Gosh, what can I say that hasn't already been said about Noble Canyon? I mean, a lot of you have been there before... some a lot more than others. What made this ride the best ride ever ?!

1) Type of ride: It was decided, no sessioning, no picture taking, minimal stops. The stops were planned out ahead of time: bottom of Widowmaker, Middle Earth, bottom of Stairway, top of Whore - and it worked out nicely. You didn't have to worry about where this person was or that person. You just get to the regroup spot and once everyone's there... you're off! Total moving time for all of Noble (not including Extra Credit) was about 45 min. Break times were definitely less than that. Only one mechanical (me!) which didn't even happen until the end of Stairway (I pinch flatted on the very last part). You get such a different feel of Noble when you just speed through it without worry about slowing down or stopping.

2) Condition of the trails: Due to the rains from previous days, the dirt was so moist and tacky. It didn't even look like you were riding in SoCal. The dirt looks like soil! This is the first time I've really opened up at Noble and was rarely on the brakes and I just stuck to the ground without any worry of skidding or washing out. I mean, absolutely perfect trail conditions. Even climbing up Whore was a BREEZE! You almost felt like you were riding on a paved service road. When I got to the top, I honestly thought... that can't be it. I'm not tired! Screaming down Extra Credit was insanely fun!

3) The weather: Perfect temps! I never felt hot really, and it was never cold. There was a breeze in all the right spots. Climbing Whore was oh-so-very-pleasant. To hear me say that? You know it's got to have been good.

4) The crew: Everyone pretty much knew what they were doing and what to expect. And everyone was pretty damn good. It was great being able to chase after ozzer because it made me push myself past a limit I had previously thought I couldn't break. I tried to keep him in my sights as much as possible (though, he did eventually speed off) and it just pushed me to ride aggressively rather than just dilly-dallying my way down. It was also nice having DirtyMartini or JHill behind me because knowing that I didn't want to slow them down also pushed me harder.

5) The bike: I fucking love my Knolly. I can ride that bike the way I can't ride my Safire or my Slopestyle. The geometry on my Safire is just to steep for me to really enjoy the descents. The Slopestyle has awesome geometry for descents, but is just too heavy and isn't something I can just flick through the roller-coastery Extra Credit and the berms. The Knolly just gives me so much more confidence and I can lean the bike down more than I ever could on the other bikes, which leads me to rail a berm without braking. SOOOO much fun coming down Extra Credit.

6) The after ride meal: Pulled pork sandwich with potato salad and a pint of Willy Vanilly at Alpine Beer Company. Yum



7) The fucking parade!! Who the hell ends a ride with a parade?!!



Okay, so since we made such good time coming down Noble, we did session ONE thing:

I'll have DirtyMartini's run at this once I get it from JHill's phone.

I seriously could not have asked for a better ride

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~I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
~Nothing from nothing is nothing.
~I'm allowed to be a pussy because I have one!

Seriously did not feel like we were riding in SoCal! I definately opened it up more in a lot of sections than I have before. Also hitting Whore (at 10a on a cloudy day with recent rain) was not a bad climb, dont know what everyone bitches about Dragon's Back was pretty awesome, not fun to stare down though!
Also we were warned of the approaching parade in Alpine Brew Company and happened to just get trapped by it.
Pretty epic to end a ride with some good beer and then have a whole parade with horses, clowns, drunk cowboys/girls and fez mobiles

Noble is fun to session and ride socially but it is also a blast to have uninterrupted flow. Im still amazed that there were few technicals

Sounds awesome! One day I hope to be good enough on the technicals to join you all.

And by opening up that pub, Alpine did a HUGE favor to the far-East County riders (Laguna, Cuyamaca, ATT, Morena).

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"Those skilled at the unorthodox are infinite as heaven and earth, inexhaustible as the great rivers."
— Tzun Tzu

I agree with you on riding Noble without stopping frequently and sessioning everything. So much more fun to flow through everything.

Great way to end your ride. I <3 Alpine Brewery. Pure Hoppiness is pure goodness.

Great ride last sunday. Awesome to put some faces to names. Flowing noble is one of my favorite things to do. Especially after a recent rain and on big bikes. Oh, we had one more mechanical. AndiYeti had saddle issues, but nothing major.

Hopefully I'll be in better shape next time. Have a great day everyone!

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Best riding advice I ever got... "make sure you have air in your tires"

If you can ride SJT, you can do 95% of Noble proper. Only 2 techy sections to worry about.

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Best riding advice I ever got... "make sure you have air in your tires"

Unless its stated (like I think this one was) that is going to be a fast paced ride your always welcome on a ride. Im slower than molasses and walk most of the technical stuff on Noble and everyone always waits for the whole group at certain points. Ive always felt welcome on all the rides I have done with DT. So join in on the next one!

Awesome ride guys and girls loved flying down and stopping at the bottom of the stair way to hell without really stopping the rest of the time at all on the way down Noble.......Extra Credit and Whore were amazing as well and Alpine Brewery and the Parade were all gravy tooo!

Great TR BKJ ! I think you invented a new ride name. Noble flow Run!

Actually, I made a point to mention that this wasn't going to be a fast paced ride... just an Advanced ride in the sense that you should have already been there before and know the features, because we wouldn't be doing any real sessioning to get your technique down.

BUT, please don't think that I won't be posting social-paced (most of my rides are social-paced because I am S-L-O-W to pedal) Noble rides with LOTS of picture taking and sessioning. And n00bs are always welcome on those rides. I was a n00b just last year on Noble and ate shit a bazillion times. But the awesome crew from DT made it fun, so I kept coming back!

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~I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
~Nothing from nothing is nothing.
~I'm allowed to be a pussy because I have one!

Thanks all. That's encouraging. I hate making people wait 'cause I'm too cautious (read: "chicken-shit") on the DHs.

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"Those skilled at the unorthodox are infinite as heaven and earth, inexhaustible as the great rivers."
— Tzun Tzu

Your not alone brutha!

I would love to meet up with you guys some day. Key word "meet up" more likely at the Willy Vanilly at Alpine Beer Company

I'm with Random Walk.

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My Favorite Trail is unknown to many, everybody here loves it.

Great TR. I did have one fast & flowy ride thru Noble last year, but I didn't really want to! My friend's teenage sons wanted to ride it on their DH bikes, and once I got them pointed down it, we couldn't catch them to rein them in. I wanted to stop at least once or twice to savor the location, but not that day.

You guys that are hesitant about going because of techy stuff, or worried about holding up the group, shouldn't let that stop you. As others said, you can walk the worst. You could also go with a smaller group if you're more comfortable. If your stamina isn't great, just do upper Noble, the Canyon, and Extra Credit, so your legs are still feeling good for some of the harder stuff in there. Later try it with a BLT warmup, or the no-shuttle loop. It's a great ride. Why put it off?

BKJ, I did not know about the Brewery -- I will not miss it next time!

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Thus, if we are to understand the world, we should live somewhere between judgement and amazement — Alfredo Lopez Austin

Theres a rule about more than 5 posts a week its mandatory to attend a group ride!