“Yes, you can offroad your GS” or “It's been really warm in Cali lately”

[flatraccoon]

I'll flip the "lurker" switch here to give you guys a few pichures to look at. Not as good as my Summer pics, but here we go with "Fresno Dome":

Winter break brought me back home, and SJSU decided to give me 6 weeks to recover. It's cold out now, but 2 weeks ago it was perfect! I opened my little eyes at a bright and shiny 10 am, rubbed away the sleep and popped open the weather channel.

"Wtf? 71 degrees outside? Eff breakfast!"

It started as "Let's go in to town for some coffee." When I got the 7 miles into town, I wasn't satisfied. So I thought, "that's fine, let's just take 620 home." And of course, when I got to the turnoff, I just wasn't feeling it. But I was feeling up for Sierra Sky Ranch Rd.



Now for those of you unfamiliar with the area, Sierra Sky Ranch Rd (632) starts out pretty sketchy. Kinda like a road that wants to be good, but got paved by a bunch of meth junkies (because that's probably what happened.) However, about 2-3 miles in, the Sierra National Forrest kicks in, along with a different paving company. For the next 12 miles, there's smooth road, great twisties, and rarely a car to be found on the weekdays. So that's what we did.



This is the lookout for Fresno Dome, and if I had a better camera, you'd be able to see it as a big rock just awkwardly sitting there. It's useful for a Summer night female rendezvous, but on a smoggy winter day... not that fantastic.



This was on the side of the road, so I thought "Hey, it's my first bit of snow for the season. Let's take a picture."

Of course, then this happened:



"Aww, it's just the backside of the mountain. There won't be another patch."



Now I'm not going to throw this up and say "Lookit me, I'm a fckn badass" because there's two things I'm not telling you: 1) This snow/ice is covered in dirt and sand, and 2) I went reaaaaalllly slllooooowwww.



But of course, the snow/ice eventually ended. And turned into massive bouler-infested grand-canyon-laden dirt ditch thing. The road gets graded at the beginning of the season, so now we're riding up after  Billy-Bob and his meth lab trailer have effed up the road good.



Woot! 1 more mile!
Going 5 mph that should take... I have no idea. Vacation = one continuous brain fart.

So I got to the trailhead. Finally.



I didn't feel up to the hike, so I took a break from riding; walked in the snow, found some ice. Which is a perfect time to show off my half-ATGATT practices. Yeah yeah... Youth and stupidity go hand in hand.



Aaaand here's the Facebook "Look at me!" pic:



I'd like to add a little bit of a personal explanation to the rest of these. I started riding over a year ago (11k miles)  and while pushing my lean angle more and more is exhilarating, and riding fast can be pretty fun, what I really enjoy is the independence of it all. I can stop whenever and wherever with no inconvenience to anyone else. I can pee when I want, take pictures of what I want, and stop and admire whatever the hell nerdy engineering thing I want. I enjoy how much of the world I experience on the bike, and while I understand that being this exposed is a danger, it's the reason I ride.

This is a little meadow on this way to half the interesting back roads and hiking/fishing spots directly south of Yosemite, so I've seen it most of my life and have always wanted to check it out. It's used for grazing during the summers, so there's never much of a safe invitation to stop and check it out during season. Since it's off season, I figured "what the hell. I won't get this chance again."



Like I said; "If only I had a better camera!"





Get me a Stetson; I'm the Marlboro Man.



So yeah, you can take it off road, just take it easy. Take it slow. And don't take risks that don't need to be taken. Fork seals blow easy, Avon Roadriders suck in dirt, and a slow fall onto a sharp rock could possibly end your ride for a long time.
Bring water, and always tell someone where you are going. Always.

[ohgood]

Excellent ride report.... great pictures and perspectives !

Airing down your tires to 15-20 lbs will help a good deal with uneven and gravel covered surfaces. Just make sure to reinflate before continuing at high speed. Heat builds up fast, and steering is slow/degraded with lower pressures.

Really nice to see a fellow rider remembering the bikes are about exploring and dirt instead of just wx and posing.

Some of the most fun (besides dirtbiking) I've had has been with mixes of eclectic riders on very different bikesjust out for the sun...like this:

[Phil B]

Great trip report! thanks for sharing all the pics!

[tt_four]

I love roads like those, I need to find more when spring comes.

Safety aside, I can't believe those shoes are even comfortable enough to ride in. I'd think the shifter would smash into the top of your foot and your toes would be freezing on the back side of the mountain. I think I like overdressing though. As soon as it's cold enough to do so at the end of summer I go straight to the jeans, hooded sweatshirt and a hat.

[flatraccoon]

Ha, yeah. Normal canvas Converses hurt when you try to shift in them, as I've learned in the past. I paid a little more for these leather ones, and they turned out to be just the ticket! Thicker, sturdier, and still look like brown Converses, but throw a nice pair of socks on and they're great all year, especially going somewhere where I'll be walking. They're horrible if you want to push your bike a bit though. Ankles are easy to eff up, and its not as easy to feel the pegs when leaning into a corner.

To be honest, I was really nervous once the pavement ended. With no ankle support and little impact protection, a little fall onto a rock, or catching my foot in a rut would have done me in. Shoulda worn my boots!

[tt_four]

To be honest, I was really nervous once the pavement ended. With no ankle support and little impact protection, a little fall onto a rock, or catching my foot in a rut would have done me in. Shoulda worn my boots!

I couldn't believe the difference in ride quality between MX boots and any other kind of footware. I've never even ridden in thin canvas shoes, but the first time I went dirt biking I wore an old pair of combat boots, and eventually I grabbed a pair of MX boots. Even with combat boots I was a little hesitant, but with those MX boots I felt like I could do anything. They're a bit heavy duty for normal rides, but I think I'll definitely wear them for some fun rides where any amount of offroading is a possibility.

EDIT: wrote 'mountain biking' instead of dirtbiking, hopefully that was understood and people weren't trying to picture me riding a mountain bike through the woods in combat and mx boots haha

[Erika]

Great shots and story! I was out visiting Yosemite for the first time last year, and I was wishing I had 2 wheels instead of 4. So beautiful out there!

-Erika

[flatraccoon]

Oh definitely. I would love some MX boots, or at least a pair with shanks as my dedicated pair doesn't have them. Money spent on eliminating distractions (like being worried about gear) gives more brainpower for focusing on the road!

Erika,
Going through Yosemite on a bike is a great experience. Parking is a breeze, 360 deg view, and it just smells so damn good. Plus, 41 is a lot of fun if there's no RV's or people taking pictures of squirrels. I've been really spoiled to grow up here, and I only really realized it when I went away!

[tt_four]

Definitely, some people get lucky on riding locations. It's ok where I live, but I have to ride a bit to get to the better roads. On average the first and last hour of my rides are spend on mediocre roads getting to the good roads.