There isn't enough thanks in me to properly convey my appreciation for Brad hosting me again for another fantastic ride in his neck of the woods, but here ya go anyway; THANKS!!!!
A short recap of the weekend as viewed by me:
I left home about 1pm and made a food stop and a gas stop before showing up on Brad's door step around 7:30 where he was waiting in the driveway with a ice cold beer. Then he got one for me too. We spent some time on the front porch, in comfortable chairs, chatting and enjoying beers, waiting for FarmerJ. Time flew and before we knew it, it was after 9 pm! Brad decided pizza would go good with the beer and twisted my arm until I agreed to eat some. FarmerJ (Jeff) called and said he had been delayed but would be arriving in a couple of hours. Brad told him not to expect us to miss our beauty rest just 'cause he couldn't keep a schedule. Well, of course, there we were around midnight still chatting and drinking beers, when Jeff pulls up. Jeff has a few nicknames: FarmerJ, Pie-man and now I can add to that, "too-tall" He's got the height advantage on anyone I've ever seen on a KDX. First things first, he hauls out these pies. Not one, not two, but three!!! One was pumpkin, one strawberry rhubarb, and the last was a forest berry. Then he drags out frozen bags of fruit in case anyone wants to make their own pie, smoothie, margarita, etc. I don't know how many bags, but there were a lot! His tardiness now forgiven, we put the pies and fruit, all but the pumpkin, that was set out to thaw for eating, in the freezer. We got all the introductions done, then we were off to bed with visions of dirt bikes dancing in our heads. Next morning, we are all up by 6:30, Brad making coffee, me fixing homemade egg mcmuffins, and Jeff, well, maybe we weren't all up by 6:30.
Out the door and off we go to Bunny Flat and to meet up with Wibby, Marty, and Cindy. Brad drives fast enough to make even this California driver feel inadequate; a foreboding of things to come on the trail, I suspect. When we get to Bunny Flat, the others aren't there yet, so we get loaded up to go. Then Marty shows up and we take off for a little warm up run while waiting for Wibby. 20 miles later, we are back at the trucks and there's Wib and Marty's sister, Cindy. Cindy has a quad and she and Marty decide to go for a loop and meet us up at a mine Brad and Wib know of. Off they go! I meet Wibby for the first time and discover he is a bear of a man, big and strong with a grip that could crush a coconut. I'm glad he likes me. So after topping off the tanks, we head out. Brad somehow thinks all riding must be in the vertical plane for warm-ups and we head straight up some stuff that I wouldn’t send a goat up. I mention I might not make that climb up the embankment to the hidden trail, and his reply is that’s where he’s going and if I want to ride, then follow. He shows to it’s done, then Jeff follows. I make it too, (well, sort-of) and Scott (Wibby), who hasn’t even fired up his KDX in 8 months, takes a stab at it. 2 tries later, a few words of encouragement, some spotters, and his bike is up the hill as well. By the third vertical trailhead, Wibby has his bike legs back and he’s again in love with his KDX, wondering why he put off trail riding like this for so long. Sometimes we all need a break, just to rediscover the joy in our riding. The day proves we are all capable of not making a section on the first try and Brad is next when a tree, maybe it was two, and a few bushes decide to give him a hug. When I catch up to him, he’s down under the bike and under enough foliage that it looks like a wrestling match the branches have won! I run to help him then think to grab the camera first. Brad’s suggestion to that changed my mind and I try and help him untangle by pulling trees off him and he’s finally able to stand. A little sore and probably bruised, we take off again. But don’t think Brad is going to slow down, he doesn’t. Where someone else may have been a little more cautious, Brad turns the pace up and we are now flying through the woods. After hitting a trailhead that Brad expected to meet Marty and Cindy at, and don’t find, we head off for the mine. A few minutes later, the radio alerts us. It’s Marty and he discovers we are on the way to the mine. He is too but says he need some help and is on the trail up ahead. When we arrive, Marty is on the ground, sitting but no bike is to be found anywhere. First thing he tells us is he’s hurt and that he might pass out. Marty has emergency medical training and instructs us what to do if he looses consciousness. We treat Marty by making him comfortable and get the story of what happened. Cindy was riding her quad up ahead and Marty just play riding behind, not fast or anything. A log partly blocking the trail catches Marty’s eye and he didn’t see the lance like branch aimed straight for his heart. The chest protector deflected the blow and it caught his arm, tearing him and the bike sideways. A slam into a tree alongside the trail deflected them both down the steep embankment and about 50 yards and a couple of ricochets off trees, they both stop. Marty knew he was hurt but also knew no one would find him down there so he crawled his way back to the road. Thank God, we decided to pack radios that morning, we almost didn’t. Cindy came back and nursed her brother as the rest of us blazed a trail back up the drop off where Marty’s bike was. We got the bike up and Marty was responding well to Cindy’s care. We agreed that Cindy and Marty would head back to the trucks and have Marty checked out at the emergency room. Although he was first scheduled for admission and overnight observation, the doc’s determined his whack was just mild enough to be sent home; no concussion, no damaged internal organs. Whew!!!
We all rode quite a bit after that including a trip to the burg of Foots Creek where we all had the fish and chips. The fish was done to perfection and although the chips are only French fries, they too were crispy-golden and tasty. More riding, then back to the trucks for more fuel. I was tired and should have begged off the final loop, but didn’t want to miss a single mile of this wonderful riding area. Brad starts us up a long steep grade that has ruts the size of the Grand Canyon. Jeff, then I and finally Scott doing sweep follow him. I follow too close to Jeff and he goes down about ¾ the way up. I make it past him successfully and I’m thinking that I’m hot stuff when a low branch cleans me off the bike. Too stupid to let go of the bars, the bike rears up and loops over. Jeff watches as I go rolling down the hill past him. Well, the hill is too steep for my riding skills to continue from there, but I try anyway with two more crash-and-burns before I go back down and get a running start. Once we are all up, it’s off to Poison Ivy. Any terrain notorious enough to earn it’s own name needs to be respected and even feared. I’ve never ridden terrain this steep for this long of a grade before. As I said earlier, I was already beat. After 3 crashes on the first hill in this loop, I was in survival mode. We made it back to the truck with our odometers telling us we did about 75 miles that day. Not bad. Brad hosted us to a steak dinner that really hit the spot; hot rolls and salad, a medium rare rib eye steak accompanied by a baked potato with everything and chased down with…….a beer of course. We headed back to Brad’s with a plan to meet up with Wibby again at John’s Peak. At the house we are tired but the evening is so pleasant we sit on the front porch and recap the day’s events and make new plans for the next day’s ride. I want to take a quick shower but instead, I collapsed on my sleeping bag and don’t move until 6:am next day.
NEXT: Day 2 ride report