ADV/DS ride Lake Berryessa/Knoxville OHV/Rayhouse Rd.

[OnThePipe]

Next was a peaceful evening sleeping out under the stars. Whoa that’s a lot of stars! Unbelievable number of stars. I would go so far as to say a plethora of stars. OK, the concept of light pollution is beginning to sink in and the Mountain House freeze dried chili mac is adding a sinking feeling of its own. Did I mention there are two pit toilets with toilet paper? Stars and toilet paper. I’m set for the night.

Oh maybe you cheated and peered first at the picture of the restroom door and maybe stars weren’t top of mind anymore? It came complete with a set of nice big paw prints at the top and a cute little set of additional paw prints below. Did I say peaceful evening? I meant to say an excruciatingly long exercise in irrational fear control. I know, I know, they are just black bears. However, the astute among you will notice the word BEARS is still 50% of said description.

 

[OnThePipe]

Woke up the next day and I wasn’t even nibbled on during the night. Or my bear food canister for that matter. Seriously good way to start the day.

Now to explore the other side of this mysterious ridge top which meant dropping gear to just a few snacks and essential tools. I should have enough gas without the Rotopax. Sure is foggy.

 

[OnThePipe]

My own personal play land. Does it get any better? I’m confident those dark ominous looking clouds to the left are not in fact a case of objects are closer than they appear.

 

[OnThePipe]

OOOooo, ahhhh. Wait, is that rain?

Reserve light comes on to distract me. OK, time to turn around and head back to camp. Huh, that “fog” sure looks to be masquerading as rain now…

 

[OnThePipe]

Confirmed, I make for a lousy meteorologist, but a little rain never hurt anyone right? I just put on a trials tire on the rear and a nice new knobby on the front. Trials tires grip on everything right?

Wow my back end is sliding around nicely now. I’ll just need to rely on the front brake more to slow down. Oh, so that’s what a two wheel slide feels like! Sadly, I’m no dirt track star and this rain sure picked up super-fast. Way too fast. Almost like I’ve headed into the storm and this dirt, mud, has already been drenched. Perfect, I crest the ridge top for the long way down to camp and now it’s hailing little droplets of ice everywhere.

 

[OnThePipe]

At this point you may be wondering where the next picture is. Well, it’s missing. You see once I hit the stupid slick red dirt with absolute torrents of water raining down from the sky and ripping through the gullies and out over the side of sheer cliff drop offs on both sides I just assumed the end was very near. After promptly dropping my bike, I come up with a new plan. Jump into the smallest ruts I can find to force my wheels to stay in line. Kinda stay in line. Crazily, this actually seems to workish and my skill at paddling with my legs is clearly unparalleled. Of course mud gushing through small ruts looks exactly the same as mud gushing through scary big ruts, but those track choices just keep me on my toes. As in literally, I’m sliding the whole way down on my toes. Dammit that trials tire makes for a high seat height.

 

[OnThePipe]

The bottom finally and yes, thankfully my prowess at picking locations to pitch a tent far exceeds my ability at predicting weather. After all, that huge puddle only extends at most, three quarters of the way under my tent. The same tent with all my “dry” clothes and down sleeping bag.

 

[OnThePipe]

Freeze dried food and instant coffee never tasted so alive. I mean good. I’m alive.

So it’s about noon now on Friday and it’s clear I have plenty of time to savor the flavor because there is no way I can make it back up the mountain until things dry out. So I spend the afternoon and evening mucking about around camp. The dirt is really quite amazing. A bit of a sandy mix with super grip on the top. So I naively didn’t expect the rain to cause so many issues, but if you get on just the slightest slope even walking, that top later slips right off to expose the slickest clay I’ve ever experienced. Think liquefaction. So ya, I’ll be keeping the bears company again tonight.

 

[OnThePipe]

Saturday morning and I can see blue in the sky! Now I play a game of seeing how much stuff I can hang off my bike to dry out. Then more hurry up and wait.

Finally around noon I’ve got everything packed up and I think I can make a run at the hill. Apparently I’m not the only one trying to enjoy a Saturday out here because up pulls a 4 wheeler with his girlfriend(?) on the back. He just quickly waves and rides on but not without yelling to his gf inches behind him first, “See, I told you I saw someone crazy enough to be down here on a motorcycle!”

Have you ever had a longing for a quad? Me neither. Right up until that moment I began climbing the hill. I swap between trying to stand to weight the pegs and rear tire as much as I can before going sideways and then it becomes a battle of paddling between slick ruts. The clutch gets a good workout, but I actually make it to the top in one piece.

So I did it! Gold stars be damned, I earned an ADV sticker.

 

[OnThePipe]

Back on pavement I see a gaggle of BMW ADV bikes in a pullout. I roll by slowly and ask, “Hey guys, how do you keep your bikes so clean?” Oh oh, apparently they’re just visiting the area, otherwise they would be out where I was. My bike with all its dirty gear makes quite the impression and based on the number of pictures taken of me, I get the peculiar feeling I must have done something stupid to earn so much attention. No, I mean impressive. Yes, impressive. Mmm hmm.

Big Canyon Road? Boring. OK not really, it actually made for a stunning ride home.

 

[OnThePipe]

Ida Clayton was even better.

So now to the biggest question of all. Who wants to go camping with me? : )

 

[Lunch Box]

Good stuff, OTP. You should post that ride report in its own thread for people to see. And I will happily go camping with you any time!

 

[cwanger2000]

whoa Aron did you change your avatar before or after you said you would camp with him haha

 

[CWH]

whoa Aron did you change your avatar before or after you said you would camp with him haha

Lol

On a side note, I picked up a new bike. I'll try and meet up with the 2nd Sunday crew at an OHV in the coming months.

 

[Lunch Box]

whoa Aron did you change your avatar before or after you said you would camp with him haha

I made the mistake of posting in the "choose an avatar for the person above you" thread in the sink. I'm now stuck with this thing for 48 hours.

 

[oobus]

I made the mistake of posting in the "choose an avatar for the person above you" thread in the sink. I'm now stuck with this thing for 48 hours.

Yea, that's what they all say. You are not setting a good example for all us manly 690 riders...

 

[Lunch Box]

Both guys in this avatar look super manly. What are you talking about?

 

[173]

Awesome write-up OTP

 

[rodr]

Loved the adventure write-up, and your humorous style!

I’ll be all alone in the middle of nowhere without a cell signal and what could possibly go wrong?

You should get yourself one of those little handheld amateur radios. It's pretty easy to pass the test.

 

[OnThePipe]

Lunch Box - LOL at your avatar "preference." And yes, I am definitely up for some more camping. There are some additional trails out there worth exploring and some of the double and single track is technical enough that going it alone on a 300+ lb bike seemed silly even to me. I want to get up into Mendocino national forest too.

rodr - I decided to order a PLB today. I wonder if a little ham radio would have the power to transmit in some of these remote locales?