Joplin!
Joplin Trailhead (pic from GeoLadders):
First some quick context ...
Last year around this time Matt and I were climbing to Santiago Peak when we ran across some Warrior's Society guy named Mark. He told us we should join him by going down Joplin instead of going back down Harding, the way we came up.
He said it was the "jewel of the Santa Ana Mountains" and so we figured we'd give it a try. We should have known better when we got to the trail and he was putting on sleeves and leg warmers to protect himself from poison oak. Then he dropped his seat to get ready. It was at this time that I realized the seat on my stupid bike couldn't drop very far because it would hit the rear shock.
Matt and I didn't make it very far before I endo'ed and hit him on his bike causing both of us to go into the bushes. Mark told us the trail only got much tougher, so we hiked back out and forgot about it.
... fast forward one year ...
Lots of guys I ride with have been down Joplin and over time I had forgotten how miserable I was when I first tried it. I figured after a year of riding I would be better equipped to handle it. Plus I had been down some hyper-technical trails in the mean time and have a good gauge on what to ride and what to walk.
Adding to my excitement was the fact that I was able to get my seatpost cut so that I could drop and extra inch or two. I was hoping that would really help with the descent.
TO THE RIDE! ...
I met Troy, Matt and Andrew at 8am at the bottom of Harding and we were all in really good spirits. It's just so awesome to be riding for the pure fun of it now instead of riding to train.
I felt crappy for the first third of the ascent to Four Corners, but I gutted it out. My legs felt pretty tired and sore and I had a drape of general fatigue over me, but it left after the first hour or so.
Matt bonked halfway up but was able to recover after a bit more riding. It's amazing how riding can cure cramps, bonking and whatever else. I suppose there is a point where riding more can only hurt, but I'm always surprised to see how riding MORE can make you feel better when riding was what hurt you in the first place.
When we got to Four Corners I thought we'd stop to eat and relax, but Troy kept going. What the heck Troy?! Haha.
We met a friend of Troy's on the way to Modjeska Peak and stopped to talk to him for a while. That allowed all of us to get the break we needed.
When we finally got to the Joplin trailhead I was pretty nervous. I had built up the descent in my mind, and it was looming large in my head. Here is a brief description of Joplin from Mountain Bike Bill's website:
"It starts at the saddle of Modjeska and Santiago Peaks and drops down the west slope of the mountains to an area called Old Camp. Drops is a good word to describe this trail as it sheds off nearly 2,000 feet of elevation in about 2 miles. The trail is often loose and rocky with some chunky stuff here and there. Combined with an average grade of 20 percent this is one of those places where you need to bring your "A" game to fully appreciate this trail."
So the jist of that is that the trail loses elevation really fast and the surface is loose and rocky.
We all lowered our seats and took off. We tried to space out a decent amount to make sure that if one of us crashed, the person behind wouldn't crash into them and make things worse. I was the last guy to go down.
The top section wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. It was definitely loose though. The dirt and leaves made the surface almost like ice. You need to be really comfortable fish-tailing on the bike to do this trail. My bike tire was constantly going back and forth behind me.
The top of Joplin (pretty steep):
I ended up catching up to Andrew (who was the guy in front of me) a few times at some tricky spots. I'm glad he stopped in a few places because it forced me to walk and if he hadn't been there I might have tried some things that were out of my league.
There was one prolonged section in the middle of the descent that I am very proud to have ridden through. It was a steep section with lots of large rocks in it. I don't know if I would call it a rock garden though. It was such a long section, but I rode down all of it and was exhausted after finishing it. It took a lot of energy to constantly make sure I was going where I wanted to go and making sure I could clear the little drops and rocks in my way.
The only tough parts were easy to spot and easy enough for me to understand I didn't want to try them. Matt made it down a pretty tricky spot and impressed everyone. Haha. He always does that.
Section Matt cleared (that isn't Matt though):
There really isn't much else to say about the descent. There was poison oak on the side of the trail in a few spots, but we all came out ok. If it wasn't for the poison oak, I think I'd want to do this trail a lot more. It's really great downhill training.
We finally rolled into Old Camp proper and then made a really crappy climb up to what most people think of as Old Camp. The ride back was pretty fun and I think we were all feeling a bit more aggressive than usual having made it down Joplin. I know I was riding fast and confidently since the terrain and grade was so much easier.
Matt ended up taking a dive on a turn and fell right on his butt. Took him a few minutes to get himself together, but it didn't seem to be a really bad crash.
The ride back out to the gate at the start of the truck trail wasn't bad, but it was definitely tougher than it should have been for me. I ran out of water way too early in the ride and started to cramp on the climbs out. I've gotten really used to cramping though and can ride without getting too messed up.
Riding this trail was one of my major goals for this year and I'm super stoked to have finished it.
West Horsethief is the next trail to conquer!
Mountain Bike Bill's description of Joplin
A video of a guy doing Joplin
First some quick context ...
Last year around this time Matt and I were climbing to Santiago Peak when we ran across some Warrior's Society guy named Mark. He told us we should join him by going down Joplin instead of going back down Harding, the way we came up.
He said it was the "jewel of the Santa Ana Mountains" and so we figured we'd give it a try. We should have known better when we got to the trail and he was putting on sleeves and leg warmers to protect himself from poison oak. Then he dropped his seat to get ready. It was at this time that I realized the seat on my stupid bike couldn't drop very far because it would hit the rear shock.
Matt and I didn't make it very far before I endo'ed and hit him on his bike causing both of us to go into the bushes. Mark told us the trail only got much tougher, so we hiked back out and forgot about it.
... fast forward one year ...
Lots of guys I ride with have been down Joplin and over time I had forgotten how miserable I was when I first tried it. I figured after a year of riding I would be better equipped to handle it. Plus I had been down some hyper-technical trails in the mean time and have a good gauge on what to ride and what to walk.
Adding to my excitement was the fact that I was able to get my seatpost cut so that I could drop and extra inch or two. I was hoping that would really help with the descent.
TO THE RIDE! ...
I met Troy, Matt and Andrew at 8am at the bottom of Harding and we were all in really good spirits. It's just so awesome to be riding for the pure fun of it now instead of riding to train.
I felt crappy for the first third of the ascent to Four Corners, but I gutted it out. My legs felt pretty tired and sore and I had a drape of general fatigue over me, but it left after the first hour or so.
Matt bonked halfway up but was able to recover after a bit more riding. It's amazing how riding can cure cramps, bonking and whatever else. I suppose there is a point where riding more can only hurt, but I'm always surprised to see how riding MORE can make you feel better when riding was what hurt you in the first place.
When we got to Four Corners I thought we'd stop to eat and relax, but Troy kept going. What the heck Troy?! Haha.
We met a friend of Troy's on the way to Modjeska Peak and stopped to talk to him for a while. That allowed all of us to get the break we needed.
When we finally got to the Joplin trailhead I was pretty nervous. I had built up the descent in my mind, and it was looming large in my head. Here is a brief description of Joplin from Mountain Bike Bill's website:
"It starts at the saddle of Modjeska and Santiago Peaks and drops down the west slope of the mountains to an area called Old Camp. Drops is a good word to describe this trail as it sheds off nearly 2,000 feet of elevation in about 2 miles. The trail is often loose and rocky with some chunky stuff here and there. Combined with an average grade of 20 percent this is one of those places where you need to bring your "A" game to fully appreciate this trail."
So the jist of that is that the trail loses elevation really fast and the surface is loose and rocky.
We all lowered our seats and took off. We tried to space out a decent amount to make sure that if one of us crashed, the person behind wouldn't crash into them and make things worse. I was the last guy to go down.
The top section wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. It was definitely loose though. The dirt and leaves made the surface almost like ice. You need to be really comfortable fish-tailing on the bike to do this trail. My bike tire was constantly going back and forth behind me.
The top of Joplin (pretty steep):
I ended up catching up to Andrew (who was the guy in front of me) a few times at some tricky spots. I'm glad he stopped in a few places because it forced me to walk and if he hadn't been there I might have tried some things that were out of my league.
There was one prolonged section in the middle of the descent that I am very proud to have ridden through. It was a steep section with lots of large rocks in it. I don't know if I would call it a rock garden though. It was such a long section, but I rode down all of it and was exhausted after finishing it. It took a lot of energy to constantly make sure I was going where I wanted to go and making sure I could clear the little drops and rocks in my way.
The only tough parts were easy to spot and easy enough for me to understand I didn't want to try them. Matt made it down a pretty tricky spot and impressed everyone. Haha. He always does that.
Section Matt cleared (that isn't Matt though):
There really isn't much else to say about the descent. There was poison oak on the side of the trail in a few spots, but we all came out ok. If it wasn't for the poison oak, I think I'd want to do this trail a lot more. It's really great downhill training.
We finally rolled into Old Camp proper and then made a really crappy climb up to what most people think of as Old Camp. The ride back was pretty fun and I think we were all feeling a bit more aggressive than usual having made it down Joplin. I know I was riding fast and confidently since the terrain and grade was so much easier.
Matt ended up taking a dive on a turn and fell right on his butt. Took him a few minutes to get himself together, but it didn't seem to be a really bad crash.
The ride back out to the gate at the start of the truck trail wasn't bad, but it was definitely tougher than it should have been for me. I ran out of water way too early in the ride and started to cramp on the climbs out. I've gotten really used to cramping though and can ride without getting too messed up.
Riding this trail was one of my major goals for this year and I'm super stoked to have finished it.
West Horsethief is the next trail to conquer!
Mountain Bike Bill's description of Joplin
A video of a guy doing Joplin
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1 Comments:
Joplin was awesome! I'm surprised nobody ate it because there were some crazy obstacles.
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