The Walker Sky Ranch Ride
Been a while since the last update - past few weeks has seen a good deal of riding in multiple states. After the 2000 miles of terror ride a few weeks back the 950 took a break while I ordered some needed parts. The break was merited as the next ride would be anything but mellow...
The actual repairs involved replacing the waterpump. While not rocket science, it's no trivial task either. Dedicate at least a solid 1/2 day or full day for this.
Fortunately, the repairs went without a hitch & just then a ride opportunity came up with several local riders (mostly 950s, plus a few other makes thrown in for good measure). The ride would prove to be a perfect, 950-type ride (long pavement ride to the trailhead, some fireroad, and some genuinely gnarly trail thrown in! Along the way there I noticed some crazy sap coming off many of the trees - there's been a pretty severe drought in the area - not sure if this is a symptom of this or somehow the exact opposite ... (?)
950 was running beautifully...
The group met up at a small cafe in Idyllwild - don't remember the count at the beginning but it started out with around 20 riders.
1st flat happened within about 5 miles of the start of the dirt...
Our fearless leader...
A relatively short distance later, the group split up into the "easy way/hard way" options. A handful of us went the "hard way". Myself & another rider on 950s, one DRZ 650, Honda 650, KTM 450, and a KTM 525 if I remember right.
The trail started out just plain fun ... but did indeed become difficult.
Tim & Jennifer Morton of BajaBound joined in on the fun ... Jennifer hitting the ledge on the 450...
Here's my go on the 950...
And another 950 ... with the one errant rock...
Textbook form through 99% of the run, that last 1% is a doozy...
After that, the cries of "why are we here again!?" begin :)
Ended the day by checking out some old mines before the rains began.
That's it for this one ... brief ride repot this time. A few short weeks following this ride would see me heading to Colorado for some ... unexpected exploration.
posted by jonbeck at
12:04 AM
