Glass Forest - Gorman - Saturday Report

[the Eel]

About halfway to Gorman I started to get a bit worried about the day's prospects. Sure, rain is most often a blessing for riders out here in So Cal. But when I stopped at the gas station at the Gorman exit I could barely stand not immediately getting back into my truck. It was raining, windy, and TOO COLD. I grabbed a coffee inside, stepped outside into the cold, and was temporarily confused by a strange guy mumbling to himself as he walked straight toward me. "Here we go", I thought to myself. :silly: "This your dog ?" he said. I looked around and didn't see any dog. But then sure enough a cold, drenched german shepherd emerged from in front of my truck trying its best to befriend the stranger. "Nope, not mine". I got into my truck, out of the cold. As I drove out I saw PlaceLast's truck pulling out of the station in front of me. I hadn't even noticed him there.

When I got to Edison Campground everyone was there - Old'n'Slow, Lastplace, LP Jr., and LP's friend Greg. We suited up in the freezing rain and got ready to ride. I was anxious to see how my new Scott's damper would work, even though I was so cold I had to borrow an extra shirt from O'n'S. We headed of to the forest.

Up East Frazier was uneventful - but when we hit the top it looked like broken glass was falling from the sky. The rain was freezing on the trees and then falling in the wind. It was foggy and the whole experience was surreal. We took off on the Frazier Mine Road and then down Arrastra Trail. I look left briefly and am almost knocked off my bike as I broadside an ice-covered ****. Lucky break but man does my face hurt. True get off # 1 as I tried to ride up and over the root obstacle - I lost my balance and fell hard onto my left hip. It was one of those slow ones where you get unbalanced and can't move - and you just tip right over with the bike in slow motion. You know what I mean.

We continued on down to Tejon and that's when I started to realize my rear brake was ... well, it wasn't really working. I had changed the pads before the ride and did my usual experimenting. Seems I got some air in the line when I decided to see what would happen if I tried unsrewing the different nuts on the rear caliper. I almost always learn the hard way - it's a Team Knucklhead thing. :)

So get off # 2 is when I'm TRYING to catch LP on Tejon, blow a turn, and ram straight off the trail into a horizontal tree branch. Luckily the bars hit it first. The branch was immediately removed from the tree trunk. Now I'm a little shaken as I begin to realize that having no brakes can get me hurt. I vow to take it easy and we move on, eventually going left at the T.

We pause briefly and LP shows me how to adjust my brake pedal. I adjust it but it does little good. We head down to the creek and then onto Yellow Jacket Canyon Trail - or should I say Trial. The rocks here could give a guy a headache. :D David and I cross the creek again but everyone else stops back by the little gate. David and I head back ... ummm ... OK, I guess this trail does have a closed sign on it, even though the gate is open. My bad. We all turn around. At this point Greg's CR 250 is almost out of gas. We're at 27 miles.

We basically did the whole loop backwards with the exception of Arrastra. The thought of that uphill still scared us off - though 53 MPH on the Frazier Mine Road was plenty thrilling enough for me. I need bumblebee graphics for my 125 - that baby was screaming like the chainsaw it is. I pulled my tank and gave Greg some gas along the way.

Going back down East Frazier Greg took a nasty spill and I was following to closely to stop. Get off # 3 as I swerve right and hit another tree. I go down. No wonder Greg washed out - he had a flat front tire. The crash took out my right side panel and rad shroud. Time for new plastics.

Greg ran out of gas just before the East Frazier gate, but he tipped his bike over and got enough gas in the one side of the tank to get back down to camp. 55 miles. All accounted for ...

A difficult day ... but a good day.

 

[gospeedracer]

Originally posted by the Eel
We basically did the whole loop backwards with the exception of Arrastra. The thought of that uphill still scared us off

You mean you'd rather go DOWN that trail!?? :scream: I'll take UP it any day but I can't imagine the condition it must have been in the rain. Probably a wise choice.
"Raining, windy and too cold", a guess a fair weather rider you're not! ;) As usual good ride report. :)

 

[the Eel]

Thanks GSR. But tell me, why in God’s name would they censor the word “****” in my report ? I mean, c‘mon ... ‘fer cryin’ out loud ... !!!! :debil:

 

[the Eel]

THEY DID IT AGAIN !!!!!!

B - U - S - H ! There ... how do you like that DRN ?

 

[holeshot]

Yeah, I've had the word B-U-S-H censored a couple of times, when I was reporting about how I ran into a Phelan B-U-S-H. Maybe they don't like George B-U-S-H around here. :confused:

I was kind of cold Saturday, so I put off the spring break El Mirage ride (with my 10 year old) until Monday. I'm hoping we can make the the kid's event and the Sun. event at the next TWMC enduro.

 

[Ol'89r]

Eel. Sounds like you G-o-r-e-d that B-u-s-h pretty good. :)

I was wondering about you guys when I saw all of those black clouds roll in.

Great report, thanks. ;)

 

[JWW]

Wow...Kinda glad I didnt make it.

Unfortunately I spent the day in beautiful Big Bear with Mtn Goat and his friends.

Even though the weather sucked it sounds like a good time was had. Thanks for the report.

 

[oldandslo]

Good write up Eel. I don`t remember, did you mention the cold, wind, and rain at the staging area? If I was by myself I would have wimped out. Once we got going it wasn`t so bad. It was a great loop.

I fell 3 times. All at slow speeds. I`m not ready for the new plastic yet.

We need to do this again and maybe do Snowy!

 

[the Eel]

I bet we'll all be ready for new plastics after Snowy. Mike Hobbs wants to do a Gorman ride on May 18th ... a Saturday. Maybe we should plan out a loop and work Snowy into it. What do you guys think ? Would anyone want to come out ? Maybe it's too far in advance to post it ... though we could probably get a pretty good thread going in anticipation of some Snowy group carnage ! :) I'm pretty sure quite a few of us have never ridden it ... I know I haven't.

 

[placelast]

Leaving the garage, things were beginning to look good, having rained in the LA basin early morn. On the way up we passed what appeared to be Old & Slow towing a clean XR. We ended up pulling in behind him @ Edison, followed by Eel, then Greg.

It was awfully windy & a bit chilly with some light rain and fast-moving clouds. Just right, I'd say, tho I could see doubt in the faces, as if saying “..you sure this is a good site/time to ride?” Even Jr. had his doubts, to which I replied “I like it.” With that, we suited up for adventure.

Jr’s bike needed a richer pilot jet; not being one for last-minute fiddling, being rather up for the ride, I summoned Greg to offer some he-man strength to kick it in the cold. And that he did.

Galloping away from camp, we chose Coyote Trail to loosen up the limbs before the longer and elevation-intense East Frasier ascent. Now, we had been down it a few times, but not up, and it’s a whole different game. Was floating/wheelie-ing over the rocks or steering around them best? Lean into the switchbacks or motor up? Whatever it took to maintain forward momentum and not go over the steep drop offs was the call.

We paused at the park bench (how’d hey get it here?) and were engulfed in the clouds (insert fog-horn sound here). Ice was dropping on the trail from the tall jeffery pines, breaking like glass before you – strange, erie sensation.

Careful braking was the MO for the Arrastra Trail downhill - couldn’t imagine the momentum needed for going up. THE ROOT is quite an intimidating sight; following a good line was critical to my pass thru. Being first, I had the best spectator’s view of the others’ passings. Eel-er was doing quite well in his proven trials-esque fashion until a stall; it wasn’t a pretty site with a fateful arrest and dramatic layover. We were glad nothing broke and he came thru unhurt besides pride. Yep: this was the spot, a few years ago with some friends, one turning around here, saying, “this trail is psycho!” as he motored away. Geesh. I wonder why he doesn’t come out anymore? Anyeay, back to our story: by going this way we avoided the rougher braking/acceleration bumps/whoops & rocks of the eastern part of Tejon Trail; from here on it was sure fun weaving thru the trees.

At the base of What-A-Trail, a small discussion of what lay ahead. ensued. Eel had one remembrance; me another, and O & S put it all together, saying we were of the same mind, just different perspectives. Eel then sped off, twisting the loud handle, and the chase was on; he was moving along @ a mighty good clip until some **** jumped out from the trail’s edge and grabbed him – time to adjust the rear brake/burp the line.

My things have changed. You can no longer ride down the creek at all, only cross it then go upward connecting to Yellowjacket Trail head. This trail is full of rocks, not overly big ones, like the Rubicon, but loose, smaller ones where you do not want too much speed to cause a surprise excursion. Kinda like the pix of Colorado trails. There were just a few spot where careful negotiation was needed. One spot O & S’ XR coughed; some “clickety-click, clickety-click; thoooomp-thomps” later (“it’s never been this hard to start – uh huh. Mmmmm...), then it finally fired up. This trail dead-ends @ Piru Creek. Beautiful spot.

Our way out was just as non-eventful, until we came to one of those few larger-rocked sections. Eel wheelied thru, but on my turn I let momentum drop. So there I am, perched high like the circus clown for all to see; having stuck my leg out in the air with nothing to daub, like that clown I fell over. I was OK, but the borrowed FMF Don Emler Signature Series pipe took a ½” deep, 2” diameter ding just beyond the guard. Ouch. Instant de-tune.

On the graded road back, I begin to (foolishly, as you will see) take the blind inside lines with speed. A rider, coming head on, & a near miss; we managed to only kiss bar ends – phew! That was a pucker-er if any.

Eel-er takes off again on Long Dave Trail, with me in hot pursuit. He take a turn wide & I slipped by, then lead up to What-A-Trail where he gave some petrol to Greg’s thirsty CR. On the way up I encounter my own **** bashing, but was able to get upright and dusted off before others arrived (heh, heh), tho the small telltale tear in my MSR pants was a give away for keen eyes.

The top of Frasier turned into a TT-style go-fast session; ‘Ol49er would be proud. Nonetheless, going down East Frasier Trail was a relative breeze.

55 fine & tiring tails later, the enthusiasm for doing Snowy Trail this day was awfully muted. We vowed to do it later.

The best air-time for the day goes to not a dirt biker, but a BMW SUV which cut us off on the Big Eye (Interstate I-5, that is). Apparently, the driver missed his off ramp; at the last minute, did a daring maneuver, crossing multiple lanes, then hit some concrete and literally launched off of the pavement, finally landing on the off ramp; a spectacular sight but not recommended @ highway speeds.

 

[ktmboy]

Good report gentlemen. I think I would be willing to go down Snowy, but perhaps not up!

 

[CPT Jack]

Great reports (as usual!), too bad you had to turn around - sorry I missed it.

 

[Boodac]

Ok Im confused here. Place isnt the bench on the East Frazier Trail? At least thats what I thought it was called. BTW sounded like a blast except for the rain, snow wind and tornados. Im thinking I need to head up there for a trip.

 

[MCassle]

Originally posted by the Eel
I bet we'll all be ready for new plastics after Snowy. Mike Hobbs wants to do a Gorman ride on May 18th ... a Saturday.

According to D37 there will be a qualifier at Gorman on the 19th of May, anyone up for two days of riding?

Matt

 

[placelast]

Originally posted by Boodac
Ok Im confused here. Place isnt the bench on the East Frazier Trail? At least thats what I thought it was called

You are correct: it's not far from the top of East Frasier Trail; good place for a break. Nice view of the Antelope Valley, too; at least on a clear day, and even the Tehachapi's and south-most Sierras. Once I remember seeing as far as the mountains above Porterville with the last remaing snow on the peaks.

Matt: last year I helped the promoter clear the trail for this event in April, Kris Kuda (sp) of the VCMC. Great guy, and a real he-man - he carried a chain saw in a backpack and still rode fast! This year the trails are relatively clear due to a mild winter. I remember Eel (Eric) raced then.

 

[ktmboy]

Gorman in May sounds very interesting. I'll be checking my calender to see if the 18th is cool. An over-nighter would mean bringing Jr. along.

 

[MCassle]

John - I gotta get with you one of those times you organize a volunteer effort to clean up the trails...my problem is I live so far away now :whiner: I should of never left Bakersfield!!

Matt