The 2009 Holiday Mojave Madness December 27 - January 2 By Catfish Ride info; <http://sfnorthstars.micapeak.com/mojave/madness.html> Artyom's photos; <http://666.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Dirt/Mojave-Madness-2009/10838586_HvLNE> Bob-O's photos; <http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=693087611803%3A1580182456> Airon's Photos; <http://picasaweb.google.com/airongreen/CaliforniaCityDec2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCK3bhJLN9MzDGg> Earl Minkler, and Airon & Elliot Green arrived at the new camp site Saturday afternoon, the 26th. I headed down CA-99 to avoid the loonies on I-5 Sunday afternoon. Got to Cal. City about 5pm, and stopped at the Ace Hardware store in town for firewood. They had some packaged firewood out front, but the sign also said almond firewood was available in the back. Hmmm... I had a $40 gift-visa-debt card from Mom for Christmas that was burning a hole in my wallet. I asked the register clerk about the almond and she quoted me prices (3 pieces for $2, 1/4 cord for $75, etc...). Considering the cold nights in the forecast, Mom & I paid for a 1/4 cord. I drove the truck & trailer around back and was told to follow the guys in the golf cart to the firewood. They had a BIG fenced yard out back. After what seemed like a 1/2 mile of cruising between various buildings & sheds of stuff, we arrive at the *mountain* of almond firewood. WOW! I helped the guys load 165 pieces of split, seasoned almond into the bed of my truck. We were going to have some WARM evenings by the fire. :-) Got to camp about 6pm. Not an hour later, Hans & Sam Koolhoven pulled in. A proper "white-man" fire was started. Hans brought out a Christmas-gift keg of some brew he got and we spent the evening catching up around the fire. Noticed a few "practice" fireworks being set off in the distance. MONDAY - The water jugs outside weren't frozen this morning. Bob-O was staying in Mojave and was to arrive at camp ~9AM. 18-year-old Elliot was new to riding again. Sunday was his 1st day riding an XR200. Today we were going to ride easy stuff to the bunker, Randsburg, and the Rand Mtns. Earl brought some Organic Mojave Monkey Brains out just before our departure. Mmmm... Hans had a new-to-him CRF450X, farkled & ready to go, with less than 250 miles on it. Sam was riding Hans' '97 CR250. Airon was on his KTM 400SX & Bob-O on his KTM 450EXC. We rode to the Krag_hill, the sand_spot, and on to the bunker. Everyone was riding well and the day was gorgeous. We headed north on the powerline road to the big wood-frame mine structure. Bob-O and I arrived and waited for the others. After taking some photos with Bob and not seeing anyone for a while I walked back over to my WR. I noticed oil going drippity-drip-drip on the ground. WTF?!? The fitting on the right-side oil line was leaking JUST like the last one I replaced 2 years ago. The attachment bolt was tight. When the motor ran, very little oil would leak out, but stop the motor and the oil just dripped away! F*CK!!! I needed to head back to camp while I still have enough oil to do so. But the other 4 members of our riding party were not here yet. WTF?!? Finally Sam & Elliot rode up and told us more bad news. Hans hadn't gone 2 miles up the powerline road when his rear wheel locked up and slid to a stop. After checking a few things, it was apparently in the transmission. Toast. Airon already headed towards camp to get his van to retrieve Hans and the broken 450X. Bob-O followed me back to camp, while the boys did some more riding. I was SHOCKED that I could still see an oil line on my dipstick. It sure looked like it had leaked MUCH more oil than that. No way was I going to get another Yamaha oil line any time soon. I needed to *fix* this oil leak if I was going to ride this week. :-( The soft aluminum fitting (at the bolt) apparently compresses over time; but not at the dowel pin & o-ring. So to torque the bolt down, it lifts the opposite end of the fitting and leaks. We tried different washers, & clips, and paper to shim the bolt end. The paper worked for one temp. cycle and started seeping again. Bob suggested tie-raps between the oil lines at the front of the motor to pull the front of the fittings closer to the motor. It helped. Then Airon suggested some aluminum foil. EUREKA!!! 4 thicknesses of AL foil was not enough. 6 was better, but it still leaked a little. With an 8-layer wedgie under the fitting behind the bolt, the leak stopped and the bolt was tight. Even after a temp. cycle! YEAAA!!! Hans rode his CR250 with Bob-O for a nipple tour to finish off the day. Dinner, drinking, and a BIG fire completed the evening. I planned to take Bob-O to the Fremonts & the Husky Memorial on Tuesday. We talked Hans into riding the CR250 on Tuesday and then I would lead the boys to Randsburg on Wednesday. TUESDAY - Earl had the Monkey brains out bright and early. I loaded the saddlebags with oil, tools, and many folds of aluminum foil just in case. We rode to the Fremonts and started running the ridge-line singletrack trails. Sweet trails. On a tight rocky singletrack on a steep side slope around some krags, I had a brain fart and momentarily forgot I had a clutch and/or 1st gear. I stalled in the wrong place & fell over on the downhill (left) side. I landed on my left side and started to "barrel roll" down the side of this rocky mountain. To be continued ...
On the next my-head-is-vertical point in the rotation(s) I grabbed for EVERYTHING I could reach and tried to point my boots downhill. I slowly slid to a stop. I panted for a few moments as I flexed & moved things to see if I was broken or injured. The back of my left calf was a little sore, but otherwise I just seemed to be out of breathe. I thanked Santa AGAIN for the new ballistic jersey that just saved my ass. I looked back up the ridge and saw that the WR was hanging almost upside down from its left footpeg, barely off the trail. YEAAA!!! I crawled & climbed back up to the WR and turned off the gas. Airon & Bob-O arrived soon to help me lift the WR back to the trail. After a few more minutes to catch my breathe, we continued on. There were two new memorials on the right at the top of one of the ridge-line hillclimbs. Bob-O & Airon got pictures. I can't imagine how hard it was to get cement & everything else up this ridge to do those. Amazing! We played on the big 300-ft. hillclimb several times and took a break by the Monarch-Rand Mine. The rest & a snack rejuvenated me. Next was the singletrack up the last spine towards the peak and around the south side of the mountains. FUN technical stuff! Next came some fast sand roads, cross-country bush-whacking, and some sandy washes. We climbed up a pea-gravel wash to an old mining area. Big tailings piles of who-knows-what to play on & ride over. Then we climbed over the ridge & down to the next valley. The last singletrack took us to the Husky & the Moto Memorials for a lunch break. Hans discovered that he had lost a sub-frame attachment bolt on the old CR250. Didn't let that stop him! My oil leak was merely an oily residue covered in grime. Sealed well enough. We headed back the way we came to the Fremonts to avoid the more popular & seriously whooped-out trails that most folks ride. Bob-O REALLY enjoyed the pea-gravel wash again. ;-) Then it was the fast Fremont Peak Road back to the west side and cross-country back to camp. A FUN day! Sam & Elliot went cruising some ghost towns & mines with Earl in the big 1-ton Chevy 4x4 all day. Dinner, drinking, and a BIG-ASS campfire were the order of the evening. Until Airon brought out the laptop & the projector pointed at the side of his BIG white van. It was MOVIES-in-the-desert night! He had helmet-cam footage for a lot of the Fremont singletrack, but apparently didn't have the part where I fell in front of him. Gee, I guess it really didn't happen then, huh? ;-) Actually, as I told the others, cats may have 9 lives; however, Catfish have 90. And yes, I used another one today. Bob-O loaded up his KTM and headed for Mojave & home. Glad you got to come ride with us Bob! WEDNESDAY - Since Airon was going to ride for a couple more days and this would be Hans' & Sam's last day in the desert, Airon offered to ride with Earl today while Hans rode Airons' KTM with me & the boys. What a nephew, huh!?! We rode to water tank # 5 and Ant Hill. Into the Rand Mtns next and took trail R43 over the top to the north side. Next we turned towards Randsburg on trails R46 & R44. Fun roller-coaster-ride-type trails that were whooped-out in places. As we left the last stop before lunch, it looked like Hans' rear tire was getting low. Stopped in Randsburg for lunch, and Hans' definitely had a flat rear tire. Hans heard from a passerby that a guy further up the street fixed moto flats. Hans rode up to his shop while the rest of us got in line to order lunch at the country store. When it was my turn to order, I didn't look at a menu. I just ordered the meatloaf sandwich & a chocolate malt like I always do. A smile came across her face as she said, "I remember you!" I said, "Yeap, it was last March when I ordered that the last time." While eating my WONDERFUL lunch, Sam or Elliot asked me where the meatloaf sandwich was on the menu. I looked and it wasn't there anymore. Hmmm... I walked up to the gal at the register I order from and asked her the same thing. She whispered that they don't get enough requests for it to keep it on the menu; however THEY and a few locals liked it so well that they keep some around for those who ask. So, the next time you're in the General Store & Soda Fountain <http://www.california-rand-gold-camps.com/randsburg-general-store.html> in Randsburg, tell them Catfish recommended the meatloaf sandwich. :-) Hans returned to the shop and it took several minutes for them to finish up. Something about the first new tube going POP, and Hans assisting with round two. We headed south out of town and started riding the ridge-line trails out to the communications towers. The afternoon wind was FEROCIOUS on the ridge tops. Nearly blew me over every time I slowed to a stop. We then turned west into the wind and the south side of the Rand Mtns. We rode trails R16, R73, R20, & R43 again. SWEET fun trails! At the west end of the Rands, we continued west towards the turtle preserve to see if any of the sand hills nearby were still ride-able. Some of the hills down near trail R5 were still open, but ~90% were now fenced off as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). :-( We enjoyed what we could and worked our way back towards camp. Then we noticed that Elliot was no longer with us. The 3 of us looked around, but Elliot must have zigged when we zagged. A *feature* of cross-country riding! After a bit of looking, we decided that he must be ahead of us by now and we headed to camp. Yeap, he was already there. Said he decided to come back to camp on his own. Without telling any one. He was reminded to NEVER do that again. We got cleaned up & waited for Earl & Airon to get back to camp. Then headed into town for dinner at the only Mexican-food restaurant. GOOD FOOD! Got back to camp to find Artyom had arrived and was wondering where everyone was. We built a big fire and enjoyed Hans, Sam, & Elliot's last night in the desert.
THURSDAY - Artyom has been to Jawbone Canyon a few times with others. This would be his 1st trip to the Rand, El Paso, & Fremont Mtns. We were heading over the Rands to play in the El Pasos today. We looked at the Hans-repaired rear tire on Airon's KTM and 2 out of 3 of us thought it would be OK. There was a cut in the tire between two knobs that must have been the original injury. It had come from Randsburg (30 miles) this way, and didn't appear to be growing. We agreed to have another look at the tire when we reached the end of trail R43 (~20 miles into an 85-mile day). Earl walked up with the morning's monkey brains while we were getting ready to ride. Yum - YUM! Oh, its New Year's Eve TOO! Rode across Cal.City to Water Tank # 5, Ant Hill, and then trail R43 across the Rands & down into the next valley to the north. When Airon arrived, we took a closer look at his rear tire. The cut between the knobs looked the same & OK. However, looking at the bead area nearest to the cut, we could see that the tire bead appeared to be slipping off the rim. WTF?!? Not fully off yet, but it looked BAD to consider another +60 miles. There had to be either some bead-area tire damage or rim damage for this tire to be slipping off under pressure the way is. We deflated the tire, loosened the rim locks, and un-seated the tire. We could see the cord-rope loop for the bead had separated (or tore) from the rubber wall at the bead. YIKES! Decided to rotated this bad spot to a rim-lock location and see it that would help stabilize the tire bead better. Pumped up & everything tightened, it looked MUCH better! We continued with great optimism. We took Mesquite Canyon Rd. (Trail EP100) into the El Pasos. Its the only gravel way into the Mtns from the south. Every other road or trail is a soft sand wash. We rode to trail EP15 and followed the signs to Burro Schmidt Tunnel. There were already two riding groups at the tunnel and 2 more arrived shortly after us. Artyom took some photos and we left before the crowd decided to. We rode back to EP15, and then started taking old singletrack, that the quads have been widening <Grrr...>, up to Walsh Cabin. The first hillclimb of the morning was a challenge, but I cleared the top on my 1st pass just like I knew what I was doing. It didn't look too bad from below, but it became much steeper & more rocky as you approached the top of the ~200-ft. climb. Artyom's 1st two attempts were not quite successful. Airon took a longer run at it and cleared on his first climb. Artyom conquered it on his 3rd try. We continued up 2 more hillclimbs and a winding trail to the Walsh Cabin. Its a very old wooden cabin that has been reinforced, stabilized, and strapped to the mountain top with heavy wire cable. 3 rooms, a few beds with exposed box springs, and a wood stove inside. Free rustic camping - 1st come, 1st serve. Incredible views of the El Pasos, the Rands, Red Mtn, the Sierras, Jawbone Canyon, and the HUGE Honda test track near Koehn (mostly dry) Lake. We took the rocky jeep road down from the cabin back to trails EP100, EP15, and EP26 up to Sheep Springs. A favorite lunch spot with petroglyphs on the dark rocks above the dry creek bed. After lunch, we headed east up a rocky ridge and followed a great singletrack over the top & down into the next valley. Then came 3 more ridge-line singletracks as we worked our way to the southeast. The krag obstacle before the last climb on our favorite trail has eroded into a LARGE 5-ft. rock formation. Had me stop & ponder my line before I slipped into trials mode. We made it to the last climb, Joel & Gary's *favorite* hill. Joel helmet-butted a boulder and took a 15-minute nap on this trail. Gary crunched his XR650R clutch & cover here last year. Maybe "Carnage Hill" would be appropriate. Its a long climb that's not as steep as others we did today, but the surface is all loose large rocks & shale between rocky ledges & steps. Very difficult to maintain momentum on. I started up it in 3rd gear initially, and dropped to 2nd to clear the first set of rocky ledges. The loose surface was being too slippery to get my speed back up. I dropped to 1st gear at the next ledges and trialed it slowly up & over the top. YES!!! Airon was next. I could hear him get near the top before I heard his motor shut off. I walked back over the side to watch. He was able to get going where he stopped and cleared the top on his 2nd attempt. Artyom got high enough on his 2nd attempt for us to see, photograph, & tease him. Then he entertained us with his final assault. After a little rest at the top of this ridge, we headed towards the east to explore some tracks I had not ridden yet. At the next 4-way trail intersection, I looked at the GPS to figure out which way we wanted to go. Airon rode up with a flat rear tire. We replaced the rear tube, re-aligned the bad bead area with a rim lock, and bicycle-pumped the tire back up again. This took a bit. We were now two mountain ranges away from camp and the sun was dropping in the west. We quickly took the 1st wash down out of the El Pasos and followed this road all the way down to trail R112 near Goler Road. Airon led us west across R112 to R43. I waited at R43 for Artyom, and he pulled up with a flat rear tire. We talked about options, the setting sun, and Airon without a headlight. He thought he could ride it the +20 miles back to camp if we zip-tied the tire to wheel. Out came the industrial zip-ties. He only had one rim lock on his rear wheel, so we placed 6 BIG ties around the tire and through the spokes to keep the tire on the rim. We continued up R43 until we caught Airon and watched the sunset. Airon & I could ride faster that Artyom, so we continued south on R43 over the Rands & stopped at the R20 intersection. While waiting for Artyom, we taped Airon's flashlight to his helmet visor and I had a dose of my arthritis meds. :-) Artyom arrived much sooner that we expected. He was hauling ass on that flat tire! He was going to follow the GPS track back to camp & we waved him on. Airon & I were going to ride the open roads back to camp side-by-side to share my lighting. Airon & I arrived at camp to find Earl in the dark and wondering where we were. Artyom pulled in with only one zip-tie still on the wheel & a shredded rear tire. He just HAD to climb that last hill before camp! While Airon & Artyom pondered new rear tires from the vendor(s) at Borax Bill's Park, I pulled the Herradura out of the ice chest. It was New Year's EVE! Then we noticed the HUGE-ASS FIRE to the SW of camp. HOLYFUCKINGMARSHMELLOWS BATMAN, it looked like a LARGE Class-A motorhome was the center of a bonfire! It was quickly surrounded by revolving colored beacons in the night. The drifting cloud of black smoke looked nasty. Dinner, our big-ass fire, and libations were on the schedule. In fact we emptied *my* bottle several times. I swear there was a Herradura Fairy(tm) in Earl's trailer who kept re-filling my bottle. Earl also had the BEST homemade apple pie TOO! I told him I wanted his recipe. There were a few fireworks through the evening to hold our interested. As usual, they were in many different directions around the fire. All HELL broke loose at midnight! We had several BIG shows going in 4-5 different directions. Then they seemed to sequence in turn, so we could all watch one at a time. THAT was cool! We faded towards the trailers about 12:30AM. WOW, what a Thursday in the desert! to be continued ...
FRIDAY, Jan.1st, 2010 - We slept in a little later, until Artyom remembered he needed a rear tire. Airon decided he was done and started packing for the trip home. Artyom returned with a new rear tire and installed it. Earl came over with the LAST batch of monkey brains for this trip. THANKS Earl for the daily breakfast treats! Artyom & I were heading to the Fremont Mtns & the Motorcycle Memorial today. We rode cross-country to the Krag_hill & the sand_spot, then followed the fun trails to the bunker. Next was 11 miles of sandy roads to the first ridge northwest of Fremont Peak. We rode the same great singletrack & hillclimb loop we did on Tuesday with the others. No brain farts in the rock garden this time. Artyom enjoyed the hillclimbs, especially the large one in front of the Monarch-Rand Mine we took a break at. We saw several riders in the Fremonts today. We saw none on Tuesday. Borrowed from Part2; "Next was the singletrack up the last spine towards the peak and around the south side of the mountains. FUN technical stuff! Next came some fast sand roads, cross-country bush-whacking, and some sandy washes." "We climbed up a pea-gravel wash to an old mining area. Big tailings piles of who-knows-what to play on & ride over. Then we climbed over the ridge & down to the next valley. The last singletrack took us to the Husky & the Moto Memorials for a lunch break." There were ~40-50 riders, bikes, quads, & jeeps at the Memorial. Several groups were coming and going as we ate lunch. We watched two scruffy-lookin' characters, about my age, wander up the hill behind some bushes. After a bit of HACKING on the hill, they started back towards us. Then they stopped to look at something on the ground. They returned to their group and then it was a parade of their whole group back past us to that spot on the ground again?!? We asked them WTF? There was a Mojave Green Rattlesnake sunning itself in a small bush. They asked us not to disturb it. No problem. Artyom & I wandered up the hill. He took some photos & a movie I think. It would rattle at us if we got within 6-7 feet, but appeared OK to share the desert with us from a distance. It wasn't interested in moving from where it was. Cool light green color. Never seen one before. borrowed from part 2; "We headed back the way we came to the Fremonts to avoid the more popular & seriously whooped-out trails. Then it was the fast Fremont Peak Road back to the west side and cross-country back to camp. A FUN day!" Earl had coupled his truck & trailer for an early morning departure. We had just enough firewood left for our last night. Dinner was preceded & followed by a few Absolute&tonic&limes by the fire. A few neighboring camps set off some left-over fireworks for our entertainment. SATURDAY - Artyom & I did a half-day of nipple touring and then explored the hills west of the bunker. We found some old singletrack & fence-line trails that I remember from pre-gps days. I got tracks of them now. :-) We packed up and hit the road for home. I want to thank Hans, Sam, Airon, Elliot, Earl, Bob-O, and Artyom for some madness in the desert. We'll be back down there March 19-22. Mark your calendars!
Catfish ...
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