To: nedod@linus.mitre.org Subject: A saturday morning ride.. *long* Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 00:25:57 -0500 From: gayathri The local LaBikers do a yearly ride, called "An offering to the Road Gods" where they ride a slow pace ride up to Newcomb's Ranch, and we leave some money for the folks who do search and rescue up there. There was no way I was going to make a 9 am meeting to head up the Crest, that, coupled with the fact that I've got to keep the rev under 5K meant that it'd be hard for me to ride in a group. Not wanting to hold anyone back, Squidboy, Russ (who had to spend the morning carrying sand for a friend) and I met a little later.. So we started up the crest at 10 am, and I lost Russ and Steve in the first 10 turns. :) not really, but traffic meant they got ahead -- no problem, I had the tunes going, and kept the revs under 5K and rode like I had no power. (kinda like the FZR 400, actually...) Nothing of interest to report on the way up -- except coming round Squid's Leap, I noticed the mountains with snow and starting thinking about skiing and how much I sometimes missed that, and realized I really needed to be turning now, and hung off and made the turn, still looking at the snow. I think Huckleberry remembers the last time he was up here, and there was snow and he really wasnt keen on that stuff. Got up to Newcomb's and saw a bunch of bikes I recognized. Since I'd forgotten to tell Sammy that we'd be late, there wasnt anyplace for me or squidboy to sit, so we drank coffee and talked while our food was delivered to a nearby table. :) In a fit of exuberance, I managed to christen Sarah's shirt with my coffee. Headed out to kick tyres and talk and hang out in the sun (it was warmer outside then in...) Most of us got our pictures taken with "the sign" (except for those stuck in the bathroom...) and after that, PEter and CAtherine, and Sammy headed down the hill. Some weird old guy came over and started talking to me and Rick about our Triumphs. (damn it! i'm still cursed...) and then Brian Kennedy (BMW 1100RT) decided to take charge and lead us down the hill -- the eventual goal was Sand Canyon, but via Upper Big T, Angeles Forest, Aliso Canyon, Soledad Canyon to Sand... cool! Squidboy is willing to take the time (we still had some work to do on the racebikes for tomorrow.) so I allowed Sarah to twist my arm (oW!!!) and we went along with the rest... The intrepid crew was: me (on the t595), squidboy (zx-6r), MarcS (sv650), Sarah ('f2), BrianK (r1100), Monika (gs500e), Cowboy (harley), Squish (somekinda dualsport), Monster Dan (Ducati Monster), KurtK (916) and Russ (SuperHawk) for the first bit (i think a large amount of w*rk was calling his name and he had to head home...). I found out later that the patch of oil/ new tar I had completely missed seeing on the way up _almost_ caused Sarah to lowside her bike. Russ and I just rode around it, while I saw Monika go straight thru and Cowboy avoided it as well. (whew!) Upper Big T had tar snakes, and earthquake droppings, and I lost squidboy in the first mile (damn having to keep it under 6K! that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!) -- got to the intersection of Upper Big T and Angeles Forest and headed to the right (northish?) -- I was behind Squish this section and enjoyed the pace he was setting. I came around the turn that had almost seen my becoming a hood ornament over a year or so ago, and marvel'd that I could look at it so dispassionately and move on... Aliso is my second fave on this section of road, except the GRAVEL DEMONS were out and the first half mile was checkered with gravel. freaked me out and I let MarcS, Monika, and Kurt get by me. (hey! Someone in leather ! whoohoO!!! I was getting tired of looking at 'Stich Butts) Of course, the REST of aliso was clean and clear... (oh, and my BATTERIES ran out on the tape player! damn! We'd just gotten to Third Eye Blind!) Soledad was dull as always. I couldnt be a squid today and take it at DOD nominal or as close to it as I can get... Now, we're ALMOST THERE! we're almost at Sand Canyon! but we need gas and at the gas station, I hear this loud POP ! its BrianK's CLUTCH cable breaking. A laurel and hardy situation occurs as people try and figure out what to do. I'm not quite certain what the result was (my head was hurting and I was laying in the sun talking to Monika and Monster Dan...) the upshot was that BrianK was last seen riding bitch on Sarah's bike, followed by MarcSiry and later by KurtK. I _think_ they were heading to his house, to get his truck, try and get the cable, driving back in the truck and if they couldnt get the cable, loading the bike in the truck and taking it home... I wished we could help (and offered the ramp and any assistance we could give) but squidboy still had to prep his bike for our adventure today at the California Superbike School... So, I said, "well, anyone NOT going, we can still take sand canyon!" So, Monika, Squidboy, Monster Dan, Cowboy, Steve Squire, RickD and I headed up Sand Canyon. I bought new batteries, but realized I'd not plugged in about 2 miles up the road. I pulled over to let everyone else by. :) Plugged into third eye blind, and headed up the hill. Felt good, actaully. Sand Canyon never feels 'good', but I missed Huckleberry and he missed me, and we're back on track (ok, he needs suspension) but it felt good to ride this bike again. Didnt see any emus or peacocks, and passed a couple of bikes in the other direction. Had one idiot pull out of a turn out almost in front of me, and the river was running high, so I had to ride thru the small flood... other then that -- I was fine. The sun's out, the air was ok, and life was pretty damn good. I think my Sidi's are finally breaking in, and I've got to get another 300 miles on this bike before the April 8th ride... Gayathri >-------------------------------------------------------------- gayathri@world.std.com Calamari Club #002, WSMC #158 '88 FZR400 ('gurlzbike') '98 T595 Daytona, "huckleberry" "and we laughed, at the world; They can have their diamonds And we'll have our pearls... " -- Jill Sobule