Weds. afternoon was clear and cool and I had finished my chores. I hadn't been able to ride since I had brunch with Redtail on his ride through town the week before (I'll leave that ride report to Richard). Thursday was Thanksgiving with no family around, and I had to work. So I thought I'd try out my new D606 rear tire on some muddy trails. Sorry about the length of the ride report...
First I had to get there. This is the bottom of Boomer Hill Road. It got it's own exit (110) off I-5, but I'm not sure why. Only four miles of pavement before turning to gravel, dirt and mud. More than a couple dead end trails, deer and logging roads. But that 4 miles of asphalt has only been paved for 15-20 years. Locals tell me more than one teen, back in the day, drove his car/bike off the cliffs :rip_1: .
Those four miles are the only miles, outside the PCH, that I dragged pegs on the FJR with the upgraded GP suspension. I also dragged the pegs on both sides of the KLR650 as well, before replacing the stock pegs and rear tire. I also love doing a quick run because the few people who live on it get out of the way for bikers, and the elevation change makes my ears pop every time -- in just four miles. It's short but a local secret (don't tell :no: :secret: ). Not this day though...
No slide, the sign is there all the time.
At the end of the pavement there is a gravel staging area and I deflated the tires to 25 pounds. The rear D606 was noisy on the 12 miles of highway, it did surprisingly well in the 4 miles of twisties, but I didn't push it. Here is a good example of the main trunk road after the pavement:
On either side is some nasty muddy ruts though. Those ruts are a foot deep, at least:
I'm looking for the specific logging "road" that defeated me and my stock rear tire last time here. I get confused and try multiple trails. Some get nasty with mud holes 60-70 feet long and no way around, some turn into muddy, washed-out rutted messes on steep declines and I wrestle the beast around and turn back... I keep looking.
This was a nasty trail with a root to go over, followed by a 3 foot drop to a drainage culvert, with an almost immediate turn into mud puddles over the pegs. Cold muddy water in the boots was not fun. But I felt Nike near my rookie ass. Soon after the bend in the next photo, was another bigger muddy drop that I didn't know was there. I shoulda gone down, but didn't.
Still looking:
I see some Serpentine rock formations (the green in the rock isn't captured with my camera though -- darn), and nice views in my search though:
A panoramic triptych (spelling?)
Then 3 miles of freshly laid (wasn't there 2 weeks ago) gravel and rock on a logging road. Loose, not packed down, and wet. We'll, I said I needed practice:
My gear was taking a beating. The two-week-old Sears tool roll was worn through in places from being banged around in the top-box. My can of diet coke looked shot-peened:
I found her as the sun was getting low on the horizon. My latest nemesis with mostly mud, very little gravel and 8-9% grades up and down hills. At one point my front stock wheel washed out in a down-hill left-hander. The rear D606 was still biting and going true. I thought, I'm down as I looked like a dirt-tracker in the Springfield Mile (without the skills). Suddenly the front tire gripped and I pulled her up and through the turn at 25 mph. I'm still shitting cotton undies. Not too many pictures of the road, as I was busy, and there weren't many flat spots:
It eased up at the end, and showed me another road going higher up. But the sun was low and I was on-call at the hospital in an hour. Time to head for the barn:
First I had to get there. This is the bottom of Boomer Hill Road. It got it's own exit (110) off I-5, but I'm not sure why. Only four miles of pavement before turning to gravel, dirt and mud. More than a couple dead end trails, deer and logging roads. But that 4 miles of asphalt has only been paved for 15-20 years. Locals tell me more than one teen, back in the day, drove his car/bike off the cliffs :rip_1: .
Those four miles are the only miles, outside the PCH, that I dragged pegs on the FJR with the upgraded GP suspension. I also dragged the pegs on both sides of the KLR650 as well, before replacing the stock pegs and rear tire. I also love doing a quick run because the few people who live on it get out of the way for bikers, and the elevation change makes my ears pop every time -- in just four miles. It's short but a local secret (don't tell :no: :secret: ). Not this day though...
No slide, the sign is there all the time.
At the end of the pavement there is a gravel staging area and I deflated the tires to 25 pounds. The rear D606 was noisy on the 12 miles of highway, it did surprisingly well in the 4 miles of twisties, but I didn't push it. Here is a good example of the main trunk road after the pavement:
On either side is some nasty muddy ruts though. Those ruts are a foot deep, at least:
I'm looking for the specific logging "road" that defeated me and my stock rear tire last time here. I get confused and try multiple trails. Some get nasty with mud holes 60-70 feet long and no way around, some turn into muddy, washed-out rutted messes on steep declines and I wrestle the beast around and turn back... I keep looking.
This was a nasty trail with a root to go over, followed by a 3 foot drop to a drainage culvert, with an almost immediate turn into mud puddles over the pegs. Cold muddy water in the boots was not fun. But I felt Nike near my rookie ass. Soon after the bend in the next photo, was another bigger muddy drop that I didn't know was there. I shoulda gone down, but didn't.
Still looking:
I see some Serpentine rock formations (the green in the rock isn't captured with my camera though -- darn), and nice views in my search though:
A panoramic triptych (spelling?)
Then 3 miles of freshly laid (wasn't there 2 weeks ago) gravel and rock on a logging road. Loose, not packed down, and wet. We'll, I said I needed practice:
My gear was taking a beating. The two-week-old Sears tool roll was worn through in places from being banged around in the top-box. My can of diet coke looked shot-peened:
I found her as the sun was getting low on the horizon. My latest nemesis with mostly mud, very little gravel and 8-9% grades up and down hills. At one point my front stock wheel washed out in a down-hill left-hander. The rear D606 was still biting and going true. I thought, I'm down as I looked like a dirt-tracker in the Springfield Mile (without the skills). Suddenly the front tire gripped and I pulled her up and through the turn at 25 mph. I'm still shitting cotton undies. Not too many pictures of the road, as I was busy, and there weren't many flat spots:
It eased up at the end, and showed me another road going higher up. But the sun was low and I was on-call at the hospital in an hour. Time to head for the barn:
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