As some of you may know, I bunged up my ankle pretty good about 4 months ago while on the Big Boot Trail Ride up near Eureka. 2 plates, 13screws, 4 scars and 4 months later, I was itching to ride. It had been my goal to be back on the bike before I was back at work, and with the return date of Oct 15th looming large in my near future, I figured last weekend was as good a time as any to hop back into the saddle.I was jonesing for a camp fire, too, so I took off on Thursday afternoon in the Pleasure Palace, SM610 in tow, and headed for Middle Creek in the Mendocino Nat'l Forest. Got there about 4pm, quickly unloaded the bike and headed out Upper Deer Valley Rd. to scout out a good campspot. I was a little nervous riding out there on scritchy gravel and dirt roads by myself...on a deserted Thursday, no less...but I managed to keep myself drama-free. I needed to find a spot with a metal fire ring due to campfire restricitions. I found what I was looking for and headed back to the van. Loaded the 610 back up and skedaddled up the road. Got to the spot just as it was getting dark...and cold! Set up camp and settled in for a pleasant evening filled with my own company
It was 34 degrees when I woke up the next morning, but once the sun came over the ridge and started peeking through the trees the temp shot up to a balmy 45 degrees
Seriously, though...it was a beautiful morning. I love waking up in the woods!
Now, Eric wasn't all that thrilled with me going up there and riding by myself. He figured I'd fall down trying to get on or off the bike (I must admit, the process is not pretty,) hurt my ankle again and lay there til he got there late Friday night...hopefully before the vultures pecked my eyeballs out. I've camped and ridden by myself on several occasions, and I've always enjoyed it, but this time was different. I needed some company...but who could go on a weekday?
Ahh! I know! I'll ask this guy!
<*coffee edit to put up different picture*>
For those of you that don't recognize the handsome fella, it's our very own Coffee!
He'd agreed to come on up and babysit me on some dirt roads Friday afternoon, and I couldn't have been happier. He's had a pretty rough time with his own ankle injury the last few years so he wasn't exactly ready to rip it up in the tough stuff either. Turns out our "return to riding" comfort zones were pretty much the same.
We headed out in the direction of Stonyford and just meandered around enjoying the views and stuff. We took a small off-shoot that goes past the Bear Creek campground and took it about as far north as we dared. It was getting pretty cold and windy, and the sun drops mighty fast at that time of day. I had no issues riding back with my SM headlight, but Coffee wanted no part of that so we turned around and headed back. We both dropped the ball in the photo department, opting to focus on our activities rather than taking photos. We ended up with identical photos that we took at the same time:bonk:
Anyway, here they are...
Sorry I didn't get any shots of the creek crossing or anything. BTW, Coffee was a perfectly chivalrous gentleman and agreed to cross the creek first
We high-tailed it back to camp. The colder it got, and the closer we got to camp, the faster I went. I just wanted to get warm, as it was pretty damned cold out! I don't think Coffee had any feeling left in his fingertips by the time we got back.
We said our good-byes and he headed back home. I was hoping he would be able to stay long enough to meet Eric, but he had a long drive ahead of him and Eric wasn't due til about 8pm. I'm really glad he came up to ride with me, as I wouldn't have ventured that far by myself in my gimpy condition.
Eric pulled into camp on his rippin' LC4 640 supermoto right on schedule. He had taken off the 17's and put his dirt wheels and brakes on, and he had put the custom-made quiet insert into his full titanium Akrapovic exhaust system. That thing will make your ears bleed without it and we were both tired of being aurally assaulted. We had a big ride planned for the next day.
We didn't get going til 10am as it was frikkin' cold up there. It never got above 45 the whole day! Our ride would take east to Stonyford, down Potato Hill, through Davis Flat, up the eastern flank of the Snow Mountain Wilderness, over the north end and back down along the western flank. We've been wanting to circumnavigate the wilderness area for some time but have always been thwarted by snow or some other unforseeable circumstance. On this day we would attain our goal.
Me, trying to stay warm with my polartec fleece thermal shirt, fleece hooded sweatshirt, windproof fleece vest and Olympia Airglide jacket on. I would later add my enduro jacket to the fashionable ensemble
Having lunch at Windy Gap just south of Sheetiron Mt. Damn, it was cold and windy up there...
This is the creek crossing I made Coffee go through first...
There was hardly any water in it this time of year. This is what it looked like when I rode the KTM through it last March...
We pulled into camp with just a shred of light remaining in the sky and 106 miles showing on the clock. My ankle felt great, I was able to get off my bike without falling down or needing help, and I was already looking forward to the next day's ride
More to come...
(I know, kinda boring ride report with no gnarly stuff or anything, just dirt roads...but it was a huge step forward for me. Thanks for reading.)
WoodsChick
