Big Bear Run 2007

[Brett 0]

Roger & I arrived late Friday afternoon to find the Convention Center parking lot a bustle of activity with toy haulers and an endless stream of orange bikes. After check-in at the Motel 6 we registered for both days, receiving maps, roll charts, and GPS downloads ... this was quite an organized event!

Saturday morning we got going about an hour later than expected, then got lost for an hour. We didn't feel too stupid since the sweep guys were soon upon us but also could not easily find the way. After that it was smooth sailing until we spotted a life flight copter circling overhead. Up the trail there was a difficult hill climb where we found a rider down with a broken femur. Sweep guys were on hand so we moved on.

They called this the "easy" way, but it was anything but "easy" through much of it. The "Plaque Route" got the name "hard way", so they had to call this "easy"

By 11 AM we were out of water (yes, we brought plenty). It was hot! We bailed out to water-up and grab some grub. Back on the trail we completed the morning loop (80 ish miles) by the time we shoulda been done with the entire day.

The Sunday route was great! We hooked up with DigDug for a great day of riding. The roll-chart articulated 18 historical sites where we stopped to get a lesson about the early gold-rush days and see some physical remains of those days, i.e., cabins, equipment, mine shafts. The latter section was a fantastic joy-run through the most scenic areas of Big Bear.

The Saturday night awards banquet was very interesting and the food was great. They gave away so many prizes it seemed everyone would get something by evening's end. I think it was 38 riders who completed the difficult section in time to get the plaque. Those guys are my heroes!

A small fella sat down at our table next to Roger and I, but said nothing. I asked if he rode today? "Yep". We said we took the easy way but it was hard for us. Which way did you go? "The hard way" (then he says nothing). Did you finish? "Yep". (then he says nothing). I say I can't believe people can complete that route in the allotted nine hours ... "Yep". ??? So I ask him, "when did you leave?" "At 6:20". When I asked him what time he got in, we couldn't believe it ... "2:40, I think I was the first one in". The next in was almost an hour later ... he even beat all the club guys and organizers and route planners ... unbelievable. I asked him how many plaques he has, "Oh, ten or eleven?" At the plaque presentation they made a really big deal about this guy (Jim), but he was incredibly humble.

We didn't have anything but camera phones, so hopefully Roger and DigDug will post some pics here. Any other riders who have comments or picturs that would also be great! I only have these 2 from Doug 'n' I's venture into a mine shaft with our dive lights.

[Crawdaddy 96]

Any other riders who have comments or picturs that would also be great!

07 Big Bear Run photos

Big Bear Splash

[DigDug 0]

What a great ride – I’m already planning this one in for next year!!!

Well, here’s my story if anyone has a few minutes to kill (sorry, I don’t have any pictures – I just didn’t feel like lugging the camera around and didn’t think I’d want to stop at take pictures along the way):

My planned buddy had to back out (we missed ‘ya Rad), so I decided to go at it solo, still wanting to get all the hardways done. I figured there would be enough riders, and with the checkpoints and sweeps I’d be ok – all that was true. I got a late start out of San Marcos Friday evening and didn’t get up there until almost 9pm – just in time to check in and get my rollchart for Saturday’s ride. I got checked into Motel 6, took a quick look at the route so I wouldn’t be riding blind and went to bed. I figured getting a good night sleep was more important than a super-early start so by the time I got up, got the bike ready, and hit the trail, it was 7am.

The bike was running great, the weather was awesome, the scenery was incredible. I headed north of the lake towards the first hard split. That’s when it all started. About 10-15 miles into the route, on the cool little single-track (really fun trail by the way!!!) leading into John Bull I hit a rock a little too hard with my front tire and PPPssssssssss -- PINCH FLAT!!!!!!! I had figured 15psi would be plenty with the heavy duty tubes even with the rocky terrain. I guess I was riding a little too fast, trying to make up for my late start and time lost getting stuck behind other riders trying to climb the obstacles. Luckily, just off the side of the trail was a perfect workshop – one stump for the bike stand, and 3 feet away a second stump for a workbench. The wheel came off pretty quickly as did the first bead of the tire (good thing the tire was warm). New tube went in, but in my haste, I didn’t get the valve-stem lined up with the hole. I spun the tire/tube on the rim to get the stem lined up but that spun the rim guard (that rubber thing that keeps the spoke nipples away from the tube) making it a PAIN to get the valve stem through the holes!!! In all it took almost 45 minutes for the whole tube change ordeal. I aired both tires up to 22psi, figuring I’d deal with lack of traction to avoid another pinch flat. At the advice of a coworker (after the fact), I’m going to pull those rim guards off and use a couple wraps of electrical tape instead. In all, I lost almost an hour to my lack of tire-changing speed.

Off I go again. Over John Bull – really fun trail, but nothing terribly difficult. Back down to the merge with the easy route on Holcomb valley road – fast fire road, a chance to make up some lost time. I boogied over to the start of the next hard split – Gold Mountain. This year’s route had riders going down Gold Mountain – thank goodness! I worked my way down, stopping a couple times to help other riders through some tough sections – at least I wasn’t last! Great trail – loads of fun – especially the boulder field! A few miles on the pavement were a great rest, then back onto the dirt up to checkpoint one – again meeting up with the easy trail. Going through checkpoint one, I was rider number 186, near the back of the pack.

I grabbed my well-earned hardway ticket and took off – trying to make up some time. Down Jacoby Canyon – very scenic, fun riding. Past Cactus Flats OHV staging area and on out the Vista Trail. This section was relatively easy single-track – with an amazing view of the valley. Making up more time, and I was actually passing a few riders.

Again the easy/hard split came into the rollchart window and although I was starting to get a little tired, I followed the hard route. The trail winded its way up the canyons. I came upon checkpoint two. The guy running it said “go ahead and do the loop and we’ll get you on the way back out”. OK – no problem. The loop took us the difficult direction up Heartbreak Ridge. It’s called that for a reason!!! I think this is the only area of the course that I dropped the bike. Big, jagged boulders, climbing a hill mixed with loose dirt. As I think back on it now, it wasn’t that hard, but being tired already made it very hard. I think my 2 “get-off’s” were on easier sections too – I was just too tired to hang onto the handlebars as the front end bounced from rock to rock. Couple that with trying to work my way around Jeeps and it took WAYYYY tool long, eating more precious time. This is where the fatigue really set in. Luckily, coming down the backside of the ridge was fairly easy. I picked up my ticket, signed in at the checkpoint and took off.

The road was good from there – loose and rocky, but fairly level and open through Broom Flat. A good chance to rest and make up some time.

Across the highway and up some “unmarked/unmapped” single track. This section was a little bit of a challenge – but I think it was mostly because I was so tired. This was also the first section that I saw riders turning around, heading back to switch to the easy section. Hmm.. doesn’t look that bad up there. Up I went(Okay – so maybe it wasn’t THAT easy, but I made it). At the top of the hillclimb, I was happy to see a forest road- Wildhorse Road. Pick up the speeds again and work my way back down to the highway, into checkpoint three. I was now rider number 77 – making up some time (or maybe everyone was bailing to the easy ways).

A short stretch of pavement, then more forest roads. Up Clark’s Grade – a good, fast dirt road that winds its way up the sound face of Big Bear Mountain. About this time, the camelback went dry. The fatigue was setting in and my body was aching. Good thing this section was so long and easy, giving me a chance to recuperate. Good straight open sections, mixed with some sharp curves with big dropoffs. I took the turns slowly, knowing that both my body and concentration were dulling. About halfway up, I was heading for a sharp right turn with a steep dropoff to the left when I see a rider motioning me to slow down. I pull of the side and notice that one of his group had gone over the edge. The crashed rider was standing at the top – bruised and scraped pretty bad but otherwise in good shape but they needed help getting the bike back up. It was wedged in a bush about 30 feet over the edge. We looped together a couple towstraps and were able to get it up onto the road. Good ‘ol XR400 fired right up!!! (That comment's for you Hammer ) This took just over half an hour, before I continued up the grade.

About 2/3rds the way up came the last hard split of the morning route. I came across a group of 3 riders that were debating whether to go at it, or head up the easy way. I made the turn up the hardway ahead of them. This trail was the best of the day for me! It looked like it wasn’t a even legal trail. On the side of the hill, just wide enough for your tires – true single-track! Portions of it went through brush so thick that you couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of you. At one point, I had to get off my bike, lean it over almost onto its side to push it under a tree across the trail. The riders that I saw debating at the bottom of the tail caught up with me at one of the obstacles and we buddied up for the rest of the trail. They were all low on gas (we were near the 80 mile mark) and asked how I was. I looked into my tank and said I could spare a little if they needed. We topped the trail and hit checkpoint number four. After the fact I heard some people discussing this trail. Apparently, the BBTR guys found it marked on a map but couldn’t find any trail where the map said it was. So they cut the trail themselves!

All that was left was the ride into the gas station, about 15 miles of easier dirt roads. The couple manning the checkpoint were out of their rider gas, and the guy was draining gas out of the bike in the bed of his truck to pass to riders in need. Since I promised to stay with these 3 riders to the gas station, I waited as they took on gas just to be safe (I think two of the three were already on reserve). That took 20-30 minutes and off we went. Shortly after the checkpoint, my bike started to sputter. I quickly reached down and swapped to reserve – smooth running again.

By the time I pulled into the Shell station, it was 3pm. I filled up the tank, bought some water to top off the camelback and debated whether to continue the ride. I had done about 95 miles in the last 8 hours. The second half was about 85 miles if I did the hardways. Unlike the morning trails though, I knew and had ridden most of the trails planned for the afternoon hardways. I also felt that they were easier than what I had just done. I figured I’d give it a shot – heck, I could always turn around if it started getting too late. Fighting a headache, a tired body, and a time constraint, I climbed back onto my bike and started off. Gee, this front end feels kind of heavy. I looked down and what do you know? Another front flat!!! It was about 3:30pm, and the prospect of pulling the tube out at the gas station, trying to patch it (since I had already used my spare tube), and hoping that it would hold air was just too much. I decided that it was time to call it quits.

I rode back to the hotel on the flat (which worked pretty well on the streets surprisingly – even up to 40mph) and called it a day. Boy did that shower feel good! The food at the banquet was also very welcome! Despite being the toughest day of riding I can remember ever having – it had to have been the BEST day of riding I’ve ever had (maybe being the toughest is what made it the best).

The small shop on the mountain was out of 21 inch tubes so the next day, I got up early and patched my first, pinch-flatted, tube and put it back in the tire for the Sunday ride. It was supposed to an easy ride and I figured the patch would work fine for that. I checked in with the organizers and picked up my rollchart. There I ran into Brett and Roger. They graciously let me join them for the Sunday run. The Sunday ride was a nice, relaxing tour through the mountains surrounding Big Bear. Lots of scenic and historical stops. A bit more pavement than I like, but it was a refreshing change from Saturday. It was nice to slow down a bit and enjoy the scenery. The tube held up well – no problems at all.

Thanks Crawdaddy for turning me on to this event. Definitely one ride I’ll remember for years to come! The support was outstanding. The rollcharts were dead on (at least for the hardways). The organizers were great. In all – a first class event – well worth it!!!

Okay who’s ready to go back up there and attack this thing with me again???

[Crawdaddy 96]

What a great ride – I’m already planning this one in for next year!!!

Thanks Crawdaddy for turning me on to this event. Definitely one ride I’ll remember for years to come! The support was outstanding. The rollcharts were dead on (at least for the hardways). The organizers were great. In all – a first class event – well worth it!!!

Okay who’s ready to go back up there and attack this thing with me again???

Dang it, So you're the guy who was fiddling with his bike in the parking lot yesterday morning?.....had I known I would've stopped over and introduced myself before Jarrett and I headed out to ride......glad you enjoyed the ride.....sounds like you could've pulled it off with an early start and no pinchers - Dig Dug, You're a stud - :D - we plan on going back up and riding some of the hard stuff at our own pace and without 100+ guys speed bumping us out of their way (I tend to ride the easy stuff during the organized events and then go back with the roll charts/GPS with a smaller group to avoid the pile ups and avoid holding others up - I don't need the pressure )......I'm thinking Jarrett and I will go up sometime and do the morning hard way one day and the afternoon hardway another day......that's the only way we could pull it off.....we're not good enough/fast enough to swallow that much.....fun(?) ......in one day......that would be too much fun(?) !

I'll probably blow off the Sunday ride next year in favor of going back out and riding some of the Sat. hard ways on Sunday since they'll be uncrowded on Sunday.....

D37 link on/about the Big Bear Run

[mrorange 0]

A small fella sat down at our table next to Roger and I, but said nothing. I asked if he rode today? "Yep". We said we took the easy way but it was hard for us. Which way did you go? "The hard way" (then he says nothing). Did you finish? "Yep". (then he says nothing). I say I can't believe people can complete that route in the allotted nine hours ... "Yep". ??? So I ask him, "when did you leave?" "At 6:20". When I asked him what time he got in, we couldn't believe it ... "2:40, I think I was the first one in". The next in was almost an hour later ... he even beat all the club guys and organizers and route planners ... unbelievable. I asked him how many plaques he has, "Oh, ten or eleven?" At the plaque presentation they made a really big deal about this guy (Jim), but he was incredibly humble.

That was Jim. He is always in first. You’ll see him at the China Lake 300 or Death Valley 350 too. As far as I know he rides solo (at least until Jerry Counts stopped letting riders go solo on his rides). For the last couple of years I tell my buddies “See that guy over there. He is always in by 2 pm” as we pull in at 5 pm. Jim said it was his 10th plaque.

Jim sat next to me at the dinner so you must have been on the other side of him.

[DigDug 0]

Dang it, So you're the guy who was fiddling with his bike in the parking lot yesterday morning

Yup - that was me... Black pickup with the 450EXC. Just repairing some of the carniage from Saturday so I could ride Sunday... Here's the list:

Busted mirror (had a spare in the truck)

Popped the plastic off the handguard (zipties)

Coolant topoff (event the catch tank couldn't hold it all - and my fan hasn't come in yet - I'm going to have to stop messing around with OEM jets and order the JD kit)

Flat tire (already been mentioned )

Back left blinker (popped off and right back on again - lens is destroyed but bulb works)

Clutch lever catches on blinker switch assembly (simple adjustment - all is well)

I took a look at my air filter too.. IT WAS BROWN!!! And I wasn't even behind that many other riders for most of the ride. I think I'm going to have to buy a second filter for multi-day events like this, pre oil the spare and stick it in a ziplock bag.

glad you enjoyed the ride.....sounds like you could've pulled it off with an early start and no pinchers - Dig Dug, You're a stud

Nope - I wouldn't say a stud... Just a stubborn guy that doesn't like to call it quits...

This was my first ride on the new back tire - I threw a Kenda Trakmaster II on just before this ride. Saturday took almost 1/2 of the knobs off!!! Boy does that tire slide around on the hardpack too...

While I was getting ready with Brett and Roger Sunday morning, I saw your truck (the plate makes it pretty unmistakable) but you had already left.

Post up when you're ready to go back... I'd love to re-ride the AM hardways!!! That last single-track into checkpoint 4 was a blast!!!! I'd also love to check out the afternoon ones too... This goes for anyone!!!

[Brett 0]

Jim sat next to me at the dinner so you must have been on the other side of him.

Roger was on the other side of him, and I opposite him (blondish tired looking guy - See mineshaft pic above). I remember you and the chat we had.

[Crawdaddy 96]

This was my first ride on the new back tire - I threw a Kenda Trakmaster II on just before this ride. Saturday took almost 1/2 of the knobs off!!! Boy does that tire slide around on the hardpack too...

Likewise, I put on a set of Kenda Carlsbads before the ride.....the rear took a pounding (literally)....glad I threw on new rubber before the ride and yeah, likewise - slip and slide. I'm not sure it would matter what type of tire you had on the rear, those fire roads were slippery.....but the fresh knobbies helped with the climbing.....

Maybe we'll head up to Big Bear again sometime in August......Jarrett and I are off to Tahoe/Bass Lake next week/weekend.....nice 10 day jaunt of rafting/hiking/biking (with and without motors).....so much for available vacation time.....

[mrorange 0]

This was my first ride on the new back tire - I threw a Kenda Trakmaster II on just before this ride. Saturday took almost 1/2 of the knobs off!!! Boy does that tire slide around on the hardpack too...

Likewise, I put on a set of Kenda Carlsbads before the ride.....the rear took a pounding (literally)....glad I threw on new rubber before the ride and yeah, likewise - slip and slide. I'm not sure it would matter what type of tire you had on the rear, those fire roads were slippery.....but the fresh knobbies helped with the climbing.....

Big Bear tears up tires. 500cc bikes tear up tires. When riding the Big Bear Run I only do the main routes not the hard ways. I purchase off road tires to be in control and survive a ride. I do not worry about how long they will last on asphalt.

The traction this year was loose DG on top of hard dry DG, loose rocks on top of hard dry DG, loose branches (they are finally culling the dead trees. This is good) on top of hard dry DG, and of course loose rocks on top of loose rocks. There was some water but it did not make a big difference this year.

This year I rode the BBR with a set of worn Dunlop 739’s along with Bridgestone Heavy Duty tubes. I put them on in March for the Death Valley 350. They have 832 miles on them as of Sunday. I’m not sure how many miles was asphalt. Maybe two hundred? The rear is ready to replace but I could reverse it and get another ride out of it.

I’m starting to like the 739 front tire. It works really well in the hard DG and I don’t really feel any problems in the soft stuff. I felt in control on this years ride. I haven’t noticed anything different with the rear compared to a 756. Dunlop 756 or 739’s are not DOT approved.

Of course tires are like oil. Every one of us has a different need, type of riding, budget, and therefore what they prefer. I did notice a few bikes with Maxxis tires. When ever I check them out I don’t really see a difference in price compared to Dunlop. The Maxxis users claim they last longer. Maybe it’s time to try a Maxxis.

I tried Kenda Trackmasters. The front does not work on my KTM. I got rid of it after a 140 mile ride. It was totally out of control in anything soft. I tried two rears. Not that good at traction and they really chunk. They do wear a long time but then if it is not wearing out then you are not getting any traction.