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What can I say except I (we?) had a blast. It was my 8th consecutive plaque and I'm looking forward to next years ride already. Tim was a great sport and thanks to Lane Ramsey who monitored the 1st checkpoint, we were able to get an early start on the day leaving at 5:15 AM.
We started over Gold Mountain, then over John Bull and then back towards Fawnskin for the 3rd hard section and a killer single track hill. We had just arrived at the base of this hill when the pack started to catch us. I took off up the hill and nearly made it to the top but was passed right at the end. I parked my bike and went back to see Kris working his way up and then we both went back to give Tim a hand. We took a quick break and then on to the first checkpoint around 7ish to say hello to Lane.
We took some new jeep trails I had not ridden before and then headed towards White Mountain, over to Devils hole, down 3W13 towards through the Pinnacles staging area, rode 3W11, 3W12, 3W29 past Deep Creek and into Arrowhead for lunch and gas around 10:15.
We ate at the grocery store to save time and hit the road around 11:00. We rode up Deep Creek and then up Redonda Ridge. It was about here that a 15-1/2 year old girl and her dad caught us and passed us. I gave a few verbal jabs at Tim to keep him moving but the heat and tough hill started taking its toll. Tim started to cramp and our pace started to slow dramatically. Tim thinks it was because he was drinking straight water and not an Gatorade style drink to replace the electrolytes.
We finished Rendoda Ridge, went back over part of White Mountain, took an alternate route over John Bull and then down Jacoby Canyon, through Cactus Flats OHV area. Another couple of checkpoints and over towards Onyx Summit where we had several more hard sections. We kept pace with the 15-1/2 year old girl but it was about here that Tim hit a wall and we had to take a long break. We had completed 6 checkpoints and only needed 1 more for the plaque but it took some coaxing to keep Tim going.
After we rested, we popped out onto the 138 and headed to Onyx Summit and then took a jeep road West. This was a new trail and very steep terrain to get to the top. Several times, we thought we had made it to the top, only to turn another corner and see another gnarly hill climb. The final hill was called Lightning Ridge and I do not think anyone was able to ride it up without stopping. Finally about 6:30ish, we made it to the top and stood at 9200' elevation looking back towards Big Bear. We made it.
We rode on to the 7th checkpoint and then on to the banquet for a few drinks and some grub. Tim was buying drinks to say thanks for pushing him to his limits and I was glad to oblige. We had fun at the dinner and then went back to the Motel 6 and played poker in the parking lot to around midnight before calling it a day.
Tim's son Cory thinks he wants to join us next year so I guess Tim will have to try for another plaque. Wanna come and joins us?
Dave Harlan
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