Rydther Rally 2013 -- photo thread -- Hawthorne -- Hell yes

[planegray]

What happened to Jake after the tricycle race? All I remember seeing was him running by us carrying the tricycle. After that, he disappeared, and I didn't see him for the rest of the time I was there.

He wasn't expecting the second shot to be whiskey...much less cinnamon whiskey, which did not agree with him at ALL

 

[Lunch Box]

Less talking, more pic posting.

 

[Jakemate]

What happened to Jake after the tricycle race? All I remember seeing was him running by us carrying the tricycle. After that, he disappeared, and I didn't see him for the rest of the time I was there.

I'm allergic to whiskey. Took a bunch of down time to not puke. I wasn't even drunk, (comparatively speaking). That was the first whiskey I've had in two years, (to the day). I didn't even know it was whiskey, just nasty. My body on the other hand wanted to kill me.

First time I went to sleep sober in Hawthorne.

 

[veefereefer]

Phil, Tim and I were planning on making the Livemo meet but didn't get out of the office till 8:20.

Answering last minutes emails while Tim is waiting outside.

Our first stop was Jamestown at the Chevron. Soon after we filled up and started drinking our Monsters, these guys showed up.

Butch and Bud

We split off to Hwy 4 to see if going further north might reduce the amount of smoke we were breathing.

It didn't really make a difference. The view from Bear Valley.

We decided to take a break after blasting over Ebbetts Pass to freshen up for Monitor Pass.

Monitor Pass like Hwy 4 was magnificent....except for the smoke.

Bikes resting after some hard work.

Tim feeling great. His first Hawthorne and his first ride outside of the bay area!

Phil looking for a place to drain the lizard.

Looking at the results of the lizard drain.

Monitor Pass is a gem!

As we were about to leave, Machete and his crew show up. Good seeing you all! Sorry I didn't get a pic.

 

[flying_hun]

 

[Nemo Brinker]

My kingdom for the ability to ride!

Still had a fine time and got a couple of shots nonetheless. Termagant took the shots of me, of course.

Sonora Pass on the way in, rather smoky and mysterious...



So glad to be on a little adventure...







Spent some time on the scooter checking out the Mono Lake tufa









Brine flies...yucky but fascinating; that's what attracts all the birds



Flowers in the desert





Termagant soaks up the view





BARF Hawthorne Shootout 2013 was awesome

 

[Nemo Brinker]

They look like 4th graders getting into trouble, but they're actually grown men mixing Tannerite

















I discovered that even with my peg leg, I can still shoot from the holster. Man, that felt good!

 

[RRR70]

 

[veefereefer]

Nothing better and a cold one after a long day of riding. Phil enjoying his.

Jason(BARF name?) Rick(Machete) and the one and only Budman at the pool.

Dexter and Dirty Dean!

oh, sorry...please don't kill me......Paul(Palada) and Dean(DukeD)

It's great seeing friends that I've met on previous Hawthorne rides.
Megan(Hondagrl) and Robin(MissMoxy)

Sunset at the El Cap

 

[veefereefer]

Wow, Nemo! Great shots!

 

[veefereefer]

Saturday morning we had planned on a little ride to Mammoth but ran into the Century Bike ride on the Benton Crossing Road. After a mile of that crap, we turned around and just did the jumps on 120 and June lake loop. Weather was perfect and the air was clean.

This is looking north at June lake and you can see the smoke coming out of the mountains to the right.

Phil, Tim and I decided to have lunch since the weather there was so damn nice.

Too bad Tim doesn't know how to focus on people.

How about one more of beautiful June Lake?

We then headed over to Silver Lake kicked back by the shore to enjoy the cool breeze and fantastic scenery.

 

[Nemo Brinker]

Wow, Nemo! Great shots!

Likewise, dude, I always love seeing yours!

 

[veefereefer]

Tim pulling over to enjoy the view.

Aris(wannabe) with his award winning shirt.....and "That Thumb"

Sunday morning waiting for Tim and Phil to get ready, I decided to take a little walk down the main strip.

America!!!!F%$k Yeah!!!

I don't believe I'll be going in for a movie.

Heading home we ride up Monitor Pass again. Smoke is still there.

We pulled over at Mosquito Lake so Phil could bleed his brakes. Flying Hun and Planegray pass by with a friendly wave.

Can't wait for next year!!!!

Thanks again to Budman, Machete, Flying Hun and NoGall for setting this up!!!!

Great Time with Great Folks!!!

 

[veefereefer]

Likewise, dude, I always love seeing yours!

Wow, so we are now into the me showing you mine and you showing me yours part of the relationship eh?

 

[NowDatsLivin]

OK you two, get a room then!

Then brace yourself, cuz I’m just posting up a Friday ride report (kinda heavy on the DR pron) instead of a bunch of beautiful hi res photographs, OK?
Damn, you pro‘s with the nice ‘quipments, you are hard to follow! And your shots really are quite gorgeous...jelly, jelly, jelly!

Friday Ride Report … or how my cluster of a morning turned to pure awesomeness that lasted the whole weekend. He, he, yeah it works out that way sometimes. You get just what you didn’t want and it turns out that’s EXACTLY what you needed. Little Grasshopper here is still learning the life lessons apparently.

On the Saturday morning in Fortuna, the Ohlins reservoir line on my Hornet spring a leak and began an 800-mile messy drip-fest of ever-diminishing damping that ended up taking the lion’s share of the summer to get back together. Yeah yeah something about a part and Sweden and the last one in the US isn’t really the right part after all and yada yada, bla bla bla … anyway, it was finally all buttoned back together, and I was stoked and looking forward to her first nice long ride with that buttery smooth rebuilt shock and still-fresh tires. Nope. Wasn’t gonna. Happen. Like that.

My Friday didn't start as planned, at all. I'd prepped the Hornet and at 7:10am I found myself out at the curb, my goods all packed up, bungeed down, strapped on, I'm bundled up and ready to roll, and then that awful sound of the bike ... not really starting … trying … but not starting … then the battery over signs … there was gonna be no starting her this morning. Noooooooo! I’m in all my gear, the sweating starts.

Troubleshooting electrical was going to be a long shot (and still leave in time to enjoy this day) and so I eyed the DR. Well, she just needed a new front shoe and she could be ready to roll...with that knobby rear the ride may be a bit bumpity, and not quite as smooth, but hey, it also might not be quite as bad as I feared. Oh my. This might be a really long ride...

Plan B was put into action, I printed out Kurt's goaty route maps, switched over the luggage, and a few hours later, the rolling hills and shady oaks at the lower end of Jesus Maria Rd were at my feet...and on the DR, ya know, it was m-a-d-e for this rollercoaster type of road.....ohhh this was turning out JUST FINE!!! I was in Happy Valley indeed, I agreed that this road goodness is all about happy.

Goaty road delivered! A huge bleating goat herd midway up Jesus Maria Rd dispersed when I stopped to gawk … leaving just a few tail-in-the-air representatives there ... to prove the point. Goaty for real.

Ran into a couple of locals filling up in West Point and we chatted in the shade about DR's for quite a spell; they'd earlier chatted with another Oaklander (on a Duc, hmmmm who could that be) and were just full of great tips and would have made awesome local guides. Maybe I shoulda got the digits after all? Hmmmm. In any case, I doubt I would have found the signless Defender Grade without their descriptive assist, so thank-you gentlemenz.

On Defender Grade, I have no idea where Kurt found this little gem but it was the saddest excuse for pavement I'd seen in a while -- and I’m from Oaklamd mind you -- this here crackedy business is the smoothest part I'd have to say...but it's prime DR territory...skurred a couple young deer off the road in there...they jumped up and ran like they never heard me coming. REALLY YOU TWO? Git! Braa-a-a-a-p!

Stopped along Carson Pass Rd at Omo Ranch Rd and as lovely (and smokey) as that valley looked from above, getting lost in there (a road called North South looked like a bowl of blown up spaghetti on my map) was going to be detour I'd pass on today; specifically in favor of getting to Hawthorne before dark. Hang tight, catch ya next time, Omo-Iron Mtn-Mormon-Emigrant Pass Trail! Yeah maybe with a tank bag map or a GPS this would work. My only gadgets were the paper map and my phone. Packin light and keeping it low tech was my contra mantra this weekend.

The DR chugged merrily along as we climbed up the Carson Pass Hiway but did give up some burping blips once we were up into the Bristle cone Pine elevation. It was her way of saying WOT will get you nowhere, ease up, Holmes! She was still passing cars without much trouble, so I wasn't complaining. At this overlook at Silver Lake, the Rim fire haze was evident across the wide valley. Still hellaciously gorgeous.

Phone app sez we were at about 7,800 feet, go girl -- she's all that and a bag of chips! The bag of BBQ chips (my lunch) happened to be strapped under the bungee cord ... just out of view in this snap. Shhh...don't tell momma, that is NOT a square meal, even if it is both salty and sweet a-n-d tangy and spicy...those aren’t real food groups ya know.

These big beautiful sweepers on the smooth pavement switchbacks of the brisk Monitor Pass descent provided a rather good time. Awesome with an extra side of awesome. Wish they'd keep up the roads in the Oakland hills like this...can you imagine the fun the hooligans would have?

The views of the expansive and mostly naked Nevada high deserts from Monitor Pass were breathtaking...the haze made photos tricky, everything faded to white faster than usual in the background. My photographic equipment was a bit limited, I'll admit. One hard-working phone, making the best of it with what we gotz...licks the dust off the lens and buffs it dry with a shirt...it's ready to go...

East of Topaz Lake the river cut through the stone to carve out this beautiful red rocky canyon, it glowed a bright rusty orange ... smoldering ember-style in the late afternoon sun. The oasis of cottonwoods and tall grasses along the river's course made for a natural shaded rest spot for me and the DR and I killed the last of those BBQ chips...mm-mm-good...yeah I even got those crumbs down in the corners of the bag -- I'm chalking that up to sharpening my survival skills. Nice breeze in that canyon, the sound of water rushing along. Ah, this is good livin' out here! Just at the northern boundary of Bald Mountain Wilderness, NV.

That river appeared to be the source of the huge Yerington Valley's agricultural bounty, and what a bounty it was, for miles and miles the fat of the land rolled by. Cruised through Yerington just as the Friday night struttin' and strolling show was on, every walk of life was out on the main drag on this fine golden balmy evening. The post office looked super old-timey with that giant clock outside, haven't seen one like that in a while. Hey Beave, is that you?

Made my last directional change, and happily tucked the raggedy map back into my pocket one last time. Turned onto 95 south with that lovely pink light bathing the whole valley and everything in it with the last long shadows of the day. That rose-colored glow is so flattering to the shiny bits. Starbucks got nuthin' on this, time to pose like you're on the runway, girl.

Nevada has vast vastness, miles and miles of it, then ... more vastness. Finite, but still … mind-boggling quantities of vastness.

Walker Lake lit beautifully in soft pink and blue, with a skinny cloud strip thickened and dirtied up a notch by the fire haze. Long wide arcs of waves gently broke on the 20 Mile Beach shore, and a pleasant late day lake aroma flavored the air and provided a most singular ambiance. Dontcha love that on a bike, how you get to smell all the nuances of the air and feel the moisture changes on your face right away? I sure do.
And not a soul anywhere.
Snapping while riding; well on a long straightaway like this, even a noob can do it. Left-handed. With gloves on. Apparently.
This solo ride was treating me right!
Hawthorne, I can almost taste you...

Rolled in to the El Cap and wow, that first beer (or two) was off the hook deliciously revitalizing and fab-u-lous...as the thumper buzz wore off and another beer-flavored one sank in, I looked around and the vibe around the pool was the same...superfinefabuloso....excited yet calm, warm, inviting, and just so durn noice! Hello mah BARFin peeps, party's on! Great to be here, this weekend is gonna get rocked all up and down.

 

[Nitewaif]

Thanks for the pics and another fantastic year in Hawthorne, y'all. We've got some talented photographers on BARF.

 

[greener]

WOW you peeps have some good cameras!
I took no pics this year, fully trusting that all the unique sights would be noted and documented by my fellow riders, and their aesthetic I learned to trust them to have.
I was aching on the long ride home but honestly these pics make me want to ride on back!

 

[RRR70]

 

[xgambit]

here's a little video from our ride up to hawthorne.

 

[veefereefer]

Freaking awesome ride report Nicki! Good seeing you again.

Nice vid Chess!

It was nice meeting you Roman though I doubt you'll remember much