SkooterG
Purveyor of Crooked Facts
Ok, so I am finally getting around to a little write-up of riding in the Cal24 rally this past weekend. Warning: This turned out to be waaaay longer than planned. Hope it's not outright boring.
Right. Off we go then.........
Thursday, June 8th 2330 hours.
I depart my home, enroute to Dunnigan, Kailfornia, for the Cal24 rally. Gonna meet fellow forum member vectervp1 at a gas station at 2400 hours. We will be riding out there together. Yes, that's right, we are leaving at midnight. Gonna ride straight through, anticipating riding the 830 miles or so and getting into Dunnigan around 1200 hours the next day. "Why leave at midnight?" you ask. Cause we are crazy f'ing bastards and it is hot as hell here in Arizona in the daytime. Ride the desert during the day in 110+ temps? No thank you.
A bit of history. I have some trepidation about riding this year's Cal24 rally. You see, last year I crashed during the rally. Only time I have ever really crashed on a bike. High-sided while checking out the beautiful scenery of Sonora Pass about one third into the rally. Broke my wrist and did $5200 damage to the FJR. Still finished that rally though. Even while missing the windshied, both the mirrors, and one footpeg. Crazy? Perhaps. Stupid? Hell yes.
So......though not a superstitious person, I have some demons to deal with when it comes to running this rally.
Fast forward: After ANOTHER boring ride on Interstate 10 to Los Angeles to I-210 where once again I was getting wet and cold (High 50s and misting) and heading north on I-5, vectervp1 and I arrived at Dunnigan at about 12:30pm on Friday. Let me tell you, we are both really getting sick of the interstates 10/210/5 route. Please, somebody shoot me before I ride that route again.
So we are some of the first ones there for a change. Pre-rally fun starts with the typical BSing and lie telling. Get to see my first 06 FJR. Rallymaster Tom Melchild's is there in all its glory. Purty. Too bad its' not half the bike my 04 FJR is.
Big crowd. LOTS of FJRs. Not sure how many, but must have been at least 15 there. Get to meet some fellow forum members for the first time. Bluestreak, Paul Peloquin, mehaffydr, and of course TurboDave. Also get to see old friends. Good times.
So, then there is the rider's meeting blah, blah, blah, dinner and then it's off to bed.
Saturday 0730 hours
Rider's meeting starts. Pertinent info is promulgated (watch out for deer - a bad omen), and that sumbitch Melchild hands out the rally instructions. We have a bit over an hour to plan the rally before the 0900 departure time. Well, this is where my rally started off poorly. You see, this was my first rally with a GPS so I spent most of the next two hours entering the info into my GPS. Lesson learned. GPS is a tool to assist you, not the be all to run the rally with. Yes, that's right 2 hours. I left an hour late. I WILL NOT DO THAT AGAIN!!!!
Now, that bastard Melchild (I say that lovingly) puts on one hell of a rally, and this year was no exception. And he made it pretty damned tough as far as I am concerned. A base route almost impossible to complete. Rally info not in order with cryptic bonus locations. And other fun crap I'll get to later. I will say in my somewhat limited rally riding career, this was the hardest rally I have participated in.
So, not too long after starting the rally, I realize it is not going to be smart to complete the base route. Too much slow stuff due to scenic roads full of traffic and twistys. So I divert, heading to get some bonii while heading to the first checkpoint.
Now that bastard Melchild had told us we all would be getting wet at the first checkpoint. Of course he told us this with sinister laugh. Well, what fun awaited!
Arrived at the first checkpoint - Lake Berryessa. I am running later then I want, despite my diverting off the base route. Lots of rallyers already there, and some gone. So what is the game we get to play here?
1) Go down to the lake and get wet. Gets you 0 points, but credit for the checkpoint. (Mandatory)
2) Take a boat ride, break plane on a kneeboard and that gets you 1000 points.
3) Jump off the rock gets you 2000 points.
Based on the points for other bonuses, these are a lot of points. I hate heights and jumping into water from high places. Some nervous intermingling with others and I find out many are jumping off the rock. Shit! If I am going to be remotely competetive, I gotta jump off the damned rock. Doesn't the saying go something like this: Stress: the mind's resistance to the body's natural urge to choke the living shit out of somebody. Where's Melchild?!?!?!
What rock you ask?
This f'ing rock:
That's right sports fans. Gotta jump off the top of this sucker. Scary shit. Word.
Well, I did it. Was not easy. But in the end, a lot of fun. And conquering some major fear was a good thing too. Points received.
Readers Digest version: After the first checkpoint, lots of twistys, some small points bonii, and a quick run up Highway 101. This get's me to the start of highway 36. That damned Melchild. What a road. Might of been fun if, 1) I would have run it in the daylight, and 2) I never saw any f'ing forrest rats. But that was not the case for your intrepid author. That road kicked my ass. Lots of slow, blind, corners. And deer. I kept on waiting to encounter Bambi in the middle of my lane as I rounded the hundreds of blind corners. Had to stop and take a break in the middle cause the high level of concentration required and stress (deer) was wiping me out. All ended well however. I arrived at checkpoint #2 in one piece where the mighty Warchild signed me in.
So, off we go........Road got straighter, but the freaking forrest rats were everywhere! I had 17 deer encounters. A few of those were multiple deer of 3 or more that I am only counting as one. Two of those were closer than I care to remember. For one I hit the binders hard from an elevated speed and locked up the rear. Yikes! That's how I high-sided last year. It's unbelievable to me that no rally participants hit a deer. Those infernal creatures were everywhere! I am very thankful that nobody had a deer encounter. (Though there were two that crashed - one involving an 03 FJR on Hwy 36. Rider error was the report. Rider was ok. Not sure who it was. FJR was mangled, but ridable)
***Hijack of my own story*** And next week I am off to the Utah 1088 rally where at least two riders including vectervp1 hit deer during last year's rally. Yikes!
Well, got some more bonii, including a big points bonus in Lassen National Park. So what do crazy bastard rally riders like me consider fun? How about going for that big point bonus where the road is closed in Lassen. At 2am, at an altitude of 8200 ft, where it's cold, cold, cold.
Mission accomplished. Your hero gets the damned points. Cold and sheer drop-offs be damned!
A short while later, I finally don my cold weather gear including the Widder electric vest. Full on. Mother of God blessed heat don't fail me now. A couple more bonii, and it's check in at the last checkpoint on the Nevada/Kali border near Reno by forum member and "tick" pioneer Allan Pratt.
A few more bonii, and I am heading back to the fort. I am fading at this point, having to stop frequently for short rest periods. One more big bonus before arriving back at the rally headquarters with 5 minutes to spare. Thank God. This rally is in the books. Tough one. Didn't think I did all that well, so was very pleasantly surprised when I found out I got 9th place. Schwing!!!! After early mistakes, I was just trying to stay out of the bottom half.
AND I DIDN'T CRASH!!!!
A quick knap for about an hour and a half, and then it was off to the banquet for more telling of lies and good times.
You know, before this rally I wasn't really motivated. Almost felt like not going. Felt burned out to a certain degree, and have plenty of other stuff on my mind and to do. But, knew I would get to see some pretty parts of Kali that I normally never would, and in the end, comraderie shared by freaks of a similar persuasion made it all worthwhile. Getting to see friends not seen in in a while. Making new friends. These are things that are important and make these things so much fun.
Big congrats to Georgie Z for his 2nd place finish. He is incredible folks. Seriously, don't know how he does it. Rides a hell of a rally, and more importantly, thinks outside the box and plans a hell of a rally. My weak point. Gotta figure out how to plan a good rally in an hour.
Also a big congrats to mehaffydr who got 16th place in his very first rally! A rally with tough competition and lots of Big Dogs. Well done! Bravo Zulu!
And of course, well done to first time rally participants and forum members Bluestreak and TurboDave. Skyway took good care of them. The three rode the whole rally together.
Sunday, 1500 hours.
Getting time go home soon. Here are three Big Dogs explaining the ropes to one Lil Dog. From left to right, 3rd place finisher Eric Jewel, Lil Doggie vectervp1, 2nd place bastard Georgie Porgie Zelenz (beeroux), and 8th place finisher Mark Crane, an ex-fjr owner now gone to the dark side (BMW GS).
And now its time to hit the road. TurboDave and I were fortunate enough to land an invite from Skyway and his purty bride to spend the night at their place in Sonora, CA. So, it was off we went.
Here's Skyway leading, followed by TurboDave, and then of course, yours truly.
And, a few miles later, our Hero, TurboDave:
Got to meet TurboDave for the first time and let me tell you folks, I hope I have his zeal for life when I get to be a bit older and knarlier than I am already. What a guy! What a pleasure meeting him!
And you should see how farkled his FJR is! He's got everything on there, and a few things more too that I can't even recognize. Warning though! Be careful riding behind TurboDave! I've never seen a F.O.D. generator quite like him. I was dodging cigar butts and all kinds of stuff. Once, I saw his left hand come off the handlebar and moments later something white was exiting the area of his FJR. It bounced off the ground and hit my FJR. Didn't think anything of it at the time, but later, at Skiwi's house this is what we found:
Eeeeeewww! That gum stuck good! Silly TurboDave!
Next was a relaxing evening at Skyway's place. Folks, he and his bride are "good people". Not better will you find. Now I remember why I always head off on these crazy skooter trips. They provide the opportunity to meet great new people, and catch up with some old friends. Good stuff. Word.
So after a good night's sleep at the Skiwi abode it was time to head out. Except that welch wanker skiwi WOULD NOT SHUT UP! I didn't get out of there until 4pm! And I had 800+ miles to get home! Cripes! I like the bastard, but put a sock in it already!
So at 4pm I was finally homeward bound. I decided to face my demons, and head up to Sonora Pass and then on to Nevada for the route home. As I headed up Sonora Pass, riding the same route of last year's Cal24, and getting closer to the location of my crash I felt the tension building. I was having trouble concentrating on the technical aspects of the road as lots of stuff was going through my mind about that crash. It is beautiful country up there, but unfortunately I was not in the frame of mind to fully enjoy it.
Here are some piccies:
Getting close to the crash site. This is beatiful country:
Uh-oh, here's the sort-of straight-away prior to the corner where I crashed. Stomach is in knots.
The corner that rose up smacked me upside the head is shown in the distance.
And finally...........my chance to excorsize some demons and pay appropriate tribute to the corner that bitch-slapped me hard.
There. Feeling much better now. :yahoo:
Some more piccies.
Still a couple miles west of Sonora Pass summit:
Sonora Pass summit:
Coming down the east side:
Mono Lake:
And so it is.........this ends this long-winded diatribe. Another great trip where bonding with fellow two-wheeled bretheren is re-junvenating for the soul. I would higly recommend everybody try one of these rallys once. You don't have to win, or even necessarily try to be competitive. Just enjoy the camraderie, challenge, and adventure. I guarantee you will not regret it.
Right. Off we go then.........
Thursday, June 8th 2330 hours.
I depart my home, enroute to Dunnigan, Kailfornia, for the Cal24 rally. Gonna meet fellow forum member vectervp1 at a gas station at 2400 hours. We will be riding out there together. Yes, that's right, we are leaving at midnight. Gonna ride straight through, anticipating riding the 830 miles or so and getting into Dunnigan around 1200 hours the next day. "Why leave at midnight?" you ask. Cause we are crazy f'ing bastards and it is hot as hell here in Arizona in the daytime. Ride the desert during the day in 110+ temps? No thank you.
A bit of history. I have some trepidation about riding this year's Cal24 rally. You see, last year I crashed during the rally. Only time I have ever really crashed on a bike. High-sided while checking out the beautiful scenery of Sonora Pass about one third into the rally. Broke my wrist and did $5200 damage to the FJR. Still finished that rally though. Even while missing the windshied, both the mirrors, and one footpeg. Crazy? Perhaps. Stupid? Hell yes.
So......though not a superstitious person, I have some demons to deal with when it comes to running this rally.
Fast forward: After ANOTHER boring ride on Interstate 10 to Los Angeles to I-210 where once again I was getting wet and cold (High 50s and misting) and heading north on I-5, vectervp1 and I arrived at Dunnigan at about 12:30pm on Friday. Let me tell you, we are both really getting sick of the interstates 10/210/5 route. Please, somebody shoot me before I ride that route again.
So we are some of the first ones there for a change. Pre-rally fun starts with the typical BSing and lie telling. Get to see my first 06 FJR. Rallymaster Tom Melchild's is there in all its glory. Purty. Too bad its' not half the bike my 04 FJR is.
Big crowd. LOTS of FJRs. Not sure how many, but must have been at least 15 there. Get to meet some fellow forum members for the first time. Bluestreak, Paul Peloquin, mehaffydr, and of course TurboDave. Also get to see old friends. Good times.
So, then there is the rider's meeting blah, blah, blah, dinner and then it's off to bed.
Saturday 0730 hours
Rider's meeting starts. Pertinent info is promulgated (watch out for deer - a bad omen), and that sumbitch Melchild hands out the rally instructions. We have a bit over an hour to plan the rally before the 0900 departure time. Well, this is where my rally started off poorly. You see, this was my first rally with a GPS so I spent most of the next two hours entering the info into my GPS. Lesson learned. GPS is a tool to assist you, not the be all to run the rally with. Yes, that's right 2 hours. I left an hour late. I WILL NOT DO THAT AGAIN!!!!
Now, that bastard Melchild (I say that lovingly) puts on one hell of a rally, and this year was no exception. And he made it pretty damned tough as far as I am concerned. A base route almost impossible to complete. Rally info not in order with cryptic bonus locations. And other fun crap I'll get to later. I will say in my somewhat limited rally riding career, this was the hardest rally I have participated in.
So, not too long after starting the rally, I realize it is not going to be smart to complete the base route. Too much slow stuff due to scenic roads full of traffic and twistys. So I divert, heading to get some bonii while heading to the first checkpoint.
Now that bastard Melchild had told us we all would be getting wet at the first checkpoint. Of course he told us this with sinister laugh. Well, what fun awaited!
Arrived at the first checkpoint - Lake Berryessa. I am running later then I want, despite my diverting off the base route. Lots of rallyers already there, and some gone. So what is the game we get to play here?
1) Go down to the lake and get wet. Gets you 0 points, but credit for the checkpoint. (Mandatory)
2) Take a boat ride, break plane on a kneeboard and that gets you 1000 points.
3) Jump off the rock gets you 2000 points.
Based on the points for other bonuses, these are a lot of points. I hate heights and jumping into water from high places. Some nervous intermingling with others and I find out many are jumping off the rock. Shit! If I am going to be remotely competetive, I gotta jump off the damned rock. Doesn't the saying go something like this: Stress: the mind's resistance to the body's natural urge to choke the living shit out of somebody. Where's Melchild?!?!?!
What rock you ask?
This f'ing rock:
That's right sports fans. Gotta jump off the top of this sucker. Scary shit. Word.
Well, I did it. Was not easy. But in the end, a lot of fun. And conquering some major fear was a good thing too. Points received.
Readers Digest version: After the first checkpoint, lots of twistys, some small points bonii, and a quick run up Highway 101. This get's me to the start of highway 36. That damned Melchild. What a road. Might of been fun if, 1) I would have run it in the daylight, and 2) I never saw any f'ing forrest rats. But that was not the case for your intrepid author. That road kicked my ass. Lots of slow, blind, corners. And deer. I kept on waiting to encounter Bambi in the middle of my lane as I rounded the hundreds of blind corners. Had to stop and take a break in the middle cause the high level of concentration required and stress (deer) was wiping me out. All ended well however. I arrived at checkpoint #2 in one piece where the mighty Warchild signed me in.
So, off we go........Road got straighter, but the freaking forrest rats were everywhere! I had 17 deer encounters. A few of those were multiple deer of 3 or more that I am only counting as one. Two of those were closer than I care to remember. For one I hit the binders hard from an elevated speed and locked up the rear. Yikes! That's how I high-sided last year. It's unbelievable to me that no rally participants hit a deer. Those infernal creatures were everywhere! I am very thankful that nobody had a deer encounter. (Though there were two that crashed - one involving an 03 FJR on Hwy 36. Rider error was the report. Rider was ok. Not sure who it was. FJR was mangled, but ridable)
***Hijack of my own story*** And next week I am off to the Utah 1088 rally where at least two riders including vectervp1 hit deer during last year's rally. Yikes!
Well, got some more bonii, including a big points bonus in Lassen National Park. So what do crazy bastard rally riders like me consider fun? How about going for that big point bonus where the road is closed in Lassen. At 2am, at an altitude of 8200 ft, where it's cold, cold, cold.
Mission accomplished. Your hero gets the damned points. Cold and sheer drop-offs be damned!
A short while later, I finally don my cold weather gear including the Widder electric vest. Full on. Mother of God blessed heat don't fail me now. A couple more bonii, and it's check in at the last checkpoint on the Nevada/Kali border near Reno by forum member and "tick" pioneer Allan Pratt.
A few more bonii, and I am heading back to the fort. I am fading at this point, having to stop frequently for short rest periods. One more big bonus before arriving back at the rally headquarters with 5 minutes to spare. Thank God. This rally is in the books. Tough one. Didn't think I did all that well, so was very pleasantly surprised when I found out I got 9th place. Schwing!!!! After early mistakes, I was just trying to stay out of the bottom half.
AND I DIDN'T CRASH!!!!
A quick knap for about an hour and a half, and then it was off to the banquet for more telling of lies and good times.
You know, before this rally I wasn't really motivated. Almost felt like not going. Felt burned out to a certain degree, and have plenty of other stuff on my mind and to do. But, knew I would get to see some pretty parts of Kali that I normally never would, and in the end, comraderie shared by freaks of a similar persuasion made it all worthwhile. Getting to see friends not seen in in a while. Making new friends. These are things that are important and make these things so much fun.
Big congrats to Georgie Z for his 2nd place finish. He is incredible folks. Seriously, don't know how he does it. Rides a hell of a rally, and more importantly, thinks outside the box and plans a hell of a rally. My weak point. Gotta figure out how to plan a good rally in an hour.
Also a big congrats to mehaffydr who got 16th place in his very first rally! A rally with tough competition and lots of Big Dogs. Well done! Bravo Zulu!
And of course, well done to first time rally participants and forum members Bluestreak and TurboDave. Skyway took good care of them. The three rode the whole rally together.
Sunday, 1500 hours.
Getting time go home soon. Here are three Big Dogs explaining the ropes to one Lil Dog. From left to right, 3rd place finisher Eric Jewel, Lil Doggie vectervp1, 2nd place bastard Georgie Porgie Zelenz (beeroux), and 8th place finisher Mark Crane, an ex-fjr owner now gone to the dark side (BMW GS).
And now its time to hit the road. TurboDave and I were fortunate enough to land an invite from Skyway and his purty bride to spend the night at their place in Sonora, CA. So, it was off we went.
Here's Skyway leading, followed by TurboDave, and then of course, yours truly.
And, a few miles later, our Hero, TurboDave:
Got to meet TurboDave for the first time and let me tell you folks, I hope I have his zeal for life when I get to be a bit older and knarlier than I am already. What a guy! What a pleasure meeting him!
And you should see how farkled his FJR is! He's got everything on there, and a few things more too that I can't even recognize. Warning though! Be careful riding behind TurboDave! I've never seen a F.O.D. generator quite like him. I was dodging cigar butts and all kinds of stuff. Once, I saw his left hand come off the handlebar and moments later something white was exiting the area of his FJR. It bounced off the ground and hit my FJR. Didn't think anything of it at the time, but later, at Skiwi's house this is what we found:
Eeeeeewww! That gum stuck good! Silly TurboDave!
Next was a relaxing evening at Skyway's place. Folks, he and his bride are "good people". Not better will you find. Now I remember why I always head off on these crazy skooter trips. They provide the opportunity to meet great new people, and catch up with some old friends. Good stuff. Word.
So after a good night's sleep at the Skiwi abode it was time to head out. Except that welch wanker skiwi WOULD NOT SHUT UP! I didn't get out of there until 4pm! And I had 800+ miles to get home! Cripes! I like the bastard, but put a sock in it already!
So at 4pm I was finally homeward bound. I decided to face my demons, and head up to Sonora Pass and then on to Nevada for the route home. As I headed up Sonora Pass, riding the same route of last year's Cal24, and getting closer to the location of my crash I felt the tension building. I was having trouble concentrating on the technical aspects of the road as lots of stuff was going through my mind about that crash. It is beautiful country up there, but unfortunately I was not in the frame of mind to fully enjoy it.
Here are some piccies:
Getting close to the crash site. This is beatiful country:
Uh-oh, here's the sort-of straight-away prior to the corner where I crashed. Stomach is in knots.
The corner that rose up smacked me upside the head is shown in the distance.
And finally...........my chance to excorsize some demons and pay appropriate tribute to the corner that bitch-slapped me hard.
There. Feeling much better now. :yahoo:
Some more piccies.
Still a couple miles west of Sonora Pass summit:
Sonora Pass summit:
Coming down the east side:
Mono Lake:
And so it is.........this ends this long-winded diatribe. Another great trip where bonding with fellow two-wheeled bretheren is re-junvenating for the soul. I would higly recommend everybody try one of these rallys once. You don't have to win, or even necessarily try to be competitive. Just enjoy the camraderie, challenge, and adventure. I guarantee you will not regret it.
