Maple Springs to Motorway (night)

Ride Name: Maple Springs to Motorway (night)
When: Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Time: 5:30
Where: Maple Springs Trailhead
Ride Description or Details:
Maple Springs, across Main Divide, and down Motorway.
~~~~~ Optional Details ~~~~~
Meet Location:
Skill Level: Intermediate
Ride Pace:
Type of Ride:
Rider Limit:
Anticipated Mileage: 17
Elevation Gain: <4000
Ride Duration:
Previous Ride Reports:http://www.imtbtrails.com/forum/threads/i-rode-my-bike-today.2149/page-167#post-66467
Possible Bail-Outs: Bailout back down Maple Springs. Once on Main Divide, you're in!
Facilities:
Food/water suggestions:
Option to Upload:

 

Should be really nice after the rain......IN.

 

Ok... We got one! Come on... There's another one or two out there who want to give it a try.

 

And I promise to behave myself....so come on fishies.....someone else bite that worm on that hook.

 

I might be able to swing this one.

 

It could be epic out there..smart little fishies will swim along!

 

Midweek rides in the Santa Anas aren't doable for me unless I have a day off. Someday...

 

Crap just paid attention to my schedule and I'm out. I can only do Tuesday evenings that early during the week. I'm on pickup duty for my daughter.

 

Want to, yes. But I can't get down there in time due to the new job location/hours/commute

 

.67 inches on Motorway, and .55 at Santiago Peak... I may need to get back up there again on Sunday.

 

I would be on this ride... if my wife wasn't out of town Wednesday night and I have daddy duties

But Sunday may be in the cards - as long as I am back in time for the wiener dog races / Oktoberfest at Old World. I have to leave my haus by 1:30 PM.

 

I'll probably post it again next week... Motorway is really growing on me.

 

I would love to go - never been. The last time I was about to go the fire broke out. I've only been up Maple Springs once, just to get familiar with that part, and have been wanting to do Motorway.

Funny thing about the Santa Anas. After missing a turnoff ONCE - 6 years ago - I am very leery of going too far on a new ride without a guide

Just need to buy a decent light between now and then...

 

If you do a little research....the SA's aren't that scary.

It's actually really easy to navigate...there really aren't that many turns/trails out there.

 

Steve has heard this story, but for the sake of public confession and redemption, I will share it with all...

Worst ride (but most educational ride) I've ever had. Six years ago I joined up with a stranger that I met on STR to do the Holy Jim / Trabuco loop. Neither of us had ever done it. I had printed maps, as well as the route on my Garmin. At the time, this was a big ride for me. Very hot day in September, 2010. Midweek ride - we were alone in the parking lot. I had a small (1 liter?) water backpack.

Got up to Main Divide without an issue, but I was surprised how physically challenging it was for a 5 mile climb (never haven ridden HJ before). Took off on Main Divide and hit the Wall in full sun / heat. This was about when the water ran out - but I knew I was getting close to Trabuco (somewhere) and relief. My Garmin was a little glitchy, and as I jostled it I managed to somehow disconnect the battery and couldn't turn it back on. My riding buddy and I were both hurting, but we were trying to put a brave face on it. At the bottom of the last climb to Trabuco (that I didn't know was the last climb to Trabuco) we were enveloped by the greatest swarm of flies I have ever experienced. Swatting at flies, dripping in sweat so that I could barely see, we got to the top of the hill and I paused to look for a trailhead. My riding partner, in total agony, said "f$%^k this" and shot through the clearing and down the hill. I followed, but after about a quarter mile started to feel panic. We shouldn't be descending. We had missed the trailhead. I started calling for him, but he was too far ahead to hear me. We didn't stop until we hit the pavement right before BlueJay.

Now I was in trouble. I was dead tired, out of water, and I was seriously worried about time pressure because I had to be back to pick up my son from school at 2 PM. We started back up the hill, but it quickly became a HAB because I just didn't have the strength to ride it. I remember sitting down on the side of the trail, in the shade of a tiny bush and trying to eat a protein bar, but I didn't have enough saliva to swallow it and almost choked.

Somehow or other I managed to get back to the top, and we found what we assumed to be the Trabuco trailhead. Now that I know where it is, it is easy to find. But at the time it was a little overgrown, and I believe even to this day it is unmarked (?) but I haven't ridden it in a while. That day it was completely unmarked. We tumbled down Trabuco and made it to the parking lot, and thank god I was smart enough to have left some Gatorade in the car. I tossed the bike in the back, and shot home, and was only 15 minutes late picking up my kid.

I learned about a dozen valuable lessons that day. The first thing I did when I got home is I ordered a new 3 liter hydration pack that I use to this day (though I don't always fill it up). I also got a new Garmin. And I bite off the Santa Anas a little bit at a time. I have since ridden HJ/Trabuco a ton, been up and over the peak, down Joplin, up and down Harding (23 times so far this year), etc. But my spider sense is always tingling when I go back in those mountains, particularly when I'm alone. I am much more respectful and cautious. And though I'm sure I would find the trailhead to the Motorway without an issue (given that I have looked at it in Google Earth a million times), it is just a little too similar to the time I thought I could locate the trailhead to Trabuco - but didn't

The farther North I go, the farther from my home, so the North end of the Santa Anas is still Terra Incognita to me

 

If I can sneak out of work in time. 50%

 

I'll send you my number in PM...

 

Ride into your fear, Bonzai-san. The way of the samurai is forward, like a thrusting sword.

 

I'll be posting this ride frequently, along with its bigger brother (Black Star to Motorway)... I'd be glad to show you the way some time. Either route will give you a good dose of Main Divide.

 

I bought my light...

Cateye Volt 1600

 

By the way... bonsai and banzai are two different things. Banzai is a toast or battle cry. Bonsai are little trees in pots. Bonzai is neither

 

Thank you for instruction, bonsai-san. Perhaps a toast is in order?

Also, recommend riding Motorway in daytime when possible. Nice views of Maple Springs, and the ride from Black Star is especially scenic.

 

How long do you judge this ride to take (in general) if you park at the lot at the top of Silverado Canyon? Took me 1:35 to get from the upper lot to Four Corners on Maple Springs (riding leisurely pace). How much longer do you think I should budget to go from Four Corners along Main Divide and down Motorway back to the lot?

 

Looking at the ride we did a couple weeks ago, which was also at night... We were 1:24:00 to 4 Corners, and 2:40:00 for the whole ride. From 4 Corners to the top of Motorway is 6 miles, mostly downhill. But, like most of Main Divide, there are a couple good climbs along the way.

If you budget anywhere between 3-4 hours, that allows for some breaks and time to check out the sights.

https://www.strava.com/activities/742982326

 

Really? Hmmmm... Maybe I need to invest in some lights after all

 

So, you did 3,600 feet of climbing on a 16 mile ride(actually less since it's mostly downhill after mile 7) on a single speed and only had a suffer score of 55. That's so not fair! I'd be triple digits for sure.

 

Is the motorway trailhead marked on Main Divide? I'm thinking of doing this tomorrow just to see it during the daytime...

 

There is a post/trail marker. If you have a garmin.....upload the route to it. You can't get lost.

From 4 corners....you will go past 2 white forest service gates(both are open). At the second gate, is the start of the Motorway off to the left. In the daylight, you can see the trail.

http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=47

 

Its sign posted (as Silverado trail) - you can't miss it

This is what/where you're looking for -

 

Oh, haha that's easy