riders in line together on Domino by getting in front, blocking trail, and going slower pace of trailing riders. heh, heh.

[BigLarry]

In the winter, crossing the deep wide flowing streams needs a swim suit and snorkle. But all the streams were dry this time, except this little crossing. Here's my C riders crossing this stream. (I'm so happy they waited for me after my detour looking for Jimmy.)

1. Sung Chang Crossing
2. Bill Crossing
3. ?? (Jerry?)

[BigLarry]

1., 2., 3. Here's the after ride party. Pictures in no particular order.
4. Charlie cleans up the trailing A riders and waves goodbye to a fun new ride with a lot of great riders. Thanks everyone who came to play in our little band.

[dan51]

7 riders - but apparently there were two trying to catch us...

miles - 22.5
elevation gain - 3960 (we should have hit one more hill to break 4000)
ave speed - 6.6mph
max speed - 25.5
time spent pedaling - 3:23

We took part of the bonus route, and headed down Blue Tank to meet up with the C group at the end of Domino. Cross Canyon was by far my favorite part. Sweet two mile downhill, followed by a mile or so of creek bed riding, and a healthy climb at the end.

Go here for more pics.
http://eng1.pzwebs.com/rides/final.a...ges/2005-10-15

Thanks to BigLarry for making this happen, Charlie for scouting and flaggin and everyone else who made this event worth attending. We need to thank Scarpa (Paul) as well. He printed the maps, and despite not being able to make the ride, he drove 30 miles to my house just to drop them off. Thanks Paul.

-Dan

[BigLarry]

I normally would never imagine how I could ever help Francois by anything other than standing out of the way.

But Francois brought along a sweet new FS geary bike. (Which makes Joseph's 3-speed feat seem all so much more impressive, or a least so much more painful.)

0. The bike with original equipment. (Found this pic by Joseph and linked to it.)

1. Francois explaining that the bike had the unique feature of using a bottle cap for the stem cover. But he didn't like the OEM Niner cap on it.

2. Fortunately, as ride host, I had brought some Fat Tire Ale that you see everyone drinking. Better yet, the top cap matched Francois' bike color perfectly. And that it's a Fat Tire beer is a bonus. FC wasn't sure he wanted the beer, but eventually realized it came with the cap and no other way to dispose of it.

3. The full picture of the newly decked FS bike.

[BigLarry]

Dan'ger couldn't come, so his emissary sent along a Meal Ready to Eat (MRE). A high calorie military ration designed to survive nuclear irradiation and long MTB trips.

I could carry it. But even better - I'll have to place this one out deep into Henry Coe for those who don't listen carefully to instructions.

[BigLarry]

This adorably cute little kid was in the lot with his FF helmet and gear ready for the ride.

We're going to have to get him into MTBR, as soon as he can read.

[BigLarry]

I caught Jimmy as he was leaving the lot with his friend. He apologized for not letting anyone know he was going off on his own B/C ride.

But a number of factors were involved. I see in Zorg's pics that he was with the leading part of the C group for a while. Somehow he got lost in the A/B recount remix and into the C ride, then back on his own Cross Canyon ride. Like most accidents, it's a mix of little seemingly insignificant things that add up.

But Jimmy is an experienced rider and had Dan's map for backup in case of just such an event, so he wasn't in bad shape really. Even if he got lost, he'd likely eventually figure it out with some bonus miles. We just didn't know it.

I see he got a new single crown that must have helped on this trip.

Hope to see you again on another ride Jimmy. You seem to be very shy, but please don't let this affect your riding with us again. However, please try not to be so quiet. You're a nice guy with a lot to say.

[FSRguy]

The ride kicked A$$.

I have not ridden anything serious for about 8 weeks so I was pretty out of shape. My camera was in my hydration pack and it was a PITA to get to so I did not take as many pics as I would have liked. Then at lunch I dropped the camera and it did not turn on after that. So no pics past lunch, which were the more technical trails (IMO).

When I got home, I realized the memory card became unseated and that was why it was not working. Whew!

Parking lot, singletrack and the last is bearly singletrack.. Look closely, there's a trail there...

More to come. Enjoy...

[dan51]

Oh THAT's Jimmy!!!
Yes Larry, he was at the top of Jackson with the A/B group. When we took off down Elderberry I asked him if he was going, he said he was waiting for someone, who I figured to be in the C pack. That was the last I saw of him. And no he did not have a double crown, he had a really old black Vanilla.

-Dan

[BigLarry]

Originally Posted by dan51

Oh THAT's Jimmy!!!
Yes Larry, he was at the top of Jackson with the A/B group. When we took off down Elderberry I asked him if he was going, he said he was waiting for someone, who I figured to be in the C pack. That was the last I saw of him. And no he did not have a double crown, he had a really old black Vanilla.

-Dan

So in some sense, he did communicate with you. His friend may have been a C level rider who wanted to do Cross Canyon and that's why he was going on his own. In any case, mystery explained. Just a perfect mixup of communication that allowed them to slip through the gap.

He told me he was thinking of buying a used single crown to make for better riding with MTBR more XC type rides. I didn't notice he'd finally replaced it before the ride, so that probably added to the confusion when I said over the radio that he had a dual crown on an RFX.

[FSRguy]

Some c-ride people Big Larry, Sung, and ??

Coe scenery

[FSRguy]

Wildlife, Kelly Lake, lunch at kelly lake

[BigLarry]

Here's a critical bit of conversation missing in this picture by velocipus.

BigLarry: "So Ranger Bower, you're saying that in order to let us just ride, you'd like the helicopter to follow us from 200' up there?"

[SinglePivot]

that is too funny! Man, I have missed out twice on this ride due to work obligations...I would love to go if you are gonna have another one before the end of the year.
Looks like a blast.

-Sp

Originally Posted by BigLarry

Here's a critical bit of conversation missing in this picture by velocipus.

BigLarry: "So Ranger Bower, you're saying that in order to let us just ride, you'd like the helicopter to follow us from 200' up there?"

[WhuGmiT]

A combination of great planning by Larry, Dan & Charlie, along with a very gratious Mother Nature, and finally an incredible turnout from some of MTBR's finest - all resulted in one heck of a day at Henry Coe! What a great way to spend a Saturday. The weather was cool and breezy. The trail conditions were top notch and the dust was kept to a minimum thanks to a little bit of rain Friday night.

After sliding back and forth between the A and B riders, I somehow got pulled in with the A group which proceeded to school me in the meaning of gravity induced pain! As usual, the pain was rewarded with nice views of the park and echos of laughter from my new found mtb friends. I am terrible with names, but getting better.. Charlie, Francis, Mike, Joseph, Jay, "Pete's Coffee dude" (John?), the guy wearing the armor, the guy wearing the black leggings and of course the mountain goat that seemed to consistently give Francis a run for his money! It was a pleasure to ride with you gents. Or should I say, riding several bike lengths behind you gents. Words from the great Plim, "You A guys are hella fast!". Even with the suffering, how can someone not be exhuberant with this company and in these surroundings with conditions like these?

I escaped my "mishap" that Charlie mentioned in the grapevine rock garden with only minor cuts and bruises. Charlie, who was right behind me when I introduced myself to the rocks, blurts out "Oh yeah, I usually walk that section". Thanks for the timely warning Charlie! heeheee.

The post ride "Super Giant Burrito" was yummy recovery chow.
My recovery drinks consisted of 4 glasses of champange and 5 pints of Guinness.
Not the best idea. Needless to say, I'm hurting a bit today - my liver as much as my legs!

I spent a significant amount of time removing those darn little stickers from my shoes, socks, shorts and leg hair - Ouch! (now I'm beginning to understand why some bikers shave their legs..)

Joseph, again, I salute you for taking on that ride on a 3 speed. Wow!
Francis, the Fat Tire bottle cap is a nice upgrade to your rig.

I spent much more time trying to catch my breath than taking pictures so I will submit just one picture. This is at the top of the first climb. FastEddy approaching the A group with a "rear wheel wheelie" posture. When on bike, must play! and we do...

[Pete]

Originally Posted by francois

Honestly, I think everyone showed up hoping to see BigLarry bodyslam the guys mouthing off on the board.

If "mouthing off" = a dose of reality for the uber geek posse then color me as "mouthing off" oh so consistently confused one.

Fact: There is no way that LarryHigante could even get close to bodyslamming people since he is so encumbered by multiple GPS units, extra pairs of shoes, bear spray, large tubes of Vagisil, etc. and other silly paraphenalial that he would hardly be able to make a move. Let alone tie his shoes.

Add the fact that we wouldn't be able to provide him with our exact long/lat info (after doing some strenuous error correcting betwenn 37 different units) or be able to flag the trail so that he could find us and you would simply have one largish guy ostensibly dressed like a mountain biker (ala Performance's catalog) flailing around aimlessly looking for a target to b|tch slap with his abacus while he recites inanae trail stats.

Carry on dweeb soldiers!

[VTT]

Originally Posted by Pete

If "mouthing off" = a dose of reality for the uber geek posse then color me as "mouthing off" oh so consistently confused one.

Fact: There is no way that LarryHigante could even get close to bodyslamming people since he is so encumbered by multiple GPS units, extra pairs of shoes, bear spray, large tubes of Vagisil, etc. and other silly paraphenalial that he would hardly be able to make a move. Let alone tie his shoes.

Add the fact that we wouldn't be able to provide him with our exact long/lat info (after doing some strenuous error correcting betwenn 37 different units) or be able to flag the trail so that he could find us and you would simply have one largish guy ostensibly dressed like a mountain biker (ala Performance's catalog) flailing around aimlessly looking for a target to b|tch slap with his abacus while he recites inanae trail stats.

Carry on dweeb soldiers!

Yo Pete,

Finally, you are posting some (not so innovative) comments on this new thread. I was looking forward to seeing you in the parking lot, to give you a "manly hug" and relieve you of some of this bitterness that seems to follow you on every post lately. But alas... the greatest mountain biker of the MTBR board didn't want to mix with 38 "dweeb soldiers"... Maybe, it's why everyone had such a good time!
At the risk of seeming critical, it appears that the "board spelling police" has commited his own crime. Did you mean to write "inane" or "inanae"?
Anyway, Thanks to Larry and the ride leaders for the planning involve in this ride and to Ranger Dan (?) for providing the air support. I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of good people and sharing a little pain with 17 of them.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by VTT

Yo Pete,

Finally, you are posting some (not so innovative) comments on this new thread. I was looking forward to seeing you in the parking lot, to give you a "manly hug" and relieve you of some of this bitterness that seems to follow you on every post lately.

Again, you hyopcritcal cheese-eating surrender monkey, you're confusing amusement with bitterness.

Sorry, the Coe ride violates rule 68 (ideal ride size is 6-8 riders) and even if my schedule had allowed it (and I could have arranged the extra shoes, SCUBA gear, helicopters, etc.) I wouldn't have been able to make it due to moral and ethical issues.

Originally Posted by VTT

But alas... the greatest mountain biker of the MTBR board

Wow, your inferiority complex is on full dispay. Awesome! Does your alleged "girlfriend" know you are so insecure? Maybe you can snuggle down tonight in front of the CRT (or LCD) and work through you problems together. Neato!

p.s. I have never claimed to be the greatest rider. I'm not. I'm only mediocre. What does that make you?

Originally Posted by VTT

At the risk of seeming critical, it appears that the "board spelling police" has commited his own crime. Did you mean to write "inane" or "inanae"?

Yeah, typos happen crinkle cut. C'est la vie and va te faire foutre and all of that jazz.

[jimyoo]

What a great ride with perfect plan, nice cool weather and very good riders.
I have moved to SJ area not too long ago, so for me it was a good chance to know one more new trail and lots (37 to be exact) of nice riders.
Charlie, thanks for leading our group; Joe, I appreciate your jokes that made us relax on tough trails. Victor, Mike, Dave, Fracois, Joseph and two (sorry I didn’t get name) it was very fun riding with you. Fracois did you go to Demo today? You guys are studs.

Appreciate again BigLarry and others who helped to make this event went perfect. And ribbons, maps, Ale, pictures ......

/ Jae

[jrm]

Thanks again Larry, Dan and Charlie. That was a fun ride.

[Ebo]

Great job on the huge ride Larry. Bummed that I could not make it, but right now soccer rules the weekends. Ugh. Cheers.

[zorg]

Originally Posted by Pete

Sorry, the Coe ride violates rule 68 (ideal ride size is 6-8 riders) and even if my schedule had allowed it (and I could have arranged the extra shoes, SCUBA gear, helicopters, etc.) I wouldn't have been able to make it due to moral and ethical issues.

Phew, one more rider, and we would have violated a really nasty rule...

[Joseph-da-trog]

Hey! Bill

What is the Manufactor and pixle size for the camera you were useing saturday?

Man.... the pictures you have posted have such great color and detail. Nice

[francois]

Yes, thank you for the brew.

My little bottle cap holder is called the Niner YAWYD. Packaged photo is here:
http://gallery.mtbr.com/showphoto.ph...sort=1&cat=all

It can be order here for $12.99
http://www.ninerbikes.com/orderforms...andaccess.html

I get commission... I wish.

fc

[francois]

Originally Posted by WhuGmiT

I am terrible with names, but getting better.. Charlie, Francis, Mike, Joseph, Jay, "Pete's Coffee dude" (John?), the guy wearing the armor, the guy wearing the black leggings and of course the mountain goat that seemed to consistently give Francis a run for his money!

Hey Joe, it was awesome riding with you again. You are one happy guy and a heck of a good rider.

I like your super-pelt legs that offer brush protection and your special multi-tool rock.

Some of the other guys are: Dave aka 'DMFT' aka Peets, Derek aka 'Bustamove' and Victor aka 'Stalk' aka armor.

fc

[francois]

Originally Posted by jimyoo

What a great ride with perfect plan, nice cool weather and very good riders.
I have moved to SJ area not too long ago, so for me it was a good chance to know one more new trail and lots (37 to be exact) of nice riders.
Charlie, thanks for leading our group; Joe, I appreciate your jokes that made us relax on tough trails. Victor, Mike, Dave, Fracois, Joseph and two (sorry I didn’t get name) it was very fun riding with you. Fracois did you go to Demo today? You guys are studs.

Appreciate again BigLarry and others who helped to make this event went perfect. And ribbons, maps, Ale, pictures ......

/ Jae

Hey good to meet you too. You're a good rider... seem to get stronger as the day goes on. Our group was a lot fun. Great ride leader.

Yes, I did two laps today... around the block with my kids. Then we went to see Wallace and Grommit where I fell asleep. Great movie though! Then we went to an Octoberfest festival. I had some beer then fell asleep again.

fc

[cohenfive]

as i see it the main reason we had such a good turnout was that the work done by larry, dan and whoever else chipped in really made people feel comfy in coming out to a park a lot of us had never been to before. i for one enjoyed seeing the big group riding together.

as for the ride itself i enjoyed it. found the initial 1600 foot climb tough--it took a chunk out of me. overall coe seems like an amazing place to explore.

thanks again. i've attached a few more pix if you aren't all tired of seeing this ride....

1. lots of this...from the initial climb
2. there is a trail here somewhere
3. fire road descent towards the lake
4. larry and the boys on the ridge
5. larry keeping the conga line going...and i just liked the view and lighting

thanks again!!!

[SVSocrates]

Originally Posted by Pete

If "mouthing off" = a dose of reality for the uber geek posse then color me as "mouthing off" oh so consistently confused one.

Fact: There is no way that LarryHigante could even get close to bodyslamming people since he is so encumbered by multiple GPS units, extra pairs of shoes, bear spray, large tubes of Vagisil, etc. and other silly paraphenalial that he would hardly be able to make a move. Let alone tie his shoes.

Add the fact that we wouldn't be able to provide him with our exact long/lat info (after doing some strenuous error correcting betwenn 37 different units) or be able to flag the trail so that he could find us and you would simply have one largish guy ostensibly dressed like a mountain biker (ala Performance's catalog) flailing around aimlessly looking for a target to b|tch slap with his abacus while he recites inanae trail stats.

Carry on dweeb soldiers!

Is this a real post or is it some kind of good-natured banter that you guys have? Maybe it's not my business and pardon my ignorance, but is this real?

I cannot imagine that anyone would have anything but gratitude for the work that went into planning and pulling off this ride.

If someone is "into" stats, so be it. Everybody derives something a little different from riding, whether it's being outside, getting dirty, going for some sort of personal record...whatever.

The point is we all ride and nobody has the right to criticize someone else for how one approaches a ride. Just get out and enjoy.

[SALAS331GT]

Originally Posted by SVSocrates

Is this a real post or is it some kind of good-natured banter that you guys have? Maybe it's not my business and pardon my ignorance, but is this real?

I cannot imagine that anyone would have anything but gratitude for the work that went into planning and pulling off this ride.

If someone is "into" stats, so be it. Everybody derives something a little different from riding, whether it's being outside, getting dirty, going for some sort of personal record...whatever.

The point is we all ride and nobody has the right to criticize someone else for how one approaches a ride. Just get out and enjoy.

Well said

[velocipus]

I've got most of the horse crap and mud off of the borrowed Moment, but I'm still having a hard time wiping this smile off of my face.
Thanks again Big Larry, Dan51 and The Law for direction, Plim for the lift, and Derilect for being a carrot for that last bit of singletrack.
Hope to see a bunch of you in Auburn

[BigLarry]

Originally Posted by SVSocrates

Is this a real post or is it some kind of good-natured banter that you guys have? Maybe it's not my business and pardon my ignorance, but is this real?

Let me be very clear. Those who've seen Pete's posts know his comments are never good-natured nor welcome. He needs to expel his vile pent-up entrapments, like his farts and burps and nasty insults, and we are the unfortunate on-line recipients. He loves to bait people too, for his personal pleasure, and the fight draws a crowd.

Sometimes he can be witty and fun to read, even by me, which I suspect is the only reason he's allowed to stay on the board. But sometimes he crosses the line and completely degrades to pure vile and inappropriate, as you've noted.

I want to thank everyone for the ovation given to me and our leaders at the beginning of the ride. It meant a lot to me and I'm sure for the other leaders too. Sometimes I wondered if our work was appreciated at all. But having 38+ MTBR rider friends of all skill types showing up and having a great smooth ride in a tough, desolate, and complex new local of Henry Coe tells the story best of all. As Francois and Joseph said it well, we made music and had fun.

Thanks for the comments and support. That is encouraged.

[Trevor!]

great pictures and comments! I really gotta make my way to the US of A sometime to do one of these gatherings - They look like really great times!

[WhuGmiT]

Originally Posted by francois

Hey Joe, it was awesome riding with you again. You are one happy guy and a heck of a good rider.

I like your super-pelt legs that offer brush protection and your special multi-tool rock.

Some of the other guys are: Dave aka 'DMFT' aka Peets, Derek aka 'Bustamove' and Victor aka 'Stalk' aka armor.

fc

Hmmm, I'm not sure if the "super-pelt" is sticker "protection" or "attraction". Either way, a lot of the "pelt" came out with the removal of each sticker. Ouch!

> ..and your special multi-tool rock.
>
Ah yes, I forgot about that. Please remind me next time that track stands are supposed to be done while on the tires, not while high-centered on the big chain ring! heehee. I need to get a stronger big chain ring (in addition to learning to ride the tech sections better). This is the 2nd time I have had to do a trail truing of that ring with a rock.

> Hey Joe, it was awesome riding with you again.
>
Right back at you Francois.
Thanks for "pushing" my pace and the additional A-group names!

[Portola Vince]

Hey weren't some of those trails (White Tank) out in the backcountry a little grown over? I wonder if we get a work party out there to some of the remote stuff sometime. Usually State Parks are relatively positive about people who want to do trail work since they really don't like paying their workers to do it. 8 guys in a state van with mclouds, rakes and weed whips could do a world of good out there.
The biggest problem I have had at Coe is testing a trail that I have never tried before and finding it too grown over to follow. Since we (not me lately) are the most frequent users of the way out trails I would think it would be something worth investing some energy to do. At least making one good weed free single track past Coit Lake would be comforting.
Of course maybe the parking lot off Kaiser-Aetna will make that problem easier to control but it might also make that area less remote. I guess your routes didn't go by the parking lot? I wonder if they finished it yet.

[Skyline35]

Originally Posted by BigLarry

4. A technical section of Elderberry. A deep rut went down the middle of the trail with big rocks and drops. Most walked this section, but I managed to balance on the thin berm and get past the tree in the way to clean this section.

Wow! I never thought that you would be able to squeeze around that little tree with your wide handlebars w/bars ends.

(to be mean, I put a ribbon on that tree - it's an awkward place to have to stop and remove.)

Usually this is a barely detectable deer trail - look how matted down it is after ~40 bike rode through:

Originally Posted by WhuGmiT

I am terrible with names, but getting better.. Charlie, Francis, Mike, Joseph, Jay, "Pete's Coffee dude" (John?), the guy wearing the armor, the guy wearing the black leggings ...

I'm bad with names too. I can add that the guy with he black leggings is Roy. He's not on mtbr afaik. His distinctive car was always in the Hunting Hollow parking lot and a few weeks ago I spoke with him after a ride. It was the day I went out and found White Tank/Rose Dam trails. He said that he had never been there so I invited him. Glad to see him show up - he seemed to always be up with front half of our group.

Thanks everyone who posted pictures! (FSRguy, I too am interested in your answer to Joseph-da-trog's camera question.)

/Charlie

p.s. Everyone be sure to double-check your clothes, shoes, gloves, and bikes for those burrs. We don't want to spread that plant all over California.

[BigLarry]

Originally Posted by Skyline35

Wow! I never thought that you would be able to squeeze around that little tree with your wide handlebars w/bars ends.

(to be mean, I put a ribbon on that tree - it's an awkward place to have to stop and remove.)

p.s. Everyone be sure to double-check your clothes, shoes, gloves, and bikes for those burrs. We don't want to spread that plant all over California.

Sadly, the handlebars aren't too much wider than me. A little lean of the bike at the right spots is all it took. Didn't see an orange flag on that little tree. Someone ahead must have got it for me.

Yea, I've been picking them out. and just been throwing them in the weedless gravel by the driveway. Are we suppose to burn them in a toxic incernerator?

[Skyline35]

Originally Posted by BigLarry

Yea, I've been picking them out. and just been throwing them in the weedless gravel by the driveway. Are we suppose to burn them in a toxic incernerator?

I have a neighbor I don't like. I just throw the burrs over his lawn.

[zorg]

Quick note. I think that the high participation in the C ride shows that there are plenty of riders who'd love to come to the MTBR gatherings but who don't feel that they're up to the stamina level of some of the fittest riders and therefore don't bother. Seems to me that having a C ride option, when doable, is a great opportunity to get more guys out.

Final musing: I gotta give props to the rider who was trackstanding for 5-6 minutes while waiting for his turn to go down that technical bit. That was mighty impressive!!

[FSRguy]

Originally Posted by Joseph-da-trog

Hey! Bill

What is the Manufactor and pixle size for the camera you were useing saturday?

Man.... the pictures you have posted have such great color and detail. Nice

Thanks for the compliments.

I use a Canon powershot A400. (3.2 MP) It's relatively inexpensive (I think around $150). It's a little bulky for the inside of my small camelback. I'll get a pouch for it to attach to the strap on my camelback. I was the best man in my best friend's wedding and it was a gift. Best gift ever!

I use it on one of the smaller pixel sizes 1024x768 (it's largest is 2048x1536), and use superfine resolution (highest of 3 quality settings). I bought a 512MB SD card for it so I can take over 800 shots at those settings! I use rechargeable Duracell NiMH AA batteries and take an extra set. This camera will drain regular batteries in 20-30 shots! the rechargables last _way_ longer.

Oh, The trick for well-balanced pics... is in the digital processing on the computer. it's actually really easy.

Most inexpensive digital cameras, including mine, overexpose the shots. When I load them from the camera to the computer, they all look washed out and I'm thinking "That's not how I remember it looking". The Canon software that came with it allows provides adjustments for color saturation, brightness, and contrast. I turn up the color by about 2-4, turn down the brightness by about 2-4, and add a bit of contrast (about 2). I just play with it until I think I've got it how I remember it.

The images file sizes were all too large to post on the board without compression. Francois suggested I use Google's Picasa2 for that. Picasa worked great and there are lots of other processing options on it that I am playing with, including graduated tint where you can tone down the brightness in a particular area of the photo. It says it's free and I payed no money, but I have not read Picasa's fine print to see if maybe all pics are ulpoaded to the Google mother ship for their use or what.

I downloaded other pics on the board that were a bit washed out looking and the processing fixed them up too. Just depends on how much work you are willing to put into them.

I was just layed off from SGI where I worked for the last 4.5 years, so I have more time for fiddling right now. Does anyone know of an opening for an IT Project Management position? PM me if you do.

One more thing. The camera in not very good at indoor shots in low lighting because the flash is only good for subjects 5-10 feet away. Any further than that and everything's underexposed and it's almost impossible to make up for it with editing.

Sorry for the novel!

Bill

[DMFT]

Big Larry - You rawk! Very well put together ride, that was an absolute blast!!!
I will gladly take the chore of ride leader sometime down here in the Salinas/Monterey area ANYTIME as a re-payment.

Big Thanks to all the other ride leaders too, especially Skyline35 who led our A group on our frolic through the park. And thanks again for the use of that kick-@ss pump!
- Did anyone figure out a name for that move Joseph showed us??? - I'm going with "River Dance Dismount."

Francois - 1st, Big thanks for having this site. It's the sh@t, and without it what else would we all be doing while we're supposed to be working? Also, thanks for playing "Yoda, Jedi Master" on that last rippin' singletrack! Mighty fine ridin'!!! Let's do it again soon!!!!!!

[Ritwik]

Thanks for posting such a nice ride. I had been to the Coe 2 times before this and did a lot of walking on steep fire-roads.

This time, I did the "C" ride and enjoyed it a lot. It also kicked my ass. The highest of the highlights for me were Kelly Lake, raptors seen from the ridgetops, and Domino Pond trail to Anza. Apart from a bunch of you heading down at the intersection of Anza and Jackson, I didn't see anyone all afternoon.

I would like to see more of the interior of the park but doubt I'd be up to a 10,000ft day - Anyone done a through ride, exiting on the west side on Kaiser road?

Cheers.

Ritwik

[Fast Eddy]

Originally Posted by Portola Vince

Usually State Parks are relatively positive about people who want to do trail work since they really don't like paying their workers to do it.

They don't do it at all. All trail maintenance is done by volunteers other than the road grading guy. If you want to start something, contact Paul Nam (president@romp.org). He's on the trail council at Coe. If you organize a group, they'll let you drive an SUV or two out to Pacheco Camp for the weekend.

[smw]

Had a great time, aside from my leg pain. Great company, great views and great planning by Big Larry and others. I cant believe how well this ride went with such a large group. What a brutal climb up Jackson, Ill need to practice that one.
Thanks to all thosewho posted pictures and to Big Larry for the post ride Brew. Love them Fat Tires.
I would love to visit Coe in the spring, when everything is green and blooming.
Thanks Again
Sean

[Fast Eddy]

Originally Posted by Ritwik

Anyone done a through ride, exiting on the west side on Kaiser road?

It doesn't really help. From where you'd drop onto Kaiser-Aetna Rd, you'd have to climb that beotch. The car shuttle would be a PITA too. Supposedly the Dowdy Ranch entrance will open next year, and you'll be able to drive up Kaiser-Aetna Rd about 8 miles and start rides from there.

If you start at Coe HQ, ride down China Hole Tr, hike-a-bike through The Narrows and climb Bear Mountain Rd., which I usually recommend against, you could get to Mississippi Lake with less than 2k' of climbing.

On our big Monday ride out there, we were tossing around the idea of an organized shuttle, starting at Coe HQ, doing Flat Frog and Middle Ridge in the north, climbing China Hole east and heading to the south of the park and riding Domino/Grapevine/Anza and coming out at the south entrance. It would only be about 3k' of climbing for 15 miles of singletrack.

[EBrider]

1. Joseph didn't get the memo on the climbs:
2. Big Larry briefs the riders:
3. Two Bills:
4. Ran into the C ride:

[Stalk]

Originally Posted by francois

... and Victor aka 'Stalk' aka armor.

Yep it's me. With the armor, it took me a while to start wearing it. I got 2 major knee injuries and scrapped right arm top to the bottom. The worst part is 2 injuries where on Los Gatos creek trai, well sortof
Since then elbows guards and soft knee pads feels very natural and comfy and saved me bunch of times in SDF while learning to be "aggresive"

[Pete]

Originally Posted by SVSocrates

The point is we all ride and nobody has the right to criticize someone else for how one approaches a ride.

Let me help you out here:

discussion

noun

An exchanging of views

Originally Posted by SVSocrates

Just get out and enjoy.

I do and somehow I manage to enjoy the ride despite being interupted every 3.56 minutes as my toaster oven tries to do a data dump to my foil beenie (you can't be too careful in those hills since you never know when the government is going to unleash their mind control rays upon you. Moral of the story: ALWAYS WEAR YOUR FOIL BEENIE!).

Originally Posted by BigLarry

Let me be very clear. Those who've seen Pete's posts know his comments are never good-natured nor welcome.

Oops, there you go again. "never"??? Phulease propellor head.

You really do have an enormous problem with absolutes, eh Larry?

Kind of like claiming that "CA closes down all of the trails after a rain"...

On another equally hilarious note, how could you possibly know that everyone that has seen my posts considers them unwelcome? You're losing it even more than you normally do. In fact, I'm looking at 678 pages (single-spaced) of data that show that you're being 1.98 times as confused and goofy as usual.

Originally Posted by BigLarry

Sometimes he can be witty and fun to read, even by me, which I suspect is the only reason he's allowed to stay on the board.

Allowed to stay? ROTFLMAO. The fact that you're apprently unable to grasp is that Francis can certainly ban usernames, but he can't prevent from people posting on MTBR, if they so desire.

Originally Posted by BigLarry

But sometimes he crosses the line and completely degrades to pure vile and inappropriate, as you've noted.

Oops, it looks like you need another hanky or maybe another nice long soothing man-hug from VTT. Or both.

[CHUM]

Tool n
1. Vulgar Slang. A penis.
2. A person used to carry out the designs of another; a dupe.
3. Also see Pete

Amusing at times - but still a tool

Originally Posted by Pete

Let me help you out here:

discussion

noun

An exchanging of views


I do and somehow I manage to enjoy the ride despite being interupted every 3.56 minutes as my toaster oven tries to do a data dump to my foil beenie (you can't be too careful in those hills since you never know when the government is going to unleash their mind control rays upon you. Moral of the story: ALWAYS WEAR YOUR FOIL BEENIE!).


Oops, there you go again. "never"??? Phulease propellor head.

You really do have an enormous problem with absolutes, eh Larry?

Kind of like claiming that "CA closes down all of the trails after a rain"...

On another equally hilarious note, how could you possibly know that everyone that has seen my posts considers them unwelcome? You're losing it even more than you normally do. In fact, I'm looking at 678 pages (single-spaced) of data that show that you're being 1.98 times as confused and goofy as usual.


Allowed to stay? ROTFLMAO. The fact that you're apprently unable to grasp is that Francis can certainly ban usernames, but he can't prevent from people posting on MTBR, if they so desire.


Oops, it looks like you need another hanky or maybe another nice long soothing man-hug from VTT. Or both.

[Acadian]

Originally Posted by Pete

Sorry, the Coe ride violates rule 68 (ideal ride size is 6-8 riders)

Please let me know when you have a ride scheduled and you're one short! Would love to hit some trails with you...especially that winter spot where you ride a lot - I've never been there!

[Scarpa]

Originally Posted by Pete

a bunch of bs

Let me guess.. this is your "online" persona and you're really a nice guy in person right? I'm assuming so because there's plenty of people on this site that seem to know you in person and still like you.. or are they all just thick skinned and take your insults in stride?

[scheckler]

Originally Posted by Pete

Let me help you out here:

discussion

noun

An exchanging of views


I do and somehow I manage to enjoy the ride despite being interupted every 3.56 minutes as my toaster oven tries to do a data dump to my foil beenie (you can't be too careful in those hills since you never know when the government is going to unleash their mind control rays upon you. Moral of the story: ALWAYS WEAR YOUR FOIL BEENIE!).


Oops, there you go again. "never"??? Phulease propellor head.

You really do have an enormous problem with absolutes, eh Larry?

Kind of like claiming that "CA closes down all of the trails after a rain"...

On another equally hilarious note, how could you possibly know that everyone that has seen my posts considers them unwelcome? You're losing it even more than you normally do. In fact, I'm looking at 678 pages (single-spaced) of data that show that you're being 1.98 times as confused and goofy as usual.


Allowed to stay? ROTFLMAO. The fact that you're apprently unable to grasp is that Francis can certainly ban usernames, but he can't prevent from people posting on MTBR, if they so desire.


Oops, it looks like you need another hanky or maybe another nice long soothing man-hug from VTT. Or both.

so many thoughts going through my brain... you really make me laugh. I do believe that you believe all of your bs. I do hope you get help one day.....

[sungchang]

Just want to thank BigLarry and others for the amazing amount of planning and effort leading the groups. I was finally able to meet BigLarry (btw I recommend BigLarry to change his name to MediumLarry...dang he lost a lot of weight) and many others especially 17 others in C ride for the first time. It was the toughest ride I have done so far, but definitely one of the funnest and memorable ride.

I made a mistake of climbing up Jackson in the middle chain ring and payed for it later in the day. I'm so glad that we skipped the last singletrack.... The next time I ride Henry Coe, I will remember to keep it in the small ring.

Once again, thanks and look forward to the next group ride.

Sung (aka sungchang)

[cohenfive]

Originally Posted by Pete

Wow, your inferiority complex is on full dispay. Awesome! Does your alleged "girlfriend" know you are so insecure? Maybe you can snuggle down tonight in front of the CRT (or LCD) and work through you problems together. Neato!

i usually don't engage in these diatribes (some of which i find rather humorous in their sarcastic wit) even on those rare occaisons when i've been 'tweaked' by pete but to me the above, even though meant in jest, should be 'off piste' on this board....imho.

[francois]

Pass the popcorn. This is getting good!

It's like watching 'Being Bobby Brown' or Melt commit online suicide!

fc

[sungchang]

Originally Posted by FSRguy

When I got home, I realized the memory card became unseated and that was why it was not working. Whew!

Good to hear that the camera didn't break after all

[Shwaa]

You can cut the tension with a knife...

What I want to know is, what do mutual friends of Big Larry and Pete have to say about all this?

This is a battle of epic proportions. We must milk it for all that it's worth!

[derek]

Originally Posted by SVSocrates

The point is we all ride and nobody has the right to criticize someone else for how one approaches a ride.

Well, I took Pete's post as more along the lines that people should be prepared for themselves (and it is possible to be overprepared).

As much as I am impressed by the amount of work that Big Larry put into organizing this ride, I always get worried by people that just show up and expect a ride leader to show them where to go from a map that only shows the area they will be riding in. From what I can tell, Larry couldn't have done anymore work to prepare people for the rigors of Coe.

On the other hand to those who are suggesting "body-slamming" and "give you a manly hug" I think that you might want to rethink your approach to a discussion.

Although I'd pay money to see Francis try and bodyslam Big Larry (just make sure Joseph brings the wrestling masks).

Originally Posted by SVSocrates

Just get out and enjoy.

Yup!

-Derek

[DMFT]

Originally Posted by francois

Pass the popcorn. This is getting good!

It's like watching 'Being Bobby Brown' or Melt commit online suicide!

fc

- I was thinkin' "Breaking Bonaduce".....

[francois]

Originally Posted by derek

Although I'd pay money to see Francis try and bodyslam Big Larry (just make sure Joseph brings the wrestling masks).

-Derek

Dood. You're still delirious from that time you did the Coe epic ride on your singlespeed. AmIRight? Wansummadis???

fc

[Fast Eddy]

Originally Posted by Shwaa

What I want to know is, what do mutual friends of Big Larry and Pete have to say about all this?

I'm hugely thankful to Larry for getting Pete to chime in. I was worried about him. Francois, please pass the popcorn...

In support of Pete's ideal of "just show up at the trailhead and ride", I arrived to the ride Saturday with my BB in need of some wrenching, no camelbak, no food, tools, pump, etc. and just one bottle of water. I definitely got some strange looks.

In support of Larry's always-be-prepared attitude, I could've used a shock pump on my way down the hill after I let too much (all) the air out of my shock.

Jimmy, thanks for the grease, and sorry for not recognizing where I knew you from.

[derek]

Originally Posted by francois

Dood. You're still delirious from that time you did the Coe epic ride on your singlespeed. AmIRight? Wansummadis???

fc

Actually it was a ride Paul Nam put on before that, that was around ~45 miles, with 10k of climbing. He has talked about putting on rides with 15k of climbing too. I'll be using the gears for that one.

I knew you'd find that picture for me.

-Derek

[zorg]

Originally Posted by cohenfive

i usually don't engage in these diatribes (some of which i find rather humorous in their sarcastic wit) even on those rare occaisons when i've been 'tweaked' by pete but to me the above, even though meant in jest, should be 'off piste' on this board....imho.

Come on, you know you want to. And there's clearly nothing written "in jest" here. It's just Pete making personal attacks for his own amusement. Kinda sad, but that's another story.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Scarpa

Let me guess.. this is your "online" persona

"In real life" I'm even more irreverent, especially when people do or say such silly things.

Originally Posted by scheckler

I do believe that you believe all of your bs.

Oh I believe all right and it's not my BS. Lotsa people know about the beenies.

Originally Posted by cohenfive

even though meant in jest, should be 'off piste' on this board....imho.

Well using your proposed Rules Of Engagaement I guess LarryMuiGigante would be in violation then since he brought up my wife and kids...I'm just not bothered by that in the least so I think your ROE are a bit too restrictive.

As far as VTT and his alleged "girlfriend" is concerned, he's the person that brought her into the discusiion and he's the one that has been offering hugs to strangers left and right. Heck, if he's doing that it only follows that he would be willing to help comfort LarryMuiGigante in his moment(s) of need. Context is key.

Luc, I'll remember that as we could have used an extra yesterday since we only had 5 up there for our ride that was .236 times as hard as any ride in California (average rider speeds between terrain features taller than 1.2 meters was an astonishing 3 cubits per decaminute as confirmed by the Calistoga police). It's a good thing that our lead riders each had a 55 gallon drum of bear spray strapped to their backs because we finally found a bear and once he got a look at their quick draw bear spray pistols (with complimentary taser and instant trail side pap smear attachments) he sauntered away.

Sadly, we left the HandiWipes at home so we were unable to give each other trailside rubdowns to remove those icky and mean little burs. It was absolutely horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Joseph-da-trog]

Originally Posted by Fast Eddy

I'm hugely thankful to Larry for getting Pete to chime in. I was worried about him. Francois, please pass the popcorn...

In support of Pete's ideal of "just show up at the trailhead and ride", I arrived to the ride Saturday with my BB in need of some wrenching, no camelbak, no food, tools, pump, etc. and just one bottle of water. I definitely got some strange looks.

In support of Larry's always-be-prepared attitude, I could've used a shock pump on my way down the hill after I let too much (all) the air out of my shock.

Jimmy, thanks for the grease, and sorry for not recognizing where I knew you from.

You knew before you left your house Sat morning that you were only going to go 10miles. So you planned and prepared NOT to bring any thing that you would have normally brought on a long ride. savy!

Saturdays ride needed all the information that was posted. It made it very easy for people to figure out way before they got to the trail head how to be prepared for the ride they may have chose. Thus it went very smooooothly for a ride this HUGE! in this case.

On smaller rides you will not need all such info. Show up and go.

I am no info geek either. I have no electronics atached to any of my MTBs. I have one Cateye Comp on my road bike that I bought 12 years ago.

[VTT]

Originally Posted by Pete

... C'est la vie and va te faire foutre....

I haven't been online for a while and I want to thank Pete for choosing the least offensive way (in French) to tell me :...that's life and go f..k yourself...
Is it a "beau geste" (nice gesture) from you?

[BigLarry]

Ah, and all my points were just so nicely illustrated in such detail, weakened only by the reuse of pale old off-color commments.

.

[BigLarry]

Originally Posted by francois

Pass the popcorn. This is getting good!

It's like watching 'Being Bobby Brown' or Melt commit online suicide!

fc

You'll have to leave me out of this brawl for a bit, as I'm pretty busy right now. Maybe a little later in the week I'll get on it.

And only then if you ante up the PPV fee and the deal for my cut is signed.

[BigLarry]

Partly it's being a boy scout. More it's the number of times walking my bike home when I'd prefer to be riding, and from riding solo in way out areas for a couple decades. In any case, I've learned to be very self sufficient.

My pack when dry is only 11.5 lbs, versus maybe 6-8 lbs for others. Not a big difference when you figure the 3 liters of water weighs another 6.6 lbs anyway. I don't even notice my pack at my size, but may lighten it a little as I get smaller.

Like Fast Eddy, when I'm riding in local parks, I just take a water bottle and a cell phone. I figure I can always walk or get a ride back if something happens. I do minimal riding 2 out of 3 rides per week in mornings before work.

Oops, both of us busted with this post. But I think we were both doing the same thing - practicing for tough Henry Coe rides by going up Coyote Peak with full packs.

[ajknows]

Originally Posted by Pete

"yaketi-yak"

This is good, Pete explaining the Rules of Engagement.

For another good read check The Unabomber Manifesto http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Indust...and_Its_Future.