The Jims – Thu 7/21 6am

Ride Name & Date: The Jims – Thu 7/21 6am
When: Thu 7/21
Time: 5:55
Where: Holy Jim parking area
Ride Description or Details:
Up Holy Jim to Main Divide; MD to top of Upper Holy Jim; bomb the Jims. Upper is a short tech-fest; lower is slightly overgrown, fast and flowy. Fantastic views northeast into inland empire/SB Co from apex; more gorgeous views southwestward from UHJ.
~~Details~~
Meet Location: Holy Jim parking area
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced

This is a sanctioned event: No
Ride Pace: Easy with Moments of Effort
Type of Ride: Lollipop
Rider Limit: None
Anticipated Mileage: Less than 15
Elevation Gain: Guessing 2400
Ride Duration: 3 hours or a little longer
Previous Ride Reports:
Possible Bail-Outs: Turn around anywhere
Facilities: Porta-john @ TH
Food/water suggestions: Don't booze too hard tonight
Option to Upload:

 

Dave "Burner" Knuckes and I are the hosting team. We take lots of breaks and don't climb super fast. We descend everything in the quest for dabsence, (anyone dismounting where desired is okay with us). It's a fun ride, not a serious ride. However, we are serious about having fun, so a proper attitude should be as de rigeuer as a big hydration bladder.

See ya in the morn

 

I'm In
BTW, it's around 3100' climbing in 6.5 miles from the HJ lot to UHJ trailhead, and fastest I've done that climb is 2.5 hours including breaks. Def not a "rip your legs off" climb pace

Ha! Perfect! Let the games begin!

 

Wish I could make this.

 

I get about 3600 from the house, so I'm guessing you are correct with a hair over 3000...

Have fun! UHJ is presently beyond my skill level!

 

I haven't been on Upper Holy Jim since March, and there certainly was not an absence of dabs for me then. That trail has gotten pretty tough compared to a couple years ago. Thank goodness it isn't too bad regarding exposure... I've had bushes catch me like falling into a feather bed

 

Fun/tough ride with @mike this morning. 6am start was wise, it was 65 at the start and mid/upper 80s at top of Upper Holy Jim around 9am. Lower HJ has a lot of shade so is a pretty good warm weather ride, and it's in pretty good shape with a bit of overgrowth here and there. As we approached Main Divide the flies were thicker than I've ever seen them. Crazy swarms. Glad I packed a headnet. Main divide is as usual, steep, loose, powdery, in and out of the sun and flies. I was cooked by the UHJ trailhead.

As we dropped in on upper HJ the heat really picked up. The Garmin said 100. The trail is full sun southeast facing so just bakes. We stopped and sessioned a couple of tough spots and I think Mike eventually made them all, I couldn't get that last left switchback with the drop and gave up after 2 tries in the heat. That is one tough techy trail right now. Knowing the bad flies at MD/LHJ, Mike just dropped right in LHJ off MD and what the heck I followed, both made it safely (first for me) and away from the flies pretty quickly after that wicked uphill to start it off. Then the wild dusty bombfest down the switchbacks to the creek. Such a blast!

Super clear at UHJ trailhead... A few pics...

 

Yes, without a head net those little beasts would be a real inconvenience. I had to stop and put mine on even for the short climb going down from MD.

Super fun times; nobody around. A little warm, but worth going out. Damn good riding, Dave!

 

Good times and great riding indeed Mike! And thanks for the nudge to get me a little motivation back!

 

Way to get it in the heat...