My shoulder is still useless from when I broke it in the end of October at the Husky ride in Oregon, so we've been doing a lot of 2-up riding lately. Our friend David had borrowed Eric's TE610 for the week over Christmas and we had his Super Tenere again. We made good use of it, riding through the east bay hills on Dec 24th and going out to the coast on Christmas day... The day after Christmas we bundled up and left the house at 6am, bound for David's house in Pioneer. It was 38 degrees when we left Oakland. It stayed about 37 til we got to the Antioch Bridge where we were met with peas soup fog and 34 degrees... The temperature dropped to 32, then 30... It stayed this cold all the way from Rio Vista to just outside Jackson. The rising sun provided no relief... We stopped for gas and found ice all over everything. I had ice crystals in my hair and on my jacket, and my face shield was frozen solid... Don't know where all the moisture came from to form this much ice on my pant leg...$30 wind-proof, water-proof insulated snowboard overpants for the win! David had grip heaters. Luckily they were safe and warm back in his toasty garage at home. Wouldn't want them getting cold on the bike or anything... Despite the cold, it was a stunning morning for a ride, and I was having a blast in the pillion spot on the Tenere. I was looking forward to making it to David's house, though, because I knew what was waiting for me...warmth, a home-made breakfast, fresh pineapple and pear juice from David's hot-rod Christmas present juicer (thanks, Jean!) hot press-pot coffee and a sunny day in the Sierra with good dirt, good motorcycles and good friends. First stop was the gas station... And we're on our way... It was a beautiful day up at PiPi in the El Dorado National Forest. Hard to believe it was December 26th (Happy Birthday Gary Gilbert!)... Eric and David gazing lovingly upon the wonderfulness that is the Super Tenere... Actually, the Husqvarna TE610 is pretty full of wonderful, too... The 2006 TE610 has about 800 miles on it, the 2011 Tenere has about 5500. Of those 5500, we've put on about 1000. Eric and David know each other from road racing together in the 80's. I first met David 26 years ago, a year before I met Eric. He was my boyfriend's best friend Anyway, David and Eric always have a lot to talk about when they get together...and the conversation invariably turns to road racing. We were here for quite some time reliving the glory days. It was fun... These are the new glory days... More later...
I can't quite remember, but I think this video was on Trail 35. Go easy on me, I was shooting with my regular ol' digital camera being held in one hand while I kinda-sorta held on with my useless left arm. Hmm...this looks like fun... I only hit the ground once on this day, and it was on the ice while standing on my own two feet...it was super-slidey! I was happy to have the ice in my rearview mirror... We finished out the dirty day with no drama and no damage. The day just featured good times and lots of giggling and smiling...like a good ride should We headed back down 88 to David's house and were treated to a few of Jean's totally bitchin' Christmas roast sandwiches. We suited up for the long ride back home and bid our friends a fond farewell. I'd have rather soaked away the night in the hot tub and finished off a bottle of wine or two with them, but we both had to be back on the job in the morning. The ride home was splendid and warm...it never got below 45 the whole way. Note to self: leave for Pioneer at night next time Another epic day on the Tenere. I love that bike, I really do! Super-comfy and a "Raawwrr" motor that makes me smile. Can't wait til I'm all healed up and can ride it myself As usual, thanks for coming along with me! On the way: 900 miles on a KTM 950 ADV...
When I was street riding, I drew the riding line at ~45 degrees or so ... Those woods trails looked very good ...
Thank you Woodschick for brightening my cold, snowy, day. Great job as usual. That ice section reminded me of Eric's and Jon's little mishap. Amazing how fast you can go from happily zipping along to instantly inspecting the trail conditions up close.
The trails were in surprisingly good shape! That area usually closes down on Dec 1st, which is kind of moot because there is usually too much snow to ride anyway, open or not. Not this year. Good gear goes a long way towards making cold temps rideable, I don't care what it costs! Yeah, David rode through it no problem but we were taking no chances on the big bike. We walked it across the end section but I ended up falling on my butt anyway because it was super-slick. And you're welcome
Thanks! It was a beautiful day on the coast...especially for it being December 25th Say what you want about California, but the weather is incredibly hard to beat
Is your friend David's veins flowing with ant-freeze? I would think he would be pretty cold with out a jacket and maybe a neck gator? Burrrr. Eric's TE 610 looks great! I think it looks much better then his KTM.
I do, too! Well, I've never particularly thought of David as cold-blooded Nah, it was 61 degrees and beautiful when we left his house for the trails. It was only cold on the way there.
