Post your Day Rides Here!

[Coolhand]

OK folks, inspired by a thread over on RDS I will endeavor to create a "Day Rides" thread here on TWT where you can post up shots of those little rides for the rest of us... the Day Rides. These are the ones that us normal, working folks get to sneak in from time to time, thanking our spouses profusely, hugging the kids, and then running off to the twisty tarmac or the dusty woods to get our heads back on straight. Some of us twist the throttle a bit, some of us slow down and smell the surroundings a bit, but the end result is the same. We are better people for it, we value our time with our friends and families a bit more, and we have a few pictures to embellish with our riding friends

I'll start off with a ride that I did over my birthday weekend in late August. I'm still floored every time I ride here in Oregon and kick myself for NOT riding when I lived here from '96 - '99. Given the economy and my new industry, I have no illusions that my position here is stable. So I try to make the best of it...

This is the Bachelor "Anything Goes" Tour 2011.

Assorted Baffoonery as the gang congregates at Big O Bagels for the liftoff. Paul showed up late (as usual ) with his new Giant Loop all a kerflubble. It wouldn't have lasted five minutes. I'm having flash backs to Vinny's jerry-rigged tail bag a la Big Bend only a lot more expensive.

A few miles out of town and we're on a dirt powerline trail, headed for Mt. Bachelor. A very smooth, high speed section in the photo, but some good gnar in other places.

Paul and Zak on some of the fun stuff.


Brian tears up the same spot...


My own personal magic carpet for the day. Despite its less-than-impressive debut at Richard's Big Bend trip early this year it seems to be well sorted now and is a total kick in the pants blast to ride. This bike will take all comers.

Discussing route options while Bachelor waits in the background. Something about dual sport people. Where ever you go, they are among the friendliest, most welcoming people around and I've been fortunate to find plenty here in Oregon.

Lunch at Mt. Bachelor. Some dirtbike royalty on the left, although he may disagree with me Life just doesn't suck up here.

From Bachelor we headed back to the south over some very fun, less-than-accessible roads and jumped into the Edison OHV area, which consists, as near as I can tell, of lava. Here's Brian chopping up the lava at speed. Lots of cheese grater rocks waiting for our soft, pink skin.

Brian rides the most heavily modified Big Red Pig you'll ever see. When I say ride, I mean ride.

The view from the Kwohl Butte shelter looking south... very rough riding to get here, very glad I was on a ~250 lb bike and not recovering from a broken scapula (as my buddy Jim was).

Dropping down from Kwohl Butte the terrain gradually eased up into typical dual sport Autobahn gravel.

It was "hot" and dusty, time to start hitting some lakes... of which there are plenty. I put "hot" in quotes for you Texans

A line of thirsty dual sports at Cultus. Except for the DR of course, which could go another 200 miles.

After Cultus we headed out on nice (ie: rutted, fun) forest service roads. My buddy Zak made it through all the nasties on my DR only to pack it in hard on the easy stuff. Zak was cruising in front of me when he hit a spot of mud and went down in a flurry of bike, dirt, and dust. He took a quick breather while I extracted the DR from the downed trees along the road. Tib-Fib bashed but structurally OK, oil cooler pushed back into the tank, speedo ripped out. No leaks! IMS tanks are tough! Ride on!

There were lakes everywhere. I think this was Irish Lake?

Eventually we arrived at a very cool spot called the Taylor Burn. I really like running through the old forest fire burns, for the increased visibility and the stark scenery. Fortunately this one is probably decades old, unlike the horror you guys in Bastrop experienced this year

A shot of my buddy Brian cooking with gas in the Taylor Burn. One of my favorite photos.

After a few more miles and a couple more lakes we eventually we found Our Own Private Idaho...er... Oregon totally secluded at the end of 1/2 mile of trail. Guided by yours truly and his trusty Garmin GPSMap60CSx Paul, who had been ripping off his clothes (!!) every time we stopped at a lake, was finally satisfied.

My buddy Jim brings smoked oysters. We travel in style.

Eventually the day started getting long and the feeling of obligations, a feeling familiar to Day Rides kind of people, started to sink in. We jumped on gravel and started making time towards Elk Lake, popped onto pavement and blasted home past Sparks Lake and Mt. Bachelor, knobbies howling on tarmac.

A darned good Day Ride if I do say so.

The End

 

[Coolhand]

Got another little Day Ride in today, not nearly as epic as the one I used to start the thread. 186 views and not one comment? Ouch... So c'mon people, I know the temperature has finally came down, y'all must be doing some Day Rides down there right?

Quick one today, planned to get on forest service roads 3 miles to the south and try to find some new routes. It was in the mid-40s and foggy when we started, after a good rain the night before. FINALLY the dust was down...

Much more fun when you can ride closer to each other... the pace goes up and it's fun to watch how the other guys handle the bike and pick lines.

One of the many ski shelters in the Nat'l Forest around here.

An old cinder quarry I think, where I'd taken my kid to do some .22 shooting the day before.

Yours truly in front of the foggy hills...

Rest stop at another shelter. We had to pay attention... lots of mountainbike trails around here that we've been riding for many years. Did not want to trade space with a mountainbiker crossing a forest service road.

Broken Top in the clouds.

Popped out through a bunch of wood cutters onto Century Drive by Mt. Bachelor and jumped on a fun powerline road for the burn home. Finished with fresh hopped beers and the most incredible corned beef Reuben sandwich imaginable. Another great Day Ride to get me through next week in the bag.

 

[xcgates]

Pics necessary? 'Cause today (yesterday?) I rode my heathen backside to a new church, then lunch, and a friend's place. No pics, unfortunately.

However on Sat I rode all over the place from SA to Scott's new diggs for some meet-n-greet. No pics from that either.

 

[TexasShadow]

I know what you mean about riding Ory-gun. Was there for 14 years; shame on me. Sure did enjoy it last September. So much so, will be back again next year.

Enjoy, and be sure you get to Steens Mnt.

 

[Coolhand]

Arg.... was supposed to go to the Alvord Desert area this weekend and my guy is bailing out!

 

[Coolhand]

A few shots from today with a crappy old camera since the wife had the good one in Colorado. Intent was to ride to my buddy's house ~35 miles to the north, cutting through the Cline Butte OHV area and getting some Baja-style dirt on the way. Then ride from his house and hit dirt roads through the Crooked River Nat'l Grasslands, cross Squaw Creek, and get into the Nat'l Forrest north of Sisters, hopefully to Green Ridge.

It all sounded good until we got to the Creek...

On the way north, almost into the OHV area. Lenticular clouds over the Sisters, weather change on the way. ~40 degrees or so. While blasting through the OHV area on the whooped out access road I passed a Ranger going my way. Gave him a wave and didn't look back...

Had a good time getting to this point but this crossing was deep, fast, and included large rocks. We scouted up river about 100 yards and found another crossing that looked promising.

I'll have to get the video from my buddy (he posted it on my FB page), but needless to say, I didn't make it. Dropped the front wheel into a deep hole and then hit big rocks coming out. Managed to keep the bike upright but couldn't go anywhere, water was up to my airbox. While trying to drag it back out, it kept trying to go downstream...

Dumping the last of the water out of my boots. Cold out there...

We kept trying to punch through and find another crossing but no luck.

Weather starting to roll in over Black Butte, temp dropping and wind coming up.

We found this immense pile of rocks, probably 5 feet high and 50 feet across, around this old juniper tree. Then we started getting into numerous old rock fences and corals, my goodness that would take a lot of work.

Some of the trail was a bit rough.

Got back to James' neighborhood and took an old wagon trail down to the river past the old fallen down homestead and some decrepit corals. The Deschutes is extremely high right now after turning off the irrigation canals.

That was it for our day. I tossed my gear into James' dryer and tried to get my socks and long johns dried out anyway. On the way back I jumped into the OHV park again and this time hit the trails. Pretty good day.

 

[The Bruce]

Looks like fantastic riding. Except cold water filling the boots, never fun.

 

[Coolhand]

Looks like fantastic riding. Except cold water filling the boots, never fun.

Man it was cold water over my knees... just darned glad I didn't have a drowned bike to deal with.

J

 

[Tourmeister]

I am soooooo envious Spectacular riding minutes away...

So tell me, what kind of riding gear are you using? How does it handle the cold/wet weather?

 

[Coolhand]

Scott nothing crazy. I got some Klim Dakar pants for my birthday. A good base layer and socks plus the MSR Reflex knee/shin armor and I'm warm on the bottom. I have an Axo enduro jacket and an Axo compression suit. Put a few layers in between those and you're warm. Other than about taking a swim today, I haven't had to worry about "wet" too much. I think that with all the gear we wear, it's much easier to stay warm than it is to stay cool.

Speaking of cool, that 530 EXC you have is COOL.

 

[CleatusJ]

Today's little ride.
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=W...mrsp=7&sz=14&via=1,2,4,5,7,8,9,10,12&t=m&z=14

This might be my last chance to see much fall color so I blended gravel County and paved Farm to Market roads.

Cougar Rd just before Gilbert Pit Rd. These are gravel with large marbles on top.

Fm4 and Lakeway.

CR 136

CR 172

Bakers Crossing

This is that few days every Fall that the colors are so vivid that makes riding back roads a visual orgasm.

 

[sKatZ]

My adventure was big for me but I only had my close-n-play cell phone so one photo of a little stop I made where I met a new friend.

 

[Mudclod]

Hey Justin, great report-looks chilly there. It was 87* here today! Just saw this thread, you know I'll contribute. Just got back from East Tex 450. What a good time. Hope it becomes an annual event. There's so many more un-explored roads out there.

 

[Coolhand]

Hey Justin, great report-looks chilly there. It was 87* here today! Just saw this thread, you know I'll contribute. Just got back from East Tex 450. What a good time. Hope it becomes an annual event. There's so many more un-explored roads out there.

Mud.... 87? Really? That's just sick and wrong man, it's NOVEMBER!!

East Tex 450 looked fun man, I've seen pictures for the last few years.

 

[Coolhand]

Cleatus - love the industrial Guzzi

sKatZ - that looks like a do-anything machine.

 

[sKatZ]

sKatZ - that looks like a do-anything machine.

So far, Qbike can do way more than I but I'm trying to catch up. Gotta see all those places you all find!

 

[Tourmeister]

So after a bit of a hectic week and busy time at work, I got a few hours to head out to get in some riding. The GS hasn't been run in a while so I opted to take it. I have been thinking of selling it. But... every time I ride the thing I wonder what in the world makes me think I want to sell it!?

So I headed West, no where in particular on my mind. I wind up busting down some nice dirt roads. The first part of the ride was through some areas burned pretty bad back around the same time as the Bastrop fires in Sept. One area was something like 8000 acres. I did not get any pics I don't know that it would have mattered.You really just have to see it in person to appreciate the scope of a fire that large...

Any way, with my balding Avon Distanza, I was really getting into a nice groove on the gravel and in the sand. We finally got a few inches of rain earlier this week and the roads were just about perfect, very little dust and good traction. I wandered out through Bedias, then some back roads over to Iola, and then down to Yankees Tavern in Carlos. There is this one LONG STRAIGHT WIDE road that parallels a train track to the power plant in Carlos. I am hammering along, floating through the gravel, and then it happens...

I have been teased about getting little stickers to put on the fenders of my bikes representing all the wildlife I have killed over the years: dogs, cats, snakes, coons, countless frogs, turtles, owls, deer, turkey vultures, and more that I forget... Today was a turkey vulture day. Two BIG birds came up out of the deep grass right as I came upon them. One managed to veer hard right and pull up. I was swerving left trying to clear the second. No good... He just cleared the hand guard and hit the mirror stalk, my arm, and then bounced off my right shoulder. The next few seconds were kind of surreal. I did not go down, but I was slowing down FAST!! The odd thing was that I was not on the brakes... I could hear the gravel grinding under the front tire and the rear was kind of wandering around. I finally came to a stop, killed the engine, put the side stand down and cleaned out my pants...

When the bird hit the mirror stalk, it rotated the right controls so that the brake lever came up. The hand guard did not rotate. When the brake level met the guard, it SLAMMED on my front brakes and they could not release!! Thank God I did not have the ABS turned off or I would likely have gone down pretty hard. I was probably running about 50mph when I made contact. The bike came to a stop about 75 feet from the place where the bird landed. I could see where the front tire had been plowing through the gravel the whole way.

That's the bird laying in the middle of the road

A quick check of the bike showed no damage. I rotated the controls back. A truck pulled up while I was stopped and checked to make sure I was okay Satisfied everything was good, at least for me and the bike..., I continued on to Carlos and stopped at Yankees for a break and to visit with other riders.

I made the run down 3090 to Anderson, then picked up some little county roads that eventually dropped out on FM 1486 where I ran back up to Richards and stopped for an ice cream. Met a nice couple riding an older Sprint ST (the model before the 1050 motor). After that, I ran down through the National Forest on 149 to Montgomery. The new black top is sweet! Then back to Huntsville.

When I got to town I was riding past the air port and there was this interesting biplane there. It has been there a few weeks and I had been meaning to stop and check it out, but just never had the chance. Well... no time like the present

Antonov An-2 / PZL Mielec An-2 made in Poland in 1985 -- See the WIKI info here

I was talking to a friend at church last week who is a pilot. I asked if he knew anything about it. Apparently, it had to make an emergency landing here. They lost a cylinder in the engine and then on the landing messed up one of the landing gear (left one I think). That was all he knew.

I love the little rear view mirror - gives a view of the only door on the left side

Tail number - I Googled it to find out what little I could about the aircraft

The small door is in the center of a much larger hatch. I think hatch can be removed. Looking in the window I saw a bunch of stickers on the inside wall about parachuting. I am guessing this is a slow flying plane that can take 8-10 passengers. So it is probably ideal for parachuting.

Just for some scale

Not sure what this is... It is on the under belly between the landing gear struts. Anyone got a clue?

This thing was dripping quite a bit of oil just while I was standing there... The entire front of the plane was coated in oil. EVERY part of the motor was just wet with it.

Beth had a great dinner for us this evening. We finished off the day at the neighbor's house behind us enjoying a good sized bonfire. The burn ban was lifted after we get a few inches of rain this week and EVERYONE is burning like crazy before it comes back Monday.

 

[Coolhand]

Good GRIEF man... can't believe that sequence of events

 

[Vinny]

Sweet posts guys. Very jealous !!!! Keep them coming please . This was a good year for me on the bike. Big Bend, Arkansas , Summit County, CO, Barber vintage rally , Asheville and the BRP, Harvest festival. I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Headed to Ecuador in 2 weeks; going to rent a bike there while I visit family. I'll try to post pics of that one.
Keep the ride reports coming please.

 

[Mudclod]

Glad your OK Scott, that must have been quite a moment. Can't believe you killed the bird and controlled the skid!!!

 

[Coolhand]

Arg... was hoping to sneak out today but I'm not sure if being sick mixes well with riding in the snow. I'll probably have to go back and post past Day Rides until next April or so

 

[Coolhand]

Best we could do yesterday...

Getting the hang of riding on snow and ice.

And today.

 

[Tourmeister]

That vid of YoDog flying down the hill is great! Really brought back some fun memories from my winter living in New York as a kid. Still... I don't miss the snow

 

[The Bruce]

That vid of YoDog flying down the hill is great! Really brought back some fun memories from my winter living in New York as a kid. Still... I don't miss the snow

+1 Growing up in CO I did my share of hill sliding. Great fun!

 

[Tourmeister]

So I rode down to Kelly's Pond to meet up with Rsquared, JQueen and Jar675 to ride some trails in the Sam Houston National Forest. This is to be my first time actually riding any serious single track. I'm riding the 2010 KTM 530 EXC I picked up about 6 weeks ago, so I am not real sure what to expect... Anyway, here are my thoughts on the day...

It was REALLY cold getting down there despite me being pretty well bundled up. When I arrived, my nose and hands were numb. Met up with Roger "Rsquared" and Justin "JQueen". Also saw Captain Jack who was there to ride with some other folks. Jamie "Jar675" said he might be late and not to wait. We waited until maybe 9:45 and them took off for the trails.

I could have done without the branch up my nose... literally Not sure how it got past the helmet and goggles, but I had visions of it going all the way up to my brain... Talk about whacked way to get whacked...

I hurt all over... a lot...Thank God for better living through chemistry! Some ibuprofen, a muscle relaxer and I'm sorta able to walk around the house without making noises that scare the kids

I could go a LONG time without seeing TONS of close spaced whoops... Those things were just wearing me down hard. My neck and shoulders are screaming at me over that stuff.

I can't wait to get the 13/52 sprockets on the bike. I was rapping out first but second was just TOO fast for me and I would end up really lugging it. All in all, for my first time really riding single track trails, I'm pretty happy. Five minutes after Roger mentioned that you could probably clip a tree with the bar and be fine but if you hit it square on the hand guard you are probably gonna go down... I hit a tree right square on the hand guard and went down, hehe. Jqueen got the bike off me because I couldn't stop laughing. Thank God for good dirt boots though because the toes on the left foot were pointed into the ground and the heel took the full weight of the bike. I had another real slow get off, more of a tip over and I just stepped off, but the bike hit a tree perfectly right over the front fender and at the base of the head light. No damage though. I just picked it up and kept going. I was good for the first loop, but about half way through that second loop I was out of steam and getting really sloppy. It was frustrating watching Roger because he is just so smooth and I was back there flopping all over the place and working way harder than I should have been, hehe.

After the first loop we found Jamie at the trail head. After some visiting, we took off for a second loop. It was a lot of fun, but I was really wearing out near the end of the second loop and was ready to call it a day!

The fall colors are some of the best I can remember in 17 years of living in this area. The Sweet Gum trees are bright yellow and red! Even the Oaks are a beautiful fiery orange.

Did I mention I hurt all over...

Here's a few pics...

Heading from Stubble Field Lake to Kelly's Pond

At the trail head

JQueen's DR 650, that he rides like a 250

I froze to death riding down this morning, but it got hot on the trails FAST, so we stopped so I could shed some layers and wait for my heart rate to come back down out of the stratosphere... (Justin on left, Roger on right)

Roger's weapon of choice, 350 SX?

This I liked... wide and no whoops, and the trees are further away than two inches! I'm still a bit wigged about trees being so close to me as I go careening through the woods...

Justin and the DR 650

A trail head... somewhere... I had no clue as I was just trying to keep up!

Another view of Roger's ride

The DR

We picked up Jamie at the trail head for the second loop, he missed the first loop - KTM 450 EXC

Sand I like... It makes for a soft landing

Taking a break on the second loop

Heading home toward Stubble Field Lake