Black Friday Coe Ride - The SC29's first Coe Trip

[mynameismud]

we sent out and invite for a Coe ride on Friday.  Set the start time a 10 AM to give it time to break the chill and it paid off.  There was still a bit of ice in the parking lot that would not break under the weight of a bike and rider.  It turned out to be a good group of mostly strong Coe regulars.  Two of the Hard Coere 100 guys were there and we were able to listen on some stories of the epic adventure.

I was at the front until the trails started heading up.  Then I could feel the energy behind me and as soon as I found a spot I rode off to the side of the trail and as I started to say "need a pass" Diesel and Ratpick flew by.  It half seemed like Diesel was shot out of an air cannon.  A few turns later Plymer and Zener took a pass and rode on up the trail.  I cleaned this by taking my time. 

This first climb leads to one of my favorite descents, not my favorite but one of them.  Somehow a bunch of jumps and roll overs have ended up in the middle of this trail.  It is weird how branches can fall all in one big pile.  Then dirt just packs up on it.  Really cool phenomenon.  Enjoyed this even though I either kept over cooking the corners or over steering them.  It will take a bit of time to adjust to the new bike.

We then went down the Final Exit.  A short fun decent that was in perfect condition.  Last time I attempted this I dabbed a couple of times and it seemed completely hair ball.  This time it was casual, the traction was superb.

After Final Exit we headed over to the infamous Anza/Jackson climb.  I really took my time taking full advantage of the flats and less steep parts trying to keep my legs fresh and keeping my heart rate down.  I was beginning to think I had a shot when my rear wheel slipped on a tight switchback.  Was really bummed but grabbed the bike and ran down the trail and re-rode that corner before Charlie could catch me.  A little bit higher is the final crux which I did not get.  I pushed about 40 feet but that is the best that I have done. 

When I got to the top I found out the Mudworm had cleaned Anza/Jackson.  This was the first time she had cleaned this climb, a proud moment.  It had to have felt really good.  She stated later that she was really nervous after getting the last steep step up cuz she did not want to accidentally blow the ascent.

We all met up at the top, re-grouped, ate and enjoyed the view.  That was the last of the hard climbing.  From there it is a bit more up then lot's of down and some really fast and twisting down to boot.  Here I was able to stay near the front, even take the lead for a bit. 

Was still a bit cold but not to bad.
 

Hooking up with some of the regulars


Nice Fall ride.


Charlie


One of Coe's mystery branch stacks. 


Feel my pain.


At the top of Anza/Jackson


When Zener speaks we listen (He is mostly a quiet guy).  He has been riding Coe forever, was part of Klein Bikes, is 61 or so and will kick your ass up most hills.


Beautiful

[mynameismud]

stats





Overall Rating    3 stars
Technical Difficulty    2 stars
Aerobic Difficulty    3 stars
Distance (mi)    17.0
Elevation Range (ft)    824 - 2634
Total Ascent (ft)    3541
Total Descent (ft)    -3532
Total Ascent Distance (mi)    6.8
Total Descent Distance (mi)    10.2
Moving Time    02h 56m 58s
Stopped Time    00h 45m 11s
Average Speed (mph)    4.6
Average Moving Speed (mph)    5.7
Stops    15
Start Time    2010/11/26 10:06:22
Finish Time    2010/11/26 13:48:31
Time Zone    Pacific Time (US & Canada)

[mudworm]

Mr. Mud says he is not feeling the love because I don't post here. Okay, here is one:
================

There was nothing black about it -- it was a sunny day. We all expected a crisp temperature. Actually, when we left home, it was below freezing.

And there was hard ice at the parking lot when we got there before 10am.

Two days ago, I sent out an invitation to quite a few people, and on the morning of Black Friday -- the day after Thanksgiving, we were joined by, with MTBR handles in parentheses, Charlie (Skyline35), Patrick (ratpick), Roy (plymmer), Chris (Diesel~), and Jim (Zener) -- yeah, the usual suspects.

Everyone was bracing for freezing temperature, but the frost on Spike Jones Trail was probably the only reminder of our "fear" (as Jim said in his email, "you know how us skinny guys love the cold!"). It was perfect for the climb though as Charlie here would have agreed.

The rest of the ride saw us sun bathe comfortably throughout like here at the top of Timm Trail. That, my friend, I call a perfect temp.

Okay, let me raise the pace a bit because otherwise, I'll never reach the end of the post. Here are a few pictures I took on the ride.

Charlie dropping down Timm Trail:

Here is a trail sign, now where is the trail?

Tallboy's virgin voyage to Henry Coe. That's Erik's new Santa Cruz 29er.

I'm breaking the photographing 101 rules here -- shooting into the sun.

Chris (Diesel~) taking in the view of Henry Coe.

While everyone else is going down Cattle Duster, Chris decided to check out the climb on upper Cattle Duster. To be exact, Roy coaxed him into it. Here, Charlie set up his camera. "Okay, you can go now."

Before long, Chris became a little dot.

I just realized and you might have noticed -- I don't have many close up shots of everyone on the ride. It's not my fault. Most of the time, they were so far ahead of me that no amount of zoom can find them in my view finder anyway. But considering that I was riding with a bunch of guys, there was plenty of chatting on the trail at almost every intersection.

Route:
Hunting Hollow Parking Lot -> R: Gilroy Hot Springs Road -> Coit Road -> R: Spike Jones -> R: Timm Trail -> R: Coit Road -> R: Anza -> R: Jackson -> Elderberry Spring Trail ->R: Rock Tower Trail -> L: Jackson Road -> L: Domino Pond Trail -> S: Cattle Duster Trail -> L: Coit Springs Trail -> S: Grapevine Trail -> L: Anza -> L: Coit Road -> S: Gilroy Hot Springs Road -> Hunting Hollow Parking Lot. (17.7 miles / 3529' ascent).
GPS track is available: Garmin Connect , MTBGuru , Plus 3

Photos and Links:

All our photos are in our photo album .

This MTBR Thread has many rad photos from Patrick and Charlie. Here are a couple samplers:
(from Charlie)
(from Patrick)

Oh, by the way, it took me a while to put the report up. Well, after the ride, we stopped by a couple of bike shops (no Black Friday sales), went to the gym (for shower), went out for dinner (yummy Korean Tofu Pot), and then hung out with a friend from out of town (haha. that's salad here) at a bar. Didn't get home until midnight. This morning? We just got a little too comfortable to get out of bed. All their fault!

[skully]

Yo, cool stuff, that. Our ridin' is done for the season. Snow & Ice rule the day now.
Yarrr.