The Further 2-Up Adventures Of The Broken WoodsChick

Mmm...no, more like "crrraaack!"

I ended up with a 3/4" crack in the rear of the IMS tank...surprise, surprise

More photos on the way...maybe later tonight.

So gas was pouring out of the 610's tank. Eric and Zak took the tank off and found the problem...a 3/4" crack in the tank. Gee, on an IMS? I don't believe it!

Eric whipped out his handy-dandy fanny pack and fixed the tank with a wad of Quik-Steel...




We had to dump some of the fuel to keep it off the part that was broken...


It didn't drip any more after the fix. It seeped a little, but that was it. Quik-Steel should be in the kit of every dirt rider and dual sporter. We've used it to fix holes in cases of several bikes, too.

We continued up past the High Mountain Lookout and took the road til it ended...


3 days, 900 miles, 4 riders...and this is the only photo I have of us on the bike, and it was taken with my camera at my request. Buncha slackers...


The High Mountain Road was pretty cool. Nice and remote. I remember seeing one mountain biker and one equestrian on her horse, but no other cars or bikes til we came to a total red-neck wheeling' fest almost at the end of the road. We made it to the end and backtracked all the way back to the Pozo Saloon...


Zak waiting for his garden burger...

Eric and I waiting for our mushroom cheeseburgers...

We left right at dusk, and raced back to the ranch on Park Hill Road, one fun ribbon of primitive pavement. Zak continued on a recon mission up Hwy 229, while Eric dropped me and the bag of stuff off and went rippin' into town for the night's provisions (i.e. wine.) The 3 of us sat and talked and drank beer, wine and Ardberg scotch (liquid smoke) long into the night. It was a very pleasant evening and I slept like a baby

Another leisurely morning in the land of sunshine, we had coffee with Lou who left us for Doggy Heaven not too long ago...

Time to ride...

Ooh! Maybe we can score some blow for the ride?



The plan was to ride 229 north to 41 to Cholame Valley Rd to Parkfield Grade to Coalinga to Los Gatos Creek to Clear Creek through Idria to Panoche Valley to 25 and home through Hollister and 101. I'm pretty sure 229 has supplanted the section of 101 between Legget and the Coast as my favorite stretch of pavement in California. The only downside is it's too damned short, but the stretch between 58 and Creston is not to be missed if you're ever in the area:teeth I was too busy holding on to take any photos.

Parkfield was neat, if deserted...






These guys were everywhere!

The Parkfield Grade did not disappoint...






We stopped at the top of the Parkfield Summit and when I got back on the bike the inevitable happened...we finally hit the ground! I have a hard time getting on the bike since my left arm is basically useless so it is a somewhat less than graceful maneuver for me. Add in the fact that I have to get my short little leg over the bag in the back and, well...Eric is a stud and he totally impressed me all weekend (as he's been doing for +20 years) but he couldn't overcome my clumsiness this time. We went down in a heap. Zak saw it happen and he had an amused look on his face as Eric and I scrambled to our feet and picked up the bike as fast as we could, adhering to the 5-second rule :teeth There were no photos of said event so basically it didn't really happen.

The paved road down the backside had me yearning for a healthy shoulder and my own 610. I pretty much decided before we got to the bottom of the valley that I would be doing this ride for my birthday come spring...


We gassed up in Coalinga (got its name from shortening Coaling Station A) and headed out amongst the oil fields towards Clear Creek. We saw this crazy thing from miles away and now it was getting closer...


What the hell?


Seems as though the field below the tower had zillions of giant mirrors trained on the face of the tower, and it was some sort of experimental solar plant thing of Chevron's. All I know is it totally looked Close Encountersish to me.

We bombed joyfully down the funky pavement all the way to Clear Creek.

More tomorrow...

Yep!

That thing was in pretty sweet condition. The interior looked brand new!

Thanks, rt3856! Eric is a stud, plain and simple. He did a great job. I told him he could do whatever he wanted, go as fast as he wanted, take any trail, whatever. ...all he had to do was keep me off the ground, and that's exactly what he did. We had a blast

See comments above

Thanks, GHTE! I'm on the mend, for sure. I rode my 610 this weekend, did a street/dirt road ride yesterday by myself, then did some trails out at Stonyford today. I wasn't planning on it, I had only intended to ride dirt roads with my friend Glen. He had his 6-year-old daughter with him on his Husaberg FE450 so I thought I'd be safe. Hah! No dice...we ended up doing stuff like this...


It would have been Ok if I wasn't on an SM610 with a toasted rear tire I think I'm ready for my dirt bike

Alrighty, then...let's wrap this up, shall we?

We strafed the deserted Lost Gatos Creek Road all the way to the cut-off for Clear Creek. We saw a ranger at the ridiculous decontamination station, but that was pretty much it...no other human beings in the Creek that I remember.
It was just as lovely as ever, and it was glaringly obvious that the Creek is being ridden on a regular basis. All the snow fencing across the trails is down and there are tracks everywhere. We didn't see any staged trucks or bikes, but they are definitely out there...










The joy I felt at being in Clear Creek again was tinged with sadness at all that was lost. Clear Creek featured prominently on my very small list of favorite places to ride in California. I'm still pretty angry about it and I hope someday I can ride there again without having to look over my shoulder to avoid a federal trespassing charge...




We headed down the backside towards Idria...






Hmm...high road or low?


Conditions were good...




I took no more pictures on this ride. I know, not even one photo of the sad remains of Idria. I hadn't seen it since the fire went through there awhile back and it was bleak. So much history lost...

We pretty much bombed non-stop through Panoche, out to 25 and into Hollister for gas. We suited up for the slab run up 101 and got home exactly 8 hours after leaving Santa Margarita. The route Zak chose for us was outstanding and I'm really looking forward to doing it in reverse in a few months when everything is green and sparkly. I wish I had mileage for the day, but all I had was a total for the weekend, and it was 3 miles shy of 900

We had a great time riding with Mark and Zak, 2 quality riders with cool heads and mellow demeanors...just great riding partners all the way around
We're both looking forward to more rides together in the future.
A huge thanks to Zak for letting us ride his wonderful KTM 950. I'm really thankful he didn't take it away from us in San Jose and turn around and go home on it If you enjoyed the 610 half as much as we enjoyed the 950 then you probably had a good time, too, Zak

Thanks for coming along, everyone!