Reno Ride Report

[firecracker22]

I am sure there will be a "real" ride report in the proper forum but I figured I'd start here.

Dirtygirly and I left Spokane at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night and arrived in Reno at 8:30 Friday morning. Not much to the drive, aside from some snow through Oregon. DG drove most of the time as she had dragged me (kicking and screaming, of course) out to the new club downtown on Wednesday night so all day Thurs I was running on about 3 hours of sleep. I took the wheel for her for the final 2.5 hours though so I got to see the sun rise over Nevada as we drove through Lovelock.

We invaded Bobby (dbkolvet) who so kindly put us up at his cousin's house (thank you everyone) and he showed us around the town of Reno, including his oh-so-friendly local KTM dealer. ;) We met everyone for dinner on Friday and spent most of the time saying "Hi" and matching screen names with real names and faces. Still tired from our drive, we went out to a movie instead of drinking with everyone (since I thought the real partying would be on Saturday night). My first, and only, real regret.

Saturday looked cloudy when we woke up but it cleared up and warmed up by the time we hit the trail. The boys from Canada, Kokanee and Co., myself, The Ant, 380EXCMan, Dave186, Jerry, David, Jerry's son on the KX80, Dirtygirly, Kiwi, and who else? #712 on the yellow 250F? Others? I can't remember who all was on that trip since we gained some and lost some. Anyway, we all followed Bobby on a "intermediate" ride. Ha. After losing track of one, we combed the hills looking and finally found her when we intercepted GoSpeedRacer, GETMETOCA, Bratt, and whomever else was with their group. We pushed on to trails Bobby wasn't even familiar with and I rode (successfully, if not gracefully) down my first "waterfall." For those not well versed with Nevada's odd terminology, "waterfalls" do not actually contain water. They are near-vertical drops with rocks all over the place, some 2 feet, some 15. Luckily these were the smaller variety.

We made it back all in one piece and socialized for a bit, then CJ, Natalie, Mimi, LawmanNV's wife on her TTR and The Ant all headed out for a quick girl's ride (followed by the ever-gentlemanly Kiwi). Bobby offered me his 03 450SX and I took it, after making sure I could start it without help. We had a great little ride. When I came back, Bobby had taken my 200 instead of waiting for his bike to return so I headed back out with Longtime, TTR Guy and CJ to go "pod racing," still on the 450. There is a perfect sand wash that seems made for hauling ass, using the sides for berms. I think it was Longtime who coined the term "pod racing" but whomever it was, it certainly describes the feeling well. Bobby had been on the same ride earlier, and despite a disagreement about my handlebars, agrees that my 200 corners better than his 450, while his 450 handles whoops much better than mine.

I was a wimp again on Saturday. After getting all dressed up and meeting for dinner, we headed to the Fireside Lounge for a while but quickly faded. I did this the first year too--talked a big game about the partying I wanted to do, but was too wore out after riding to step up to the plate. :| Next year I'll just start drinking Vodka-Red Bulls at dinner until I have energy again!

Sunday was clearer but MUCH colder. I usually hate wearing layers--as soon as I start moving, I warm up way too much. I wish I had that day though. Riding was fine but every time we stopped the wind instantly cut right through my jersey and chilled me to the bone. We started with a small group of 4 but as we waited for everyone to get ready, it swelled to 15 or so. We headed back towards the sand wash, only taking the longer "expert route" instead this time. I made it, though I had a couple of annoying little spills. Lots of steep hills to climb and descend. We went pod racing again down the wash and back up again, then higher into the mountains. It was a great ride and I actually felt I rode better the later it got. I was finally picking up some more speed in the whoops, where I usually get a little nervous and back off (yes I know that is the wrong thing to do but it is a hard habit to break). I had a LOT of near misses and wobbly moments, including at the bottom of a VERY steep G-out that I didn't see coming. Nothing like being in 4th gear ripping through whoops and suddenly dropping down into a near vertical canyon. :eek: I hope no one saw me doing the "oh s__t" dance on my way back up the other side, barely hanging on.

The rest of Sunday was a lot more mellow. We were more sore, more tired, and spent more time talking than riding.

What a weekend overall! I can't imagine a more perfect few days. It was great seeing everyone again, especially the gals--Denise, Natalie, CJ, Susan, Mimi, Ellen, Lori and Aimee, and meeting new faces like Mini, Steph and Gina. Mini, you ride MUCH better than I had guessed from your too-humble posts!

Oh yeah, can't forget the guys. Longtime was a GREAT riding buddy, and the Canadians were a blast to talk to. Brian, Angry Jim, Thumbs, Kiwi, Bill, Eddie, Strick, Tree, Veron, Dave, Randy B., Darin (sp?) and of course the always-entertaining Karl -- There are FAR too many to list. Thank you all for making the weekend so awesome, and for those who rode with me, thank you for your patience in waiting on my slow ass. :confused:

I spent way too much time on Bobby's 450SX. I WANT one now. It rides awesome and has killer power. I can even start the darn thing now. I don't think I'll return to a four-stroke soon, but I did love that bike. I tried out Kevin's 300 GasGas too, and wow, that's a great bike. Also thanks to Angry Jim for the quick spin he let me take on his 03 200--they did make some improvements, darn it, why couldn't they have done that in 01?

Kokanee and crew's drink mixer was PRICELESS. They brought out a strange contraption consisting of a metal frame with a big cooler on one side, two rollers on the other, and a PTO takeoff connecting the two. "Bring your bike on over here," he said. "What are you going to do to it?" I asked. "Just bring it," he said. So I brought the 200 over, and set the back tire on the rollers, strapped it down, fired it up, and started screaming through the gears at their direction. What a way to mix a drink. Kokanee, I'm sure you'll be getting orders for a few of those. Put my name down on the list. Apparently the only rule is a different bike has to be used for each batch of drinks.

We got back into town on Sunday just in time for me to get my nose pierced (pictures to follow, and YES, it did hurt) and clean up for steak dinners. We packed up and left Monday morning at 9 am or so. :( It was a long trip home but we're here, wishing we weren't. Leaving Reno--both the great riding, and the excellent company--was way too hard.

In closing, all I can say is I can't wait for next year!

 

[Philip]

Good report FC, now I know why you DNF this weeks picks. I was getting scared you was moving up. You were on a roll, and Nikki has already checked out. :confused: Glad to hear everyone had fun and was safe. :thumb:

 

[CJ Rider]

... We got back into town on Sunday just in time for me to get my nose pierced ... and YES, it did hurt ....

Eeeek, that's making me all queezy just THINKING about it! But, you go girl because you are my 2-stroke, dark-side, pod-racing sister; LOL!!!

I just wanted to pop in to say we got home safe, sound, and sore. 'Gotta get off to work now, though. Back to reality... or is work actually the fictional part of my life? Hmmm. Well, thank you EVERYONE for such an awesome weekend!!!

 

[E-Ticket]

Great report, Sharla! Loved the "oh s*** dance..." reference. I think we "ALL" did one or two of those this weekend! :scream:

As for the p-nose....? Did you lose a bet or were you just trying to one-up Bobby? :)

And yes, his 450 SX was quite fun! :yeehaw:

Great weekend, great people, great fun.... - RandyB

 

[Pegasus]

Good report FC. I remember the washes from last year.. is kinda like pod racing.. way fun !!!
It was a bummer not riding but inspite of feeling like crap I was glad to be there and see all you guys. I could have been home sitting on the couch but instead got to see your smiles , hear stories visit with old friends and meet new .By the campfire I had the great entertainment of the starting gate and margarita machine..and thank you Kokaneee for the for that goooood Kokanee beer..very soothing.. and Kwi for just being you and making sure all us sickies and crips were comfortable.

Lookin forward to more reports ~

See ya'll next year and some of you sooner I hope ..I vill be back !!

 

[Lissa]

Good Ride report! Now if us east coasters could just get together and have a ride. Wait a minute, we're all under over two feet snow! Well, that ain't happen for a little while yet!

 

[The Ant]

Great weekend report, Firecracker. Pod racing canyon was so much fun, reminded me of skiing except that we could go back up the hill too - what a blast!
Sorry you didn't feel well Ellen, but thanks for coming down anyways and saying hi, was good to see everyone again.
And I filled my ususal role of providing wipeout entertainment for various groups throughout the weekend... am getting way better at self rescue now, much to Randy's joy, since I get lots of practice.
Next year I expect to have a bit more horsepower, so my challenge to CJ on the hill climb will be thrown out again - if I can just get out of the gate first, I'm so wild all over the hill that no one dares try and pass me!
-Susan
BR200, soon to be 230

 

[E-Ticket]

Just a heads-up.... there are more ride report showing up in the Reno Ride 2002 Forum:

http://www.dirtrider.net/forums3/showthread.php?threadid=72249

 

[strick9]

I WOULD LIKE TO SAY 'THANK YOU" TO ALL OF THE LADIES WHO LET ME RIDE THEIR BIKES, (ELLEN, RHONDA, JEN) AND SORRY FOR CRASHING ON THEM! I HAD A BLAST WITH ALL OF THE LADIES THIS YEAR CHEERING ME ON TO KEEP RIDING! GOOD NEWS!! I GOT A NEW BIKE YESTERDAY - A 2003 TTR 125 LE - YES IT HAS AN ELECTRIC START - THERE IS A GOD!!! (THANK YOU KALI) IVE ALREADY GOT NEW STUFF ON IT AND AND IT'S LOOKING GOOD! LOOKING FORWARD TO PRACTICING ALL YEAR SO I CAN POD RACE NEXT YEAR!! I CAN'T WAIT TO RIDE THE INTERMEDIATE RIDE NEXT YEAR AND HAVE A BIG LADIES RIDE! THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND FRIENDSHIP
MIMI (AKA STRICK9)

 

[nikki]

Great report, Sharla! Sounds like you guys had a great ride! Sounds like a totally different type of riding. Now... if Reno wasn't a 4,000 mile trip for me :|

 

[Fe_princess]

SFO and I got to Reno Sat. evening.
We gambled(lost but had fun), met everyone for dinner and then went to the Fireside lounge in the lovely Peppermill Casino.
Big Lou, it was really fun finally really meeting you.
TTR Guy, I had a total blast hanging out wtih you! :yeehaw:
Lori & Karl, I mean it when I said we'll come up to visit you. As long as you cut back on your urine intake. BTW Everyone, Bboom ROCKS! ;)
I only rode on Sun. I had a very interesting hang-over. I figured riding will work it out of my system
FIRELILY!, The jig is up girl. No more modest posts from you or else!
That girl rails on her bike :worship: . I would love to ride with you more! I crashed trying to keep up with you. You disappeared over a hill :scream: (right before we rode the ravine), I came flying over that hill and went to tap the brake and ended up endoing! Duh.
I really like the fast trail on the top ridge where to whoops were spread out and more shallow than those front-end suckers. I could actually ride the top of those. I'm good for about 6-7 of the super tight ones and then I'm bouncing off the trail to somewhere...
Sticky surface on the hills. I could feel my engine bog if I let off. Super fun coming back. We were following Bobby down the east side of the hills and there was snow everywhere except a skinny line of trail.
Moon rocks is really fun.
FC22, you kicked bootie up there girl :flame: . CJ, it was really great meeting you too.
Thanks Mimi and Strick for all the directions!

 

[CJ Rider]

Originally posted by The Ant
... Next year I expect to have a bit more horsepower, so my challenge to CJ on the hill climb will be thrown out again ....

Oh heck, Susan, I'll be happy to race up the hill with you anytime, but only because it's fun and having fun is the ultimate goal! I think you looked like you were having the most fun with those heart-shaped Ant-antennae on your helmet; LOL!!!

Mimi- HUGE welcome to the forum and congrads on the new ride; can't wait to pod race with ya! I'm sure you look FABULOUS on Yamaha BLUE!

... and speaking of crashing and the color blue, who else is covered with quite colorful bruises from head to toe? YEESH!!!

 

[bbbom]

It was a great weekend and Karl said he's already looking forward to next years trip!!! Glad to see you and Dirtygirly made it back safe & sound Firecracker.

CJ, my arm is still sore from you twisting it to get me to join you in Strick's group. You fly on that wittle tiny bike!!!

Pegasus, sorry you weren't feeling well. You would have loved the trail (loosely named) we took with Marshal. Next time you will be healthy!! Same for GSR, no sickies next time!

Susan, just be glad that your show didn't involve planting your helmet next to a pile of horse poo - glad only Karl was around for THAT manuever dumb sticker bushes.

Fe_Princess, it was great to finally meet you and SFO! Sorry you had a hangover Sunday and headed back. We had a nice time exploring with Kiwi & Dave 186. Good thing the wild horses didn't mind letting us use their trail though. You guys better plan on making it up here - Karl's getting bored torturing me cause for some reason I like it!

Firelily, Fe_p is right, we know how you really ride now!

And Mimi, congratulations on the new bike, I'm just sorry that you didn't get a chance to try out mine - it's used to being crashed!

It was a great weekend and the first time I've ever witnessed the burning of the wedding veil! Pod racing! That is FUN!!!!

Nikki, you could always fly into Reno next time ya know!

Karl & I are working on our ride report - like I said, it's a doozy!

 

[GETMETOCA]

Reno was fun, I am sooooo wore out.  Bratt and I got up to Moonrocks Friday about 1:30 PM after a little jaunt up 395 and a call to any local bike shop in the Reno yellow pages (neither one of us brought directions, but usually its me getting lost anyway).  As fate would have it, we are a couple of miles from Moonrocks on Winemucca Ranch Road and Dirt Bike Dave (my most favoritest gimme-directions guy in the world!) passes us, yes it was fate that he would lead us to MoonRocks.  I didn't realize it was him til later on when we introduced ourselves since I'd never met him in person before :confused:

We see BigLou and Randy, Gospeedracer and TTRGuy, Kali and Kevin and a few other famiar noggins.  I tried to hug Randy as long as I could to keep him from getting a glimps of the marred graphics on the kTm250rfs I took off his hands last October.  He gives me a set of Triple Clamps for my punkin' (Saweet!) Its really good to see everyone!  A very friendly face with a beard and big smile ride up to say hello and its Kiwi, a super nice guy who makes me laugh many times over the course of the weekend. Time to ride!

We gear up and head out to meander and try out some trails.  DirtBikeDave and his GPS join up and he's super cool to hang out with us Desert Newbs to make sure we don't get into trouble or get lost.  We roll around on the MX track we spy for a while then head back to camp.  Bratt is having a little trouble with her jetting and works on it for a while.  While she's doing that, I go for a short spin with Phirechick (Wendy) and I'm in awe of her abilities. Later, I see NVR FNSH drive up, towing the TaJ Mahal behind him.  NVR FNSH lets us park the trailer and bikes near his compound, safe and sound for the night.

Dinner at the Mexican place is fun and I meet new faces and see some more familiar ones.  A bunch of us met up at the Fireside Lounge for cocktails.  This was supposed to be the "Par-Tei" night but I could barely stay awake til 10 PM as it was.  I got in a little gambling at the roullette table (Net $450!!!:laugh: ) and call it a night. 

Saturday's ride was a ton of fun, even though a group of us had got separated from the main Intermediate Group very early on.  I remember cresting a hill and looking near and far, to and fro;  narry a dirt rider to be seen and no one waiting at the fork in the road.  That left Dirtygirlie, bratt, me, GSR, BigLou and Tree to meander on our own.  We had a lot of fun on that ride, one particular hillclimb still in my memory.  Eventually, we meet up with the main Group coming in the opposite direction.  This was right after Blue Thumper's Father-in-law was propped back on his bike after injuring his tailbone from a bottom-out.  Poor guy, he looked like he was in a lot of pain.

One last ride later in the afternoon was "Girls Only" except we let Kiwi come too.  FC22 was on Bobby's 450SX and I could tell she was really liking that bike!  CJ is such a bundle of energy as she would run to help out one of the girls then RUN back up a hill to her own bike.  CJ the Dynamo!  Mimi was a blast to ride with, I want her to meet up with us girls on a Forrest Hill or Stoney trip.

Saturday night I see fe_princess and SFO and it is very good to see them.  They're always good for stimulating conversation!  I buy a round of drinks and we chat before dinner.  The bartender used Malibu instead of Captain Morgain in my cocktail and I didn't even correct him.

Thus far my quest for male strippers in Reno is a bust.  Even the cab driver on the way over told bratt and I that there are NO Chippendale-esque venue's in Reno, but that he would wiggle for me if I cared to donate a buck or two.  Kali tried to talk RetSenior into dancing for me.  Ahh well, another early evening anyway, as I could not have kept my eyes open to watch the show as it was.  Asleep by 9:30, no stopping at the Roulette table.

Sunday morning arrives with a light blanket of fluffy snow on the higher elevations.  My first ride in snow!  I am a bit nervous in a large group.  No one really knows my skill level for sure but a scant few and I'm afraid I'm going to get led to my demise.  I follow anyway.  For the most part I keep up okay, maybe a little cautious.  The single track downhills are a little freaky but I manage to stay upright all the way down except for one when my back tire gets slicked out from under me and I end up sprawled at the bottom.  No worries. Just a bit embarrassed.  I have more trouble on one sandy hill and my gearing meshed with my skill keeps me from getting up it on my own.  I make it through the "pod" still a little wore out and shaken from the three attempt and crashes on the hill previous.  The group of twenty-something riders I started with is taking a break at the exit of the pod and turn around to go back up as soon as I arrive.  I opt to take the trail back to camp with bratt and dirtygirlie.

I SWEAR I'm done riding for the day and I talk bratt into taking off early, images of the Day Spa at the Peppermill dancing in our heads.  NVR FNSH works me over and eventually (How did he do that?) talks me into gearing back up to go for "a nice, easy 15 mile trail ride".  The pedicure and massage images are starting to fade.  bratt gets roped in too and must gear up again as well.  Kevin is coming too and so are Prentice Fish and family.  I can't explain how this ride ended up being my favorite one of the weekend but it did.  I had somehow worked my self into a fairly foul mood ("pissy" is how NVR FNSH described it later) and I was ready to haul ass back to camp on a few occassions.  NVR FNSH took us on a few tame and fun trails, but believe me, after we separated from the Fish Family, he and Kevin made it their mission to torture bratt and I up this one boulder-y sandy hill.  I made two attempts (or three?) and just remember getting out of shape on one flat boulder that left my left foot dangling in the air as I reached out for terra-firma.  I went over and so did the bike.  The bike stayed put and I did one more roll down the hill, finally laughing so hard I forgot why I had been in a "pissy" mood to begin with.  "Well, that's a good sign" says NVR FNSH.

The Canadians had a fresh batch of Greyhound Slushie in the Mega-Blender and I definitely wanted one today.  We hung out around the campfire for a while.  I found my bridal veil lodged in the Canuck's woodpile where it had blown.  I was starting to look around at all the faces and the same last-day-of -dirtweek gloom started to set in as I knew it was time to start saying good-byes.

A few of us staying one last night met up at the Fireside Lounge for more cocktails and appetizers.  Blue Thumper and his wife Davida invited us to join them and 380EXCMan, Erlinda and Dave186 for a really good Chinese Buffet.  Now that was a fun evening, but I cannot reveal the discussion points ;)

I HAD FUN!!!  I regret not getting everyone names and not riding with more folks.  Bbbom, I never did ride that pretty pink bike of yours, but maybe some ther time?  Thanks to all - you're such a great group of peeps!

 

[longtime]

Excellent riding all around. All the ladies I rode with were much better riders than they either let on to be. And for those with whom I had ridden before, they had improved dramatically.

FC -- impressive the way you handled the big bike while yours had been usurped. And yeah, I coined the pod-racing term -- but darned if those chutes don't totally simulate Anakin Skywalker racing through the canyons (or at least the videogame facsimile thereof)! CJ -- your bike seemed made for that type of tight, twisty, carving riding. And as to your hesitancy about climbing hills on it, well let me just echo what TTRGuy said: "She said she's worried about making it up some of these hills??!! Heck, I'm not. She rides the pi$$ out of that thing!" Speedie -- you obviously have grown used to your "new" ride (when you ride twice a year, a couple of years is "new" to you. ;))

All in all, it was a perfect riding weekend. Great soil, great weather, great company, great trails, and great hosts. Thanks, Mimi and Strick. And ladies for inventing this annual ride-fest in the first place. LT

 

[firecracker22]

Great reports guys! Yes, I did like that 450 a LOT but finances won't allow me to get one just yet. Maybe someday.

I can't wait for next year.

 

[FireLily]

Hi, all! It took 2 hours to write this.....just in case you don't know, English is my 2nd language. I moved from Japan 2 years and 6 months ago. Yeah, that's why.....

gospeedracer (Aimee)
It was very nice to see you again. I could tell from your happy face how much you missed the desert, Moonrocks!

The Ant (Susan)
Susan, it￾fs so strange that we didn￾ft get a chance to ride together, but I know we will soon. I got to see your hill climb race again. Now I know you really love racing! Keep me posted about your new bike.

Pegasus (Ellen)
Ellen, I￾fm sorry that you weren￾ft feeling well. But I was so happy to see you again in Reno where we met a year ago. Please get well soon, and let￾fs make a plan to get together.

phirechick (Wendy)
Wow, I had such a great time riding with you! You are amazing. It seemed there wasn￾ft any place you couldn￾ft ride. I rode so hard to catch up with you that my back started killing me on Saturday. (The pain is both from riding over whoops and picking up my bike, I guess.)

CJ Rider (Jen)
My Kawasaki sister #1! Although we didn￾ft ride together until Sunday, I had such a good time talking with you. And on Sunday I could ride so comfortable with your and CSL￾fs lead. Thank you for taking us to such fun trails.

Strick9 (Mimi)
Congratulations on your new bike, Mimi! Thank you so much for organizing everything and making us warm with your beautiful smile. I wish I had a little more time to talk with you, so that I could have gotten tips about how to become a great step-mom!

Christie
The loop we did on Friday was fun. Strick and some other guys were talking about how impressed they were about your riding. See you at the Wild Piglet!

GETMETOCA (Natalie)
Natalie, yes, like some other people told you, you are getting faster. Although we rode in a same group only once, I noticed you rode through some scary sections. Go, Natalie!

Firecracker22 (Sharla)
It was nice to meet you and ride with you! I want to apologize about the near miss. I heard from a few people that they got separated from the groups on their rides, so I was just looking ahead of me, I guess. Although I know this is not the only reason why you are a fast rider, Buddy and I both agreed your KTM200 has a lot of power and nice set-up. Thank you for letting us ride your bike.

Fe_Princess (Denise)
I was mad on Saturday, because I didn￾ft see you at Moonrocks. But you made my day on Sunday. It was so much fun riding with you and SFO. You guys are great. And I agree that we should definitely get together soon.

bbbom (Lori)
I￾fm glad that I finally found out how to pronounce ￾gbbbom￾h correctly. I wish I could come up to WA to ride with you and Karl sometime.

Dirty girly
Hey, Kawasaki sister #2! I was glad to see you and your KX100 again. I loved your KX100 so much last year and bought a KDX. See you again next year!

Bratt (Gina?)
You, your bike and your Jeep looked so cool! I wish I had little more time to hang out with you.

Stephanie
Sorry that we didn￾ft have enough time to get to know each other, but since we live close, I hope to get a chance to ride with you sometime.

Well, the Reno Ride was once again very successful. The ladies rocked! Thank you, Strick and Mimi! Somehow Moonrocks makes me feel that I￾fm a good rider. (When I go to Oregon, I feel I￾fm a dumb rider￾c) I love this place except for those whoops. I￾fm glad that I got a better suspension two days before our departure. Moonrocks has everything. Although it was a tough trail for me, but I liked the rocky trail Wendy took me to. I also loved the sand wash (pod racing?) CJ took us to. Big fun! Thank you all for your friendship. I hope to see you all again next year!!!

Mini ;)

 

[Pegasus]

Hey Mini...you're not " a dumb rider " when you come to Oregon.... I guarantee most wouldnt even try where we took you..let alone come back...Everybody Dont let em fool ya Susan and Mini may be small but they are mighty :aj:

Strick9 congrats on your new ride.. good choice...Ya know Oregon isnt to far away :yeehaw:

 

[firecracker22]

Firelily: no worries about the near miss, it happens all the time. Especially with a group that size. You know that is the only time I could keep you in sight . . . you are way faster than you let on!

Ha ha and yes, my bike is a large part of the reason I can even keep up with anyone on the trails. You're very welcome and any other time we manage to meet on rides you can take it out again. When are you going to buy one? ;)

 

[Michelle]

Originally posted by FireLily
bbbom (Lori)
I?fm glad that I finally found out how to pronounce ?gbbbom?h correctly. I wish I could come up to WA to ride with you and Karl sometime.

You are going to have to explain this - how to pronounce Bbbom properly. I always pronounce it B-boooooom (short b, long boom), but that's because of her personality.

Reading these reports really makes me itch to come & meet you all. The good thing about that is I know I won't be disappointed except for the fact that it'd be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and way too short.

Mini, I'm glad the others worked out you're a better rider than you make out online. I'd always suspected that. It's like you apologising for your English - you write better English than a lot of Americans. I just couldn't help but tease you in the other thread, it just made me laugh, but I also was pretty sure you'd take it the way it was meant - friendly teasing. I do forget I haven't met a lot of you (read only met one of you).

Getmetoca, Kiwi would fit in well with a "girls only" ride. I'm still bummed I didn't get to meet him when he was over here, but the choice of riding or meeting someone at an airport to have a beer, sorry Kiwi, in hindsight I made the wrong choice.

So anyone, how many women were there in total riding? Mimi, way cool about your bike. You'll have to post a ride report on how it goes too (looking forward to hearing how Anne enjoys the GG).

 

[70 marlin]

From 12195 Knight Rd
Grass Lake, MI
49240-9321 US

To Reno, NV

Total Distance: 2121.12 miles Total Estimated Time: 34 hours, 18 minutes

Wow it's really not that far. Sometime, some day I'll make it out there. Sounds like you had the ride of the year out there in the desert! After over 30 days of temperatures below 10 degrees, I sure could use some of that warmth. I was glad to hear that there were no major injuries.

Bridal veil burning ceremonies?

Not sure what that is, but I hoped everyone enjoyed it.










 

 

[bbbom]

Bbbom & Karl’s Reno Adventure

We arrived in Reno just in time to hit the Mexican Restaurant as most everyone was leaving Friday evening. Fortunately, the 14 hour drive down was uneventful except Karl was not feeling well and slept the whole way while I drove, (funny how quick someone wakes up when you test out the rumble strips.) ;) We said some quick hello’s and goodbyes to the new and previous attendees that were heading out for some after dinner entertainment. We had a quick bite to eat then Strick and Mimi escorted us over to the warehouse where we unloaded the bikes and misc. supplies. We headed to the Peppermill, checked in and finally found our building. Standing at the elevator, I heard someone call my name. It was Pegasus and Marshal. Guess the enduro jackets gave us away!! We discussed plans for meeting up the next morning and headed to our rooms.

We met up with Pegasus & Marshal at breakfast just as they were finishing. After quickly eating we all headed over to the warehouse to load up & head out. Strick lead the way out to Moonrocks where we hooked up with the rest of the riders.

After unloading and listening to Strick’s description of ride groups we were inclined to follow Bobby but CJ Rider proceeded to twist my arm and convince me that she couldn’t be the only female in the group following Strick. So off we went following Strick’s group of about 14 riders including myself and Karl, CJ Rider, CSL, Strick, TTRguy, NVR Finish, Ret Senior, Thumbs, and Farmer John (I never did figure out who else was with us).

At the first sandy hill I realized that we were indeed in the desert again. I stalled out about half way up as Karl zipped by me – something about more speed! I turned the bike around and saw CJ Rider on her KX100 getting set up for another shot at the hill. I could hear CSL at the top of the hill “coaching” her to go to the line at the far right but CJ was working under normal operating procedure when riding with your SO and not listening to a word he said. Since CSL was not my SO, it was acceptable for me to take that line. (I don’t think CJ could hear him and there was a left turn at the top that looked tougher than it was so she was being encouraged to take the straighter line – either by NVR Finish or Farmer John I’m not sure who was working as her non SO coach.) We all made it up the hill, caught up to the group and headed onward through the whoops.

Whoops are by no means my favorite type of riding. I get tired of rolling them and beating myself to death so I try to hit them a little harder until my front end dives. Then I go back to rolling over them. I finally decided that it was much easier to bypass them as much as possible. We hit some open desert, a nice wash, some small drops (I think they were waterless waterfalls) and had a great ride. There were some problems keeping everyone together as not everyone had the same idea of what constituted waiting or intersections. Apparently CJ managed to pull of a nice stoppie which I missed. Ret Senior’s rebuttle when accused of standing on some of the whoops was classic something like “I did not! A rock bumped me off the chair!” Hmmm, I can certainly relate to that!

We returned to the parking lot for some well deserved lunch. Pegasus was not feeling well at all so Karl and I invited Marshal to join us to explore the mountains to the West of the parking area. From Pegasus’ descriptions of her rides with Marshal, I knew that he favored the same riding as Karl does so I figured that this would certainly be an adventure. We headed out to the big sandhill west of the parking lot. Karl zipped up it as I stopped at the bottom to see what I was getting into. Marshal stopped next to me and encouraged me to give it a shot. Off I went with the glare of the sun blinding me. I made it about a quarter of the way and stalled. Slid my bike around and coasted back down. As I was regrouping, Marshal headed up the hill making it look easy. Okay, here I go! I made it past my first stall scene and as the sun relented for a minute I saw Karl on the side of the trail. I tried to steer the bike past him, hit a bump and stalled. I turned it around again and coasted back down after Karl gave me some helpful hints – MORE SPEED being the main topic!!! Okay, okay I hit the bottom of the hill in 3rd, bounced up the first part, still somewhat under control, stabbed it into second and twisted the throttle even harder, cursed the sun in my eyes made it past Karl, almost there and blubbbbbbbbb, I stalled. Marshal & Karl decided we would head back down & explore some other areas.

Following Karl is always challenging. He took us through a couple gullies where you drop down one bank and pop back up the other bank. The first two weren’t too bad but on about the third one, I watched from the bank as Karl dropped down, gassed it and popped up the other side. I thought, hmmm that looked easy but it sure looks like a tight spot to get my front tire back up. Oh well, down I went and just as I hit the bottom I stuffed the front tire into the sandy bank on the other side. I teetered back & forth a couple times and finally got a foot onto the ground below. Looked up to see Karl quite amused on top of the other bank. Then I looked down the gully and saw that if I pointed my bike down the gully there was a milder bank to climb out on so off I went.

We toured around in the boulder sprinkled mountaintops, finding animal trails to follow. Finally about 4:30 pm Karl & Marshal decided we better start trying to get back to the parking lot since there was only about an hour of light left. We followed several tracks, none of which were made by humans or knobby tires. Finally after several attempts to drop down into a draw each of which were thwarted by the inevitable cliffs, we found what appeared to be a knobby tire track. Off we went down, down, down into the wash. We soon found what appeared to be a trail although not one of the more frequently ridden trails. We dropped down a couple waterless waterfalls. I walked my bike across a couple narrow rocky sections, let it park itself on it’s side for one section (it’s more comfortable that way I think) and almost choked poor Marshal to death with 2 Stroke fumes as I gathered courage to let my bike continue down one section that was a bit questionable. Part way down the wash, Karl commented that once we dropped in there we were committed. I had to agree that he should be committed and so should I just for following him all the time!

We made it out of the wash and back up onto a trail that looked pretty well traveled. We stopped at the top of one of the mountains to check out the rising moon and to see where the parking lot was. I wish we had snapped a photo because it was an awesome sight. We made it back to the parking lot just at dusk, as everyone was loading up and getting ready to head in for dinner. This is when we met Big Lou! He was taking pictures and meeting everyone he could. We warmed up by the campfire for a couple minutes and headed to the warehouse where Strick so kindly waited for us to unload bikes.

Dinner was delicious and we were starving. We met more of the new attendees including Fe_Princess and SFO! We made after dinner plans to meet at the Peppermill’s Fireside Lounge for “a drink”. It was an entertaining evening at the Fireside Lounge with a few of the other attendees. SFO I hope you got that Bark Buster dilemma worked out!

Sunday we again met up with Pegasus & Marshal at breakfast. Poor Pegasus was still not feeling too well so they decided they were heading home after picking up bikes at the warehouse. We loaded up our bikes from the warehouse and headed out to Moonrocks. Firecracker told me that dbkovett was leading a group on a ride with singletrack and Pod Racing.

The group consisted of about 14 riders this time and as usual dbkolvet did a great job of leading us on a fun ride. We started out with a nice sandy hill. I missed the first turn so went to blast up the side of the hill and figured I’d pop onto the trail at the top BUT just as I hit the crest of the hill, I saw Karl out of the corner of my eye riding the same line but at a greater rate of speed. Somehow, I managed to drop my front tire off the downhill side of the crest of the hill. My bike was now running parallel to the crest of the hill and we were losing ground. I figured this wasn’t going to work out too well for me so I stopped and drug the front end back downhill, finally quite laughing and coasted to the bottom where I headed back up it as I had intended to do the first time. Apparently CJ-Rider and FE_Princess caught a glimpse of me disappearing back over the side as they went by.

I caught up to the group again and we were hitting some nice snowy singletrack. As I headed up one hill, I saw Karl stop at the top, then I saw someone else up there with him. Karl disappeared to the side of the trail so I popped up the hill. Apparently there was a small amount of carnage on the downhill side so I followed Karl’s tracks down to the bottom as everyone got settled back in. We dropped down a snowy singletrack hill and headed over some more sandy hills and really fun trails without too many whoops.

Soon we arrived at the Pod Racing wash – too much fun. I noticed that there weren’t many tracks on the high mark areas where the snow had hidden some of the obstacles. I couldn’t resist making the first marks in the new snow wherever I could. Sometimes that meant going just a little higher than I would have normally but there’s just something irresistible about putting knobby tracks on white snow.

We all hung out at the end of the Pod Wash as the rest of the group continued to pop out intermittently. FireLily made a very impressive exit from the wash, nailing the whoops at the end like an expert! Way to go Mini!!

Everyone regrouped and headed back up the wash. Once we all got back to the other end we again waited for all the riders to come out of the wash. There was a great hill beckoning Karl at the end of the wash so he had to heed it’s calling. A couple other riders went up it making it look like a fun hill. Karl came back down and told me I should try it out, okey dokey off I went – he was right, it was a nice hill. Once everyone was together again there was talk of heading back but CSL mentioned some more good trails so most everyone agreed we needed more riding. Off we all went over the not so huge of whoops whoopy road. We cruised on the road for a bit then hit some more singletrack.

We arrived at the intersection of the trail back to camp and the trail to the Boulder Mountains and most everyone was ready to take the loop back to the parking lot. Karl, Kiwi, Dave186 and myself decided we’d like to see what we could find on the Boulder Mountains. I made that name up for them because they are infested with boulders in sand.

We headed up the sandy boulder infested hills with no trails, not even animal trails on most of it. Dodging boulders, stickerbushes and sagebrush we went up one hill, back down, too slow got stuck, turned around, here’s Kiwi “this trail doesn’t go anywhere” decide to head back to another trail, round & round exploring the open desert mountains. At the top of a couple of the mountains the wind was blowing so hard that the fresh snow was flying around and you had to work to keep the bike upright from the wind. We crested one hill and saw 4 wild horses running through the draw at the bottom. “If horses can make it, we can make it right?” was Kiwi’s comment. We all agreed so down the hill we went.

We ended up dropping back into the wash that Karl, Marshal and myself had taken on our late Saturday ride. When we hit the really rocky section where you had to almost walk the bike Kiwi commented that we must feel at home finally – Karl admitted that yes, this is more like home. Then he told Kiwi that we were here last night as it was getting dark. Kiwi made some comment about us being even dumber than he thought but, hey, we survived didn’t we?!!!

Out of the wash, we headed back on one of the high trails that we’d taken the night before. Karl and Kiwi decided that we should be able to just drop down off of the mountain via one of the ravines because Kiwi had quesadilla duty calling.

Kiwi and I walked down a bit to see what it looked like and it looked like it might be doable, no serious cliffs or anything, from what we could tell. We fired up the bikes and proceeded down the mountain. Ooops, Kiwi & Karl decided it looked a bit more questionable down lower. We turned around. Karl & Kiwi took off up the hill, Dave186 and I took off up the hill but apparently not at quite the speed needed. We both buried our bikes about halfway up the hill. Karl returned as we were both getting turned around to try it again. Kiwi was heading over to see if there was another trail while we worked on getting up the hill. Karl gave me his usual advice “MORE SPEED!” plus something about weighting the backtire (I understand the concepts, it’s the application that I have problems with.) I looked up the hill, determined to just let it rip. I think I may have scared poor Dave as only a woman possessed can. He was waiting for me to come back up the hill and I was going as fast as I could get my mind to allow my hand to twist. Bouncing over things and yelling “waaaaaaaahhhhhhhoooooooooooooo!!!!” then BOUNCE and kerplunk. Karl looked at me with “that look” as he came down to assist me with me next take off. I commented “hmm I think I lost control of it there.” “Ya think?” was his reply. We decided I could probably make it from that point. Off I went, picking up speed and not totally in control but we (the bike and I) managed to make it to the top together. Dave made it up after me. We saw two bikes heading our way and waited as they stopped to see what we had found. It was CSL and someone (can’t remember who it was with him). Kiwi returned and said he found a “trail” that looked like it would take us down to the parking lot.

Off we went. It was a nice shortcut trail that meandered it’s way down the mountainside. On one particularly soft corner my front end started to washout and I fell over on the uphill side landing in a stickerbush. I smacked my head a bit on the sand, said “ouch” and started to get up. Just then, I noticed a pile of horse poo just inches from my helmet! I moved quicker. Of course Karl was right behind snickering at the whole scene – just glad I could provide the entertainment for you honey!

We arrived back at camp and Kiwi cooked up some awesome quesadillas while the Canadians cooked up another batch of slushies. After a bite to eat, Karl and I decided we needed one more ride before we could call it a day. There weren’t too many takers on this journey (I think too many people have heard of the rides Karl leads). One of the newest DRN’ers was happy to join us (or so he thought at the beginning).

Pete was the only willing victim, er uh, participant. We headed out west of the parking lot to the sandhill that I still needed to conquer. Karl cruised up the hill as I stopped at the bottom to warn Pete not to follow me until he saw me make it – I hate being the cause of someone not making it up a hill and I usually take the whole trail when I wipe out. I took off, hit 3rd gear, felt good bounced up & over the spot I stalled in on my very first try yesterday, past the second spot I made it to, stabbed it into 2nd, passed my highest mark yet, bounced past Karl almost there, just a little more……. BOUNCE splat, foot down and we’re stalled! Darn, I almost had it! Stupid rocks!

I decided that I’d given the hill enough tries and we didn’t have much time left in the day so we turned around and headed back down to hook up with Pete. I think he was starting to wonder what he’d gotten himself into by now.

We went through my stoppie gully again and I repeated my earlier procedure of stuffing my front tire into the bank, teetering on the seat and finally getting the bike pointed down the wash again. (I’m going to practice those somehow!) We hit the rocky trail and as I came around a corner on a familiar section, I remembered that there was only one good line through the boulders and I was definitely not on it. I stopped before slamming my front tire into the rocks. Backed up and stopped to catch my breath. I saw Pete behind me waiting for me to get going. As I waited for my breath to find me again, I asked Pete if he was enjoying the ride. He said he was but that it was not quite what he was used to (funny most people tell me that when following Karl). I told him that that was probably the main reason why we don’t have many riders that join us for repeat rides. I finally felt like I could breath again so I took off up the rocks and past Karl snapping pictures of us as we went by. We cruised on some less rocky trails for a bit, climbed one last sandy hill and decided we better head back down. We hit the K-K (Kiwi-Karl) trail that we had ridden down earlier. I managed to make it past the crappy sticker bush without falling into it this time but Karl had to stop and take a picture of my sand impression next to the poo & stickers. Then we took off through the sandy wash back to the parking lot.

I was glad Pete enjoyed the ride, I almost felt guilty taking one of the new DRN members on a Karl Ride. I doubt he had ever had a chance to hear about the Karl Adventures so there was no way he could have known just what he was getting himself into. But, he had an excellent attitude and was willing to follow us – he even said he’d ride with us again next time!!!

Strick and Mimi, thanks so much for a wonderful weekend!! It was great to see everyone again and to meet all the new people.

Natalie and CJ, I’ll have the pretty pink bike there next year again and we’ll make the time for you both to try him out!

BTW, Firelily, you weren't the only one that had to figure out how to pronounce bbbom - I wasn't sure how it was pronounced either but CJ decided that b-boom was easy enough to say so I'll go with it! :)

 

[phirechick]

Well, the weekend went to fast.  I had been looking forward to meeting all the people that post, putting names to faces.  I failed miserably on my mission.  The weekend wasn't a complete bust as I did meet a bunch of great people.

My husband is the great social butterfly of the family. As I was preparing camp he was out flirting with Bratt and GETMETOCA.  I always thought he had good taste.

Can't say enough about these two.  Got in a few rides with both and I had a blast.  Even though I couldn't talk GETMETOCA into a "casual" hillclimb. :p Nothing to casual about it.  Bratt and I had a good ride.  Found a few washes to ride in and some jumps to play on.  Sure wish we could have went for a longer ride. 

Then I found Firelily, Buddy and Fremontguy (I think).  We all hooked up and went for a ride with our friends from Reno.  All I can say is "that chick can ride".  We found some pretty technical rocky climbs and she motored right thru it.  Thanks to both Buddy and Firelily for letting me ride your bikes.  Buddy, if your ever looking to sell your 400 EXC let me know.  I love that bike.

Sure wished I could have stayed around for Sunday, but Tucker had a MX race and it was the first in the series.  Besides he finished 1st overall and came home with a trophy bigger than him.  We did camp at Moon rocks again Sunday night and rode all day again Monday.  By then everyone had pretty much cleared camp.  It was great weekend and I look forward to riding again with everyone I met.   WE FEED AMERICA.

 

[CJ Rider]

Originally posted by bbbom
... Karl and I decided we needed one more ride before we could call it a day. There weren’t too many takers on this journey (I think too many people have heard of the rides Karl leads)....

Yup, just reading about them scares the poopoo outta me. My goal in life is to someday be brave enough to follow Karl and that petite dainty flower riding that fabulous pink bike on a sandy, boulder-infested, lack-of-a trail; LOL!!!
:confused: :)

 

[CJ Rider]

Hey Longtime- Thanks for coining the concept of POD RACING because it's just too much fun. I thought I'd post this picture because "small efficient women" should never make you nervous. Not ALL of us "small efficient women" are conspiring to take over the world; some of us just like to wear colorful clothing and ride dirt bikes!