It really goes back to the basics. It always does. It is the eyeball factor.
There are a lot of reasons why motorcycles are fun. The risk factor is part of it. The custom bike scene is flash and show. The sport bikes are a blast to take on twisting corners and fast sweepers. Off road bikes offer you the chance to challenge yourself in the great outdoors. The list of motorcycles and uses goes on and on. For some the lowly moped is still a great way to get around crowded cities. And you can load up a Goldwing and hit the interstate in comfort for weeks at a time. The cd player even gets louder as you go faster. Pretty cool.
Each is a variation of the 2 wheel "thing" and some riders like some styles more than others. I guess I'll take it all. To quote a famous biker "Whatta ya got?"
Before we go any farther let me thank Fastline Cycles in Fremont 510 455 1080. They checked out my bike and got it tuned up before the ride. It ran great. Ask for Alex. Also up front thanks go out to Capt. Ron and Big Dave our trail leaders.
Big Dave, a Foghead and District 36 rider
It's Ron's ride, and I thank him for letting me and my friends come along. Ron's the kind of guy who makes home brew. Then builds racks for his bike to take it with him.
The world of "dual sport" riding starts by doing something lots of riders don't always want to do. Compromise. The point is to have one bike to ride on dirt roads and pavement. Sometimes that would be hardcore off road single track, or maybe a few hundred freeway miles. The bikes are a little bit better on the pavement or the dirt. Never is a good Dual Sport (DS) bike the best at everything or anything. Except it should suit the owners needs. If it does, then on that day, on that route, in those conditions, if everything goes right, a good DS bike is the perfect choice, and the best bike ever. Why? Because it was able to take you out for a good (pay attention here comes the key word) adventure.
Big Rick and Mitch
Adventure, eyeball input. That's the deal. I've ridden dirt bikes and street bikes for years. I've raced off road desert events, enduros, hare scrambles, grand prix events like Elsinore, flat track, supermoto, and bounced around the motocross track a few times. I'm never any good, but I always have fun. The race thing is a blast. It is you and the bike against hundreds of other riders and you decide how fast you think you can go. The rush of being at the starting line is really fun and seeing the checkered flag is a relief. But the DS and adventure ride thing is different. Not better, not worse, just what it is.
At its best it is done with friends. A good group, not too big, with "A" riders who can chill out if the trails seem too easy, and for some "C" riders it is time to step it up a little if the group rides on some tougher routes. After all what better place to try that hill climb, or tight tree lined trail than with some friends to help out. For the trail leaders it can be tough since everybody should have fun and be challenged, and with a variety of bikes and ability in the mix that can be a challenge.
So what is a good DS ride? For me it is seeing something cool, new, or different. Going somewhere I know and like to visit, and maybe finding a different way to get there. Add in a good group of fellow riders, meeting some new friends, and hanging out with friends I never see often enough. Add in some challenging trails, and some just plain old fun fast fire roads, and that'd be a good day. Oh and let's stop a few times and let the friendship and views and fresh air soak in. After all we're not racing...
Mitch, Ed, Me, and Chris doing a scene from Westworld. Ed did a great Yul Brenner.
I truly believe Lake County is Motorcycle Disneyland. There are lots of fun twisting uncrowded winding paved roads. The east side of the county has great dirt roads and borders on the Mendocino National Forest that includes 2 off road trail systems the Upper Lake and Stonyford (also called Grindstone) OHV areas. To the west of Lakeport is the Cow Mountain OHV. So you can put together some great rides in the area. If you are on a street bike, just grab a map, pick some roads. You'll dig it.
If you are on a dirt bike without a plate head to the OHV areas, get a map and ride for days on well marked and fun trails. There are beginner trails and crazy nasty hill climbs. Both areas have competition events thru out the year. If you have a DS bike you get to do everything. The winding scenic paved roads, the fire roads, the goat trails and single track, and the OHV trails. Adventure indeed.
The weekend of June 3 to 5th (hey it was a long weekend cause I said so...) the Hair Lip Dog Motorcycle Club (HLDMC) had their 9th annual Lake County dual sport ride. I had missed all previous 8. You know "whatever" was always happening. Last year I couldn't find my key, the Oreck Monster had eaten it... anyway I was on for 05. I called some friends to come with me; Over The Hill Gang MX'er Craneboy Ed, Six Days M. P. Chris, and RnR Machine Shop Mitch, former drag race record holder.
Craneboy Ed had to pull something out of the ground so he couldn't make it up until Friday night, Mitch was building some blown bigblock boat motor or something. He was going to meet us in Clearlake on Sat. morning. But Six Days Chris was outta the Bay Area early Friday am. So when I got there in the early afternoon he and I hooked up for a ride. To say Chris is a good rider is an understatement. But with a good attitude and a desire to just ride and have fun all weekend that is what we did. Funny how that works.
Six Days M.P. Chris
He and I headed out on some fun pavement along Sulphur Bank Drive to Hy. 20 to Long Valley Road. That crosses over the hills east of Clear Lake to a valley then up again to a ridge top with great views of the lake below. The road is a little dusty but can be ridden very fast but it is not a great idea to keep going faster and faster, just a nice quick pace will do. From there we went down Bartlett Springs road to Twin Valley road and turned left (north). That led up on more fun fire roads and two track with some fun water crossings as we would slowly head up to towards the Upper Lake OHV area. We were trying to find the intersection of OHV trail 37 and 17N16 but we ended up at M3 and M10. No problem since we had a map and then headed west to get on some trails. When we got to some marked OHV trails Chris took the lead and we had some fun the trees. The difference is the trails are narrower than the fire roads, and not nearly as smooth. Most of the trails in the Upper Lake area wind along mountain sides and offer great views of the valley and Middle Creek below. It is a fun place to ride.
We came to the intersection of M1 and trail 10 and headed south on Elk Mountain Road, some of the most fun pavement around. It is full of switchbacks and I call it SuperMoto Mountain. It takes you past the Middle Creek campground, then into Upper Lake.
In town a left turn on Hy. 20 takes you south along the lake towards Clear Lake Oaks. It is a great ride right along the lake with Mt. Konocti across the water, and a few little towns to pass thru. We got off the Hy. at Sulphur Banks Road, another winding road that takes us over a hill and then down onto Lakeshore and home.
It was a good 60 miles of riding, but just a warmup for what we would do on Saturday.
The rumble of bikes started a little early as the big group from Rancho Ronaldo passed Rancho Ricardo on their way to breakfast. Ed spent the night at my place and we ate breakfast and waited for Mitch to show up. He brought his Honda XL600 and was ready to go. So it was me on a Honda XR650L, Ed on the big 525 KTM SX with a dual sport kit and Mitch and we headed the 2 miles into town to meet up with Chris on his Euro Dual Sported KTM 525 EXC and the big group from HLDMC. As we left town I think there were about 14 people on the ride! For a (mostly) dirt bike ride that is a huge group. Would we be waiting around for slow riders? Would bikes break down? Would it be fun enough for everybody? We would see. My group of 4 are pretty mellow and can go along with anything.
The Saturday ride started on some single track that Capt. Ron had found on Friday. I was barely awake and the bike was heavy and full of gas and here we were crawling along a wet creek bed. It took lots of concentration and meant that the ride Captain wasn't at all afraid of taking his BMW GS riding buddies on some challenging stuff. It seemed everybody was loving it. The single track took us to a hill climb that led to a main road on the east side of Indian Valley Reservoir. It was a beautiful view from the ridge top. We could see some boaters and fishermen on the water. Indian Valley is stocked with trout, and kokanee and has a speed limit so it is a great place to fish of paddle around. Since it is so close to Clear Lake is doesn't get used too much, everybody heads for the big lake just a few miles away.
Crossing the north side of Indian Valley Res.
We followed a dusty ridge top road along the east side then crossed the lake at the north end and regrouped. The road we were on continues to Bartlett Springs and eventually Clear Lake, but we quickly turned right and headed north on a really rocky jeep trail. Lots of loose rocks and ruts, no smooth line. It was pretty much a first gear crawl. That took us to the bottom of a big hill climb with loose dusty rocks and some big rain ruts. The trail leaders went up it, and the rest of us at the bottom watched and sucked it up and gave it a shot. It had very little grip, and you had to change your line a few times, but everybody made it. It wouldn't be the only time that day I was impressed by the BMW GS bikes and the skill of the riders.
After the hill climb there was a red dusty rocky trail with more first and second gear riding, then we hopped on forest road M5 and the speed picked up a little. Now we were in the heart of the Mendocino National Forest. Lots of trees and the air smelled great. We rode along to the split towards Digger Pine campground, and turned right to follow that road that snaked its way along Little Stony Creek. It was a pretty long road and eventually took us to a paved road where we turned left and headed into the town of Stonyford.
Lunch, Gas, and a Break
So in the afternoon we headed home. I've ridden the trails around Stonyford and the main fire roads many times, but our fine trail leaders were able to once again put us on some single track I had never been on and it was a blast. We headed west from town, and turned on M5 before we got to the Davis Flat campsites. M5 winds along a ridge above the Letts Valley and offers great views. A fire a few years ago changed the landscape, but the trees are coming back.
We passed some 20 something guys who were standing in the middle of the road not looking like they were having fun. We saw why. Somebody had tried to fly a 70’s era Chevy truck Dukes Of Hazzard style and overshot the road. It was about 50 feet down a cliff stuck in some brush, They had a winch on a Jeep they were going to hook up, but there were no trees to tie to, I don’t know how it was going to work out. Ah to be young and do stupid stuff...
If a BMW falls in the forest does anyone hear it?
At some point we were on top of a really high ridge, there was some snow still there. (in early June!) Checking the map showed we were on Goat Mountain at 6121 feet. There was a lookout tower at the very top and there was some sort of a trail to get there. It was a rocky loose tight single track, and once again our trail leaders headed up the hill. We watched, then we headed up. It wasn't easy, but we all made it. And once again I was impressed by the BMW guys.
Goat Mountain Lookout
As it should be the view was awesome. The lookout is no longer used, but you could see how it was effective on keeping an eye on things. The way home would be a little south and a little east. How we were going to get there I had no idea. Ron says we went to Youngs Spring Corral. Ok then we did. He had the GPS! Somehow we ended up on this beautiful single track trail that dropped us thru a series of meadows full of flowers and trees and a few creek crossings. It was fun and pretty easy and not too dusty.
Then as Ron says:
"At the intersection of Twin Valley Road and Bartlett Springs Road, who should we run in to? Don Ivan, of A.C.T. Dualsport. I’ve never taken one of his rides, but after offering us beer and soda, he sure seems like a swell guy. After this last rally point, it was a free-for-all heading back to the cottage. Smooth, fast, with every corner already burned in my mind, I jump at the chance to lead out of the valley. I peg it over 80-mph in the flat area before sliding my way up the mountain. God, I love this road. I finally stop at Bartlett Summit to wait for the next guys, and then we take off again towards Clearlake. We make the left turn onto High Valley Road, for the last bit of dirt for the day. Everyone has barn-brain, focused solely on getting back to the food and beer. The last bit of fun for this trip back includes Sulfur Bank Road, some scrumptious switch back asphalt ribbon, perfect for rubbing the mud off of knobbies."
Mitch
What he said. About 130 miles and 8 hours of 5 star Dual Sport riding. Good attitudes, and no breakdowns, no f.t.'s and all make it back to Ranchos Ronaldo and Ricardo on the shores of Clear Lake.
I had a "Take And Bake" pizza from Cecil's in Clearlake then headed to Konocti Resort to see ZZ Top. They were great, the weather was not. A really hard cold wind was blowing that night and even with my Acerbis riding jacket I was feeling the chill. Of course ZZ Top means bikers, and they were there big time. On the walk back to the truck I made sure to pass by the bike parking area. Some sweet rides were there that night. Like I said I like it all.
It wasn't hard to fall asleep Saturday night, Sunday morning came and Ed and I rode along the lake up Hy. 20 to Upper Lake then to Middle Creek campgrounds. We took the 4 mile "Sled Ridge" trail from the creek to the top and played around on the Upper Lake OHV trails for a few hours. I noticed my XR650L forks were crap. The rebound was so fast the front end was bouncing out of my my chosen line on the trails and I would have to roll off the gas and correct it. It was pretty frustrating. There s a compression adjustment, but no way I can adjust the rebound. I made a mental note to call Scott Dunlavey at Berkeley Honda to ask him about it. Scott is a long time XR600 Baja rider who was in the movie "Dust To Glory" and I was sure he would know about getting these older cartridge forks dialed in. When it was time to head back we raced down SuperMoto Mountain and into Upper Lake then along the lakeshore and home.
What a cool weekend. Lots of miles on lots of different roads and trails. A great group of people and lots of eyeball input.
Adventure. But with a nice warm place to sleep, and a ZZ Top concert thrown in. Whee!
Oh and about the forks? Scott said to contact ESP Suspension and ask for George. He used to work at Scotts Performance when they did suspension work and he is a Honda cartridge fork master. As I write this they are at his shop. Can't wait to try them out next year.
Monday I just chilled out, and read a book about the Lincoln Highway called American Road: The Story of an Epic Transcontinental Journey at the Dawn of the Motor Age.
"In 1919, a military convoy of 81 vehicles set out to travel the Lincoln Highway--a line drawn on the map--from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. Essentially a PR ploy to dramatize the need for good roads, the "First Transcontinental Motor Train" delivered. Trucks foundered in mud, crashed through wooden bridges, and got beaten to pieces on byways barely better than trails. Modern motorists will be surprised to learn just how bad things were back then, but the story behind the undertaking is equally interesting. Automobile and tire manufacturers, who stood to gain if newly car-crazy citizens had smooth roads to travel, managed to drive the government their way; the grueling journey captured the American imagination and spurred road building to a fervor."
Adventure.
Like Big Time Bill Spencer used to say "Be Somebody Be Ride A Motorcycle" you'll dig it.
Father and Son bonding in the great outdoors
photos by Ron and CrazyRider
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