{"id":2075,"date":"2012-04-07T22:01:42","date_gmt":"2012-04-08T05:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mxi2000.net\/mudworm\/?p=2075"},"modified":"2012-04-09T23:47:59","modified_gmt":"2012-04-10T06:47:59","slug":"2012-henry-coe-spring-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mxi2000.net\/mudworm\/2012\/04\/2012-henry-coe-spring-classic","title":{"rendered":"2012 Henry Coe Spring Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Announcement<\/strong>: The most complete account of this ride with many excellent photos, videos, and stories is actually on MTBR<\/a>. As much as I love it when you, my reader, stay on my blog, I must say you’ll like what you see in that thread more. But still, following is my initial account of the ride…<\/p>\n

It started out as an email thread discussing “Just show up and ride on March 24”, and then “Agua Extrema” on April 1, but somehow, it ended up being 2012 Henry Coe Spring Classic that actually took place for the 11 of us on this fine day, April 7. ElHombre was the proclaimed ride leader, but , Skyline35 seemed to always find a way to force ideas onto him by prefixing his sentences with “it’s YOUR<\/em> ride…” Those were excellent ideas as Skyline35 took us on many quality trails that we would not have known existed.<\/p>\n

I tried to stay with the three Henry Coe Musketeers, namely plymmer, ElHombre, and ratpick, whenever I could hoping to absorb some of their awesomeness, esp. in climbing, simply by proximity. I think it really worked because I was feeling fairly strong all day. Was very happy to clean the Serpentine climb at the end of the ride.<\/p>\n

Lots of goofiness on this ride, which made this long (near 9 hours elapse time with 5 hours of riding time) ride seem to go really fast. I enjoyed every moment of it, and I think one man contributed the most. Guess who?<\/p>\n

Oh, Skyline35, this bears repeats: pie or no pie, you *are* my favorite. Now, thanks so much for that Marie C. Pie. OMG, that’s the best apple pie I’d had in my life!<\/p>\n

Without further ado, let’s look at some action shots. (There are a lot more in my photo album<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

ID the riders topping out on Jim Donnelly Trail.
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Did you get it? … The joke.
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Skyline35 dictated, “A riders go straight up (taking Steer Ridge Road); B riders go left (taking Jim-Jones cutoff).” But I’m an A-wanna-B rider, so it confused me for a second there. But the cutoff is much more fun to ride, so I went left.
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So pretty!
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d-bug always puts on a happy face when he rides.
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A cross above Hoover Air Strip.
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Pacheco Falls are that way!
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Come on, what are you waiting for? Pacheco Falls are down here! Um… where?
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Rock in the pocket
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Rock in the pocket
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More, Rock in the pocket
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A ride with TahoeBC is guaranteed to have a lot of laughs.
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Except when he tries to steal your bike… my bike to be exact.
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The three Henry Coe Musketeers at the top of Serpentine Trail, waiting for TahoeBC to emerge. It was five for five. Others should all have gone this way because it was guaranteed success.
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A short video (with sound). Sorry about the fast transitions.
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