Another Undiscovered Ride/Part II

I may be wearing out my welcome by going back for part 2 of the Undiscovered Ride. It was so much fun seeing new stuff in a completely new area that after leaving to continue my “thumb rehab tour” I returned to ride with Barry one more time. The excellent part was that Barry recruited Howard (Mayor of Ragdump) to be the ride leader for our second day of riding.

We started fairly early because “Mayor Howard” had mapped out a ride that stretched our day to well over 100 miles. This was like going on a guided tour because throughout the day the Mayor made stops and told us history of some of the areas and things we were seeing. Simply amazing how much information the Mayor has gathered in his 35 plus years of living and riding in No. Cal. The views were some of the best you could imagine without riding into a National Park.

The day started out with some dirt road that the Mayor used to access a single-track trail I never would have spotted. Let the fun begin! We rode for a while on trail that had my head on a swivel looking at the trail and the surrounding scenery. It rivaled any single-track I have been on anywhere with boulders, logs, descents and climbs, all the while dodging trees. What more could you ask for on a trail!  We immediately got warmed up enough that the Mayor stopped to take off his jacket before continuing on until we popped out on a road that headed for the high country. This road climbed until our next stop that had spectacular views of the canyons we had be riding through for a few hours. Picture time, so out came the cameras. It eventually passed by some High Lakes that were near the Pacific Crest Trail. We rode for what seemed like hours through back country and mountains with view after view never letting anyone get bored.

We had gone about 60 miles when Barry flags the Mayor and I down because he has a front flat tire. We find a stump to use as a stand and Barry sets out to fix his flat, the second one in two days.  So the Mayor and I take a seat in the shade to spectate as our friend demonstrates his mechanical prowess. The first problem is that Barry can’t find the hole in the tube due to the fact that his pump doesn’t work. Luckily I carry a pump and a tube. So Barry replaces the tube and we are back on the trail. The Mayor leads off until he stops at an intersection that has a sign that says we are 21 miles from the place he was headed! He looks around and says he doesn’t know how we ended up at this intersection. My odometer is now showing us at the 72 mile mark. I just laugh because Big Red (my Honda 450x) has a big tank and is good for about 125 miles or so.  Mister Flat tire boy has a stock tank on his bike and is probably down to his last ½ gallon or less since we are a bit off course.  So now we have to follow Barry to make sure he doesn’t run out of gas behind us. We cross our fingers and head on down the road.  Even then I had a great time because the views were great and I had plenty of gas! We cross over a fairly high pass that provided some really good scenery.  I don’t think Barry enjoyed the view because he was probably worrying too much about running out of gas.

We cruise to conserve fuel and make it to the store/gas stop the Mayor had planned. The Mayor had done his homework by calling the day before and checking to see that they had gas. Unfortunately he didn’t ask them if they would have gas today. Yup, they had run out of gas in their pumps. So now it is about 4pm, we have not eaten lunch and are at least 2 hours from home if we go the shortest way back and we have no gas. I find this a bit amusing and start to weigh my options. I have a siphon hose in my back pack and will swipe some gas from a lawnmower if I have to. Or we could just get a room and stay overnight. So we ask the girl behind the counter, the one with no gas, if there would be anyone with a 5 gallon jug we might be able to buy from. As she dials the phone up drives a pickup truck with an old timer driving. He is the person she was going to call. A nice old gentleman, that appears to be in his 70’s. We ask him and he says he does have some gas at home for his chain saw and won’t be using it for a couple of days. So he retrieves the can and we split it between the 3 bikes.

It is now almost 5 pm and we are about to get back on the road for home when the Mayor says he is hungry and we should stop for a cheeseburger. I can’t believe he wants to eat already, we have only been on the trail for 7 hours and I did give him a Slim Jim beef stick while flat tire boy was fixing his flat. We stop for a cheeseburger at the Bambi Inn before heading home. I like this place because right over the door they have a sign that says, “We don’t dial 911” with the silhouettes of a couple of rifles. Perfect, my kind of place.

Heading for home is fairly uneventful since it is now after 5 pm and we are taking the shortest route back. We come to an intersection and say good bye to Mayor Howard as he turns toward his place and we continue down the road toward Barry’s house. We still go through another cool canyon and over a bridge before we climb up to a fire lookout on our way home. We finally roll into Barry’s driveway around 7 pm. There is a message on the phone from the Mayor letting us know he made it home ok since he was riding alone.

All in all it was a great day. Fun riding, friends, scenery, getting a bit lost, sweating gas and ongoing entertainment the whole way. What more could you ask for on a guided tour? I think I will sign up for the next one as soon as I recover.

#33

“Life is a lesson, so take good notes”

Another Undiscovered Ride!

The “thumb rehab tour” made a stop in No. Cal and rode nearly 200 miles of roads and single-track trails that I had not seen before. The stop was not on the itinerary and turned out to be one of those lucky breaks that you always hope for. I was given a tour by a rider, Barry Behm, who is also known by the aka “Bear”. That was a bit of a disappointment since most of the guys I ride with do something that earns them a name and I am quite often involved in the selection process. But since Barry has been around the block I guess his riding partners enjoy the name selection process as much as I do.

We rode for 4 days and saw some great views, cool mountain roads with waterfalls, swimming holes, a deep canyon and some of the best single-track trails I think I have ever ridden in Calif. We dropped down into a canyon a couple of times that was so steep and so long it made me start thinking about how we were going to get back up. When I stopped on this hill to take a picture it was necessary to use one hand to take the picture. The reason being when I let go of the front brake to use the camera the bike started sliding downhill. This decent had to be at least 2,500 ft. 

 I intend to go back soon to explore further and provide some video of the trails I was privileged enough to ride. I can hardly wait for a few days of rain to make these incredibly fun trails even better. I expect after a bit of rain this is going to turn out to be one of those rides you classify as “Epic” when you reflect at the end of the day. Now GO RIDE and Stay tuned.

#33

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, Make sure it is worth watching!”

Magoo Memorial/Chandler Classic

Riverfront Park August 25, 2013

After attending what may become the first Annual Chandler Classic MX, I came away with a big smile on my face.  The event was held at Riverfront OHV Park in Marysville, Calif. It was centered on vintage bikes but included modern classes as well. The idea was to get anyone with an off road race bike out to have a good time while dedicating a newly constructed Magoo Memorial placed in concrete at the OHV Park. If the chance ever arises to see this memorial I would encourage anyone to take advantage of seeing the partial motorcycle frame with plaque attached. It is a very nice and professionally assembled Maico frame with forks and handlebars that have a beautifully constructed plaque attached where the gas tank would normally be. Hopefully it will endure many years of sitting unmolested as a display and tribute to Danny “Magoo” Chandler.

The plaque has a picture of Danny and a brief overview of his life along with his achievements.  It is worthy of anyone’s time and outlines his life and things he accomplished that may be unknown or forgotten by many.  As I read the plaque it was almost overwhelming having all the things Danny did throughout his life listed. One of the things that I felt was the most impressive was the fact that he won both the 250cc Trophee des Nations and 500cc Motocross des Nations  in the same year and incredibly winning ALL FOUR MOTOS!  That was something that was never done by the greatest riders of all time, including 5 time 500cc World Champion Roger DeCoster and 6 time 250cc World Champion Joel Robert. There was also a replica of the Maico that Danny rode while being photographed for advertisements as well as the cover of a magazine. The Maico was restored and supplied by Gene Anderson of Rio Linda, Calif and sported the #42 that Danny ran when he rode that model. It was an awesome display and reproduction that made you feel like you were looking at Magoo’s bike.

A quick story, around 1980 I remember sitting on the back of a pickup truck tailgate at a track one day with Danny while we were riding. Just talking about dumb stuff that young guys do when Danny looks at a jump on the track and tells me, “I think I can do a flip”.  My first thought was that this guy really is crazy. I dismissed it as a guy with one too many crashes talking and just forgot about it. Now that I look at the freestyle riders and what they are doing today I am even more impressed with Danny’s forward thinking and vision. I look back now and remember him telling me that over 30 years ago, long before Travis Pastrana was even born. Simply incredible.

If you ever get the chance to make it to Riverfront OHV Park in Marysville, Calif. Check out the newly placed memorial and think about what a ride it would have been to look though the goggles that Danny “Magoo” Chandler wore!

Gone but not forgotten, Godspeed Danny.

#33

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

Try Something New Occasionally!

FLAT TRACK?

If someone would have told me I would go race a Flat Track on this “Thumb Rehab Tour” I would have bet against it. But as luck would have it my buddy “Montana John Roberts” just happens to have a stable of Flat Track race bikes that he uses when the urge strikes him. He has Vintage, MX Conversions, 2 Stroke Bultaco’s,  Rotax’s, and big bore conversions that started life as TT 500 motors.

Montana John pulled two bikes out of his lineup, a converted CRF 450 Honda and a Vintage Yamaha 500 stuffed into a Flat Track frame. Both had the prerequisite 19” wheels and NO FRONT BRAKE! What in the hell was he thinking putting a motocross/Baja guy on a motorcycle with no front brake. The first time I ever rode either bike was at the race track during my first scheduled practice. So what do you think happened when a guy with 45 years of motorcycle riding experience tried to slow that sucker down going into the first turn? You guessed it.  I reached for the front brake without even thinking. Talk about a conditioned response. My right hand automatically goes for the front brake when I want to slow a motorcycle down, ANY motorcycle. So there I was heading into the first turn and discovering my normal thought process to ride a bike was suddenly useless. Then it gets one better. The guy in front of me heading into the turn falls down on a slick spot and occupies the line I am heading for. All I can do is straighten up and try not to run him over. Mission accomplished, I straighten up and head for the outside of the track and avoid him without hitting anyone or anything else. So for my first 4 laps on a strange bike I am trying to figure out how to ride it by constantly turning LEFT interrupted by a short straight before the next LEFT. All the while having to remember I can’t slow down using a front brake. Talk about a total squid, I must have looked like a Fat Drunken Mexican on a motorcycle those first 4 laps. I doubt it got much prettier during the next 4 practice sessions.

Let me define practice sessions for you. 4 laps each at approximately 18 seconds per lap! So if you do the math each practice session lasted about 1 minute and 12 seconds! Since I rode two classes and got 2 practices on each bike when I lined up to race I had ALMOST 5 Minutes of experience. What more could a guy ask for?

So I raced two classes, a Heat on each bike (6 laps) to determine gate position and then a Main event (10 laps) per bike for a total of 32 laps of racing. That comes to roughly 9 ½ minutes of full on racing for both classes!

Now the really funny part is how freakin’ much can happen in such a short amount of time. In one of the Main events on about the second or third lap I got my clock cleaned by some guy that apparently thought if he used my front wheel to slow himself down he could make the turn. I never saw it coming and was on the ground before I knew he was coming. The race was red flagged and the other riders returned to the starting line while I gathered myself and my bike up to see if we were both ok. The ambulance guys were great and ran out to check on me asking me hard questions like what day it was while shining a light in my eyes. I passed the exam so I asked if I could line back up and they said ok. Now it got interesting. I pull up to line up on the front row on the outside assuming I would be last pick on the gate, (chalk line really). Then the starter tells me I am supposed to start on the back row because of the crash. Huh? When someone cleans you out from behind I guess you still go to the back. I said ok and backed my bike up to the second chalk mark. Now I was on a mission, not mad but just irritated enough that I was going to be a bit more aggressive and not be pushed around by the regulars. I read the starter perfectly and got a great jump off the second row to hit the first turn alongside the front row guys and got around them to lead coming out of the first turn! So now it was on! There was no way I was going to let one of them inside me and I wasn’t going to give an inch or leave anyone any room,  especially my new best friend, the one that knocked me down the first time. He was on a 2 stroke Bultaco and he ran a compression release. I listened to that compression release for the remaining 8 laps as he tried to get inside me. Nothing doing, I was closing the door and leaving him only one option. Go the long way around on the outside if you think you can. Then my bike started sputtering about half way through the race and I was afraid it wouldn’t beat him to the next turn each time we hit the straightaway. Each time I just reached the turn in time to grab the very inside line and occupy the best real estate on the track for the remainder of the race. I crossed the finish with a grin under my helmet and my first thought was, “How do you like them apples!” as I took the checkered flag.

I was happy enough that when I got second place in the other main event I didn’t really care, Life was good. Well except for the fact that the crash ground some skin off my left arm and was now bleeding down the sleeve of my jersey. I just thought Oh well it wasn’t the first time and I am fairly certain it won’t be the last.  Especially if I ever decide to try Flat Tracking again.

Try to keep it on two wheels…….and sliding!

#33

“Whatever you are, be the Best at it.”

Riding, Racing and Roundy Round?

Rehab....we don't need no stinkin rehab!

Well, here we go with another first! Riding and Racing in the Great state of Montana!  We are currently stopped off and visiting with a riding buddy, John Roberts (aka Montana John) as part of this thumb rehab tour. It seems since I broke the thumb it has transformed the trip into more rehab than racing as was originally planned.

I have ridden some new areas with John and a couple of new riding partners I met through him. Paul, who rides a KTM and Ken who is KX mounted both ride whenever the opportunity presents itself and I believe I became the excuse they used to go out riding one evening after work. I thought it was a bit strange that we were going out to ride at nearly 5pm, up into the hills and beneath the trees. I soon discovered that being this far north makes for very long days during the summer months. Pretty cool we could trail ride in the trees until almost 9 pm. The riding was a ton of fun and I got to see some of the seldom used trails that of course only the locals know. There was some great riding and some spectacular views. We came across some cool leftover mining equipment and even a sign warning of Wolves and Wolf traps! When was the last time you came across that on a ride? Definitely a first for me. The ride went well with no one getting lost, injured or breaking any bikes so it was a very good day of riding.  So that covers the riding part.

Next item on Montana John’s agenda was getting me to the local races that weekend. I was a bit worried about how the thumb would do on the mx track but agreed to give it a try. So out comes the KX 450 and I can’t believe my good luck. There is a practice on Saturday before the race on Sunday. Perfect, I will find out what I need to know about holding on to the big KX. It went well and I planned to give it a go the next day in the Geezer class (50+). Practice was pretty sloppy and the track worked in nicely during the first set of motos. The second moto was totally different as it dried out and reminded me more of our tracks back in California in the summer; Hard and slick. I was lucky to get two good starts and went 1-1 in the motos. Now we head on to part III of this tour.

So as I sit here watching hail the size of a quarter fall down around me I am mentally preparing for the final phase of this trilogy. I am also wondering what have I gotten myself into. You see the third part of this Montana John orchestrated plan revolves around me riding one of his FLAT TRACK bikes at a race. It seems Montana John is a long time flat tracker and has a whole garage full of flat trackers that obviously just need to be ridden!  I am beginning to think I got okey doked by agreeing to this escapade before I had even sat on or ridden even one of these bikes. I have never ridden a flat tracker before and he is already signing me up at a race.  So as the weekend approaches I am taking a look at the bikes and getting a few pointers. No practice, just pointers. I guess I will have to let you know how it goes when it is all over. Keep your fingers crossed, I am!

#33

“Never ride faster than your Guardian Angel can fly”