Maximum Maxey - Gorman Ride Report

the Eel

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Sep 23, 2000
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Scene: Gorman, CA - Hungry Valley SVRA

Players: PlaceLast - old-school trail boss / endo supreme
Gyrros - portmaster / rock lover
PlaceLast Jr. - the chronicler / cinema verite
Greg - rock eater / '93 CR's Rule !
the Eel - snowman / the instigator

Act 1: 9 AM suit up and the old school trail boss says the forest is open. From Edison Campground to Sterling Canyon Trail to Tejon Trail to What-A-Trail to East Frazier Trail to Edison Campground. I tried and tried to get them to go up Arrastra but they would not do it. GoSpeedRacer's Gorman Death March was just too much for us. We did do some slippin' and slidin' in the snow and John Gill pulled off two massive endos on some big roots. I swear the bottom of his back tire was 2.5 feet in the air and fishtailin' - and his front tire was on the ground ! Somehow he rode it out. We both got a good laugh out of it. Gyrros was rippin' around on his newly ported and bored KX 265. Very nice. Greg has the coolest sounding of the bikes - 1993 CR 250. Plus he can ride very quickly over large obstacles as Act 2 will clearly show. David is just waiting patiently to get some good photo ops. Silent but deadly. I could not believe the forest is open this time of year. It's a little dusty but otherwise perfect. Gyrros and Placelast were actually banging bars - no kidding - on the Frazier fire road. I took that opportunity to zip by them and pull the trigger - only to slide out in the snow about 10 feet later. Misfire ! Hence - Snowman. A good loop and the Husky ran well for the first time in some while. Put my first new top end in it all by myself - my first time at it - and boy was I proud. Yup - amazing how tiny, tiny achievements can feel so good. Careful up in the forest - there was quite a bit of traffic.

Act 2: The good stuff. One time we had the pleasure of riding with Kiwi and Farmer John at Gorman, and we took them partway up a little creek - I believe it's called Maxey Creek. It was very rocky and narrow, and we had to duck clawing branches and such. We eventually came to a halt at a 4 foot rockface that was nearly vertical. Once facing this your bike was just barely fittng into this small space - your back wheel was up against a steep hill, and your front tire was at the base of the rockface. Pretty hard to get any momentum so we all called it a day and chalked it up to a fun little adventure. We took that opportunity to tease Kiwi about
"carnage" and this and that. Well John was kinda goading me a bit about this trail since I had goaded him about Arrastra. Amazingly everyone was game to give it a try today - and since Gyrros and Greg were none the wiser :p we decided to give it another look. We got in as far as the rockface and I decided to give it a try. I fell back and over several times since the bike would just loop out but with some helping hands I got up. Well that opened the floodgates as John realizes the illusion has become reality and what manly old school trail boss is gonna let the day go by without getting up the rock - if some young punk can do it then so can PlaceLast. And sure enough he did - in fact he was the only one who rode up it unassisted. We all got through it and rode up that rocky creek for about 100 yards. It took an hour. Greg was by far the fastest through that mess and I got the prize for most times standing in 2 feet of water. My boots were fishtanks - two muddy fishtanks. Some of the most fun I've had in awhile. And Gyrros even smiled when we got out. Contact PlaceLast Jr. for the videotape - only $19.95 + tax. :) Just kidding about the for sale part but I can't wait to see the video.

Great riding with you guys - as usual.
 

gospeedracer

Chat Mom
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Feb 8, 2000
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Originally posted by the Eel
I took that opportunity to zip by them and pull the trigger - only to slide out in the snow about 10 feet later.
Hehehe, I did the same thing. :confused:

Great report as usual Eric. Glad you had a good time and your bike was running well! :) Too bad you missed out on Arrastra. ;)

I'd like to try what-a-trail sometime. Hope I get the chance to ride there one last time.

Assuming you came in the main entrance, is Edison Campground before Sterling Canyon Campground?
 

placelast

Member
Apr 11, 2001
1,298
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Kiwi & Farmer Would Be Proud

…actually; now that I think about it – they might be jealous. We got within a stones throw of the 4’ waterfall – a new record…J

Loop 1. The 1st leg of Tejon was its usual mix thru the trees, vertical drop offs, & magnificent vistas along side of the mountain, & I was amazed @ how dry it can get after the snow of two weeks bygone. When we got to the rest spot @ Arrastra , the young & handsome one (Eel) began his cheerleading to go up, even tho no one was biting. Off we went on the 2nd leg of Tejon.

The pace was such as we could’ve easily missed the What-a-Trail turn off were it not for my old-school periferal vision. Yep, yours truly doing a nose wheelie, & by gosh yet another save - how long will the odds be in my favor? There was a fair amount of snow on top of Frazier; wouldn’t know it from the view @ lower elevations. The freaky part was the ice in between, making the tires skate left then right. Just to show it who’s boss, I did a shoulder plant – full bars lock & all (it won); I’m glad for Gyrro’s fine brake control skills – else my head would’ve been a bump in the road for him.

We made it back to the trucks coasting down East Frazier.

Loop 2. Did Gorman Trail, connected with East Freeman Canyon for some high-speed 5th gear stuff, then over on Homestead to connect to some new ridge, & on down Jackrabbit: more high speed stuff. Anybody else needed a 6th gear?

Not being one to deny Eel some say, we decided to do Maxey Creek, only go beyond the standard set by our favored DRN taskmasters (Kiwi & Farmer), thereby gaining bragging rights & a leg up on the tough guys. Yep, got some on film, albeit but a smidge sad to say, as Jr's VCR battery gave up the ghost. Hence, all we can prove is we’d been there, done that. Suffice to say we did well, using heroic rock-conquering tactics.

Tataviam, then across, weaving in, up, & down the valley floor ended a fine day of accomplishments.

The next thing I remember was no talk around the camp; sure took some life out of us to do those miles. Bod damage: a sore thumb, twice-twisted knee, & sore shoulder, for this soldier. Bike: new minor dent to go with the others in the Gnarly pipe.

Fun day to say the least.

Next time let's go up East Frazier, down Arrastra or What-a-Trail, then out past Gold Hill. I'll put my big tank on so we can spend more time in the way back.
 

gospeedracer

Chat Mom
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Feb 8, 2000
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Originally posted by placelast
I was amazed @ how dry it can get after the snow of two weeks bygone. When we got to the rest spot @ Arrastra , the young & handsome one (Eel) began his cheerleading to go up
:o Oh no, he wasn't wearing the short red skirt was he? :p I can't believe all that snow was gone! Only at the top, wow, it must have gotten pretty warm up there since last weekend.

Good report. I can't believe there are so many trails there I wasn't even aware of. I've been to Gorman so many times. Just goes to show how much I was missing out on not having the supreme old-school trail boss around. ;)
 

the Eel

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Sep 23, 2000
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GSR - I'm not sure about Sterling Canyon Campground - but Edison is on the left about a mile in from the main entrance. It's the big open one right after a fair-sized mound. It has a bike loading ramp - you can't miss it.

PlaceLast - my Husky has a sixth gear. :cool:
 
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KiwiBird

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Jan 30, 2000
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Well, that sounds just peachy! I should be sufficiently recovered to join you guys in mid April for some real exploring up there and also in the Piutes and KM.

I'm looking forward to it, until then get in all the rockclimbing practice you can.

Kiwi
 

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