Pretty much all of our rides start out as a group text – but sometimes they start with an email.
There was a little back and forth, a redesign and pretty much everyone except Mike T and myself had to drop out for one reason or another.
Mike and I decided on riding June 6 – 8th. It was just the two of us. Here’s a rough idea of our route.
START MILES: 26,306
We stayed off the freeway as much as possible. We crossed the Benicia Bridge, then started weaving through Vallejo, up through Napa along the Silverado Trail. When we got to Calistoga we crossed the Valley and headed up towards Middletown via Ida Canyon Road.
Mike T didn’t realize it when we started up it, but we did this section on the Bay Area Adventure Rally to get to our Waypoint #4. This time we took it all the way to Middletown.
From Middletown we made our way up to Lower Lake where we stopped for lunch at a small little roadside burger place.
NOTE: It was a hot day and we didn’t stop much or take any pictures.
A few miles out of Lower Lake we got back a dirt fore road that led up to the top where we would meet M1. It was mostly uphill, partly in the shade, and mostly easy.
Somewhere along this trail upto the top of the ridge, Mike T was rounding a typical right turn, I was just a little behind him. He was sitting down. All of a sudden I saw him go down. He lowsided at maybe 15 MPH. Nothing big. Dropped the bike.
I rode past him around the turn and parked a few feet uphill from him.
Once again – ADV Rule #443: Never let anyone pick their bike back up themselves.
It should always be a team effort.
I got off my bike and it was only then that I noticed he hadn’t yet moved! He was out cold!
He was breathing, nothing was bent at a weird angle and no bleeding that I could see. My best guess was he just had his bell rung (much like a boxer). He was out for a full 2 minutes. When he came to he was groggy and wanted to get right up but I had him just sit there. We did a little assessment and nothing hurt, full movement, pupils were normal, yadda, yadda, yadda.
He stood up slowly and took off the helmet. I said I was going to pick his bike up and move it into the shade next to mine. He wanted to help and so we both picked up the bike. He said he wanted to get back on and get riding – I suggested we take a break. I moved his bike up the hill and put it next to my bike.
Next we walked down the hill a little to where he crashed. Mike said, “I wonder what happened?” and I explained what I saw. We found a slight rain groove in the sandstone that likely caught his front tire and dropped him. I tried to take a picture of this turn and the rain groove but my cell phone was overheating and the camera was out of order.
We were just standing there having a snack and drink when Mike said, “I wonder what happened?” – AGAIN!
I asked him if he remembered us just walking through it all and he didn’t. He wasn’t remembering anything at all. I started asking him questions – what year is it? when is your birthday? what bike are you riding? do you remember picking up your bike? – he did not but at least his answers were quick and accurate. So we sat there for a little longer.
I heard a motor from something coming up the hill. It turned out to be a local rancher driving his truck up with bales of alfalfa in the back. I told him what happened and he asked if we needed help. I said that I thought we were under control and he said his ranch was just up ahead if we did need anything. We still had cell signal, had my inReach, and town was just a few miles down the hill.
Hey Mike, how are you feeling? said I…
I wonder what happened?, said Mike (for the 3rd time)
So once again, we went over everything. He remembered the truck but nothing before that. He didn’t remember picking up his bike. He didn’t remember my asking him what year it was.
Let’s sit for a little more, eh?
A good 30 minutes later it seemed like he had good balance, good memory – and so we loaded back up and rode on.
We got up to M1 and made it to Lake Pillsbury. I had been by Lake Pillsbury many times before (Garberville Spa Enduro) but never stopped. We passed a small store but didn’t stop. We were on towards the top of the lake across the Runway to Oak Flats Campground
We picked out a nice place in the campground overlooking the lake. The camp host came by and we had a nice chat. It was hot and very long day and I needed a beer!
He mentioned that the only cold beer was back at that little store I noticed on the way in. We needed, well I need a cold beer – Mike needed firewood. So after we set up our tents we headed back for supplies.
I bought a six pack of beer and we were told firewood was $10 for 14 pieces out of this nice big pile. We loaded up our 14 and headed back to camp.
While we were sitting at camp I was looking out past Mike at the lake and I suddenly noticed a couple of ELK! I heard them before I saw them. Can you see three of them here?
How about now?
That night we had an incredible fire. That wood was easily the best fire wood we’ve ever had at any campground.
There was no need for a fly on the tent as we had clear skies and it was still quite warm.
We had pretty close to a full moon too!
At night we had some partying idiots driving around and making noise for the longest time so not much sleepy time for either of us. There’s no ranger around so you can pretty much get away with anything.
I woke up some time before 5 am to the distinctive sound of Elk. I sat up immediately and saw not three but hundreds of Elk in the meadow! I turned my phone on and got just a short video of them. If you turn the volume all the way up there’s an Elk call at 26 seconds in.
I was pretty much alone in the meadow with the Elk for at least an hour. Truly a magical experience! It was a beautiful morning. Quiet too!
Mike woke up and we made coffee and breakfast, packed up and I gave my bike a pre ride check and found out I was in near desperate need of a new sprocket!
I tightened the chain a little and knew if I rode carefully I’d probably make it home fine. Probably.
We headed out of Lake Pillsbury towards the east along M1 but then turned off a few times to try to get to Stonyford. Our last gas was back in Lower Lake and Stonyford was our next available gas.
We came across a few trails that either were abandoned or just looked like they were going to run us deeper into the hills. My biggest concern was my bike’s gas range. At one point we decided to reroute to the simplest and easiest way out just because of gas. I was carrying an extra 3 fuel bottles but still worried.
The good news is that we made it into Stonyford and filled up with gas! Phew! It was also a hot day, maybe even hotter than the day before.
We started up into Stonyford hills towards our next campsite at Fouts Springs. We were maybe a mile in and came to our first gate. As we were opening it and heading up to the hills I had a thought – today and tonight was going to be hot and waterless. It was only going to get hotter as we got into the hills. If instead we headed towards the coast we could be in Mendocino before nightfall. We could be camping at Usal Beach if we wanted to.
We had a short discussion and it was agreed – towards the coast we went!
Our first stop would be Van Damme State Park. If they had room we’d stay there. If they didn’t we would head up or down the coast and find a place. Spoiler alert they had a spot and in the large meadow area too! They also had showers. This is one of my favorite organized campsites.
We set up our tents with flys on this time. Coastal fog was due to come in and everything would be wet in the morning. Once we were set I got back on my bike and zipped up to town and got a bottle of wine and loaf of sourdough. We were relaxed, we were cool, sipping wine and eating bread while watching a Great Blue Heron hunt for gophers in the meadow. That’s him at the very tip of the arrow.
Maybe this is better.
We slept well. The campground was peaceful at night and quiet.
I woke up at 5 ish as usual and went and took a shower. The showers are warm and there’s no better feeling in the morning. I came back to camp and just sat and watched the world awaken.
The night before, I had put my boots on top of a stump and then folded my riding pants over the top so nothing would fall in overnight. Yes, that’s a bird hanging out on them (this was the night before).
In the morning I was laughing as the bird was no longer there but somehow somebody had found a way to climb all the way to the top of my stack…
How in the world that happened I’ll never know.
We decided to go into town once we packed up and treat ourselves to breakfast. After breakfast we headed down the coast. It was Sunday but we had little traffic. We got home safe and I had an adult beverage. Another great exploration almost incident free.
Cheers! It doesn’t always have to be a Martini does it?
We started with a mileage of 26,306
ENDING MILES: 26,966
So 660 miles for the three days.
UPDATE: I checked on Mike T the next day and he was still feeling fine. We’ve done other trips since then – looks like he just had his ‘bell rung’
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, had a big cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and is currently building a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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