Fabless 0 Posted April 17, 2012 Originally planned to ride Lark but PMB thought we'd try Pine Valley, which would be my first time out there. I had just gotten my dinged fork (courtesy of Bar 10 last fall) repaired with assistance from Dirt Dame and a neighbor and was eager to see how it worked. Arrived around 7:30AM. It was fairly chilly out, with snow on the ground in spots. The road surface was wet, sloppy and laced with patches of snow leaving the parking area and taking Pine --> Bear --> Long Valley toward Corral. This was my first foray into mud, and I got plenty of it. We turned off of Long onto a trail (Kearn Valley?) and the riding got more interesting. Here's a steep rutted section shortly before arriving at Corral. I wiped out and my already-impaired front fender decided to part ways with the rest of my bike. I stuffed it into my pack, backed down the hill, and made a more successful attempt at it. Riding parts of Trail 1 (I think): Took 1 all the way to Syke and doubled back on 4. Then we somehow ended up taking Trail 3 headed west up to Bronco Peak. I made it to the top, about 500 feet of climbing from the road, without falling but coming down seemed considerably nastier as Trail 3 turned into 5. Here we were held up by a couple jeeps, which took several minutes for us to squeak by. I fell a couple times, and had to take it section by section, pausing to size things up. It took 25 minutes to get to the bottom. Here we stop for a 15 minute break. The rest of the ride was relatively easy by comparison, though mud made even the easy sections tricky and my front tire seemed to have a mind of its own at times. I didn't come up with any good answers for how to ride the mud troughs. Luckily the rear tire was able to hook up after each fall. The 690 felt good on single-track. We treated ourselves to the views on the top of Los Pinos: Mt. Laguna, dusted with snow: Views of the Valley: Coasted down Pinos and eventually onto roads leading back to the trailer. The 690, encrusted with mud: Fender-turned-mud scoop: Headed home after some excellent Frosty burgers. Broke the fender, broke sunglass frame, broke a turn signal, broke my right mirror (forgot to fold it in!); got pinned down in the mud once and squirmed out, the smell of melting synthetics in the air. A tough but good day. -Fabless Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vandrz400 0 Posted April 17, 2012 That sound like a great day of mudding, great pics Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 559 Posted April 17, 2012 The area is pretty greasy out there after a good rain. Looks like you had quite the adventure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted April 17, 2012 It WAS a good time. Very sloppy, and we did Kernan, 1, 4, 3 and over the top ending up on 5 downhill. Oops, not what I intended... Came around on the road and had recovered from our trauma sufficiently for a run on 2, which ended up being the sloppiest trail of all. Loads of deep snotty goo. Stopped to wait at the left turn onto 1 to head back, saw Curtis, made the turn and off I went. He told me to hold up (probably stopped to take a picture or to pick up his bike) and I waited until I heard he was rolling again. And waited. And waited. Appears he tipped over just as I turned and missed the direction, turning right on 1. Didn't take us long to figure it out (radios rock) and we met up at the campground. Ran up the small trail that parallels the road back to 4 corners. Up the tarmac to the lookout, back down and highway back- we were starting to see other vehicles. Once again, my bike did not break down. I suspect it's been 1000 miles since the last time. YAY! (trail names may vary) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted April 17, 2012 ...I didn't come up with any good answers for how to ride the mud troughs.... I gave you the answer a few weeks ago......350 EXC. Save the 690 for ADV riding/traveling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yenool 0 Posted April 17, 2012 Looks like an awesome ride! Once again, my bike did not break down. I suspect it's been 1000 miles since the last time. YAY! This is my apprehension with going orange. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeslut 1 Posted April 17, 2012 Looks like an awesome ride! Once again, my bike did not break down. I suspect it's been 1000 miles since the last time. YAY! This is my apprehension with going orange. it's been 100 miles since my DRZ last broke down. Don't be afraid of Orange... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fabless 0 Posted April 18, 2012 ...I didn't come up with any good answers for how to ride the mud troughs.... I gave you the answer a few weeks ago......350 EXC. Save the 690 for ADV riding/traveling. I thought you were going to give me your usual pearl of wisdom that you save for all occasions: "Just twist the throttle." Here's a recent Cycleworld shootout among the Beta 350, TE310, and 350 EXC, the latter coming out on top. Doesn't matter -- all are too good for me anyways. -Fabless Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Riggerdan 147 Posted April 18, 2012 : -Fabless That 2 posts that I have seen that front wheel off the ground.................. Nice pictures Curtis, captured very well - sorry I missed that one Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted April 18, 2012 That 2 posts that I have seen that front wheel off the ground.................. Extends tire mileage. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted April 18, 2012 I thought you were going to give me your usual pearl of wisdom that you save for all occasions: "Just twist the throttle." That goes without saying......illustration below Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
