As some of you may know, I bunged up my ankle pretty good about 4 months ago while on the Big Boot Trail Ride up near Eureka. 2 plates, 13screws, 4 scars and 4 months later, I was itching to ride. It had been my goal to be back on the bike before I was back at work, and with the return date of Oct 15th looming large in my near future, I figured last weekend was as good a time as any to hop back into the saddle. I was jonesing for a camp fire, too, so I took off on Thursday afternoon in the Pleasure Palace, SM610 in tow, and headed for Middle Creek in the Mendocino Nat'l Forest. Got there about 4pm, quickly unloaded the bike and headed out Upper Deer Valley Rd. to scout out a good campspot. I was a little nervous riding out there on scritchy gravel and dirt roads by myself...on a deserted Thursday, no less...but I managed to keep myself drama-free. I needed to find a spot with a metal fire ring due to campfire restricitions. I found what I was looking for and headed back to the van. Loaded the 610 back up and skedaddled up the road. Got to the spot just as it was getting dark...and cold! Set up camp and settled in for a pleasant evening filled with my own company It was 34 degrees when I woke up the next morning, but once the sun came over the ridge and started peeking through the trees the temp shot up to a balmy 45 degrees Seriously, though...it was a beautiful morning. I love waking up in the woods! Now, Eric wasn't all that thrilled with me going up there and riding by myself. He figured I'd fall down trying to get on or off the bike (I must admit, the process is not pretty,) hurt my ankle again and lay there til he got there late Friday night...hopefully before the vultures pecked my eyeballs out. I've camped and ridden by myself on several occasions, and I've always enjoyed it, but this time was different. I needed some company...but who could go on a weekday? Ahh! I know! I'll ask this guy! <*coffee edit to put up different picture*> For those of you that don't recognize the handsome fella, it's our very own Coffee! He'd agreed to come on up and babysit me on some dirt roads Friday afternoon, and I couldn't have been happier. He's had a pretty rough time with his own ankle injury the last few years so he wasn't exactly ready to rip it up in the tough stuff either. Turns out our "return to riding" comfort zones were pretty much the same. We headed out in the direction of Stonyford and just meandered around enjoying the views and stuff. We took a small off-shoot that goes past the Bear Creek campground and took it about as far north as we dared. It was getting pretty cold and windy, and the sun drops mighty fast at that time of day. I had no issues riding back with my SM headlight, but Coffee wanted no part of that so we turned around and headed back. We both dropped the ball in the photo department, opting to focus on our activities rather than taking photos. We ended up with identical photos that we took at the same time:bonk: Anyway, here they are... Sorry I didn't get any shots of the creek crossing or anything. BTW, Coffee was a perfectly chivalrous gentleman and agreed to cross the creek first We high-tailed it back to camp. The colder it got, and the closer we got to camp, the faster I went. I just wanted to get warm, as it was pretty damned cold out! I don't think Coffee had any feeling left in his fingertips by the time we got back. We said our good-byes and he headed back home. I was hoping he would be able to stay long enough to meet Eric, but he had a long drive ahead of him and Eric wasn't due til about 8pm. I'm really glad he came up to ride with me, as I wouldn't have ventured that far by myself in my gimpy condition. Eric pulled into camp on his rippin' LC4 640 supermoto right on schedule. He had taken off the 17's and put his dirt wheels and brakes on, and he had put the custom-made quiet insert into his full titanium Akrapovic exhaust system. That thing will make your ears bleed without it and we were both tired of being aurally assaulted. We had a big ride planned for the next day. We didn't get going til 10am as it was frikkin' cold up there. It never got above 45 the whole day! Our ride would take east to Stonyford, down Potato Hill, through Davis Flat, up the eastern flank of the Snow Mountain Wilderness, over the north end and back down along the western flank. We've been wanting to circumnavigate the wilderness area for some time but have always been thwarted by snow or some other unforseeable circumstance. On this day we would attain our goal. Me, trying to stay warm with my polartec fleece thermal shirt, fleece hooded sweatshirt, windproof fleece vest and Olympia Airglide jacket on. I would later add my enduro jacket to the fashionable ensemble Having lunch at Windy Gap just south of Sheetiron Mt. Damn, it was cold and windy up there... This is the creek crossing I made Coffee go through first... There was hardly any water in it this time of year. This is what it looked like when I rode the KTM through it last March... We pulled into camp with just a shred of light remaining in the sky and 106 miles showing on the clock. My ankle felt great, I was able to get off my bike without falling down or needing help, and I was already looking forward to the next day's ride More to come... (I know, kinda boring ride report with no gnarly stuff or anything, just dirt roads...but it was a huge step forward for me. Thanks for reading.) WoodsChick
Hey...It was a Great Story With a Happy ending to boot...what could be better.... Take it easy for the first little while , let thing heal up real good. Looks like you had a lot of fun and sounds like "our" Coffee is a complete gentleman. Post some more pics if you have them...never enough.
The next day dawned much warmer...at least 42 degrees when we rolled out of bed We wanted to head out towards Pine Mt and Lake Pillsbury, and decided a shortcut was in order... My reason for livin'... Those of you who have done the Cowbell Enduro might recognize this as the gas stop near the long Pine Mt singletrack section... We were looking for the mythical Pine Mt. Lookout, but we found this interesting road instead. It appeared to drop down the backside of the mountain and I couldn't help myself when I said "Ooh! I wonder where that road goes?!" ...for, like, the millionth time Hey, look! A photo of me! Doesn't happen very often, as I'm usually the only one that thinks to take photos... This road dropped and dropped, turned into a trail and then pretty much disappeared and ended at a locked gate just when it was getting all rutty and rocky and fun. We turned around and backtracked to a meadow for lunch... Back to the top, we went off in search of the Pine Mt Lookout. We'd looked before, but only half-heartedly. On this day, we had tanks full of fuel and hearts full of ambition. We would find it come hell or high water. Well, after riding in circles all kinds of trails/roads/semi-trails and ATV-type trails, we finally found the road going to the lookout. The carsonite marker said "No OHV's!" so I guess it was a good thing we were riding our streetbikes and not our OHV's... Behold the elusive Pine Mt Lookout... It's possible to rent this place, and I wouldn't mind incorporating it into a big ride someday. I'd love to come up in the winter sometime when there's just enough snow to make the ride interesting. Eric voted for the summer instead. More to come... WoodsChick
Speaking of summer, it had gotten quite warm out so we decided to head down to the Eel River... River banks are sandy and gravelly and fun Good lawd-a-mighty it was hot down there! Weren't we just freezing less than 8 hours ago?? We decided to, um...hang around a bit... Quite possibly our last natural-water swim of the summer... That water felt great on my ankle, and I wasn't looking forward to putting my boot back on, but we didn't want to get back too late. We blasted back without stopping, and just had a great time. We pulled in with only about 70 miles on the clock, but we'd had a great time together, found the lookout, and got to play in the water...which was a huge bonus for us this time of year! I'm still deathly afraid of hurting myself again, and my riding reflects that, but I'm thinking that's not such a bad thing at this point in the game. Eric had moved my shifter up quite a bit and that made things much easier for me. I think I'm going to ride to work on Monday Thanks for taking the time to wade through my ride report WoodsChick
It’s funny how the 610SM looks like a low rider next to the 510TE (or is it a250?) Hey, that’s what you need Woods; one of those “chopper” style air bags that lowers the bike all the way down to the frame so you can just stand and walk away… maybe Eric can build you something? I was wondering how Coffee looks and m’ happy to see that he’s an exact replica of my dad, all that riding gear just makes him look a bit huskier Glad you guys had fun All ways nice to see a dirty SM
Hey woodschick what SM tires are those? I have taken my Avons off road and it was ok but those look a lot better for mixed riding. Eldgen
Folks that don't take their SM's in the dirt are missing the whole point of owning one. Yeah, they totally rock on the pavement, but if you set them up right you get yourself a very versatile machine that will reward you with many miles of fun, no matter where you decide to ride them. It's funny, I commented on Coffee's solid rear rotor and he said my SM didn't have one because it was a "streetbike." I laughed and said "Hmph...so they say" WoodsChick
Mickey's right; they're Pirelli MT60's. They're great for the kind of stuff I was doing. Not so great in the mud. Stick like slicks on the pavement, but they wear rapidly so I only use `em when I know the pavement will be very limited. WoodsChick
Thanks, Mr. P. I gotta say, spending time in the outdoors with Eric is one of my very favorite things to do, whether we're on the bikes or not. We both know how fortunate we are to be able to share our favorite sport together, and there's not a day that goes by that we don't realize it. When I met Eric, he was strictly a roadracer. After traveling all over the country racing for a few years, I taught him how to ride in the dirt and he hasn't looked back since. Best decision I ever made LuckyChick
Thanks for sharing your comeback ride with us. Excellent write up and pictures! I'm really concerned about being injured do to it's affect on my profession but I guess it's part of the game unfortunately. Those husband and wife alone times are gold.....We're discovering that again on the street side of things.
Great report and glad to hear ankle is okay. I've made two comebacks in the last 5 years... bike related fib/tib fracture in '03, work related torn ACL and patella fracture in '05. Always great to be back on a motor bike! Norman
Was NOT expecting you to take a picture at that exact moment! All that armor makes me look even fatter than I am... Fun trip! Enjoyed following you around and learning the place better.
