A day on the Rubicon with Butch - BARF

sbechtold · 10-29-2008, 09:49 AM

Hi All. FNG here, but not new to riding or forums. I frequently ride with Butch and we decided it was time to ride the Rubicon and check that item off the Bucket List. I'm an avid offroader and I've run the Rubicon numerous times in my crawler and always wondered about riding my bike through. Butch, my buddy Jim and I had an epic time riding the Rubicon yesterday.

I did not take as many pictures as I would have liked, but here are few...

At the Loon Lake spillway getting ready for the day. I think Butch's comment was how difficult could this really be...?

Into the trail about 2.0 miles near Ellis Creek and Butch is still thinking it's easy.

Jim catching up at Ellis Creek after fighting is carb issues. He got them straightened out.

We hit the first real rock gardens just past Spider Lake and the Little Sluice Box, then decided to take a break. Butch was mumbling profanities at this point, but nothing too terrible.

We motored down the slabs and into Buck Island Lake where we decided food and hydration were in order.

sbechtold · 10-29-2008, 09:51 AM

We left Buck and headed for Rubicon Springs. The major obstacle that I was concerned with was Big Sluice, but it turned out that gravity was our friend on the way down. More the the way back up later.

Top of Big Sluice looking down.

We made it to the Rubicon Bridge and took the obligatory first time crossing pictures.

We cruised through the springs headed for Cadillac Hill. We made it up Cadillac Hill and decided to stop and have lunch at Observation point.

Can you say tired? Oh wait, you mean we have to ride back?

We finished lunch and headed back toward Loon Lake. On our way we ran into a group of guys on quads that came in from the Tahoe side.

Butch and Jim making slow progress trying to reach Big Sluice on the way up.

sbechtold · 10-29-2008, 09:52 AM

Jim cresting Big Sluice and looking for a line though the boulders.

We took our last break just above Buck Island. Then motored back to Loon pretty much straight through. A few obstacles on the way back slowed us down, but we pretty much rolled right through on the way back.

And, lastly here is a video of Butch coming up Big Sluice. Coming up wasn't nearly as bad as I had originally thought.

youtu.be/TRcOrqwGcds

All in all it was a great time and I'm looking forward to riding it again.

}Dragon{ · 10-29-2008, 09:54 AM

x10 Nice pix.

2strokeYardSale · 10-29-2008, 12:28 PM

(Jim on Yamaha)
Rubicon with jeans and sneakers, wow.

-Gilly- · 10-29-2008, 01:15 PM

cool pics. I did that *once* on a quad, I'll never do it again!

2nsane · 10-29-2008, 03:58 PM

OPEN UP that TWO STROKE man, going to load it up and faul a plug

brprider · 10-30-2008, 08:42 AM

looks good great pics guys...

WoodsChick · 10-30-2008, 02:12 PM

Excellent story and photos! Welcome to the forum, sbechtold. It's nice to have you and your storytelling here. Thanks for taking Butch out and showing him what real riding is all about

WoodsChick

SLOryder · 10-30-2008, 04:02 PM

that looks awesome! I'd love to do that ride! How long of a ride is it? Is it a defined trail, or better to go with someone that knows it?

sbechtold · 10-30-2008, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WoodsChick

Excellent story and photos! Welcome to the forum, sbechtold. It's nice to have you and your storytelling here. Thanks for taking Butch out and showing him what real riding is all about

WoodsChick

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLOryder

that looks awesome! I'd love to do that ride! How long of a ride is it? Is it a defined trail, or better to go with someone that knows it?

Definitely go with someone that knows the trail. There are a few areas where the trail is difficult to follow and there is a good chance that you'd miss the trail if you've never been on it before. The trail is 18 miles one way from Loon Lake to Tahoe. The last ~8 miles from Observation point to Lake Tahoe are flat and very few rocks and really not worth riding unless you want to say you rode every inch of the trail. We rode from Loon Lake to Observation point and back and it was 21 miles round trip.

WoodsChick · 10-30-2008, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbechtold

We left Buck and headed for Rubicon Springs. The major obstacle that I was concerned with was Big Sluice, but it turned out that gravity was our friend on the way down. More the the way back up later.

Top of Big Sluice looking down.

The photo above (2nd one in the quoted post) reminds me of Thompson Hill on the Dusy Ershim Trail. The backsides of all the trees are scarred from Jeeps winching themselves up the hill.

WoodsChick

**Butch** · 10-30-2008, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLOryder

that looks awesome! I'd love to do that ride! How long of a ride is it? Is it a defined trail, or better to go with someone that knows it?

Sol (sbechtold) has the telemetry, but we rode like ten miles from Loon Lake to Cadillac hill and back in a little over 2 hours riding time. The time wrestling bikes didn't count in that. So that's 10 mph while rolling with the motor running...

That took eight hours. Only as much time resting as we needed. Actually not enough.

The trial is pretty obvious, though many times there are many different paths to take to get to the same place. Big help to have someone who knows where the nasties are, and how to bypass.

I think. I've only done it once. Twice if you count the return trip.

WoodsChick · 10-31-2008, 03:23 AM

Hi, Butch

So when do we get your ride report?

Did you like it? Are rocks your thing? Are you looking forward to doing it again?

Details, man!

RockChick

**Butch** · 10-31-2008, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WoodsChick

Hi, Butch

So when do we get your ride report?

Did you like it? Are rocks your thing? Are you looking forward to doing it again?

Details, man!

RockChick

What?!? Dont' the pics tell the story?
I HATE ROCKS!!! It was one of the funnest days of my life!
I will do it again on a motorcycles if i can get a trials bike. Too brutal on a MX bike.

It was a tremendous experience. With just a hint of danger.

10-29-2008, 09:49 AM	#1
sbechtold Newbie Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Jose, CA Motorcycles: 2005 CRF450R Woods Ready Name:	A day on the Rubicon with Butch Hi All. FNG here, but not new to riding or forums. I frequently ride with Butch and we decided it was time to ride the Rubicon and check that item off the Bucket List. I'm an avid offroader and I've run the Rubicon numerous times in my crawler and always wondered about riding my bike through. Butch, my buddy Jim and I had an epic time riding the Rubicon yesterday. I did not take as many pictures as I would have liked, but here are few... At the Loon Lake spillway getting ready for the day. I think Butch's comment was how difficult could this really be...? Into the trail about 2.0 miles near Ellis Creek and Butch is still thinking it's easy. Jim catching up at Ellis Creek after fighting is carb issues. He got them straightened out. We hit the first real rock gardens just past Spider Lake and the Little Sluice Box, then decided to take a break. Butch was mumbling profanities at this point, but nothing too terrible. We motored down the slabs and into Buck Island Lake where we decided food and hydration were in order. Last edited by sbechtold; 10-29-2008 at 10:00 AM..

10-29-2008, 09:54 AM	#4
}Dragon{ (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ ︵ ╯(°□° ╯) Founding Member Contributor + Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: In a van down by the river 916 Motorcycles: Your Moms. Name: Heywood J.	x10 Nice pix. __________________ With a thousand lies and a good disguise Hit ‘em right between the eyes, hit ‘em right between the eyes When you walk away, nothing more to say See the lightning in your eyes, see ‘em running for their lives- The Offspring \| TMU Local 916 Pitmaster \Oo) _\ _w_ /_ (oO/

10-29-2008, 12:28 PM	#5
2strokeYardSale Moab on my mind Contributor + Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Northern Nevada Motorcycles: shouldn't have cams! Name: Yard Sale	(Jim on Yamaha) Rubicon with jeans and sneakers, wow. __________________ That's how this works, man. The one with the gun gets to tell the truth.

10-30-2008, 02:12 PM	#9
WoodsChick I Don't Do GPS AMA #: 489282 BARFie winner 2014 & 2017 D36 - #103Y Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oakland Motorcycles: GasGas EP280, CR125, Husky WR165, 2 SM610's, 3 TR650's, FZR400/600, GSXR750, SV650, Plated KTM 450 Name:	Excellent story and photos! Welcome to the forum, sbechtold. It's nice to have you and your storytelling here. Thanks for taking Butch out and showing him what real riding is all about WoodsChick __________________ AMA, D36, BRC, CORVA, USA-ALL, WMA Mom 1/23/2008 Dad 2/12/2017

10-31-2008, 03:23 AM	#14
WoodsChick I Don't Do GPS AMA #: 489282 BARFie winner 2014 & 2017 D36 - #103Y Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oakland Motorcycles: GasGas EP280, CR125, Husky WR165, 2 SM610's, 3 TR650's, FZR400/600, GSXR750, SV650, Plated KTM 450 Name:	Hi, Butch So when do we get your ride report? Did you like it? Are rocks your thing? Are you looking forward to doing it again? Details, man! RockChick __________________ AMA, D36, BRC, CORVA, USA-ALL, WMA Mom 1/23/2008 Dad 2/12/2017

10-29-2008, 09:51 AM	#2
sbechtold Newbie Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Jose, CA Motorcycles: 2005 CRF450R Woods Ready Name:	We left Buck and headed for Rubicon Springs. The major obstacle that I was concerned with was Big Sluice, but it turned out that gravity was our friend on the way down. More the the way back up later. Top of Big Sluice looking down. We made it to the Rubicon Bridge and took the obligatory first time crossing pictures. We cruised through the springs headed for Cadillac Hill. We made it up Cadillac Hill and decided to stop and have lunch at Observation point. Can you say tired? Oh wait, you mean we have to ride back? We finished lunch and headed back toward Loon Lake. On our way we ran into a group of guys on quads that came in from the Tahoe side. Butch and Jim making slow progress trying to reach Big Sluice on the way up.

10-29-2008, 09:52 AM	#3
sbechtold Newbie Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Jose, CA Motorcycles: 2005 CRF450R Woods Ready Name:	Jim cresting Big Sluice and looking for a line though the boulders. We took our last break just above Buck Island. Then motored back to Loon pretty much straight through. A few obstacles on the way back slowed us down, but we pretty much rolled right through on the way back. And, lastly here is a video of Butch coming up Big Sluice. Coming up wasn't nearly as bad as I had originally thought. youtu.be/TRcOrqwGcds All in all it was a great time and I'm looking forward to riding it again.

10-29-2008, 01:15 PM	#6
-Gilly- Rub some dirt on it Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Sierra Mountains Motorcycles: '08 Aprilia Tuono, '14 Ninja 1000, bunch of dirt bikes Name:	cool pics. I did that once on a quad, I'll never do it again!

10-30-2008, 08:42 AM	#8
brprider Big Nasty Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: the top of the dirty 130 Motorcycles: yes please Name: Big Nasty	looks good great pics guys...

10-30-2008, 04:02 PM	#10
SLOryder BBBRRRRRAAAAAPPPP Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Citrus heights Motorcycles: 14' ktm 350 xcf-w Name:	that looks awesome! I'd love to do that ride! How long of a ride is it? Is it a defined trail, or better to go with someone that knows it?

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