GoSpeedRacers Gorman Death March!

[MrLuckey]

Sunday GSR and I were supposed to meet up with some other DRN members but they must have gotten the word that she was taking Kiwi's place as the 'torture trail boss' and they bailed to it was just the two of us. She re-jetted the Katoom and we were took off around 10:30 or so. It all started innocently enough as we left Sterling Canyon campground on Sterling Canyon Trail. Sterling is basically a jeep type trail. A couple miles in she spots Tejon trail and next thing I know we are on a really awesome trail. Very quickly though it starts to get very challenging (acres and acres of rocks) but its early and still fun. Neither of us had been on Tejon before so we stopped to check a map and decided that taking Arrastra would eventually dump us on a trail that would loop back to camp so off she went. Camp was at 4100' and by this time we must have been around 6000' so the snow was getting more and more prevalent and the trail was getting steeper and steeper with sheer drop offs most of the way. Sometime around 20 minutes later we were lifting bikes over a huge tree root sticking almost 2 feet above the trail. The trail at this point was dayum steep and the now icy/snow provided litttle traction. No way to get the front end up and over the roots and if you tried and made a mistake you were gonna be a hundred feet down a cliff. By the time we got both bikes over I thought I was gonna hurl. The air was getting pretty thin up there by now. We hadn't gone a couple hundred yards before we encountered another section that required more lifting, pushing, etc. In the sun the snow/ice had melted enough to coat the still tundra-like ground with slick snotty mud. A break was called for by yours truly as we weren't sure what the trail ahead was like or when we would finally get to go downhill for a bit. Right before I caught my breath we took off again only to encounter an impossible switchback with a 2' step up snow covered rocks. Dayum, more lifting, walking beside and revving to the moon. Eventually we peaked at around 7600' and had some fun blasting through the snow on a little easier trail. After branching onto East Frazier trail we found a couple fellows resting and stopped to visit for a bit. Hehehe, when GSR took off her helmet they were shocked to say the least. One of them piped up with "Wow, I am surprised to see you up here, Don't take this wrong but you must be a pretty damn good rider to be up here coming from that direction" or something similar to that. Anyway we cruised downhill back to camp, had some lunch and then GSR was off to play on the hills around camp. We found some killer hills called 'Middle Hills' or something like that and I stared at the biggest one for a bit before deciding to give it a try. Very cool, made it to the top but GSR went around. The highlight of the day was a little later when I was at the top of the hill again with 2 bystanders waving GSR to come up. Next thing I know she loops back a little bit and gets a run at it. She was coming up the monster hill :) Those 2 guys jaws dropped as they told me about some of the guys they had seen fail miserably earlier in the day. About 3/4 of the way up the back end starting slashing wildly from side to side on some slick stuff and I got worried for a second but she backed off just enough to straighten it out and came flying over the top. I have to say that was the most impressed and proud I have ever been :) Kiwi - She did a marvelous job standing in for you and she is ready for "Snowy". Arrastra turned out to be tougher than 'Snowy' especially with the snow, ice and mud.

 

[Farmer John]

Good report TTRGuy!

It's amazing how gsr's riding has come along.
The first time I rode with you & her was about a year ago at Gorman & she did well, but I had no intrest in being around when she went on any "interesting" trails. Then at DW01 she just kept disappearing into the woods, & now she is choosing & completing snow covered goat trails. Awesome.

 

[gospeedracer]

:eek: Ummm, I didn't pay him to say those things, I swear!

It was an awesome day of riding though! The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was perfect! I probably would not have gone where we did, had I known what it entailed but now that I did it unscathed, it feels pretty good. It was just the right amount of challenging without being distressing.

I had never been on the forest trails at Gorman before. I had NO idea how beautiful it was up there. I was certainly kicking myself for not bringing the camera along.

It was slow going at first as the sheer drop off on one side of the, at times, very narrow trail was a bit disconcerting for me. But things picked up when we reached the rock gardens. It does no good to go slow through that sort of stuff so I was forced to pick it up. The faster I went the smoother it was and then I found my groove. TTRGuy pulled over at one point. I didn’t realize he was stopping to wait for me (not realizing I was right behind him) and thought he just wanted me to lead for a while so I blazed by not wanting to stop or slow down.
I was having such a good time, that at one point I stopped and tried to form a snowball to chuck at TTRGuy but 1, the snow wouldn’t pack, and 2 how do you ride with a snowball in your hand? ;)

Things got distinctly harrier when we decided to make the turn on to Arrastra trail. The trail got narrower, steeper and snowier. I think I spent a good portion of the trip up sitting on my rear fender with my legs flailing behind me! :scream: The switchbacks were fun and TTRGuy and I were chugging along pretty good with the exception of the few obstacles he mentioned above. At long last the top! We reached a snowy fire road and followed it down to the East Frazier trail. I couldn’t tell if we were riding dirt bikes or skiing! Of course the only time I go down the whole day would be on a wide-open fire road after slipping in the snow! Burrrr. That big ol’ pipe on TTRGuy’s bike makes for a nice hand warmer. :confused:

After a brief chat with some guys from Northern California it was pretty much smooth sailing all the way back down to camp. I couldn’t believe we had ascended more than 3,000 feet on that ride! But the breathtaking views were worth it.

After lunch I wanted to do some play riding around camp and discovered we were parked right next to an area set up for hill climbing. The hill was called “Middle Hill” I believe. I scoped it out a bit, circled it, checked it out from both sides but was pretty much set on NOT going up it. I went back to camp and told TTRGuy about it. So he heads back over there with me and decides to give it a try. I began to waver a little seeing that he made it up successfully but was still on the fence about giving it a go. I met him at the top from the back way. I finally decided to suck it up and do it for TTRGuy’s sake and because there were now 2 ‘spectators’ that I didn’t want to see a girl wimp out. I knew TTRGuy would be positively beaming if I made it. So away I went, hitting 3rd and sailing up! It was pretty smooth until I neared the top. It felt like my bike was doing the jig to some inaudible tunes! I saw my 3 spectators scatter at the top unsure of what was going to happen and then much to everyone’s surprise (including me) I was at the top and they were all clapping. I don’t know who was more excited, TTRGuy or me. He was grinning the rest of the day, kept poking me in the arm and congratulating me with a huge grin on his face. I’m really lucky to have such a supportive and encouraging riding partner. :)

 

[gospeedracer]

Originally posted by Farmer John
she did well, but I had no intrest in being around when she went on any "interesting" trails.

What the hell is THAT suppose to mean?! Am I not simply a true pleasure to ride with at all times?! :p ;)

 

[JuliusPleaser]

Originally posted by gospeedracer
I saw my 3 spectators scatter at the top unsure of what was going to happen

LOL!!!! I love doing that! (Watch how fast I can make these guys run. . . )

Sounds like you guys had a great ride. I'm jealous of all you Socal types. All thos SX races and Nationals, and some really cool trails to boot!

 

[Farmer John]

Originally posted by gospeedracer
What the hell is THAT suppose to mean?! Am I not simply a true pleasure to ride with at all times?! :p ;)

:think :p :silly:

 

[KiwiBird]

Woo hoo Speedy! Arasta is a great trail with the rock garden and the roots and the switchbacks - you can do Snowy trail now as it is no harder than that. The forest trails are the best places to be - why do think I ride away from where everyone else is?

Speedy - you are abundantantly cool, considering you're just a chick.

 

[gospeedracer]

Originally posted by Kiwi Bird
why do think I ride away from where everyone else is?

Uhhh, I thought it was because no one wants to play with you. :p

Thanks Kiwi, that means a lot. You too Farmer John since I forgot to mention it. :) Wish you could have been there bird man. Eddie too. You should have heard him, "I wish Kiwi could have been here to see this, he would have been so proud. :)

I don't know that I would say Arasta is a "cool" trail.... I survived it, but I'm not sure I would willingly atempt it again! :confused:

I'm still not sure about Snowy. Going up in that kind of stuff is one thing but coming DOWN is another! :ugg:

Signed,
Hoplessly horrified of downhills!

 

[zio]

Hah! That's great. :silly: I was toying with the idea of getting myself, GSR, & other beginners together to do our own riding (mellow, easy trails, nothing too gnarly, you know- women & children stuff). But I think I may be the only one in my club. It's like high school & the teenyweenypeenie club all over again:o

Way to go, GSR. Kidding aside, that's cool to hear you're improving with such big strides. My boyfriend likes to take me riding, too, but he doesn't do anything but haul ass ahead of me & look bored by the time I finally show up. You'll meet him at Reno. We go back & forth between who gets to be the man & who's the chick. He talks a lot, but I have much less body hair. :scream:

 

[gospeedracer]

Originally posted by zio
It's like high school & the teenyweenypeenie club all over again

Don't feel bad zio I'm still a member of the ittybittytittycommitte and I'm NOT in high school any more! :scream: I'm always down for "mellow, easy trails, nothing too gnarly, women (no children!) type stuff". ;)
Although, I am determined to ride at least once with Strick's group at Reno this year! :eek:

 

[the Eel]

Boy am I sorry I missed that. Arrastra uphill ? WITH SNOW ?!!

I've been down that trail but up always seemed a bit beyond my abilities. NICE JOB ! Please sign me up for your Trials classes right away !

 

[gospeedracer]

Oh my goodness, you're kidding?! :scream: Down that trail would have been FAR more terrifying to me. I was thinking about that when we were coming back down the East Frasier trail, "thank god we didn't go the other way and end up having to go DOWN what we just came up!" :confused:

Trust me, I certainly was not the paragon of proper riding technique on most of that trek. Anyone riding behind me would have been in for a good laugh! ;)

 

[the Eel]

I'm really PO'd that I missed it. Bad luck in spades for me of late. How about this coming weekend ? Same place ?

 

[gospeedracer]

Awww, unfortunately I doubt it. TTRGuy is already gearing up for the Reno ride. When I went home for lunch today both the bikes were washed and all the gear was washed and hung out to dry!

Did you get what you needed to fix your bike?

 

[the Eel]

Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next year. Maybe never.

 

[wardy]

HA!

i think you after these posts ya better check to see if that helmet fits!

:p

good ride!

wardy

 

[dirtjunkie]

Hey GRS & TTR sounds like you had one of those days that makes us realize why we ride. ;) I hope everybody has fun in Reno!!!!!!

SPEEDY YOUR THE MAN...MA'AM

 

[placelast]

Way to go U 2! Now you are qualified to do What-a-Trail; a bit easier; no kidding. It branches to the right (north) further to the west on Tejon Trail.

When Jr. & I were there the w/e B4, Arrastra & What-a-Trail spurs @ their bases were covered w/ more than a few " of snow; we both figured not to try them as we certainly wouldn't B able to make the full 3k' climb to the top due to the depth of the snow, nor want to spend the night there!

Eric: say you break-in your new piston/rings B4 trying this heavy engine load stuff otherwise risk the same loss of parts.

Anyone open for Monday? or is Sunday better?

 

[Ol'89r]

TTRGuy.

You say you followed Speedy????:scream: :scream: What were you thinkin??

FarmerJohn. Ya shoulda seen her the year before that.:eek:

Way to go Speedy. You da man. Or whatever.

 

[the Eel]

Very good advice John - I'll try to not blow this one up. :)

I'm up for Sunday - plus Captain Jack is back from Japan - bet your bottom dollar he's jonesin' to ride.

So .... Sunday ?

 

[angry jim]

I see you're getting used to the 200 GSR! The suzuki is history isn't it?
Reno will be fun. You are now ready for Clear Creek.

 

[placelast]

Originally posted by the Eel
I'm up for Sunday - plus Captain Jack is back from Japan - bet your bottom dollar he's jonesin' to ride.

So .... Sunday ?

Sunday it is. Pick a place. I suggest an easy buzz thru the valley to break it in, then venture up into the forest. Or the dez would do - just keep it tame for the sake of the new rings/piston.

 

[Boodac]

Gorman

Ive done the East Frazier Trail and that was tough enough. The What a Trail is a fun ride. Nothing quite like riding up the Frazier Trail and looking along the side of a 16" path they call a trail and seeing a 100-200 ft drop off. At least in the winter you dont have to worry about the bike overheating as you climb. Instead you end up freezing your nads off as you head up in the snow. Ive never done Snowy but hear thats suppose to be real tough too. Good job with the ride Speedy. The daughter and I were heading up East Frazier when at the base of the trail she fell and broke the clutch pech. After completing the rides without her along with others riders, Im glad she didnt go. I had my hands full on my own. Besides I could just see me trying to pull her 125 back on the trail as it teeters along one of the drop offs. No Thanks.

 

[gospeedracer]

Originally posted by Boodac
Ive done the East Frazier Trail and that was tough enough.

Going down East Frazier trail was a cake walk compared to what we came up! And I HATE downhills. I didn't get out of first almost the whole way down EFT. :confused:

Besides I could just see me trying to pull her 125 back on the trail as it teeters along one of the drop offs. No Thanks.

There is NO WAY I could have made that ride on my RM125! Trust me, the success of the ride was all the KTM. I'm finding there is very little that KTM can't do with the exception of some serious Kiwi type hill climbs. :)

 

[Boodac]

Gorman

If my nephew on a CR80 can make it up those hills so can your 125. Of course the nephew learned to ride on the trails so its second nature to him. After going up east Frazier, Im thinking the downhill would have been much easier. Its times like that the the 4 smoke excells. It just takes a lot of finese with the clutch but the 2 smokes can make it without too much difficulty. Theres nothing quite like being tired and seeing that fire road just over the top of the road. Speedy its time to graduate to Snowy. Last time I rode Snowy was back in the 70s and I here its not even the same trail anymore. In fact I cant remeber that far back let alone remeber the trail.