2019 Kokopelli Epic Adventure

Discussion in 'Trailhead' started by Mikie, Jun 15, 2018.


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Added to Calendar: 05-09-19, 05-10-19, 05-11-19, 05-12-19
  1. Fijirob

    Fijirob Member

    Location:
    Ladera Ranch
    Name:
    Rob
    Wow fellas, I had an amazing time! Truly epic. Here are some thoughts:
    • The IMTB crew was awesome to be part of
    • Harder than I expected
    • Scenery was truly beautiful
    • Weather was near perfect for riding
    • 17 miles of climbing is hard on day 3
    • Going down UPS and LPS is even harder on day 3
    • Food was fantastic
    • I said "oh s#$t" more than I can count
    • Hike a bikes suck
    • Mikie's casual pace was not casual
    • Next time I'll train more than 5 months prior
    • Two of our guys snore extremely loud
    • I'm still pretty tired
    • All 3 days are difficult in their own unique way
    • Western Rim was stunning
    • I need to work on chunky drops more
    • I made it back in one piece
    • Sharone nearly going postal on obnoxious bike queue chick was awesome
    • Faust29 rallied after that fall and did great
    • Every time you look up it is a postcard view
    • Thanks for waiting for me at the top of the climbs fellas
    • It's hard setting up your tent at the end of a long day on the bike
    • How the f did I gain 2 pounds?
    • Alex and his staff were fantastic
    • Those ladies from Steamboat could climb
    • Not sure how I would fare if the temps were above 80
    • I'd do this again
    • Thank you Mikie and Team IMTB Trails
     
  2. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    That....@fijirob, was a fun assessment!
    I would like to apologize for my pace. I know that everywhere you turn your head it truly is a postcard moment. I tried to make sure we stopped at all the breath takers picture spots based on previous years. My fear was with a large group we would have some folks fry out there and not be able to complete so the goal was to go at a “moderate” pace so we got done at a reasonable time. Even with the pace we did, we were probably running mid pack at beast.
    Oh... and I totally got “Chicked” by a couple girls on the climbs! It was awesome. One of them was wearing that skirt thingy.... sexy!
     
  3. mtbMike

    mtbMike iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    PRESCOTT!!!
    Name:
    Mike
    Current Bike:
    Ibis HD5, Ripley & Mojo 4
    I'm going to need to see a photo of said skirt or will otherwise just assume it was a transgender dude with hairy legs.
     
  4. Ricekrispyota

    Ricekrispyota Member

    Name:
    Dana Weinberg
    This x 1000!!! x infinity on the hike a bikes. I did week one and would basically call this ride a character builder. I learned a lot about myself.
     
  5. SS Barby

    SS Barby Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Palmdale, CA
    Name:
    Barby
    Current Bike:
    Ibis Ripley LS/ Esker Hayduke
    Most of you guys do not know me, but, I would love to join next year. Been on my bucket list for years but never had anyone else who wanted to do it.
     
    ricke24, Tom the Bomb, Luis and 9 others like this.
  6. mtnbikej

    mtnbikej J-Zilla

    Location:
    Orange
    Name:
    J
    Current Bike:
    SC Chameleon SS, SC Hightower

    I didn’t know any of these hooligans on this ride. :whistling:
     
    Tom the Bomb, Luis, SS Barby and 9 others like this.
  7. Ricekrispyota

    Ricekrispyota Member

    Name:
    Dana Weinberg
    I was in a group of 1. Every body was friendly and I pretty much rode with everyone (they'd pass me on the climbs and I'd catch up on the descents). Everyone was friendly.
     
    DangerDirtyD, Luis, SS Barby and 9 others like this.
  8. peteNes

    peteNes Newbie with Hope!

    Location:
    shadow hills
    Name:
    pete
    Current Bike:
    SB130
    I drank the tailwinds and kokopelli kool aid. I had a great time riding with everyone. (When I could see you)
    Thanks !
     
  9. peteNes

    peteNes Newbie with Hope!

    Location:
    shadow hills
    Name:
    pete
    Current Bike:
    SB130
     
    mountaingirl sara and Mikie like this.
  10. scan

    scan iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    fran allas
    Current Bike:
    Scott Spark
    Pun intended??
     
  11. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    Ha ha! Not intended...;)
     
  12. evdog

    evdog iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    San diego
    Name:
    Evan S
    Yeah, I'm not into guiding/hand holding. But there are no shortage of routes out there for riders take on and it doesn't need to be part of an organized event. I'm sure the Kokopelli route is fun but it would drive me crazy doing this year after year knowing there is so much other stuff out there to explore.

    Not everyone is into it (or realizes it would be great for them) but bikepacking is still the best way to do any long route IMO. You have ultimate flexibility to do whatever you want in exchange for carrying your own gear and food and giving up some comfort. Honestly it isn't that much harder than normal riding and you get the satisfaction of knowing you did it all yourself - hard to explain but there is something about riding an entire point to point route without support that is just awesome. It's fairly easy to plan routes so you don't have to carry that much food or water. Lots of ready to ride route options out there, even locally: Stagecoach 400, Tour de los Padres, Caldera 250/500, Bones to Blue (Tahoe), Black Canyon Trail, AZT, etc etc and more on bikepacking.com.

    And if you insist on support there is no shortage of tour companies out there that can help. Hermosa Tours does self-guided (supported but non-guided) tours in CO, UT, AZ and has also paired with AZT Expeditions to do the same on the Arizona Trail. The Oracle to Picketpost section is around 90 miles and would be a great one to check out http://aztexpeditions.com/Arizona-Trail-1. I'm sure you could get a guide service to support you on a bikepacking route as a custom trip as well. Or better (and cheaper) pay someone's spouse or kid to come along and drive a support vehicle with food and camping gear.
     
    mike, HBkites, Old&InTheWay and 7 others like this.
  13. mountaingirl sara

    mountaingirl sara iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    So Cal
    Name:
    Sara
    Current Bike:
    Ibis Ripley
    Someday Koko or similar is gonna happen:thumbsup:
    Sounds like an epic trip you guys, looking forward to more pics and stories!
     
  14. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    Oracle to PP is preferred over PP to Oracle?
     
    Tom the Bomb and Mikie like this.
  15. Voodoo Tom

    Voodoo Tom MTB Addict

    Location:
    Castaic
    Name:
    Tom Kokkinakis
    Current Bike:
    Mango one, black one, Ti one
    Welcome aboard Pete, great riding and sharing an epic adventure with you...:thumbsup: You gave that SB130 a proper break in.
     
    ricke24, Tom the Bomb, Stkx66 and 6 others like this.
  16. Old Skool

    Old Skool Member

    Location:
    Hacienda Hgts. (Turnbull Cyn. is in my backyard!)
    Name:
    Rick
    Current Bike:
    Pivot Mach 5.7 C
    Count me in for next year! Damn I'm even more bummed after seeing the pics & RR:bang::bang::bang:
     
    Luis, ricke24, Tom the Bomb and 2 others like this.
  17. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    If it's all good with everyone, I'm going to work at consolidating this thread into the Ride Report so we can get the full flavor in one spot as there is some really good stuff here!
    I also can now see all the pics on the ride report.
     
    Old&InTheWay, Luis, ricke24 and 7 others like this.
  18. evdog

    evdog iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    San diego
    Name:
    Evan S
    I've ridden the whole thing both directions and prefer south to north (Oracle to PP), which is the general consensus. Mostly because the descent into Bloodsucker Wash and climbing to Ripsey ridgeline are both significantly easier heading north. You will get differing opinions about Picketpost to Kelvin. The majority of day riders do this segment southbound from Picketpost however I'm convinced riding Kelvin to Picketpost is easier, which fits with the overall S to N preference from Oracle.

    Riding south from Picketpost there is around 12miles of climbing to the top of Martinez Canyon. It is almost all rideable but there is some really tough climbing in there you can blow yourself up on and still have a long ways to go. Most people like this direction because of the 7mi descent to the Gila. It is an awesome descent. But then you have 16 miles along the river with three main climbs. These are tough and will include some HAB heading towards Kelvin. So it isn't a downhill ending. Heading the other direction from Kelvin those climbs along the river are very rideable. The climb out of the Gila is only 2000ft and has some HAB where it is too steep or technical to climb - maybe 500ft of it? The rest is all rideable and I find the HAB breaks up the climbing nicely. At the top you have a fun 12mile (mostly) descent to Picketpost.
     
  19. Dirtrider....

    Dirtrider.... Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Mission Viejo, CA
    Name:
    Paul
    Current Bike:
    Ibis Ripley V4
    im in for 2020... 2019 was epic on trip #1. such a well organized ride. highly recommend bikerpelli
     
    Luis and Voodoo Tom like this.
  20. Dirtrider....

    Dirtrider.... Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Mission Viejo, CA
    Name:
    Paul
    Current Bike:
    Ibis Ripley V4
    my only complaint is the shuttle line and lack thereof... at one point Alex said to the riders for us to figure it out... someone began shouting numbers... it was a cluster F. that is my only complaint. i hope they organize the shuttle line up better in future years.
     
    Fijirob, Luis, Voodoo Tom and 2 others like this.
  21. Ricekrispyota

    Ricekrispyota Member

    Name:
    Dana Weinberg

    In week one we had the same issue. Someone came up with the idea to lay the bikes down in a row starting where the van parked. Shuttle rides were given in the order of the bikes. The rider handed their own bike to the drivers and got in the van. Seemed to work pretty well. The folks whose bike was in line, but weren’t ready to go, just let others go in front of them.
     
    Cyclotourist likes this.
  22. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    Thanks. I've done the 12 mile climb from PP to top of Martinez and back.

    From Oracle and points North makes more sense anyway because it would be with a friend who lives in Tucson which would be home base for my stay.
     
    Cyclotourist likes this.
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As a former Amazon Associate I continue to get screwed trying to stay qualified as an Amazon Affiliate. So I quit!


Want to donate to imtbtrails?