Mendo NF Grand Tour/Hoho Magic Rally, 2019

[SFMCjohn]

Thanks for taking us on and sharing another fantastic ride in this thread John!

Hawthorne going to be an ST ride ...?

That looks like a lot of fun! Thanks for great pics and write up.
Do you know all those dirt roads from experience? lots of research? Just looking at maps? What's your secret?

wish I had enough sense do the Topaz Rally, think it literally took me eight years to find my way up Mt Patterson, finally ...

all the roads I did this year, I knew from riding up to the Weaverville Rally three times ... started learning Mendo by doing the Sheetiron in 2005 as a total n00b and doing that 13 or 14 times ... and the ADVrider.com Mendo Rally and the Funduro multiple times.

anyway, it was other folk’s ride reports and paper maps and rallies and exploring and posting my own ride reports. Woodschick’s BARF ride reports were an inspiration, and went scouting with two wheel tramp when she invited me ... two wheel tramp showed me Mina Rd ...

found that it was hard to look at paper maps/google maps until I had some base of experience in the field ... used to get lost every year at the Sheetiron for the first few years ... never did get into GPS ...

the real secret is: I’m just old ...

nothing like seeing these roads/places for the first time ... envy your desire
to get into adventure riding ...

thanks for reading and posting ...
see you around the campfire,
— SFMCjohn

 

[OaklandF4i]

Hawthorne going to be an ST ride ...?

Yep! Super stoked for it's Barf rally debut.

Used it for my weekly commute between Lake County and the Bay Area before I left on my July walk about. I think its mechanically solid now.

Will attend to it's cosmetic needs and health later this year... and already noodling a BIG ride next summer. The short version will include nearly half the states of the US and one Canadian Province. The long version, depending if the funds are available, time, and couches to crash on will include every region of the US and three Provinces. Lots to noodle, figure, and tinker with before next summer.

 

[m0t0_ryder]

and thanks to ThumperX for a little music for Mendo riding:

"Oh Lord I ain't coming home ..."

Ah man... I really like The Dead South tunes. Good stuff.

 

[SFMCjohn]

Ah man... I really like The Dead South tunes. Good stuff.

think with a little practice we could maybe dance like those guys at the next rally ...
gotta find a white shirt and cool hat ...

 

[onto1wheel]

wish I had enough sense do the Topaz Rally, think it literally took me eight years to find my way up Mt Patterson, finally ...

all the roads I did this year, I knew from riding up to the Weaverville Rally three times ... started learning Mendo by doing the Sheetiron in 2005 as a total n00b and doing that 13 or 14 times ... and the ADVrider.com Mendo Rally and the Funduro multiple times.

anyway, it was other folk’s ride reports and paper maps and rallies and exploring and posting my own ride reports. Woodschick’s BARF ride reports were an inspiration, and went scouting with two wheel tramp when she invited me ... two wheel tramp showed me Mina Rd ...

found that it was hard to look at paper maps/google maps until I had some base of experience in the field ... used to get lost every year at the Sheetiron for the first few years ... never did get into GPS ...

the real secret is: I’m just old ...

nothing like seeing these roads/places for the first time ... envy your desire
to get into adventure riding ...

thanks for reading and posting ...
see you around the campfire,
— SFMCjohn

Thanks for sharing!
I gotta say, following Jerry Counts GPS tracks worked out really well to lead us over mt patterson and so many other great trails. I'm going to try and find and follow as many GPS tracks as I can (or just follow people). I just never seem inclined enough to find the good stuff by exploring on my own. I don't get out much. and i'm lazy.

But yeah as an empty nester now I hope I can find time for more exploring.
and hey I'm probably older than you.
Here's a pic of some time in the '80's, when I managed to plan out a bunch of dirt through a few states (only did this twice. And it was long ago, haven't really done it since. Got into a few other two wheeled activities)

and yeah, that's a mervyns plastic bag on the back had to stop and buy some pants!