Adventure riding short rides and BS thread

[Titus58]

F***ing Awesome ADV ride on Sunday

It was great to ride with c_wanger2000, and to meet up with old and new barfers, including SFMCJohn, Cabrito, banana_chunks and Cinncinatus.

The "detour" off of Reiff-Rayhouse down to Buck Island was a challenge to say the least on the big heavy bikes; found myself jonesing for one of the KTM1090s with good dirt tires (and better dirt skills ) more than once! I was running 80/20 tires that I had not ridden in the dirt, and hadn't been out on the vstrom in dirt for quite a while...was definitely feeling a bit rusty, and hesitant on my tires. More than once on the way down to Buck Island I was ready to call it a day and head back up to Cache Creek, but I perservered...I'd made it this far and really wanted to get to Buck Island More than once I was able to recover and ride a fish-tailing path out of the soft stuff, amazed at my good fortune (and disappointed that no one else saw me ).

Thanks to all for helping me pick up the strom on that uphill; funny how you can plan and successfully execute the known challenging spots, to then brain fart/lose focus on a not too difficult uphill. Overall, I had a F***ing blast and got quite the workout wrestling my piggy vstrom throughout the day--and got lots of great feedback on other tire choices

I think Cinncinatus summed it up best; it was an awesome day that was going to require a hot soak and a cold beverage when he got home (and he called his wife to help prepare for his return; what a partner!).

Was a great outing all-around, with wonderful peeps and fun and challenging riding...can't wait to do it again...we need to come up with some other good locations for one-day ADV adventure rides


T

 

[Titus58]

and my one photo - c_wanger2000 at the now infamous Buck Island Resort

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FfQ-DL9gn9s61rO-vEg93Pc_nu9hqoht/view?usp=sharing


T

 

[Titus58]

and my one photo - c_wanger2000 at the now infamous Buck Island Resort

T

 

[1962siia]

Nice. Sorry I missed riding with you guys. Count me in for more big bike day rides. I had a blast ripping around on the 950. Ready for more ASAP!

 

[Cabrito]

SFMCjohn, your pics are awesome! I can't see your first set for some reason so I'm doubling down on some of the food shots..

A first for me is Moto Camping with Cast Iron pans..

Mmm...

My Bacon Cheddar Pork sausages had so much promise, but they were only so-so..

John killed it on the dutch oven and the cinnamon rolls were so good in the am..

 

[cwanger2000]

thats some gourmet cooking there haha especially for how remote that place is. I was amazed how well you rode the Vstrom back up from Buck Island Tim that was awsome. The big bikes are so much fun in the dirt lets do it again soon

 

[SFMCjohn]

SFMCjohn, your pics are awesome! I can't see your first set for some reason so I'm doubling down on some of the food shots..

A first for me is Moto Camping with Cast Iron pans..

Thanks Cabrito, I tried linking attachments from another thread post, guess that does not work ...

Like your cast iron pics better than mine, anyway, your's capture the campfire/firepit more ... noticed if I click on your pics they link me through, and I can check out the rest of your pics ... you have a great artistic eye, imo!

looking forward to next time!

 

[matty]

Had lunch at Buck Island today to make up for me missing the last ride there. It was glorious fall day with the aspen(?) raining their leaves in the wind. And I love this ridge, I feel like I could be anywhere in the world, with it's 360 degree vistas, really stunning.

 

[matty]

oops, here's buck island:

 

[bananachunks]

Hi all

Just wanted to post that I went back out to Buck Island last Friday for All Hallows' Eve Eve. I got to drop down into Buck Island in the quickly fading light.

The moon was amazing.

I woke up to the low 30s instead of the expected low 50s.
("Red" is in the hammock; "Green" is outside)

And since it was dark, I didn't get to see these until the next morning. Not sure how long they'd been there. About 3.5 inches across...

I then proceeded to meander my way up to Saint John Mountain for my first time, sleeping in a much more pleasant 54 degrees (really, the 32 wasn't bad at all!).

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CdD8LnPvgpuBeMXw9

(I found out about both Buck Island and Saint John Mountain via BARF!)

 

[SFMCjohn]

haha, so awesome ... great pics and loved the vid coming down.

super impressed you got your streetbike up to the top!

no trees at the top of Mt St. John for the hammock? did you have Buck Island all to yourself yet again?

thanks for posting, jelly I wasn't with you, weather looked epic ...
such classic Mendo NF scenery.

 

[bananachunks]

I was happy to get the vid(s) going down. I just need to not talk or make noises while doing so.

The whole time going up Saint John, I was thinking "Haven't I seen people commenting on the climb up? What the heck? Am I missing something?" I was missing something - the final stretch was a doozie. If I'd been on my own I probably wouldn't have tried it. I did get double-bounced at one point (also bottomed out, losing yet another kickstand foot) and was thankful to a) make it up in b) one piece.

The tippy-top didn't really call to me for camping. And I didn't want to attempt sleeping without first finding out whether I would live or die trying to get back down (turns out getting down is cake, even if only relatively speaking).

When first trying to go to Saint John, my GPS directed us onto a crazy-ish OHV trail out the back of Davis Campground. We decided half-way up, "Nope!", and we were somehow able to turn around mid-trail/hill and get back down without dying. We eventually figured out we were supposed to be on the main road.

I was at Buck Island by myself (minus the cat, if those prints happened while I was there), and then I met Ilo in Clearlake Oaks on the way up to Mendo.

I'll be sleeping near Walker Ridge Saturday night for another version of the Mendo loop on Sunday. It's supposed to be in the low 30s when I wake up again

haha, so awesome ... great pics and loved the vid coming down.

super impressed you got your streetbike up to the top!

no trees at the top of Mt St. John for the hammock? did you have Buck Island all to yourself yet again?

thanks for posting, jelly I wasn't with you, weather looked epic ...
such classic Mendo NF scenery.

 

[SFMCjohn]

I was happy to get the vid(s) going down. I just need to not talk or make noises while doing so.

The whole time going up Saint John, I was thinking "Haven't I seen people commenting on the climb up? What the heck? Am I missing something?" I was missing something - the final stretch was a doozie. If I'd been on my own I probably wouldn't have tried it. I did get double-bounced at one point (also bottomed out, losing yet another kickstand foot) and was thankful to a) make it up in b) one piece.

The tippy-top didn't really call to me for camping. And I didn't want to attempt sleeping without first finding out whether I would live or die trying to get back down (turns out getting down is cake, even if only relatively speaking).

When first trying to go to Saint John, my GPS directed us onto a crazy-ish OHV trail out the back of Davis Campground. We decided half-way up, "Nope!", and we were somehow able to turn around mid-trail/hill and get back down without dying. We eventually figured out we were supposed to be on the main road.

I was at Buck Island by myself (minus the cat, if those prints happened while I was there), and then I met Ilo in Clearlake Oaks on the way up to Mendo.

I'll be sleeping near Walker Ridge Saturday night for another version of the Mendo loop on Sunday. It's supposed to be in the low 30s when I wake up again

well, you're my hero for getting to the top.

your GPS should have an SFMCjohn BS detector. you know I always take the KLR/Honda Accord way ...

it's that second ledge on the way up, just after the first one, that gives me pause. I usually stop where you guys had a brief confab on the way down in the vid ... pretty short walk from there.

will you camp by the radio tower on Walker Ridge, with the view out to the Sutter Buttes on a clear day?

 

[1962siia]

Nice pics and vids. Where is St John Mtn? M1? Thanks.

 

[SFMCjohn]

Nice pics and vids. Where is St John Mtn? M1? Thanks.

it's above the StonyBARF group campsite, about 1/2 hour climb on a KLR ... suitable for catching the sunrise/sunset ... it's an in-and-out, on it's own.

kind of a difficult map, but St. John peak is in the red circle, Fouts Springs/Grey Pine is right above the pink square on the bottom, and you can see Stonyford/East Park Reservoir to the RHS ... that's M5 heading straight north above the first "John" on the bottom of the map, intersecting with M10/Fouts Springs Road.

Once you spot Mt St. John, it is very prominent irl, because it stands out by itself on the eastern edge of the Mendo NF ... very easy to see as you approach Stonyford and even from I-5, I think ...

you guys are usually too busy doing single-track, but it's an easy evening ride. actually, wouldn't be surprised if you've been up there already ...

 

[1962siia]

Gotcha this the radio tower that folks ride up to. I've been up there. Thanks.

 

[SFMCjohn]

Gotcha this the radio tower that folks ride up to. I've been up there. Thanks.

exactly ... would've been much easier for me to just say "the radio tower!"

good example of the disconnect between ADV/KLR riders and plated dirt-bike guys ...
I seldom know what you fast guys are really talking about.

 

[SFMCjohn]

[YOUTUBE]HyerYfP2_4o[/YOUTUBE]

some BAJA fix for me on this winter day ...

(OK, winter is 12/21/2020, but you get the idea ...)

 

[SFMCjohn]

e-bay KLR 685 kit and pre-96 cylinder, to deal with my most recent rider’s new trick of needing a 1/2 quart of oil every fill-up ...

cylinder came complete with a stock piston that looks in good shape ...

we found a extra head and cams lying around in my garage and Kalle bundled them all up and shipped them off to Engine Dynamics on New Year’s Eve via USPS for less than $40 ...

between the two of us we have like 5.5 KLRs ... when I pull the head and barrel off my most recent PITA, we’ll send those off to EDCo, and be ready for the next PITA ...

some of you may recall I’m still in the middle of a prior KLR top-end that came to a screeching halt when I dropped a bolt down the cam-chain tunnel.

one excuse for that delay is I’d loaned my rotor puller tools which he promptly misplaced amongst all his Indian projects ...

anyway we found the tools and hopefully I’ll find that dropped bolt before Easter ...

 

[SFMCjohn]

[YOUTUBE]iaW3U7ubxKA[/YOUTUBE]

awesome drone vid w/ decent music, in north west NM ...
for you plated dirt bike single track types, he has some of that, too, if you poke around on his youtube channel, RIDEFREAKTV ...

Cabezon Peak ...