i_am_the_koi
Be Here Now
Well, now I've done it.
I went out and bought a KLR 650 from another BARFer. I wanted something that wasn't pretty, but was dirty enough to have fun on, and be completely different than the sport touring I'm used to on a Concours.
Anywho, after a bath...
And a runthrough to make sure it was sound...
I did what any sane person would do and planned some dirt riding! I went through all my touring gear and pulled out anything I felt would be useful on the dirt. I noticed the gaps too and started a list of things I need to get for my dirt adventures. But I strapped on some bags, put a 17 dollar walmart seat cushion on, swapped my Sena to my dirt helmet, and grabbed a map from AAA.
Day 1: https://goo.gl/maps/bkZBT1CrBYq
All I knew was I wanted to go to Indian Valley Reservoir and do some dirt roads. I had been there plenty of times in a jeep, and twice on street bikes not made for dirt. This time though I was actually going to ride a dirty bike on a dirty road, I was excited. On the way was a spot I had looked at for years. Not being able to ride my street bikes through the bumps and rocks, I always had to pass, but now that I had a KLR... I could sneak in through the rocks, over the bumps, up the hill, and find myself on a private lake, deer drinking from the edge, swimming was clothing optional, and it was for KLR owners only.
[/url]DaKoi-7819 by Koi, on Flickr[/IMG]
After soaking it in, I made a note that this was the future swimminghole for summer days, and continued on my quest for dirt. I kept catching myself speeding through towns and reminded myself to keep calm. Soon I made the turn off of 20 and onto Walker Ridge Road, I had arrived, I was on dirt, and I had no idea what I was doing. I scared myself and decided to pull off the main road to find a view and have some coffee and breakfast.
As I sat there and enjoyed the view, I noticed a mini-van coming down the road towards me. I was shocked. I couldn't think of where it would have come from, let alone how it got down the road I had just come down but here it was. It rolled up and inside were four of the dandiest dressed people I had ever seen in real life. Bright colors, fancy hats, Amish?
"Hello Brother, can you tell us where we are?"
They had a big pile of google maps printed out and were, "Looking for deer". :wtf
I gave them my map and told them to go back to the main road and stay on it. Don't go down anything that looked like a dirt road, stay to the gravel.
They gave me a copy of the watchtower, so Jehovah witnesses? Anyways, I finished my coffee and got on the road. I eventually caught and passed them. I stayed to my route and went passed the spot they were supposed to turn to go back to the paved roads...
Next break I was sitting in the shade and all of a sudden...
Seriously? GTFO you fruitcakes.
After returning them to the direction they should have gone, I got back on the trail and headed to Indian Valley Reservoir. Dicing through the canyons and up and down the dirt roads I learned all sorts of things.
Mainly I had no idea what I was doing.
[/url]DaKoi-7828 by Koi, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]DaKoi-7847 by Koi, on Flickr[/IMG]
I arrived at Hough Springs, or there abouts, to the campground on the river. I had brought my swimwear with the goal of taking a dip. I had brought my gun with the goal of shooting a tree. And I had brought a beer with the goal of enjoying it while swimming and shooting.
Sue me
The water was awful
Eventually I got tired of shooting things and drinking things and swimming in things, so I got back on the bike and headed back towards Bear Valley. On the way I felt more comfortable on the dirt and started going faster. Awesome until I missed a bump and tossed my ice chest off the bike.
Bear Valley is a very cool throwback to history I always have felt. Big long straights through property lines around cattle ranches. Hot though so I didn't stop much.
[/url]DaKoi-7857 by James Carr, on Flickr[/IMG]
I decided that instead of doing 16 and down I would go back through Clearlake and go down through knoxville-Berryessa so that I could take another swim. It was friggen hot the entire time, but as I do, I found a creek I could put down to a water hole and take another dip in between IVR and Berryessa.
[/url]DaKoi-7866 by James Carr, on Flickr[/IMG]
Berryessa was hot, and of not interest in taking pictures at that point so I took my dip and beelined it home for the night.
The next day, I was itching to go but wanted to wait an hour longer than I had the day before, to let it warm up a little bit. It was chilly at 8am, and I needed new maps to hand out to lost witnesses so I waited to 9 and went to AAA for maps.
I went out and bought a KLR 650 from another BARFer. I wanted something that wasn't pretty, but was dirty enough to have fun on, and be completely different than the sport touring I'm used to on a Concours.
Anywho, after a bath...
And a runthrough to make sure it was sound...
I did what any sane person would do and planned some dirt riding! I went through all my touring gear and pulled out anything I felt would be useful on the dirt. I noticed the gaps too and started a list of things I need to get for my dirt adventures. But I strapped on some bags, put a 17 dollar walmart seat cushion on, swapped my Sena to my dirt helmet, and grabbed a map from AAA.
Day 1: https://goo.gl/maps/bkZBT1CrBYq
All I knew was I wanted to go to Indian Valley Reservoir and do some dirt roads. I had been there plenty of times in a jeep, and twice on street bikes not made for dirt. This time though I was actually going to ride a dirty bike on a dirty road, I was excited. On the way was a spot I had looked at for years. Not being able to ride my street bikes through the bumps and rocks, I always had to pass, but now that I had a KLR... I could sneak in through the rocks, over the bumps, up the hill, and find myself on a private lake, deer drinking from the edge, swimming was clothing optional, and it was for KLR owners only.
After soaking it in, I made a note that this was the future swimminghole for summer days, and continued on my quest for dirt. I kept catching myself speeding through towns and reminded myself to keep calm. Soon I made the turn off of 20 and onto Walker Ridge Road, I had arrived, I was on dirt, and I had no idea what I was doing. I scared myself and decided to pull off the main road to find a view and have some coffee and breakfast.
As I sat there and enjoyed the view, I noticed a mini-van coming down the road towards me. I was shocked. I couldn't think of where it would have come from, let alone how it got down the road I had just come down but here it was. It rolled up and inside were four of the dandiest dressed people I had ever seen in real life. Bright colors, fancy hats, Amish?
"Hello Brother, can you tell us where we are?"
They had a big pile of google maps printed out and were, "Looking for deer". :wtf
I gave them my map and told them to go back to the main road and stay on it. Don't go down anything that looked like a dirt road, stay to the gravel.
They gave me a copy of the watchtower, so Jehovah witnesses? Anyways, I finished my coffee and got on the road. I eventually caught and passed them. I stayed to my route and went passed the spot they were supposed to turn to go back to the paved roads...
Next break I was sitting in the shade and all of a sudden...
Seriously? GTFO you fruitcakes.
After returning them to the direction they should have gone, I got back on the trail and headed to Indian Valley Reservoir. Dicing through the canyons and up and down the dirt roads I learned all sorts of things.
Mainly I had no idea what I was doing.
I arrived at Hough Springs, or there abouts, to the campground on the river. I had brought my swimwear with the goal of taking a dip. I had brought my gun with the goal of shooting a tree. And I had brought a beer with the goal of enjoying it while swimming and shooting.
Sue me
The water was awful
Eventually I got tired of shooting things and drinking things and swimming in things, so I got back on the bike and headed back towards Bear Valley. On the way I felt more comfortable on the dirt and started going faster. Awesome until I missed a bump and tossed my ice chest off the bike.
Bear Valley is a very cool throwback to history I always have felt. Big long straights through property lines around cattle ranches. Hot though so I didn't stop much.
I decided that instead of doing 16 and down I would go back through Clearlake and go down through knoxville-Berryessa so that I could take another swim. It was friggen hot the entire time, but as I do, I found a creek I could put down to a water hole and take another dip in between IVR and Berryessa.
Berryessa was hot, and of not interest in taking pictures at that point so I took my dip and beelined it home for the night.
The next day, I was itching to go but wanted to wait an hour longer than I had the day before, to let it warm up a little bit. It was chilly at 8am, and I needed new maps to hand out to lost witnesses so I waited to 9 and went to AAA for maps.
arty
