Plain: The Carrizo Old: Me Birthday: Mine on March 7th Ride: My favorite thing to do ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's not every day that one turns <gulp> 49, so I decided to do something about it...and what better way to celebrate than a nice long ride? My friend David and I left Oakland at 10:30am Friday morning... The van in the driveway was loaded and waiting for Eric when he got off work later that day. He would join us later in the evening. First stop after gas was Clear Creek. Time to shed some layers... This was pretty much the view I had all day of David. He's got two speeds: stop and full throttle... I did manage to stay on his tail on one of my favorite stretches of road in the great state of California...Clear Creek-Coalinga Road. It's tight and twisty and dirty, much more suited to my SM610 than David's fairly new Super Tenere. Plus I knew the road better than he did. It was fun to actually ride *with* him for a change, instead of wondering if I'd ever see him again Damn, that's a fun stretch of pavement... No photos because David stops for nothing and I didn't want him pulling into camp 3 hours ahead of me while I was taking pretty pictures and flogging my 610 single down Bitterwater Road. We hit up a local taqueria in Coalinga to fuel up before the assault on Parkfield Grade...super-tasty, inexpensive and the people were really nice. I'll be coming back here again... Yum... Looking kinda rough after all that riding... Last New Years we did this ride in the opposite direction. I was on the back of Slackmeyer's KTM 950 with a broken shoulder and as I came down Parkfield Grade into Coalinga I swore I'd be doing this ride on my own for my birthday. Good call. I had an absolute blast climbing the pavement up to the Parkfield Summit! It looks for all the world just like a supermoto track and it just...it just rocks super hard! Of course, David was nowhere to be seen, but I had a great time ripping up the road on my own. David was waiting for me at the top when I arrived, huge smile on my face and heart racing with pure moto joy... It was beautiful up there, and we spent too much time taking photos and enjoying the views while the shadows lengthened... I was glad to see it so green up here. Gave me hope that the Carrizo Plain would be wearing its coat of many colors instead of the brown paper bag it had on in January... We boogied off the summit down the dirt road into Parkfield. David wanted to do a dead engine Coaster Race down the grade but I foolishly declined. I should have taken him up on it, but instead I followed him with my motor running while he coasted. It was pretty amusing and a whole lotta fun. Parkfield was quiet and we only stopped once on the way out of town... Not too far out of town we ran into this unruly gang of cows. They were being herded in our direction and there was really nowhere to go. As they got closer they got a little out of control and started jumping up and down and getting aggressive. It was pretty intense. I tried to move myself and my bike closer to David's but that just made them get even crankier so I stayed put. The cowboys didn't seem too concerned but they were on horses high above the fray. We were kind of shitting bricks but we just stayed still and let the boisterous bovines do their thing til they were past us... "WTF are you doing, Tami? Let's get the hell out of here!" The ride out of the Cholame Valley was spectacular with the rapidly dropping sun...not that you'd know, though, because I didn't stop to take photos. David flagged me down as we hopped onto Bitterwater Rd. Seems I was dragging my Camelbak hose. I'd lost the bite valve and water was spewing everywhere. Before I could stop him he took off to look for it, leaving me alone with my thoughts... He didn't find it but he did provide me with some entertainment... Bitterwater was a ton o' fun alongside the creek bed in the canyon, but unfortunately there were too many cows in the road for us to really strafe it good and proper. It was beautiful, though, and we had a sense of urgency as we raced the sun. David was determined to win that race as Bitterwater opened up, and he slowly disappeared into the distance as I kept the poor 610's speedo hovering at the triple-digit mark. The 610 is surprisingly stable at those speeds but I felt bad for my motor so I dropped it down to a reasonable 88mph. The sun took advantage of my weakness and ultimately won the 290-mile race... We had no sooner started setting up David's tent when we saw Eric pulling into the campsite! We had only been there about 10 minutes or so. Excellent timing. We unloaded his bike, got camp set up, and then started a rippin' fire. We sat and stared in amazement as the blood-red moon started to rise in the southeast... Once I came to my senses I scrambled to set up my telescope. I spent a good portion of the evening staring off into space, what with the orange moon glowing, Venus and Jupiter slow-dancing together and Mars blazing brightly just east of the Winter Circle. I had an almost-full moon and Mars in my sights all the way to work on my birthday and I thought that was pretty spectacular...a stellar birthday present, as it were. This moon pretty much blew its doors off! We had a tasty dinner of grilled sausages and risotto with asparagus, complemented with red wine, beer, scotch and something really tasty that was in David's flask. Sure wish we knew what it was...it was really good and I drank most of it before teetering off to bed. What a great day! I'd done exactly what I'd wanted to do for my birthday, and I still had a great day of riding waiting for me in the morning! Turning 49 hasn't been bad at all :-) More to come...
The day dawned with much promise... The moon had yet to set when the sun came up... Ready and waiting... I like camping! Happy camper despite sleeping a bit cold... I left my grip heaters on the night before so my bike was dead. Jumped the battery with my handy-dandy travel-size cables (no kick-starter, don'tcha know) and we were on our way. Took a few photos after stopping for minor adjustments on the main road... I realized with a bit of dread, at the very moment I tripped the shutter on the above photo of the two speedsters taking off, that I was sitting there with my motor off. Of course my bike was still dead and I knew it would be a long time before they realized I was not behind them. I was right. For want of a kickstarter I was sitting there burning daylight doing absolutely nothing but waiting... I laid on my back and watched the clouds drift by, thoroughly enjoying the beautiful, peaceful day. I did cuss a bit almost 45 minutes later when they finally returned...bastards! I took my frustration out on my throttle and fell in love with my MT60's all over again when they kept me upright all the way down to the highway. No motorcycle I've ever ridden has given me quite the unbridled joy that my 610 has. We hopped onto Cerro Noroeste, a fantastically fast section of curvy pavement. Eric and David were feeding off each other, as they always do when they ride together, and they disappeared rather quickly on the high-speed pavement. We met up at the top of Qatal Canyon and bombed down the dirt. We briefly discussed taking the trail that Eric and I rode two-up on Slackmeyer's KTM 950. We decided to save it for the Ballinger Canyon OHV trails... We had an incredibly good time jumping the water bar thingies over the washes and drainage ruts! I had a few moments where I thought for sure I was going to eat a faceful of dirt, and we all had a moment in the big sand wash crossing, but I had a good time getting the 610 off the ground. David was a man possessed, and I was lucky enough to see him get the Tenere completely off the ground as he passed me on one of the many jumps that line the glorious road. I'm still bummed I missed his Flying W episode. I thought for sure I was going to witness the big girl's ruination but he rode her like a champion and managed to escape the canyon with only a minimum amount of equipment damage, as we would soon discover We stopped in at The Place for a killer breakfast... The owner of The Place keeps a tally of motorcycles that come through his place. It's on a chalkboard sign behind the bar. We were numbers 267, 268 and 269 on the year. Cool, eh? On to Ballinger Canyon OHV! It was fun seeing the big Tenere negotiate the trails. I wish we'd have stopped so I could have gotten some trail photos but it was not to be... The photographer should be fired for missing the monster wheelie... He was laughing maniacally as he passed me... Hey, look! I was on this ride, too! More on the way...
Eric and I were both thinking the exact same thing on the way to this lookout point..."Ohh, crap...I forgot about this last steep part..." LOL! "So, how steep is it?" Please indulge me for a moment... Thanks! What goes up must come down... My turn! What a beautiful day... Coming down into the staging area at Ballinger was hilarious. We met quite a few riders on regular dirt bikes that looked at us like WTF? Is that guy on a GoldWing or what? What's with the fat tires on that chick's chunky motorcycle?? We bombed out to the highway and back onto the Plain. We blitzed Elkhorn Road at ridiculous speeds. I've never ridden an MT60 rear down there, I've always been on a Shinko, and it made a huge difference. Elkhorn has been graded pretty smooth, which stripped away a lot of the character and interest, but it's still a dirty sandy road that twists and turns its way along the whole length of the plain. I thought it prudent to not exceed 70mph and that strategy served me well. It wasn't quite so dramatic when I drifted across the sand and off the edge of the road :laughing I wasn't the only one flat-tracking over the edge, as Eric and David both did the same thing. Time for a rest at the corner of Hurricane and Elkhorn... Eric showed David how to get the ABS to disengage here, thus making the rest of Elkhorn Road a more interesting ride for David... We followed Elkhorn all the way to its northern terminus and bid David good-bye. He missed his family and was in a hurry to get home to them, but the roller-coaster playground of HWY 58 towards Bakersfield and 251 miles of mind-numbing HWY 5 stood between him and his goal. As expected, he put the hammer down and got the job done before sundown. Eric and I took off to screw around on the plain and seek out places we'd never been. Unfortunately I've been in this particular spot more times than I care to remember... No harm, no foul, but I lost the right mirror on Cerro Noroeste earlier in the day and now the already cracked glass in my loaner mirror on the left was falling out. I guess I should be ordering up a new set of mirrors instead of doing this ride report! Anyway, we enjoyed the rest of the ride. Eric is totally smitten with his Husky TE610... We got back to camp in time to thoroughly enjoy the rest of the sunny day, then got the bikes gassed up for tomorrow's adventures... Campfire time! As we often do, we sat by the fire long into the night discussing the events of the day and planning our next day's ride. Our plan included making it down to the highway without having to ride Soda Lake Road. More on the way...
A ride is always how I like to celebrate my birthday, or Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or New Years day, or Easter, or ????
Thanks, Tim! I celebrated all week and had a total blast! Eric is absolutely in love with that 610. He still rides the LC4 into work every day, but he says the 610 is sooo much better in the dirt. He's having a great time on it. It's exactly what he was looking for. I've tried to refrain from saying "told ya so!" That's the plan, my friend I'd like to be doing this sort of thing when I'm 79, too! Or Saturday, or Wednesday, or International Bread Bakers Day, or...or...
Nice way to spend a birthday! I was wondering how the SuperT made it down the steep hill with ABS enabled. I'd heard there was no way to turn it off, but I guess, from what I read later in your report, there's some hack? Did he do that steep downhill with ABS on? I've forgotten to turn ABS off on my F800GS a few times and that oversight has provided some pucker moments. Fortunately, I've been able to get the beast stopped and disable the ABS. The system on my 800 is overly aggressive, so the slightest bit of traction loss on dirt means you're carrying way more speed than you want. Try going down a soft, loamy path with it on and you will inhale your seat cover instantly. You don't carry hardly anything on that bike. How do you have room for jumper cables? Did Eric bring all the camping gear in a truck? I'm sure the Plain got the crap soaked out of it in the last storm, so it'll be a while before it's ridable. I'd like to catch it when it's green, though....
Yeah, David rode all the trails at Ballinger with the ABS on. There was one trail that was a really steep, if short, uphill. I was behind him and watched him crest the hill then immediately disappear off the other side. I swallowed hard and followed, my stomach dropping when I, too, got to the top and then immediately found myself going down something that was almost too steep for my tastes on the 610. We ended up turning around and riding it again in the other direction. It was pretty gnarly terrain and David rode it all without so much as a shrug. We used to ride dirt bikes together back in the late 80's so it's not like he doesn't know what he's doing, but he still impressed the hell out of me and Eric, for sure! I had the cables in my backpack. We were just doing day rides using the camper van as a base. Eric had to work on Friday but I had it off with Birthday Pay (I love my job ) so he drove the van down after work. It makes it easier to base out of the Plain proper when you have your own gas available. I'm hoping it got a good soaking. It was too dry for my tastes, and the flowers were pretty much nonexistent. Way different than last year. I'd like to go down there as soon as possible but it's pretty much dirt bike time now. Can't wait to take the rippin' 165 out for a spin
Oh yeah, the ABS can be shut off by putting the bike on the center stand and running it in 2nd gear til the light goes off. It stayed off the rest of the way up Elkhorn.
I have a buddy with a new SuperT that rides dirt often. I'll pass that tidbit along in case he hasn't heard of it yet.
We were up before the sun on Sunday, leaving plenty of time to enjoy the 36-degree morning. It was colder the day before... The Temblor range is beautiful early in the morning and in the evenings when the shadows accentuate the crazy contours... This road took us south for a ways... There's quite a bit of sand down on the plain. Dropping down into a wash... Railing the two-track out of the wash... Supermoto sand... Looking behind me... Hidden gem of a trail... Ladies first... Yet another dead end. Lots of them out here, but it's ok because it's all fun stuff and that's what exploring is all about... Back out to the sandy track we came in on... Scouting campsites... This is a good one... Good place for a breakfast of almonds and apricots, too... Exiting the long sandy wash... A hidden springs would make a nice camp spot, too... The aptly-named Pipeline Road. This road took us soooo close to where 33 comes out to 166, but we patrolled the fence line and couldn't find a way to get out to it... The Carrizo Plain hides its treasures from the casual traveler... I spotted this jewel from high on the ridge. It was the only spot of color in the pale earthtone landscape of the parched plain. I had to search the wash for it once I dropped in elevation... It was odd that there were no flowers on the plain other than this one freakishly large lupine in the middle of a dry sand wash. It smelled heavenly sweet. We continued to lazily wind our way north back to camp, taking the long way anytime we were presented with an option. We both really love it here and, as usual, we were reluctant to leave. I had such a good time celebrating my birthday here, and I played with the thought of coming back again next year, too. We loaded up beneath dark and promising skies and headed north towards home. We'd like to come back once the Plain starts greening up a bit and blooming. I'll be sure and tell y'all about it if we do
Looks like a happy birthday to me and what nice weather! You two should think about trying to bring the 610s to China Hat this year. I know, only so much room, but the 610s will work hust fine on just about all the trails there, plus you can ride out of the OHV area and see other stuff. There is a lot of open country to the East and not very many highways. As you probably know.
Yeah, we've discussed bringing them before but it always seems like such a kamikaze trip when we go up there. Not really time to do all the things we want to do, which includes dual sporting to the cave and whatnot. I'm afraid that if I tried to ride my 610 on all those high-speed trails out there I'd probably hurt myself. Oh, wait...
Well, as you know, I've had quite a few birthdays already and this one ranked right up there with some of the best...if not THE best!
Oh Woodsie I missed your Birthday. Many Happy Returns. It looks like you had a beauty. Thank you for another great read and view. Safe Riding Glenn.
