McCain on Sunday 04/17/11

[dirt dame 561]

The day was beautiful out there. Not a whole lot of people. I got there a little bit early, along with Spaugh and Briana. Robertaccio was already there with his two daughters. Dirt Diva, Diva's Pit Crew and Pit Crew Jr. showed up right on time. We all got ready to go, then waited to see if any others were going to show up. At 11:30, it looked like there were not going to be any other takers for this ride, so we embarked on our adventure. Robertaccio went for a ride with his girls, and Brad went with Briana on a ride to test drive her freshly healed knee. So our group was a compact foursome.

Great time on the singletrack as always. Towards the end, Diva and her crew split off to take some main trails back to the cars. I ran into Spaugh (not literally) out on a trail and he rode with me back to the staging area on singletrack, then Diva and family arrived there a bit later. Adventures, misadventures (small ones), good company and a fine ride.

Not so many pictures....

"Hi" from out on the trail.

It was a snakey kind of a day.

Diva descends a fine singletrack trail....

followed by her son, James and Bruce riding sweep.

[robertaccio 412]

great day nice seeing y'all, our little album

http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/robertaccio/Fran%20Allie%20Dad%20at%20Lark%2017APR11/?albumview=slideshow

Also mucho thanks to Brad for letting me have a go on his 350.

[dirtdiva 0]

Always a fun day riding with you Mimi - thanks for leading us around. Glad to have the picture of James on his first official single track trail riding day on the big bike. Much different than the wide open desert but he rode it like a rockstar. Needless to say he slept a good portion of the way home Could you email me the full version of that picture so I can enlarge it for his room. Before you know it, you can use our house as a gallery to show off your work . Lets ride again soon - can you make the track on Thursday??

[robertaccio 412]

PS after you guys left I tried to pick up your trail, but ended up going solo for a whole back 40 loop, thinking I would see someone, saw no-one and after pushing fast going out, backed down some for the ride back towards the camp zone, you guys were all still out. Was a good day.

[dirt dame 561]

PS after you guys left I tried to pick up your trail, but ended up going solo for a whole back 40 loop, thinking I would see someone, saw no-one and after pushing fast going out, backed down some for the ride back towards the camp zone, you guys were all still out. Was a good day.

Was nice an quiet out there. We didn't see another soul out there all day, except on a wide trail off in the distance....oh wait, there was a small group of quads who were busy getting themselves stuck in a rocky spot that really wasn't a good choice for them. . Brad is the only other person that I came across other than that.

[curayjusdad 0]

Thanks for the report and the pictures....The weather was just perfect.

We made it out at about 1 pm and rode around the staging area mostly. It was me and a friend and each of has one our kids for a total of 4 of us. We were riding DRZs, CRF80 and a TTR70. It was our first time riding in the area. My son really enjoyed riding his 80 around the staging area and the trails near the day-use and campgrounds. I did a little exploring to the south and west of the parking area, but not to far out. No pictures, just fond memories.

Would have stopped to say hi, but don't really know who was whom. Maybe next time.

P.S. We inadvertently parked next to the guys with the quads. When they got back to the parking area they had a little trouble with the BLM officers. Luckily, one of them had his head on pretty straight and kept things from getting out of hand. I was worried there for a few minutes.

[dirt dame 561]

I heard that BLM had been through while we were out, and that they actually had somebody's bike towed away. Those guys really will follow the letter of the law and don't let anybody off easy, so you really want to make sure that you aren't fudging on any stickers, registration, spark arrestor requirements or riding an unlicensed vehicle on McCain Valley road. A lapse in sound judgement will get you either a ticket or a tow.

[curayjusdad 0]

Yeah...These fellows had an unregistered quad, a rider with an suspended drivers license, and a rider without his drivers license. I'm not sure if the quad was towed away or not, but the two guys with expired or no driver's licenses were starting to get hostile about the way that they were treated. I thought the BLM officer, while strict, handled himself pretty well. I was also confused because those quads were larger than 40" and I thought only ATVs < 40" were allowed at Lark Canyon. The BLM officer didn't mention that at all.

[dirt dame 561]

I forgot about the license thing. I had to go look it up, to be sure about exactly what the law stated.

SUSPENDED DRIVING PRIVILEGE

A driver's license is not necessary to operate an OHV in most areas. However, if your driving privilege is suspended in California, you may not operate an OHV on California public lands [CVC 14601.1(e)].

[robertaccio 412]

the vehicle that was flat bedded was a late model KTM450(a very nice one), it was a guy who had done the tecate enduro (he had his minute number plate still on) I spoke with him and his tractor racing(had his TR Tee shirt) bud first thing in the morning.

I also got a ticket and it was against a bike that is technically not owned by me,,,,,they could have taken away the blue bike(for lack of any paperwork). I (always)have all the paperwork and all the stickers up to date, with a "permission" (sponsor) letter. the ticket is a fixit ticket and the little blue machine is currently in the system and in full compliance she just doesnt have the stickie attached and is not under my name.

Just for less hassle you guys were lucky to be out on the trail and not need to deal with that.

odd was the fact that on this day everyone was really minding their manners. most times there are groups of pit racers and donut show offs that race back and forth in front of the parked vehicles and onto the road etc etc. those are the days I wish those BLM guys would hack on the goons. Sun was a fairly goon free day.

[dirt dame 561]

A few years back when I was riding my 2005 KTM 250EXC out there, I was just coming in from the trails when a BLM officer pulled in. I wasn't sure what the month requirement was at the time, but I was afraid that my bike might have been "out of season" for red stickers at that moment....so without so much as slowing down, I cheerily nodded and waved a big friendly hello to the guy and rode right back out onto the trails for another couple of hours....just in case. As it turned out, the red sticker season changed over to a more extended schedule right around that time, or shortly there after.