GETMETOCA
Can't Wait For Tuesdays
- Mar 17, 2002
- 4,768
- 0
Okay, so last week I picked up the '02 KTM from a nice guy named Steve who lives in Hollister. I'm dying to take it out in the woods and low and behold Treefinder is organizing a smallish group ride this weekend in Georgetown, about 2.5 hours from me. I AM THERE!!!
Treefinder, Firelilly, Buddy, Jonala, Jennifer and Pierre round out the group. I opt to arrive at noon on Saturday and take the afternoon ride with the group (who have already put in 25+ miles of mildly punishing woods riding before I arrive )
I get up to the Mace Mill Staging area turnooff and theres this.....big dog??? something big and hairy and about 500 lbs. in the middle of the road. It bounds off in all of its blubbery glory, happy and brown. A huge smile lights my face as I realize its not a dog afterall, but a BEAR!!!!!! Holy Freaking Crap!! Its a BEAR!! and its about 2 miles from where I am supposed to be camping and sleeping tonight. Wait til I tell the rest of the group! :yikes:
I arrive at the Mace Mill Staging area and I see some familiar trucks and trailers and even Treefinder's smallish tent. Jonala's dog, Buzz, greets me with an big wagging tail and I know for sure I am in the right spot! No one is around so I figure they are still out on their morning ride, but probably on their way back. I unload the bike and gear up. I head to the one and only porta-potty only to find that when I spin the toilet paper roll a huge feaking ugly spider is camped out on the outer layers!!!! I find the courage to squish the mo-fo with a wad of leaves and hurriedly finish my bizness. Soon enough, Buddy comes flying into camp followed by the rest of the crew. I get hugs from all. Everyone comes over to check out my new shiny ride. We lunch on sammiches and an hour later we head out for an afternoon ride.
Treefinder and I start out in front of the rest with a 3.5 mile warmup loop. I immediately start to think that the 400 is a handfull and what the heck did I get myself into? My clutch hand is fatigued after two simple miles and little rocky decsents have my wondering if I should keep the 250 :( . I'm a jittery mess. I'm leary of the power of the 400, yet wondering if its just a matter of getting used to the bike?
We join the rest of the group and embark on a 30 mile ride that challenges me on the 400. I'm timid and fully aware of what kind of trouble I can get into.....but HOLY FREAKING COW!! This bike hauls ass uphill like I never imagined!!!! We encounter rocky, root-infested, step-up-littered trails that had me thinking..."okay, I'm gonna kill the bike and lay it over about now..." which is what normally happened on the 250rfs. NOT SO ON THE 400!!!! :worship: A little twist of the throttle and up! up! up! I went!! Maybe it wasn't pretty and maybe it wasn't elegant but damn if I didn't make it up everything I climbed!! WooooooHooooooo!!!!
We end the day on "Start and Finish Trail" which is the start and finish portion of the Fool's Gold Enduro (D-36). I didn't have any trouble even though there was more rocky granite step up stuff to deal with and a freaky cliff thingy to my left and single track straight ahead :think: I already had confidence in my KTM400 and what it could pull me through. ONWARD!!!
Dinner was spent around Firelilly and Buddy's table. I had opted to do a deli salad from the grocery store instead of cooking up a storm (my normal mode). Everyone brought a little something and everyone was fed. Treefinder admitted to seeing the 1" diameter spider in the porta-potty paper roll at 4:30 am that morning but had opted to let it live. I told him that I "took care of it" :debil:
Sunday morning, we all enjoyed egg and bacon sandwiches ala Firelilly, plus Pierre and Jennifers hot cocoa and pastries. Good to go! Treefinder, myself, Jennifer and Pierre opted to do a reduced mileage 1.5 hour trail ride so that we could hit the road and beat the Sunday Bay Area traffic back into the city. They even let me lead this ride, which was a dust-free joy to behold. I loved every minute of it!!! I envisioned being on the first minute of an enduro with no one else's dust to suck in....ahhhhhhhhhh THAT must be what its like!!
I ended the weekend loving the KTM400...wishing I could see my ride buddies more often....and hoping the next ride wasn't too far off.
Cheers!!!! Natalie
Treefinder, Firelilly, Buddy, Jonala, Jennifer and Pierre round out the group. I opt to arrive at noon on Saturday and take the afternoon ride with the group (who have already put in 25+ miles of mildly punishing woods riding before I arrive )
I get up to the Mace Mill Staging area turnooff and theres this.....big dog??? something big and hairy and about 500 lbs. in the middle of the road. It bounds off in all of its blubbery glory, happy and brown. A huge smile lights my face as I realize its not a dog afterall, but a BEAR!!!!!! Holy Freaking Crap!! Its a BEAR!! and its about 2 miles from where I am supposed to be camping and sleeping tonight. Wait til I tell the rest of the group! :yikes:
I arrive at the Mace Mill Staging area and I see some familiar trucks and trailers and even Treefinder's smallish tent. Jonala's dog, Buzz, greets me with an big wagging tail and I know for sure I am in the right spot! No one is around so I figure they are still out on their morning ride, but probably on their way back. I unload the bike and gear up. I head to the one and only porta-potty only to find that when I spin the toilet paper roll a huge feaking ugly spider is camped out on the outer layers!!!! I find the courage to squish the mo-fo with a wad of leaves and hurriedly finish my bizness. Soon enough, Buddy comes flying into camp followed by the rest of the crew. I get hugs from all. Everyone comes over to check out my new shiny ride. We lunch on sammiches and an hour later we head out for an afternoon ride.
Treefinder and I start out in front of the rest with a 3.5 mile warmup loop. I immediately start to think that the 400 is a handfull and what the heck did I get myself into? My clutch hand is fatigued after two simple miles and little rocky decsents have my wondering if I should keep the 250 :( . I'm a jittery mess. I'm leary of the power of the 400, yet wondering if its just a matter of getting used to the bike?
We join the rest of the group and embark on a 30 mile ride that challenges me on the 400. I'm timid and fully aware of what kind of trouble I can get into.....but HOLY FREAKING COW!! This bike hauls ass uphill like I never imagined!!!! We encounter rocky, root-infested, step-up-littered trails that had me thinking..."okay, I'm gonna kill the bike and lay it over about now..." which is what normally happened on the 250rfs. NOT SO ON THE 400!!!! :worship: A little twist of the throttle and up! up! up! I went!! Maybe it wasn't pretty and maybe it wasn't elegant but damn if I didn't make it up everything I climbed!! WooooooHooooooo!!!!
We end the day on "Start and Finish Trail" which is the start and finish portion of the Fool's Gold Enduro (D-36). I didn't have any trouble even though there was more rocky granite step up stuff to deal with and a freaky cliff thingy to my left and single track straight ahead :think: I already had confidence in my KTM400 and what it could pull me through. ONWARD!!!
Dinner was spent around Firelilly and Buddy's table. I had opted to do a deli salad from the grocery store instead of cooking up a storm (my normal mode). Everyone brought a little something and everyone was fed. Treefinder admitted to seeing the 1" diameter spider in the porta-potty paper roll at 4:30 am that morning but had opted to let it live. I told him that I "took care of it" :debil:
Sunday morning, we all enjoyed egg and bacon sandwiches ala Firelilly, plus Pierre and Jennifers hot cocoa and pastries. Good to go! Treefinder, myself, Jennifer and Pierre opted to do a reduced mileage 1.5 hour trail ride so that we could hit the road and beat the Sunday Bay Area traffic back into the city. They even let me lead this ride, which was a dust-free joy to behold. I loved every minute of it!!! I envisioned being on the first minute of an enduro with no one else's dust to suck in....ahhhhhhhhhh THAT must be what its like!!
I ended the weekend loving the KTM400...wishing I could see my ride buddies more often....and hoping the next ride wasn't too far off.
Cheers!!!! Natalie
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