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I’m proud to announce that we did it — Erik is now an official Hard COEre 100 (mile) finisher, and yours truly is a Hard COEre 100 (km) finisher as well as the course record holder. Yeah, as our dear friend Stephen once said, screw modesty!

I wrote that very short paragraph (except the last sentence) on my iPad while sitting at the picnic table alone in Henry Coe Hunting HollowParking Lot. I had returned from my 100km (63mi) solo MTB ride, got cleaned up and re-fueled. It would still be hours before I’d see Erik to return from his 100 miler assault, but I was confident. I figured I’d give myself a head start writing my ride report.  Before I typed any further, I saw a rider come in with his helmet light already turned on despite it still being light out. That was when I put my iPad down, for good, and didn’t pick up writing again until now.

(Update: A year later, I rode Hard COEer 100 miles myself — see report. I was one of the only two finishers of the year and am the only female finisher to date. Of course, I’m proud!)

Let me give a quick background introduction to the people who are not familiar with Hard COEre 100. It was Dirk’s idea. Not sure how long it had been brewing in his high capacity head (of a normal size though), but it came out in the open in 2010. One would ride a 100 mile loop on Henry Coe trails in one day. Other than the stop at the headquarter, where drinks and food can be obtained,  the ride would otherwise be unsupported. The mileage is only one part of the challenge. The bigger challenge is the steep hills throughout the course, which will total to 20,000 feet of elevation gain. Sounds crazy? His friends Roy and Patrick jumped on it. It took them two attempts, but they succeeded and finished the ride in 21 hours 13 minutes. Pain oozed out of their reports everywhere, which apparently sounded so good that it drew them back in 2011 as well as attracted some new blood. However, for one reason or another, the finisher list was still the same three names, and for one reason or another, it took them 23 hours 40 minutes this time. Then came 2012…

They had harassed (as Patrick puts it) us to join them. But 2010 was an extremely busy year for Erik. So, it was out of the question for him. I was riding strong, but I was not interested. To this day, I have still not done any night riding. Darkness scares me. I hear sounds and I imagine things, bad things. In 2011, we did not ride, and were not even following MTBR. So even though I think I still got an occasional reminder about the ride, it was easy for me to ignore it, guilt free. But the guys were persistent! Was that our first week back on our mountain bike around the New Year of 2012? Dirk already put 2012/10/6 on my calendar! At the time, I was feeling like such a rookie that I could barely ride in a straight line! In the next few months, I think I repeated a dozen times that I refuse to ride at night! Then… he came up with a metric century (100km/13,500′).  But still, I didn’t think I could finish it in daylight. Mid September, I asked Erik to stop by Dirk’s work to make a drop off for me and put it in bold in the email, “Do not commit to Coe 100!” So, he committed — he’d do the 100 miler. Oh, men are so predictable!  But now, what about me??? By Oct 5th, the day before the event, it was clear that I had no better things to do this weekend, so I guess I’d give the 100km ride a try? *Gulp*

On Friday evening, we had a guest — our contractor friend was over to discuss next weekend’s work and get the material list. We needed that, but that also delayed our packing. When we finally went to bed, it was almost 11:30pm. And still I didn’t have time to do any bike maintenance other than Erik’s quick chain lube job for me. (I paid for that on the ride because the entire drivetrain was creaking really bad in the second half of the ride, which made me wonder if the bike would hold). At least, I didn’t forget to put the 10 cans of chicken noodle soup in the car. The alarm went off too soon at 4am. Ugh!

Dirk said 7am start, so I made sure not to break that rule (unlike somebody else who left around 6:40am… not to name names). But when Dirk was giving a briefing to the group, I took off — never the meeting type of person. It was 7:08am. Plus, I felt that I needed a head start — for sure, the strong 100km riders, J.L. being one, would catch me soon, not to mention the super strong riders in the 100m group since we go the same way until the split to Coit Spring Road after 14 miles of riding. I guess this is a good time to show an overlay of the routes to give people a visual how the two routes differ.

I stuffed myself with breakfast on the drive to the start hoping to store as many calories as possible in my body. Oh, it was not comfortable climbing Lyman Wilson, which has a couple of very steep sections. I was just riding along (JRA) pacing myself for a long day, but still, I felt close to puking. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the climb and cleaned it without any problem. As it turned out, with the exception of that super tight switchback right out of China Hole and Bear Mountain, I cleaned all the climbs on my course, including the steeps on Middle Ridge Tr and at the end, Wagon Rd.

After I topped out from Wilson Camp, I took a wrong turn that resulted back tracking to that point. Just then, Sean Allen topped out. At the parking lot, I saw he was all ready to roll long before everyone else, but stayed for the briefing. I was not surprised to see him catching and passing me. That was the last time I saw him until his finish before midnight. After him, I expected to be passed by more riders any minute, but all the way until the 100 milers’ Coit Spring Rd turn off, still nobody came up. Weird. I started to wonder if Dirk’s brief was actually anything but brief. Later, I was told that it was indeed brief. The group left 10 minutes after I did.

Next person I saw was Charlie (Skyline35), eating at China Hole and Mahoney Meadows Rd intersection. At the time, I was still feeling the breakfast in my throat, so I didn’t stop long and kept rolling after a brief chat.  Charlie is used to riding at Coe alone late into the night, so it will not be a good idea for me to team up with him considering I made a point not to pack any light.  It was a gorgeous day, but I didn’t see hikers out on the trails.When I rolled into the HQ area at 10:54 am, it was a different scene. Ah… the Tarantula Festival. By then, I was feeling hungry again. Thanks to Ed (Fast Eddy), my lunch was waiting for me.  Saw Paul Nam (Sorcerer) and wife Chris and their friend Camille, whom I’d met before. Everyone gave me a warm welcome. Apparently they had a lot of questions. Where I was headed; where were the rest of the group; who were at the start; where everybody was going… I wish I could chat with them longer, but remembering that I still had two thirds of the long way to go, I answered the questions in a press conference style.  Actually, I held multiple press conferences because they were not all conveniently located at one spot. Half an hour later, I was ready to pull out of the parking lot. Not too bad, but where the heck was everybody?

By the time I turned off on Flat Frog Tr. after leaving HQ, I still had not seen a second Hard COEre riders. The 100 milers had to do 10 extra miles (more than 100km course) before getting to HQ. Okay, I’ll give them some time, but where were the other 100km riders???  I didn’t mind riding solo, but the fact that nobody was catching me puzzled me.

While riding up Hobbs Rd, I saw Paul B stopped at Frog Lake. We recognized each other, so I stopped to chat. He asked me if Charlie’s bike was fixed. Not having the context, I said, “I’d think so since he’s riding.” I remember asking myself how come I don’t remember seeing him mention his bike being broken on Strava. In hindsight, the conversation felt funny because I passed Charlie before Paul ran into him right after Charlie broke his derailleur cable and Paul played trail fairy by giving him one. I had no idea about that. When he saw that my bike was pointing up the fire road, he asked very innocently pointing at the gentle singletrack climb, Frog Lake Tr., which by passes the steep Hobbs Rod climb. I told him the the course sent us up the fire road, so I had to obey the rules (never mind that the trail is closed to bicyclists). We parted ways. Little did I know at the time, he would be the last human being I saw on my entire ride! If I had known that, I’d have given him a hug, a kiss, or something.

Middle Ridge is always fun, especially so today because all the previously down trees had been cleared (thanks to Paul N). After cresting the top, I washed out at a gentle bend when I forgot about my funky brakes (very weak front brake and a very sensitive and grabby, yet, rubbing, rear brake) and then reacted incorrectly when my rear tire started to slide. Bam! My left side (hip and knee) was bruised and scratched up. I really should had studied that cornering technique thread! I picked myself up and took the rest of the descent easy. But in the end I felt quite happy that the crash was the only time my feet touched the ground on Middle Ridge. I cleaned all the steep uphills as well as steep downhills.

Continuing on, I arrived at the base of Bear Mountain around 1:15pm. That was before Mike (diskus), god bless his tender heart, showed up to greet the Hard COEre riders. Later I learned that he missed me, Sean Allen, and Brian Lucido, both of whom were gunning for a fast finish of the 100 mile course. At the sight of the steep Bear Mountain Road, I smiled. A big grin emerged on my face. No, I’m not twisted (okay, maybe a little). I had good reasons to smile: 1) The road was so steep that it looked comically ridiculous; 2) the previous time I climbed that road was already after I started suffering leg cramps, and it was 100+ degrees, but not today… I felt fresh and it was not too hot; 3) I was ready to take a break from my saddle, so I look forward to the mandatory hike-a-bikes.  Unfortunately, the road turned out to be easier than it looked — I thought for sure I would be pushing the steep hill right at the bottom, but it surprised me that I rode up it without feeling too much exertion. Thankfully, my awesome performance did not last too long, and I got off my bike and started pushing. Whew! I took my time going up the mountain alternating between pushing and riding. In the mean time, I constantly looked back taking in the view behind/below me and trying to spot any rider. But none!  Who would have thought I made the 2nd overall place on this Bear Mountain Strava segment!

Once topped out on Bear Mountain, I knew the rest of the ride would be pure fun. I really enjoyed the primitive trail around Mississippi Lake and then Heritage Trail. Still expecting to be caught by the next rider, I took comfort in knowing that I was breaking trails for the people behind me. But of course, all I was doing was having fun on my bike, unlike what Charlie, Roy, Paul N, and many others do on a regular basis by removing branches and clearing bushes out there.

At 3:21pm, I rolled into Pacheco Camp. My first time ever being there all by myself. It was peaceful, but I had an eery feeling. The question mark that had been hanging above my head grew bigger — where the hell was everybody? Where was J.L., a strong rider doing 100km? Where were Sean and Brian who only had 10 extra miles more than my ride up to that point and I already covered near 50 miles by then. I ought to have been caught, but I wasn’t. What had I done wrong??? I was not going to hang around to find out though. Ate my food and refilled water. While sitting around, I contemplated a plan to welcome the riders behind me. It would be fun to set up water balloons in the trees and when the riders come in and sit down, the balloons would burst and water would rain down on them. Just a thought. I’m actually not that twisted, plus, I didn’t have the balloons. It was a 20 minute break, then I pushed on. Later studying the tracks, I realize that Brian (together with Sean?) came in to the camp about 23 minutes after I left. That was the closest I got with my fellow COEre riders.

I remember feeling a bit puzzled after I left Pacheco Camp. I thought I remembered my previous visit to the Camp, and it was always a long climb to get there, and how come, now I was also doing what seemed like endless climbing to get out? Does Coe phenomenon — everywhere you go, it’s a climb — exist? The last part after dropping down Tule Pond Trail was new to me. I remember distinctly on the cue sheet (which I didn’t print) that there would be 600 ft of climbing near the end. I did not expect the miles of climbing on Wagon Rd and later Phegley Ridge Rd. I cleaned it all, but it certainly caught me by surprise. The steep single track Phegley Ridge Trail descent at the end was fun. When Dirk later asked me if the sunset on Phegley was pretty, I gave him a blank look — I wouldn’t know because I rolled into Hunting Hollow parking lot at 5:29. I was too fast for the pretty sunset!

Back at the car, I had a dilemma. Remember how people say their legs feel like wet noodles after a long ride? I have experienced that before, but today, I had none of that! I was feeling very strong at the end that I wanted to ride up Jim Donnelly just to show that I could. Should I go back out? Just then, I saw the sun shower sitting on the top of my car. The dilemma resolved instantly. The hot shower felt so good! After everything was cleaned and put away, I set up my station on a picnic table at the center of the parking lot. Camp stove, light, food, water, iPad, and Kindle. I’d be there for a long time! (I brought a tent, but forgot a mat. Sleeping would be uncomfortable anyway.) That’s when I wrote down the first sentence in this report.

The rider who rode in was Mike. He had returned from his mission. I was happy to chat with him, especially, he had some information where and when he saw the riders. It sounded that Erik was riding strong and was an hour ahead of others (Dirk, Patrick, Roy, Brett) at Bear Mountain. Two young Google riders also returned after they aborted the 100 mile effort after HQ and returned via some less-than-optimal way. One guy said that his office mate, an ultra runner, would be giving him tons of crap for not finishing the ride, and he said it with a look of terror on his face. After a few seconds, he said, I think more to himself than to us, “I’m gonna lie about it.”

After they all left before I barely sat back down, a truck pulled in. That was Janet returning from her dinner with friends. She came to wait for her husband Brian. By then, it already got dark. The time in darkness goes by faster when you have company, and I was thankful that she was there.

The worry about Charlie crept up a little. I believed that he was doing the 100km course, but as it got late, I wondered if everything was okay with him. Everything was (after he replaced his derailleur cable) as he rolled in at 9:21pm, and joined the conversation after he cleaned up. Brian rolled in at 10:34pm, and Sean at 11:18pm, both of whom had completed the 100 mile course in a record time.  Brian still looked energetic when he returned, but he didn’t want to go back out and do the Everest Challenge (which should add 8000 feet of climbing)… unless someone else wants to do it. As he put it himself, “then I have to do it!” So, he lubed his chain and had everything laid out ready to go and joined us for conversation and food.

Eventually, everybody got tired and Brian did some math and predicted that a 21 hour finish (the group’s previous course record) would have them return at 4am, so, they hit the sack. Charlie left for home at 1am. I was alone again. I set up my tent near the gate with one door wide open facing the direction of return. Thinking that Erik was riding strong and he was hoping for an 18 hour finish, I wondered if I would see him at 1:30am. Laying down in the tent with no mat beneath me, I closed my eyes. But I didn’t fall asleep because I was straining my ears to listen to sound of return. A lot of sounds are made in the dark out in the wilderness, so, I pretty much opened my eyes every few seconds. 2am, 3am, 4am… No sign of Erik. I grew more and more anxious by the minute and sleeping became out of the question. I fetched my iPad and sat up, but staring at the notepad what I had written down, my brain drew blank — I wasn’t sure what I would end up writing, so I gave up.

5:50am, finally, sound! Light! That was Dirk first sprinted back. I jumped up with  my camera and headlight. I had been taking photos of each finisher and would not want to miss theirs. Erik was with them. So, what happened? Why did he not make it back earlier? I invite you to read his own account. (I also copied the entire content at the bottom of this post for easy access.)

Oh, BTW, the harassment for next year’s 100 miler has already started!

Overheard and Extras:

• Erik told me after returning home that he finally could understand why American Indians wore war paint. “I was riding with Brian. Took a look at him and saw his white, but blotched, face. It freaked me out! I closed my eyes, and he was still there!”   …   I decided to post this because I found it funny. Come on, Brian might be god, but still, someone has to make fun of him, right? BTW, Charlie called it Geisha face.

(photo courtesy of Patrick)

• When Erik rode talked with Charlie at the top of Bear Mountain, Charlie expressed his doubt about finishing the route. Erik says, you have to do it!  / Charlie: But where is everybody??? / Erik: Don’t matter, man, they are all behind you! You are the first place of men so far!  … A little encouragement goes long ways! And really long ways in this case. Charlie may be the mellowest guy on earth, but you can’t say he doesn’t have competitiveness in him.

(photo courtesy of Erik)

• Brett wasn’t very entertaining after the ride either. He went straight and disappeared in his car while everyone else gathered at the picnic table trading stories. Then he drove off after uttering a few brief parting words through the open window.  But after reading about his non-stop chattering, my guess is he must have finally run out of stuff to say.

• I didn’t capture on film Patrick’s 100 mile stare after the ride, although it was definitely there, but I did capture his monk look.

• I was amazed when Erik told me that he was never scared while being lost in the Bermuda Triangle in the dark. He did say that at one point, he saw two eyes staring at him behind a tree. “So, what did you do?” “I barked at it.” I asked him how he barked at the two eyes and he replayed for me. Our three cats scattered and went hiding. Nice job!

• At the headquarter, when I was walking away from Ed’s BBQ, I heard him say to the lady next to him, “she is riding 100 miles today…” I turned around to correct him, “100 kilometers!” He waved me off saying, “oh… let me tell my story. “

Related and not related links:

Almost all the links can be found (easily) on the official Result page. Following, I’m copying some from the page and adding some.

• Official Henry Coe Hard COEre website (including past years’ results).
• 2012 Hard COEre 100 thread on MTBR, with a lot of replies!

• Patrick (aka ratpick): writeup (blog), writeup (mtbr), Strava, photos
• Brian L: writeup and photos, Strava
• Roy (aka plymmer): writeup, Strava
• Sean Allan: writeup, Strava(1), Strava(2)
• Charlie (aka Skyline35): writeup and photos, Strava
• Erik (aka Mud Crud): writeup, Strava
• Mei (aka mudworm): writeup,  writeup (mtbr), Strava, Garmin connect
• Brett (aka Leopold Porkstacker): writeup,  Strava (1), Strava (2)
• Dirk (aka ElHombre): short writeup, long writeup, photos, Strava

 

Video:

A high quality production video made by Aaron on his failed second attempt of the 100 mile course. Read his great story. You really should watch the video. It captured the course and Bear Mountain very well.

Hard COEre 100 from Aaron Johnson on Vimeo.

My ride on Strava:

Dirk’s poster

Photos from our album:

 

 

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Erik’s Recap

This is the third year of this event and I had wanted to do this since I first heard of it but the prior years I just did not have the base fitness to be anything other than a liability. This year some how everything came together. Even at the last minute the bike. I replaced the drive train Thursday night since the middle chain ring was so worn that it skipped when under load. I did a test ride around the yard and there was not skipping even when ridding up the steep side sections. Problems would come later as the bike never shifted right during the entire ride.

Finished packing around 11 PM on Friday. I tried to be a bit conservative since I did not want to carry to much weight but there was just kind of a large mound of food. I tried to only take easy to eat stuff but I could not help but think “I have to carry that?”. After a good nights sleep the previous day just seemed to blur into the early morning drive to Coe the site of the third annual Hard COEre 100. A 100 mile race that has 20,000 feet of climbing. Some of those hills are incredibly steep.

We arrived at Hunting Hollow a bit early and just about everyone was there. I really love this stuff, the excitement in the air can be felt. There were quick greetings and I briefly got to meet Sean Allen, and said hi to some Coe Veterans. Dirk gave a quick briefing and we were off. One mile in is the first climb, Lyman Wilson, a two thousand foot shot straight up. I had not managed to clean this in a long time so I was very happy to get to the top without a dab. It was close though as at one point a person came off their bike right in front of me and I had to do a brief track stand before turning and pulling around him. We then rode a rolling fire road for a ways and at various points people stopped took pictures and peeled off layers.

The next long downhill seemed to spread people out a bit. At the bottom I took a good look at the course on my gps and kept riding. I did not really see much of the group after that. Brian caught up and we rode together until just after the airstrip. It was amazing that out by the airstrip we ran into an old timer that looked to be doing a long ride and he asked us if we were doing the Coe Century. The airstrip is a fair distance from anywhere. I almost stopped my bike to ask how the sam hill he knew about this little event but the long day ahead pushed me on. Brian and I rode briefly with Eric but he kept stopping to do trail work (talk about devotion).

The ride down Willow Ridge Trail was really fun and quite a surprise. I had only ridden up it , which is a suffer fest and a major challenge, and right near impossible if you want to ride up it without a dab. I had not even thought of riding down it. I managed to see the last of Brian as he disappeared over the top of the Mahoney Wall. I did manage to clean Lost Springs trail for the first time in a long time and felt real good about that. Soon I was at Headquarters and ate, met Fast Eddy, talked with Paul and Chris and just as I was heading out had time to say hi to Dirk, Patrick and Roy.

The Flat Frog through Middle Ridge section is always fun. I was not real fast but it was good to just settle down and roll through the hills to the base of Bear Mountain where a solitary person had setup post, marked by two crossed bones. Quite the welcome to Bear Mountain. It turned out to be Diskus. A person I had had heard quite a bit about but had never met. Up ahead up on Bear Mountain I could see a small person and a bike. After a talking with Diskus for a bit I headed out and after quite some time and quite a bit of hike a bike managed to exchange pleasantries with Charlie. He was making really good time up Bear Mountain. After a bit we departed and I rolled up past Mississippi Lake. A beautiful oasis in the middle of no where. I had not ridden the trail around the lake and found it quite nice and peaceful. I thought about stopping and eating the cob of corn that Fast Eddy had given me and filtering water but could not get myself stopped so on I went.

I really like the Heritage Trail to Pacheco Creek section and felt a good rhythm going although I started to get real hungry toward the end and was really happy when I got to Pacheco Camp. I ate half of what was left of my burrito and downed some goo, filtered water and futzed with my derailleur since it was still acting up. My rear tire was low so I pumped that up. This was the start of where my ride started to come apart. I remember looking at the time and it was 6:15 as headed up the road in the right direction direction toward Phoneline. No problems there but it seems then end of Phonline had changed so I had to do a double take to make sure I was at the bottom.

A bit later my tire went flat again so put some air in, just a bit later my gps beeped and the screen went blank. I rode up to the intersection of Coit Road and County Line and used a sign post as a bicycle stand. I put in a tube, dug out the lights and enjoyed the sunset. Ate some food and contemplated my predicament. I spread the map out and figured I could wait where I was, as it quickly turning to dark, or ride on knowing that I would be slower having to regularly consult the map ( Mudworm had given this to me at the last minute). Sooner or later the group behind me would catch up and I could finish the course with them. I had no idea how far ahead I was. I figured if I got to Dowdy I could always wait in the bathroom since those are usually fairly warm. I was confident (or was that just hubris) that I could make it to Dowdy just using the map and my memory.

I found the start of Dutches no problem but did have to stop and consult the map at every intersection to get there and few times on the way down Dutches. When I hit the Tie Down and Yellow Jacket junction I went up Tie Down instead of taking Yellow Jacket so I did an extra hike a bike. But no worries as I once again took a wrong turn and ended up at Yellow Jacket Pond, which was more scum than pond. How quickly we forget how to read a map. From there I made my way into the the heart of the Coe Triangle where I marched up and down the creek. At one point I thought I had to be going in the correct direction because I found some blue ribbons but that petered out. Eventually I gave up and took the wrong trail to Kaiser Aetna Road.

Once on Kaiser Aetna it is just a long grind upward to Dowdy Ranch with flush toilets and picnic tables. I was walking around in the dark trying to get cell phone reception when I heard voices. Not the usual voices but actual voices from real people. Soon the voices were followed by lights and up came Dirk, Patrick, Roy and Brett. Now I had companions and riding partners. We ate, drank, used the facilities and traded stories. All to soon we headed off. This next section from mile 75 to mile 80 was and I think for many is the hardest. Out of Dowdy Ranch the course goes up Bura Bura Trail which is not to bad on a normal day but after 75 miles and fifteen thousand feet of climbing it is tiresome and it ends at Center Flats Road.

Who named Center Flats Road is what I want to know cuz it aint flat. It is a series of short to medium length steep climbs that just do not stop and can suck the life out of the Tasmanian Devil. Five friggin miles that seem to never end. At the end of the road a quick left takes one back to Hunting Hollow rather quickly. But, the course does not go that way. Center Flats Road makes the distance one way seem quite short and the distance the other way seems very long.

We all gather up and head the long way back. Center Flats is followed by a somewhat long continuous climb. It hurts because it follows Center Flats, it feels good because it is not Center Flats. Very much like stopping to hit yourself in the head with a hammer. Glad your not doing it anymore but it still hurts. Finally Live Oaks Springs comes along and there is some much enjoyed easy miles. Live Oaks Springs Trail was a conundrum for me. This used to be a very beautiful road that had overgrown and become mostly single track but in places was double track. Everyone that I ever talked to about this trail would comment on how beautiful it was in some way. Then the fire went went through and it was scorched black. Then they took the graders to the road. Now it is a charred blacked carcass of a long dead dream. At least we did not have to pedal up.

The ride from there was quite pleasant rolling hills, a sky jammed with stars the occasional eyes reflecting from behind a tree. The miles seemed to float by. It was pretty cool how strong everyone seemed to be riding after 20 plus hours on a bike. Soon we are a stones throw from Wilson Camp and a 5 minute ride to the parking lot but one last detour was at hand. Down Vasquez Road, down into the pit we flew we knew we had one last destination. The last of the big climbs which Patrick and Dirk power up. Dirk was definitely feeling beer gravity. We hung out and chatted for just a bit at the top before dropping down to Hunting Hollow Road, at the very bottom of the descent I came to a complete stop and watched a couple of lights float down the hill. Patrick rode off in another direction to get some extra footies. That stop was the last stop for my front brakes, as I started to ride the final four flat miles back to the parking lot my brakes started squealing, it was metal on metal. My pads had given up and were gone. I worked the calipers apart just a bit and heading onward.

Rolling into the parking lot Mudworm, Brian and Janet came out to cheer us into the parking lot. It was a bit after 5 AM. Brian had finished at 10:15, Mudworm rode the 100K and finished in a little over 10 hours so had gotten back well before dark. It felt great. Well everything felt great with the exception of my butt. Mudworm heated up chicken noodle soup and hot water for everyone. I started to get my usual shakes, I had ridden all night with just a light vest and arm warmers only putting a wind breaker on for the final descent into Hunting Hollow. It is always cold here, it reminds me of the Pinnacles Camp ground. Just friggen cold even for a hot place.

We all traded stories and generally enjoyed the moment. After a bit Sean Allen, a Tahoe local, who drove down for the event showed up, he had gone off to camp and get some sleep. Really enjoyed just hanging out and watching the sunrise and talking bikes, riding and Henry Coe. Slowly people packed up and disappeared being replaced by the next day of visitors. I pulled over and let Mudworm take over the wheel as I just could not hold it together. After a bit we saw Patricks car along side the road, he was getting a necessary nap. Mudwom and I talked about the ride and other riders, talked strategy for the ride next year. Then we hit Hwy 101 and I lost consciousness.

• Post ID: 2352
• Categories: Mountain Biking
• Tags: henry coe
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