Rocky Weekend In The Sierra...In More Ways Than One!

Eric and I were free last weekend so we made hasty plans to ride up in the Sierra, staging out of our friend David's house in Pioneer. I tried to round up a few riders but nobody wanted to ride with me The only one I was able to talk into it was Eldrick on his 450 Husky. Our friend Dan would be joining us on his plated WR450, with Eric on his TE610 with dirt set-up and me on my SM610 that was still wearing the knobbies from the Utah and Nevada trips.

Eric wanted to leave right after work Friday but I was committed to a friend's boat launching down in Santa Cruz so I rode south and he left without me. Ken built the Harvey (in honor of Harvey Milk) with his own hands in his garage over the course of a few years and there was no way I was going to miss it going into the water! It's a beautiful boat and will be even more smashing once it gets its mast and rigging and all the final touches...





It was a late night in Santa Cruz and I barely had enough time to lay my head down before heading out the door to beat the sunrise. I took the scenic route and made it to Pioneer in an hour and 45. The ride was stellar and I'm really digging that 650. I arrived to find a fresh pot of coffee and my 610 prepped and ready to go. After a quick breakfast of chorizo and eggs we suited up and hit the road!

Dan, Eldrick, Eric and I dropped down onto Tiger Creek Rd and headed east. This road is one of the most kick-ass paved roads in the area...even on knobbies! Super tight and twisty, with just enough gravel, potholes, dirt, sand, drop-offs, etc. to keep it interesting. It wasn't long, though, before the first of many little issues reared its ugly head. Eric lost his taillight, then his dash went blank, then he lost all power. Time for an impromptu break to replace a fuse...






We continued on but it wasn't long before we were on the side of the road again. Eric had lost a bolt for his starter relay. He replaced it, but all he had that fit was a stainless steel one and it wasn't conducting. He spent the rest of the day jumping the starter relay with an allen wrench. The downside to that is he hardly took any photos...boo!








Ahh...dirt! Eldrick aboard his Husky 450...It's a TXC, right, Eldrick?




Me!










Eldrick...





Dangerous Dan...




Dan's new 450 is sweet!




Eric...




Spring is in full swing at these elevations...




















More on the way...as usual

Ah. Woodschick therapy :-)

Eldrick has graciously given me access to all his photos and here are a few of them...
Yes, Eric is once again doing something to his bike. This time it was a subframe bolt, I think? I dunno. I'm losing track...




I like the look of Eldrick's "custom" license plate...





Eldrick ran into a bit of a bump in the road here. It looks super flat and easy, but it was a bit of a bear to get through. His bike wasn't starting all that great, either...



It's all uphill from here...




I squidded my way up the hill...







And got into position to capture any antics Eldrick might provide. Unfortunately for the viewers he was smooth as silk...




This was our reward for making the long rocky climb...










Thanks for showing me I really need to replace my vented gear with something that fits, Eldrick!





Another offering from Eldrick...





So we're at the very top of the ridge; there's only one way to go, right?
And it's a tad rocky, too...





Don't ask me why I was stopped and taking photos...




We dropped down to HWY 4 and headed east. I was riding along, minding my own business, when all of a sudden my rear suspension compressed and I heard a loud noise, kind of like a bang. I pulled over immediately and checked out the situation. Seems the loose end of my RokStrap had fallen down and had gotten caught in my rear hub next to the sprocket carrier. The bang I heard was the strap breaking. Unfortunately I didn't have my bags on, where I keep my spare straps, so I had to actually wear my backpack like a mere mortal :x Great. Right before the hardest part of the ride...




More on the way...

Interesting boat design, any idea what the paddles are for?

Maybe you should come out with your own energy drink. "WoodsChick".

I could've used an energy drink that day! I did 125 miles and almost 2 hours on the 650, then did 156 rough miles and 11 hours on the 610. This, after about 3 hours of sleep on Wednesday (sailing,) Thursday (softball,) and Friday (Santa Cruz.) I'm getting too old for this crap...

Those are oars. Ken did not want a motor on his boat. This is the 4th boat he's built and he's sailed all over the world. This one is Hawaii-bound as soon as it's finished. He's almost finished with the mast. He made the oars, along with everything on the boat. He was a woodworker by trade, used to build violins. Ken is a very bright and interesting man, for sure. A few more of the boat, if y'all don't mind...





I love the paint! It looks like 2 different colors of blue but it's not. It's just the lighting...




So simple, with a minimum amount of hardware...




The interior is beautiful, and is quite comfy when the cushions are in place...







WoodsChick

The day was warming up nicely and I seriously thought about taking a dip when we got here. Plenty of time for that later, though...



Photo courtesy of Eldrick...







We took turns washing off miles of dust...










After the face-washings and a quick snack we hit the trail. This is behind me...



And this is in front...




I had to get a photo of me in here somewhere, since Eric wasn't taking any...





Yeah, the Sierra is a little rocky...




Eldrick is a very graceful and competent rider...




Unlike you-know-who...



This photo illustrates how short I really am...



The last time I rode through here (last year on our 20th wedding anniversary) I was running street tires with full camping gear. I did not fall once...




This time I had nothing on the bike...nothing!...and knobbies, and I spent most of my time on the ground. It was a rough day, to say the least It's a rough ride for me on the 610 and after last year I swore I wouldn't do it on the 610 again. I told Eric as much when he suggested this route and he just sort of blew it off since he really wanted to do it. Grr...


Eric loves this trail...











More on the way...

I think Dan and Eldrick do, too!









Eldrick is fluent in body English...







My turn. Hey, look! I'm upright!







The rocks just never end up here. Eldrick was having a hard time getting his TC started and I was grateful for the moment's rest...




Eldrick took these photos on one of my favorite sections of trail. I feel like I kind of dropped the photographic ball on this ride, as I didn't get photos of some of my favorite scenes...










I went ahead of Eldrick and Eric, and went through this creek crossing just like I've always done, with nary a thought to my own safety or to that of my beloved 610. Of course, on this particular day, we both went swimming. Dan caught it on iPhone video but he doesn't have it hosted anywhere. It's on my FB page if anyone wants to friend me (Tami Rowell.) I'll see if I can get it posted somehow. Anyway, I was pouring water out of my tankbag, boots, phone, glasses case, helmet...just everything was soaked...Good thing I had my camera in a tiny little Pelican case. We had to pull the sparkplug and get water out of my cylinder. The oil didn't look too bad, though...





This is Eldrick's flawless crossing...



And Eric's splashy effort...









I watched some 4-wheelers coming and going on the trail ahead of us while waiting for the 610 to get sorted...



Thanks for the photo, Eldrick!

Thanks!
This section is between 7000' and 8000', I think. High enough to make me huff and puff when picking up my 610 repeatedly

Yeah, more like 30 or so miles east of Jackson on HWY 88.
Awesome place to stage out of! David is very generous with his place.
Lots of parking, nice deck, BBQ, fire pit, hot tub, comfy beds...I love it there!

Sounds great K.! I've done some riding down in the Sierra NF, up behind Shaver Lake and the Dusy Ershim and all that, but haven't done much in between there and Yosemite. Would like to someday!

I tried to dry out my stuff while Eric worked on the bike...






This Rubicon was fresh off the showroom floor...completely stock. He was high-centered and the Toyota pushed him backwards so he could free himself for another attempt at the big obstacle. The Rubicon driver's wife was not amused...






Love love love the Sierra granite slab...







So happy to be riding with Dan again...it had been too long!





Gee...good thing my gear had almost completely dried, eh? Dan heading across...






The photo sequence of Eldrick going through the crossing is hilarious. He's leaning to the left, then right, then left, then right...all the way across. It was deep and really soft on the bottom...







I was not looking forward to going through it, and there was some debate as to whether we should walk my bike across. It's much lower than the others and I had already watered out once. In the end I rode it across myself (with 3 cameras pointed at me)...and it was deep...




I watered out again but at least I didn't fall in. Eldrick got some video and hopefully he can post it here. I was soaked once again...even my glasses were wet!






We continued on, only to find the exit road blocked off. We didn't want to backtrack so we went over and around...



This area is spectacularly beautiful...




We hopped back out onto the long dirt road that would take us to HWY 4.
I was soaked through and through and I was freezing out on the road. My hands were cramping up in my wet gloves and my muscles were getting tight from all the falling I'd been doing. It was not a comfortable ride. It got better as we dropped in elevation but I was still chilled when we pulled into the gas station at Camp Connell. We gassed up, had a snack, then made tracks for Pioneer. I was looking forward to making good use of the BBQ, fire pit and hot tub!

I wanted to take the shortest easiest route back, and Eric knew it, but he peeled off onto a long rocky trail and the others followed him so I had no choice. I was pissed off, and it showed in my riding. I'd been kind of riding like a dork all day but no longer. It was full throttle everywhere Consequently, I had more fun on that bomb run back to base camp than I'd had all day! It was hard to be mad when hammering the throttle in such an angry and joyful manner. Eldrick was probably like "...what the hell...?" It was super dusty and Eric and Dan were going at it hard on Tiger Creek. Eldrick and I hung back to let the dust clear, then the 2 of us went at it. Huge fun!! I love this road...did I tell you that already?...it goes from pavement to dirt to gravel to potholed pavement to dirt to rocks to pavement...back and forth the whole way, and twisty as all hell. I stayed glued to Eldrick's rear tire the whole way and we just had a blast. It ends with good pavement before it comes back onto HWY 88 just west of Pioneer. Amazing what one can get away with while on knobbies. 4 and 1/4 inches and I was using it all...



More fun and games on the way...

This is what Eldrick had to say on our local forum:


"Woot! Not only was that second crossing fairly deep, but really soft and muddy in the middle. Not your average mud, but that sticky, snotty, glue like mud that sucks you in. So as you entered you felt like "oh, no problem" then right in the middle you had to hammer it to get through...fun.



"Click the picture, you know you want to...(Can't embed as I don't have a Youtube account)" A valiant effort on a very low slung bike...


Oh, yeah, the ride out was awesome. Like Tami says, the road surface changed every few hundred feet, or every few feet depending on where you were. In addition to that we had that evening dust to deal with, you know, when the setting sun makes a dust cloud look like a bright orange fireball. Lastly there were the consequences. A drop off on the left side of the road, that varied up to what 500' or so (probably much more)?

So imagine us railing into a corner, on knobbies, and the road turns to gravel mid turn. I downshift, rear end steps out...grab a handfull of gas, rear end steps out, WFO to the next corner and repeat. The whole time Tami was six inches off my pipe. Awesome ride!"


We had a really good ride

EDIT: No, I am not 10 years old, even though I sound like it
And I was so happy to not be on the ground and/or underwater again. A moral victory

So we bombed back into town, hit the IGA for beer, and said "so long" to Dan. He was camped up at PiPi in his swanky new Itasca Navion. He was going to meet up with his wife Lesley on her WR250X and they were going to ride back to the house and join us for dinner. Eric, Eldrick and I settled in for a nice evening at the house. I wanted wine, hot tub, food and fire...and in that order! Turns out I only got the wine. The hot tub was way too hot at 110º, and the food and fire got put on hold because Dan drove his motorhome to the house and tried to pull it into the driveway even though we'd warned him against it. It dug a trench in the street and they all spent most of the evening trying to extricate it from the precarious spot. By the time the scotch and BBQ hit the table it was 11pm.

The culprits Dan and Lesley...



Eldrick was manning the BBQ and he did a great job on the NY steaks and asparagus...and he brought the Glenfiddich



The hot tub had been too cold when I got there in the morning, then it was too hot at the end of the ride, but it was soakable by the time we finished our dinner...



Considering that I'd gotten 3 hours sleep each of the previous 3 nights, been riding...and falling...hard all day, had been drinking wine for 5 hours and had just eaten, it was no wonder I was immediately falling asleep in the hot hot tub.
It was almost 1am when my head touched my pillow and I was out!


Woke up sore but well-rested the next morning. And a glorious morning it was! A few sprinkles here and there did not detract from the leisurely and relaxing morning. On the contrary, it had us looking at the map in search of dirt...



Major Husky love goin' on in the 94666...







Eldrick wasn't happy with his throttle response and I was sore and tired and both hands were hurting and my feeling-like-it-was-broken left tibia was hurting something fierce. We decided to take it easy and do some sight-seeing in the Eldorado NF with Eldrick on Eric's 610 and Eric and I 2-up on my 650. Had I known what was in store I would've ridden my own 610...or my WB165

We left in a light rain, and it was still sprinkling when we got to Dan and Lesley's palatial campsite on the Cosumnes River. We hung out for a few, waiting for the rain to stop, but it never really did. We took off in search of a forest road. We found it...


It looks benign enough, eh? Within minutes it looked like this...rocky and downhill...



Here was our chance to stick to the road. We chose the trail...



Eldrick caught us motoring along...




He was waiting for us, thinking we'd want to turn around...



Hah!



Figures...some of the best singletrack I've been on in quite awhile and I'm riding pillion on my daily commuter with a map in one hand and a camera in the other...












Hard to hold the camera still in the rocks...






More to come...

This trail just went on forever and ever! It was awesome and Eric was riding like an absolute champion...









Eldrick stopped, certain we were going to cry "uncle" after the long rocky uphill sections, but Eric would have none of that. We were having a ridiculously good time...










The tires worked way better than I would have thought. In fact, the whole bike worked better than we both would have thought! Eric was having a blast riding it in this stuff. You can tell by his big ever-present smile...



Time to ramble on...









The 650 is not happy in the whoops. Good thing there weren't very many of them...




Seriously...a lovely trail!




Ooh yeah...supermoto singletrack! Make that damp and very fragrant supermoto singletrack!





We stopped to plot a course...




And to check out a reddish pink mound of rocks I'd spied from the road...



I've seen these markers all over the western states and have never seen one painted any color, let alone shocking pink...





I think Eldrick enjoyed riding the 610, especially since Eric replaced that stainless steel bolt with a regular steel one so that he could use the starter...






We found a nice little swimming hole near a spot that could accommodate some bike campers...





And did some exploring along a babbling brook...



That was the last photo I took on our ride. We dropped down to HWY 88 and stopped in at Cook's Station for an awesome lunch. It was getting a little chilly and the giant burgers and hot coffee were totally hitting the spot. If you ever find yourself on HWY 88 between Pioneer and Kirkwood do yourself a favor and stop in for a bite. It might take some time to read the entire ginormous menu, but it'll be well worth it.

We raced back to the house in Pioneer, and Eric loaded up while I tried to make sure that David's place was left better than we found it. Eldrick ran the vacuum like a pro while I swept, folded laundry, cleaned mirrors and sinks, did dishes, etc. Eric and I bid Eldrick a fond farewell and then we had one final soak in the luxurious hot tub. We were both in agreement that it was a totally kick-ass weekend of great roads and trails, rock solid riding partners, and just a fantastic time all around. I could have done with a little less time on the ground and underwater, and the mechanical gremlins that plagued us were a bummer, but even that didn't really dampen our spirits. It was a super fun weekend and I'm looking forward to riding with Dan and Eldrick again as soon as possible!

I put a bottle of Stag's Leap Cabernet on the stove for David and Jean, a bag of peanut butter cookies on the counter for their son Eli, and we buttoned the place up and snicked the lock closed behind us. Can't wait to come back again!




WoodsChick