Eric and I went up to Stonyford to ride on Jan 9th. We knew it would be cold and snowy, but we went anyway. In all the years I've been riding Stonyford I've never seen snow on the ground at the Little Stony campground... We set our chairs up on the ice and had a nice fire before hitting the hay... The next morning was a tad chilly... The California Winter Blues can be seen rather clearly at the top of the hill... Eric was messing around with slides and jetting and whatnot at the bottom of the hill pictured above, so I rode up top and waited for him... Here he comes... This little uphill was frozen solid and it took us forever to get the little 144 up to the top, even though we had trials tires on. It's middle of the day and it is still shaded. Can you see the 3 Hondas waiting at the bottom? None of them ever made it up, but they turned out to be good guys... I spent quite a bit of time in the weeds off to the left in the picture above, and I'm pretty sure that's where I lost my enduro jacket. I had it strapped to a loop on my backpack and I realized it was gone as soon as we stopped at the ridge. I was bummed... I'd had that jacket for over 10 years and it was a great jacket. We went back to look for it but it wasn't there. Neither were the 3 Honda riders. Brrr! Looks cold, doesn't it? If you look closely on the left you can see the snow-capped Sierra on the other side of the Central Valley! The stuff that was in the sun was good, not frozen at all... The stuff on the other side of the ridge, however, was still shaded and frozen solid... It just got worse as we tried to drop down onto the trails on the north slope, seen on the left... More to come... WoodsChick
We decided to get back to the other side of the ridge and backtrack to see if we could find my jacket. We'd taken Trail 27 up, also known as Shag Nasty, and I was looking forward to riding it in the opposite direction. But first we had to go down the #26 hill... I zoomed in on the Sierra, about 125 miles away across the big central valley... Dropping down on #26 was kind of dicey as it's pretty steep in places and it was frozen solid in the shade. In some spots you just hold on and hope you can keep it on two wheels until getting to a sunny spot and/or one of the little flat sections. This spot was all dry and crunchy and icy, but a sunny spot was coming up where I could actually grab some brakes... It was a wild ride down to the trail junction we'd been at earlier in the morning, but it was all worth it! Check out what's sitting on the trail marker... Yep! It was my jacket I'm sure the Honda guys gave the icy hill a few more tries, found my jacket, and left it at the intersection as they went in search of easier trails. We decided it was time for a little break, and since my thermometer was trying its hardest to reach the 39-degree mark, we reached for the thermos We headed on down my favorite trail, Shag Nasty #27, towards Hyphus Creek. There is a tiny little section of this trail that actually leaves the Mendocino National Forest and goes through BLM land. It's the rockiest trail at Stonyford and I really like it... The views aren't bad, either... It gets steeper and rockier the closer you get to the bottom... Coming back up was a ton o' fun, but would have been better without the sun directly in our eyes! I love my little 144 motor and I love my Les Tinius-tuned LT-Racing suspension We headed back over to the sunny side... After taking Shag Nasty to the bottom, we climbed #23 and I had an absolute blast on the 144! I was able to keep it in the sweet spot all the way up, letting the front wheel barely skim the surface as my monster motor powered me up the hill with the greatest of ease. I'm diggin' the Husky Looking back down #23 with Love Lady Ridge in the distance... Eric took my 144 up the hill and was impressed. Said it ran good for a little tyke bike He also said he needs to ship his suspension off to Les as soon as possible. We headed down to the canyon to check out the creek crossing at the bottom of Love Lady Ridge but it was too swift and wide for my taste. We headed back to camp with not too many miles under our belts, but they were all good miles. We persevered through the horrific winter conditions and managed to have a good time in spite of them...as we usually do Thanks for coming along!! WoodsChick
yeah, I don't think that one is too "mnb friendly." I hope you didn't freeze too much there, WoodsChick. I'm glad you got your jacket back!
Yep score another top ride to Woodsie. Thanks for that Woodschick. A tad quite from Nth America this time of year so your report and wonderful shots were most welcom. It is beautiful riding country you got there. Those Sierras look fantastic.
It gets that way at the end, for sure. Nope! Problem solved...for now. Every time that bike comes apart it goes back together in a different manner. That tank issue was weird. It's almost like it changed shape while hanging in the garage You would totally dominate that hill on your 610! I'll admit, I kept stopping on the way down. I hate to say this...but I wasn't completely confident in the 144's ability (or should I say my own?) to get back out. That little bike never fails to surprise me I was totally kidding about the "horrific winter conditions" there, but yeah, it was cold for us. We had on our warm winter pants that are usually just for dualsporting, and we don't usually bring the thermos on straight-up dirt rides. It was an absolutely stellar day in the mountains, though! Just the way I like it- crisp, cold and sunny You are welcome to join us here anytime, ghte Fly on over, we've got a garageful of bikes and would be more than happy to take you riding! WoodsChick
i hate ice. love the bluebird conditions! and you got yer jacket back! that was purdy awesome. what a great story, mreeeep!
"you meet the nicest people on a Honda" So the ADS used to say back in the stone age. I had to turn the heater on in the computer room just to read your report. good stuff Mike
The pictures, as always made me want to ride there. Had a few cold and snowy rides this winter so far, myself.
25.1 ! Cold!! Man, #26 looks like a very steep downhill. It was very cold that weekend. I just rode local and froze (but not that cold).
Awesome pictures and ride report!! Woodschick, you are truly hard core!!! Those trails look steep enough, and to add ice into the mix . . . . FORGET it ! Really does look like a neat area!
Hm-m-m, looks familiar. Does that place have a permanent snow pack? Looks like fun. Nice report as usual, Tami. I'm glad the jacket thing worked out. You're doing pretty good with the lost-then-found riding gear. Have you visited rmd lately? See my (note that I said MY) ride report? Tim H Back in the saddle
A very gracious invite Woodschick, Thankyou. The reciprocal also applies. Motosportz has previously passed on kind invites too. I would be happy to arrange spare bikes for cafe husky friends and take you to some of my favourite spots if you want to cross the big creek. Sydney and its surrounds are pretty special imho
I've never tried any...but I bet they rock!! Yeah, I was happy to have my jacket back, for sure. We didn't mind the ice much, the only bummer was it kept us from getting to the actual singletrack. Sorry, dude! Didn't mean to make you cold! And I must be old because I remember those commercials... You also have a standing invitation, m'dear! WoodsChick
Hey, Daniel! #26 isn't steep at all when it's not icy. #2 is the reallly steep one there. And yeah, it was cold everywhere that weekend! Thanks, TE 250 Girl It is a really neat area, and I'm sure you could ride almost all the trails there when the conditions aren't so icy Hey, we need to continue our conversation! Um, yeah. I have no idea how it got there, either... WoodsChick
Whoa...what?? You're riding already?? You gotta be kidding me! It's been, what...3 months? Totally not fair!! But a huge congrats to you, man I bet it was fun How'd you feel afterwards? I gotta get over there to read your report. And, yeah, seems like there was lots of snow last time you were down here riding with me We should do that again! It was fun...until the shooting started. I might take you up on that offer someday! I better bookmark this thread WoodsChick
When you said you lost your enduro jacket your Pro Grip Husky jacket first came to mind. Happy to hear you got it back. Excellent pics/report, as always. I see you have the A-Star elbow guards, do you have the knee guards also? I have both the A-Star guards and imo they cover better then the other brands. I like the knee guards the best. They knee cup wraps around the inside and my knees don't get tank sore anymore.
