Lost On The Coast For Thanksgiving

I've spent a few Thanksgivings camping up on the Lost Coast of CA. The last 3 years have been spent in the Nevada desert, though. We wanted to go to Nevada again this year but the cold front sweeping through the west was too much for me. Our camp spot was looking at -3 degrees on Wednesday night so we bailed at the last minute and headed for the Lost Coast instead. It was a good call.

One of the reasons I like camping here on Thanksgiving...






The only other campers were our friends Dan, Lesley and their daughter Ivy, and our friends Steve and Karen, with their daughters Stevie-Jean, Katie and Jaine.

Thanksgiving dawned clear and cold...


The day started off with a walk along the wild and deserted beach. Belle came with us and walked the labyrinth...


Suited up and ready to ride, Stevie, Steve, Dan, Eric and me...




We hit some fun goat-trail pavement, and some ridge-top dirt, too...






We dropped down into Ferndale and were the only people on the street. It felt kinda like that Twilight Zone episode where the kid wakes up in a town and he's the only one there We hit the Ferndale Bakery for mochas and pastries...


Luckily none of us had to enter or exit via the back door...


The nice bakery lady told us about a really neat place north of there where we could get great views of the bay. We followed her advice and she was spot-on...




Yes, the views were spectacular...


This guy almost jumped off the cliff, but he was only practicing...


Hey! What's that down there?





More to come...




WoodsChick

We headed down off the bluff and found a nice long spit of sand that we could legally ride on. Not too many of those places left here in CA.
Let the games begin!














Uh-oh...what are they looking at?


Street tires are kinda sucky in sand...






They would work ok for awhile until they didn't, then it was impossible to get going again...








I dug quite a trench trying to get out of there...


Staying off the soft stuff...


Look, Ma! No sidestand!




Arrghh...not again...




I ended up falling and picking my 610 up 3 times in about 30 minutes. That thing gets heavier and heavier after each fall!

We hopped up on the pavement and blazed back to camp. We got there right before sundown and we all got to crackin' on dinner...and drink...






We had a great dinner of deep-fried turkey, ham and all the trimmings. We've all spent the last few Thanksgivings together and I am really grateful for such good friends. We finished out the night sitting by the campfire, where Belle and Cookie got some love from their daddy Dan...





More to come...




WoodsChick

As always great report Woodschick! Looks like a great group of friends, and It's hard to think of a better way to spend the thanksgiving holiday than roosting some cali beaches with your best friends.

Wow what beautiful country side. Pictures are just amazing. Did you get a new camera?

Couldn't think of a better way to spend the weekend than with friends riding around the country.

Thx for sharing it with us.

Thanks, Colo moto We certainly do have a great time when we all camp and ride together.

Thanks, Walt! You can come roost some sunny beaches, too, ya know. I just happen to have a plated bike or two in my garage

Thanks, Dude Nope, no new camera, just my trusty ol' Panasonic DMC-ZS3. The guy that owned it before me was a real photographer and thought he wanted a point-and-shoot for dirtriding. He took some phenomenal photos with it but decided he was too much of a control freak for a point-and-shoot. If I actually knew what I was doing I know the camera would be capable of blowing my mind. But alas...I know nothing except "point-and-shoot"

Yeah, wasn't that funny? Especially in a place as infested with hippies as the north coast is. I thought it rather brave of the bakery lady
I like the "no exceptions" on the bottom






WoodsChick

The next day was cold and cloudy, with rain in the forecast. The ocean was eerily calm, and I figured this meant a storm was coming...





Found this on our morning walk...guess I could've called this the Thanksging ride report


Dan and his WR250X stayed in camp, so Steve, Stevie, Eric and I got an early start to out-run the coming rains. We headed south into the heart of the Lost Coast...






After some slippy slidey wet pavement we headed up into the coastal range on some dirt. This was some extremely fun stuff! Stevie and Steve were on their plated dirtbikes with full-on knobs. Eric and I were on our SM's with MT60's on the front (an exceptional rain tire!) and slidey Shinko 705's on the rear. This combo worked surprisingly well and we had a blast keeping up with the knobbies It was pretty incredible, really, how well those tires worked. Steve wasn't too crazy about them when he took over the reins on the LC4 while Eric rode his TE610...








Shoot...I gotta get to UPS before it closes! More later...



WoodsChick

Yeah, funny huh? That's Dan, and he makes me work hard to keep up when he rides that thing in the twisties! The WR actually belongs to his wife Lesley. She used to ride streetbikes in SF many years ago, and they got it for her so she could do some dualsporty stuff with us. His daughter Ivy rides, too. Dan should be picking up his new 2011 TE310 from MotoXotica on Friday if all goes as planned Belle also belongs to Dan. She is so sweet, she almost makes me want to have a dog. I'd seriously consider it if I could be guaranteed she'd be just like Belle.

I know! Sunshine on Thanksgiving at the beach! I am a lucky gal

It was superb! Would have been nice if the weather had cooperated later in the weekend, but it just made the sunny days that much more special.




WoodsChick

Why, yes, Mr. Eagle Eye, someone does have a new pair of black Gaerne Balance Pro-Tech boots! Thank you for noticing :smirk: I was testing them out on this ride, thinking it would be a short ride with no gnarly dirt. I wouldn't be hating life all day if they were uncomfortable. My worries melted away as soon as I put them on! They feel like slippers! I totally was digging the rubber soles, too. When I put a toe down in my Tech 6's they are kinda slidey since they're plastic and metal. The Gaerne boots provide awesome traction and they're so comfortable! I'm not convinced that they're up to the task for serious rock-riding, but they are supremely sweet dualsport boots! I also like the fact that when I look down at my feet all I see is black leather. Groovy in a retro-classic sort of way. My first dirt boots were Hi-Points and they were just black leather...makes me feel nostalgic




WoodsChick

Will do I plan on riding it as soon as I can pry his hands off the bars




WoodsChick

Outstanding as usual.

To my left, right behind me, Eric, Steve, Glen, Ley, etc....





WoodsChick