'08 Adventure Day Rides 01 & 02 - Recap

EXPLORING THE ANGELES

What When Where To Register Registration Fee '08 ADR 01 Pages '08 ADR 02 Pages Dualsport Ride, full day Meet Saturday, 01 Nov, 7:30 AM Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County email EarthRider $25.00 [Intro] [Roster] [Slideshow] [Intro] [Roster] [Slideshow]

’08 ADR 01 (that is, the first Adventure Day Ride of the series that began late in 2008) began a little behind schedule when something finally went wrong with Dak the Daring, the ride leader’s trusty BMW Dakar. Dead battery. We still found time for a quick briefing in the parking lot before departing, although not enough time on the shop’s charger to get the battery working again; Laine push started the bike out of the lot – an ignominious though entertaining start to the new ride series.


Fifteen riders [Roster] on a diverse array of motorcycles soon found themselves crossing Ventura County on a series of winding rural back roads and highways that led, eventually, to Ojai. During a brief refuel stop we added Jordan Eller to the mix, making a total of 17, including the ride leader.







We left Ojai on Hwy 33. 33 is a great ride no matter what sort of motorcycle – vehicle – you happen to be using. The well-engineered curves twist through beautiful mountainous country. Outside turns offer inspiring views of the Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands. We made two brief stops, to regroup after miles of curves had spread us out, and simply to stretch our legs: By the time we had crossed over the divide and begun to descend into Cuyama Valley, we had covered nearly 80 miles.






After descending into the valley we climbed eastward toward Lockwood on a narrow and remote road that wound through the low foothills, up into open pine forest. Finally, with Lockwood Valley opening before us, we paused at an intersection before leaving the pavement.


We made another brief stop, to reduce tire pressure, when asphalt turned to dirt. The road descended into a small valley and disappeared into the forestland beyond.

It was easy going through beautiful scenery. The air was laden with the smell of conifers, and the road was smooth… except for the odd water crossing now and then:









Unfortunately, that battery never did charge itself up; stopping became a bit of a burden, and not just for the ride leader:

A little further down the road we ran into the last thing you would expect out in the woods; a traffic jam.

It was great fun to take a break from riding, and watch these cattlemen (and women… and dogs & horses) do their work. We came away with new appreciation for how little dust a motorcycle makes!



After the show, we continued on in single file, through increasingly tall trees, for a few more miles to our lunch spot. The sandwiches from Main Course California were delicious & generously proportioned, and you couldn’t ask for more enjoyable surroundings.


And to top it off, after lunch we got to go back the way we came! More fun at the water crossings… Scott Leighty made an impressive save after catching a car tire rut in a crossing – the same rut that took out the ride leader only moments before – so while Scott was catching his breath, Laine was dumping his boots.










Wendy Brant led the cameraman up the hillclimb out of the valley. Not to be outdone, Rachel Main led the rest break when we returned to the pavement.




Quickly rejuvenated, we turned back on our earlier outward route, but once into the mountains above Ojai, we took a side trip up a deteriorating mountain road to Pine Mountain. The road climbed to over 7000 feet, beginning as a narrow paved trail, becoming a narrow potholed trail, and eventually becoming completely unpaved. From near the top we could see the Channel Islands, and looking further south, across the Los Padres, over the Oxnard Plain, the Santa Monica Mountains.



It was after 4:00 by the time we got back down into town. Some of us decided to celebrate with a hard-earned meal in Ojai, before finishing our individual homeward journeys.

--- --- ---

Clearly, ADR 01 was nothing like the debacle we came to expect from the preceding DSR series. Things were back to normal by ’08 ADR 02, however. For one thing, it was raining. Well, it didn’t start out raining, at the shop, but running the superslab from BMWoVC toward Sylmar, it sometimes felt as if we were racing a storm.

It was clear early on that the Disney-like magic of ADR 01 was gone: Scotty made up for that amazing save in the water crossing by falling over in the parking lot at a Sylmar gas station – apparently for no other reason than to help maintain balance in the universe.

The main reason for our stop was to pick up the better – or is it worse? – half of our group. These three men spend a lot of time blowing up airplanes and setting railroad cars on fire, but we let them join up with us anyway. You never know – a team of guys with experience creating major disasters might come in useful as disaster abatement consultants. Imagine, say, we have to figure out how to haul a 600 lb. bike up a 40 degree brush-covered slope... in the rain... We also picked up David Dooling & Kelly Jewel, joining us from distant, desert lands, bringing the total for this ride to a soon-to-be-dirty baker’s dozen [Roster].

We climbed up into the Angeles Forest on a narrow paved road being slowly overrun by native plant life. Rain threatened, but waited until we’d had a few minutes to rest at a ridgetop CDF fire station with epic views of the San Fernando Valley and beyond.

The rain got us moving again, continuing along a narrow paved mountain road with an “off-road” feel to it. The drizzle began to get pretty reliable, but it let up a bit when the asphalt finally disappeared. The wet weather actually helped consolidate the loose sandy decomposed granite that rests, marble-like, over much of the hardpan mountain roads in the Angeles: There were a few puddles, but traction was improved by the precipitation. We stopped often, to regroup after spreading out across the ridge we were traversing, or just to dry off the visors of our helmets for a moment. These were great times to take in the views; the dramatic weather brought out the colour in the foliage, and the air – when not full of water – was clear.



Flush with the joy of riding out in the elements, Werner & Laine dropped onto a tree-filled saddle and climbed the next ridgeline with enough speed to secure some lead time. They stopped to rest at a vista point, where they watched for the rest of the group dropping into the saddle. The descent had been fun, sporting berms in some of the corners, which some of the more practiced riders were having fun with. The two leaders kept seeing riders descending toward the low saddle, but never saw any of them actually reaching it; they seemed to disappear behind a curve in the road, and never come back out. The explanation wasn’t long in coming and when it did, it came with a cacophony of cell phone rings. This was the jist of it:

OverTheSide

Blake Hill, intrepid GSA driver, had inadvertently launched himself off the side of the road after taking advantage of one of those berms. You can see the berm in the background of this shot of panic-stricken riders trying to come to grips with the horror of the wreck:

In actuality, Blake was fine. The call from him had gone something like:
“Hello?”
“Laine, hi, it’s Blake.”
“Hey, how goes it?”
“Pretty good. Great ride. I ah, went over the side, though. I think I’m going to need a little help getting the bike back up…”

It began to drizzle as Werner & Laine headed back – and it kept up until right about when the ordeal ended. Here are a few shots of “help getting the bike back up”:










It only took us about a half an hour (and a 30 foot towstrap lent by a passing Jeep driver) to haul the bike back up, and – it was fun. What’s more, both bike & rider sustained minimal damage – a little headlight trouble, a little ego bruising…


We took a snack break at the saddle before climbing to the next ridge – about 6000’. We hit pavement there – such as it was – and descended eastward toward Mill Station.

Beyond Mill Station we left the pavement again. A few riders left entirely – it had already been a long day, and the following section was the steepest and loosest of the ride. Nine of us continued on contour, high up the mountainside, winding through open forest & chaparral. At one point we found a playground for Werner and Wayne to take advantage of:

Both bikes performed admirably. Laine gave it a shot too, as the lead riders waited for the group to congeal before continuing.

Just around the corner was the last thing one might expect to see on some random mountain fire road – a sign warning of decreasing road width. We raced by, ignoring it entirely…

The road actually began to get wider, and soon we found ourselves in a sort of residential Forest Service employee area: Pale green trucks and buildings, a soccer ball out by the helicopter... Asphalt appeared, increasing in width and quality. Suddenly, we were dumped out onto Highway 2, about 400 yards from Newcomb’s Restaurant.

It was high time for some R & R. Newcomb’s turned out to be a fine warming hut. The sky had been growing dark – it wasn’t yet 3, but it looked like near bedtime. Hot chocolate won out over beer, for a change.

By the time we were ready to leave, the rain was back. On the bright side, the bikes looked pretty clean.


On the dark side, the ride down Hwy 2 was a damp one. Once we reached Glendale, we split up pretty rapidly into ones and twos, heading down various freeways for various homes. The rain eased up a bit out of the mountains, and without that to worry about, I fell to wondering… What sort of nickname is Blake going to end up with?..

Racing heedless past important roadsigns - '08 ADR 02

[In the aftermath of this ride, we have a serious decision to make:
Weigh in on "The Nickname Issue" in the Comments section below.]