Summer Travels with #33

Bubbas House 2022

The 2022 “Let’s Go Brandon” tour has started!  I say that because we almost were discouraged enough with the high fuel prices to not make the trip. Very sad!  So we decided to suck it up, take the hit to the pocketbook, extend our middle finger to the current administration and go anyway.

We have street bike ridden some beautiful back country roads from Northern Kalifornia to Eugene Oregon and more. Recon convinced us to stay for a week in Eugene Oregon at a beautiful campground and do some mountain biking. I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow a mountain bike from Recon while we were there. I started out with one on this trip but somehow it was bought out from underneath me along the way. That is another story, lol. 

Recon had lined out one of the most manicured and scenic trails I have ever been on while on a bicycle. It passed a water fall and absolutely crystal clear pools of water you could count the rocks at the bottom. Amazing.  

It was time to move on and we headed for New Plymouth, Idaho.  Where the Hell is that you say? It is outside Fruitland/Payette, Idaho.  The reason being that the Curator of MX43.com, Art, aka “Bubba” has purchased property and built a very nice place there.  Country living at its finest! The house is beautiful and the country side very picturesque.  Bubba is also lucky enough to have a local riding area, lots of back roads and a few local shooting ranges in the area.  Since Bubba fancies himself a road rider bicyclist we went out on a couple of rides from his house on the back roads.  Again I was lucky enough the he had a spare bike for me to ride while I was there.  We busted out a couple of rides and then Bubba got a bug and was bed ridden for a couple days. Bummer! So I took his spare bike out for a ride anyway! Lol.  It also left Cheryl and I with time to kill while he recovered so what else could we do but go for a street bike ride!  The street bike ride turned into an exploration marathon day and since it was the 4^th of July weekend it provided plenty entertainment while out on the bike. I think we covered about 350 miles looking at mostly back roads and two laners.  Big fun.

It seems Marti and Bubba had ordered a storage shed and we were there while it was delivered. Interesting how they set them in place when delivered, pre-built, intact.  However, it was not painted. Marti knew what color she wanted it and had the paint on hand so she recruited me and Bubba to paint it. Well everyone knows if she contracts the job out she is going to designate a supervisor and a flunky painter.  So guess which role each of us got.  It was pretty fair though because we flipped a coin to see who would be the supervisor. Bubba supplied the coin and told me it was tails when he picked it up. You know, I never really saw that coin stop moving, Hmmmmm.  So he handed me a paint brush and a bucket of paint. Away we went and that sucker got painted in about half a day, except the trim. Marti had not gotten the color she wanted for the trim.  You would think the supervisor would have seen that coming and taken the initiative. Just sayin’.

Since we had smoked the paint job and had half a day left we decided it would be the perfect time to hang the shelves Bubba had bought.  We attacked the shelf project and Voila!  Bicycle equipment shelves just above the bikes to hold helmets, shoes, camelbaks and anything else necessary.

So a day of slave labor earned us a great 4^th of July dinner put together by Marti and Cheryl. Ribs, potato salad, homemade rolls and deviled eggs. Best dinner ever!

While were there Bubba and I also had a couple of trips to the range to do a little shooting. Spent most of the time on the long guns since Bubba had a couple that needed to be sighted/zeroed.  Shooting is always fun and we had a great time.

Time flew by and before we knew it we had been there a week so it was about time to go.  Bubba was wearing me out, I wasn’t sure I could keep that pace. I figured the best thing for me to do was to head for our next destination so I could find a place to recover.

We said our good byes and headed out for eastern Idaho for some singletrack trail riding. My favorite kind of riding!

Hopefully we will be able to make the journey next year stop by to see the evolution of “Casa McDade”.

Keep riding, pedaling and shooting!

#33

‘planning your work is good, but doing it is even better’

#33 Does Baja

Eric leads a tour of Baja. Did he lose his bike in the surf?

Too Big for My Britches

   Just having completed our testing with SBB suspension, I mentioned how well my suspension worked. I also stated how it could lead to someone getting Too Big for their Britches when the bike works so well.

Guess what!!!  I was out exploring and laying out new routes, by myself of course, and was riding small canyons and crevasse’s in an effort to lay out new routes to challenge my riding buddies. I found a never ridden before drainage that worked its way through a small mountain range and would connect another area I usually get to by going the long way around.  I always love to have alternate routes to keep people on their toes! So I head over and down the small canyon thinking so far so good, this could turn into an excellent alternative route.

Of course I come to a couple of small drop offs and go arounds as I descend.   I know it will take another couple of passes to clear brush and make it more fun. Then I came to a patch of overgrown brush that does not allow passage without clearing first. I look it over and decide it is too much work for the first pass, since I don’t even know where this comes out and if it will be usable.  I stop and look, then decide to go around the growth and ride the wall of the canyon.  After all, with my new reworked SBB suspension I can do just about anything!  Confidence! Maybe a little too much, lol. 

I attempt the wall and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Right up until I ran out of talent! I quickly discover I am no Cody Webb and lose my balance. I tip to my right which is downhill. No footing and no stopping, so I continue to fall while still on the bike from about 8 feet up, down into the bottom of the ditch. Did I mention it is a natural drainage ditch?  So there is an abundance of rocks and boulders there waiting for me. I never have a chance to dismount and end up with the bike on top of me in a heap on the boulders.

My leg is pinned under the bike, so I can’t get up. No problem because I had no intention of getting up until I could breathe again!  It knocked the wind out of me and I was not sure if the ribs were broken or not.  The possible broken ankle was low on the priority list until I could breathe. I lay there for a couple of minutes assessing my condition and situation until I started to breathe again normally.

Ok, time to extract myself from being pinned under the bike.  It shouldn’t be too difficult since I am riding my YZ 250X and it is so much lighter that the 4 stroke.  Oops, the ribs are talking to me and saying we are NOT going to jump up and lift the bike. It is about then I realized my leg was under the bike and I was trapped in an awkward position. So it takes another minute or two making a plan of attack as to how I will lift the bike mostly uphill to free my foot/leg. I figured it out and after several minutes managed to free myself from this mess.

As I stood up I turned off the fuel petcock because I realized I had no one coming behind me and no one knew where I was exploring, so I might be here for a while before I could lift the bike up. The ankle didn’t seem to be broken and the ribs were only a possibility, so things were looking up!  After getting the bike up and feeling the distinct possibility of having a broken rib or two I decided to walk down a ways and see if I should continue or turn around and attempt the drops I had already come down.

After walking about half a mile or so I found it was going to dump me out in a wash that allowed me to access a 2 track I was familiar with. I returned to the bike and rode the rest of the way out to connect with the 2 track.  It was a long SLOW ride back in first and second gear to keep the jarring of the ribs to a minimum.  Having returned safely and putting my bike and gear away, I considered whether I should get an x-ray for the ribs.  But we all know that the X-ray only confirms what we already know, because there is nothing done, except being told to take it easy until the ribs ‘knit’. 

Since I was already sitting down and beginning to ‘KNIT’ with a cold beverage in a comfortable chair I figured I would just continue on with my current chosen path of recovery. Here in the Garage-Mahal with an awesome stereo, Satellite TV with recorded moto alongside a small fridge stocked with cold drinks why bother to seek answers to the obvious.  I knew I had ‘cracked’ a couple of ribs, so I figured I wouldn’t be riding for a few days.  I am so glad I had not deleted all my recorded National and Supercross races!

I am going back to clear out that canyon bypass!

#33

‘Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional’

Personal Suspension Set Up

SBB Testing

Sometimes I just can’t believe my good Fortune!  I was fortunate enough to have Buck Gerolamy of SBB suspension fame come to visit, ride and test suspension for a week. He brought his new Gas-Gas 300.  I think he took his suspension to SBB before he showed up, lol. We also got in a little shooting one day, so it was not all work and no play for The Buck Meister!

I had a few people lined up that wanted suspension work on a KTM, KLX and a Husky. So we kept Buck busy most of the week. He also had to make me happy with my suspension on my new KTM 500 xcf-w and my newly acquired YZ 250X, 2 stroke.  Now I am what you would call a Fork Snob, so it takes a bit of time to make me happy in most instances because I nit-pick forks.

This was going to be interesting because it was our first time making changes to the WP Xplor forks.  A completely new system with compression and rebound in separate legs. Buck stepped up to the plate and re-valved and re-sprung both bikes a couple of times. I am probably going to have to change fork springs one more time on the KTM, but I think when that is done I will have the premiere setup on the front of both bikes. Buck has done suspension for me that has been outstanding in the past on both motocross and Off Road bikes.  But these have set a new standard.

I am a little concerned because the 500 KTM now works so good it seems I am riding a bit too fast now. I may be getting a little too big for my britches because the new KTM blasts through everything without a hiccup and I am not always cautious enough on this new Cadillac!

The Smoker (YZ250x) worked pretty darn good stock as most of us have read in all the magazine tests. They are always raving about how good the KYB SSS forks are. I thought so too. Then SBB worked his magic on them. I am now looking for rock walls and waterfalls to climb, enduro-cross style stuff because all of a sudden I am not scared to try. They are that good!  Again, I am probably getting too big for my britches on this bike now too. But what fun when you can ride like a hero, at least in my own mind!

Anyone want to go ride 5 Miles of Hell in Utah. After I did it a couple years back I didn’t think I would go a second time.  SBB may have changed my mind.  Any takers?

#33

“Be grateful for the doors of opportunity- and for friends who oil the hinges”

Exploring with #33

2021 has started out well so far. As of this writing no “RONA” (covid-19) in our riding group.  Maybe it is the facemask (helmets) or the social distancing (1 rider per bike) we practiced!  We tended to stay away from others too by looking for new trail options, that means boonie crashing and burning in new routes!
We set out on a Monday Taco ride with only Mark (#64) and Recon (#133) making it this week. So with a group of only 3 and all in the Expert category we had no limits for exploring.  It could be the Best Day Ever!  It started out well on a fresh new trail we had spotted a couple of weeks ago and came back to check it out further.  We ran that one out and decided it needed an additional loop through some steep and unridden sections in order to attempt to make it a loop that would head the direction we wanted it to go.  A few times I was wondering if we had gotten a little too big for our britches. That is about the time Mark parks his bike and starts walking down hills to see if we can get out because if we drop in we probably can’t get back out!  It took me a bit to figure out just what #64 was really doing. It was a little trail scouting and a little game trail scouting.  That fool was walking down to see where the game goes and where they bed down!  Mark is a hunter and is always looking at game tracks while we ride. It takes me a minute, but I catch on!

So Mark walks down one that looks intimidating and yells up, “Eric! I think we can do it!”  Ok, I guess we are going. I think to myself, we have three guys and a couple of tow straps so we should be fine. Lol.   It turns out that Mark was right it was not as bad as it looked but it definitely makes you pucker when you head down something fairly steep, you can’t stop and there are No tracks ahead. Well except Marks, he went first since he gave it the thumbs up!
We wrapped up our exploration and were a bit behind schedule due to our hiking session.  But we got our roll on and headed for an established loop that is in the upper levels of difficulty. We usually reserve this section for the upper level of riders, I’ve learned people tend to over rate themselves when I tell them the section is difficult and they insist they can ride anything. “It can’t be harder than Baja” I remember hearing once. After that ride I never saw that guy again.  But then again, he was old, he was our age! Lol.
We log some miles on established trails and get to our New rest stop to meet up with MJ (Montana John) and Lin since they are on an easier loop and ahead of us. Those two have a few more miles on their odometers than we do and MJ is recovering from a neck surgery about 8 months ago.  They have been there and gone, leaving us a message that they will be at the Loves fuel station since there is food and gas there.  We had just settled into a short break with a beverage and a snack when my phone rings and it is Lin who is riding with MJ and he says MJ is not doing very well.  Seems MJ had something to eat during their rest and just about passed out with cold sweats and dizziness.  So we suited up and headed out to their location to help if we could.  Ended up having to recover MJ’s truck and come pick him and his bike up to transport him home.  With MJ on his way home by car, we headed back out on our return route and got news that Lin dropped MJ off at the hospital and would not know anything for a few hours. The hospital staff told Lin to go home, again covid-19 concerns and they would call with news. That was my last update as of this writing.  I hope to get good news today that it was nothing serious. Keeping my fingers crossed.
#33
‘Bad is never good, until worse happens’