Article posted to BMW-GS mailing list 12/5/94.
Last weekend, Cal BMW made its monthly Sunday shop ride a GS ride, to be held rain or shine. Shine it didn't, so I was surprised to see a total of 11 riders there, despite the threatening rain and wet roads. Drat, I was hoping it would be cancelled and I'd still get "GS Stud" points just for showing up :-).
The bikes consisted of 3 R80 G/Ss, 3 R100GSs, 3 R1100GSs, one R100RS with an LS fairing and one DR650. The guy on the R100RS is a mechanic at San Jose BMW, and as it turned out, his cocky and confident attitude overcame the handicaps of street tires and little ground clearance, and he was in the front of the pack the whole day. Apparently he didn't know it was a GS ride, but joined it in good humor anyway and proved once again that skill overcomes bike. I too, mounted on the best bike for this except the DR650, also proved that skill -- or lack of it -- matters more than bike! Two of the R11's were on their maiden voyage, and both riders had never ridden in dirt before.
When we left the gas stop in Hollister headed toward the Clear Creek area, it was actively raining. The sun broke out before we got to New Idria, but it started to rain again just as we got to the dirt.
Actually, I was surprised at how rideable Clear Creek Road was in the rain. There were muddy sections, of course, but it seemed that one's success at getting through had more to do with the line one chose than the bike. I watched the R11 riders go right through the deepest parts (they looked like "tracks" I guess), and was encouraged when the outside line I took got me through the first section through without incident.
We took a detour to go to the San Benito Mountain lookout towers, encountering more sections of rutted mud. I developed a new technique I call "the one-foot dab," in which I dangle my left foot and can effectively dab with just one foot, through sections where riders who can reach paddle through. 2nd gear with no sudden throttle or braking changes pulls a torquey GS through the deepest areas. It was slippery, but soon I learned it was predictably slippery, and my fear of sliding around quickly waned, as did other newbies', since you learn that it's not so hard to recover what feels like a huge slideout.
A bad choice of gear and a too-late attempt to downshift resulted in my first drop (all uphill, as usual), in moist/slightly muddy stuff that by the end of the day would seem easy. I think the best way to make a surface seem easy is to get through harder stuff. I didn't make it all the way to the lookout tower, since everyone else was coming down by then, so stopped at the turnoff where everyone gathered for a coffee break. By now, Kari was richer a few R1100GS turn signals.
Kari, well-known as the owner of one of the best BMW dealers in the country and extremely knowledgeable about BMWs, is also something of a nut. He'd been sick all week and by the end of the ride he was so congested he could barely talk. This didn't stop him from finding a few offroad detours and luring other curious riders into following him, bouncing up and down on his bike with childish glee.
These offroad detours were entirely up and downhill, with lots of whoop-de-doo waves, and were mercifully free of mud tracks from cages, and were a total blast! At first I thought Kari knew where he was going, but after I'd followed him on one, I asked, "where does this go?" and he'd say, "I don't know!" with delight. It felt a little like riding a horse, you stand on the pegs and let the bike move up and down a WHOLE lot under you, using your full arm & leg extension. I'll add that while I regularly work out, I am SORE to the point of painful movement today! I want to go back there and try more of those paths, they were lots of fun, great opportunities for jumps and suspension-testing.
The fun -- and mud -- really got deep back on Clear Creek Road. One section made the beginners stand out from the experts, and Kari had to ride one newbie's R1100GS through. I dropped almost immediately, but then managed to aggress my way through the steep uphill, deeply muddy and rutted section, with one foot on the top of a rut, and gassing it every time the bike slid out. I stayed up much better than I would have expected and was starting to feel like a real dirt-donker....until I dropped it again. RK (Cal salesguy) tried to help by pushing, but I think he'd also balance it just out of my reach, and with the slick mud I never got it going again. RK kindly rode it out for me, then Kari rode ME out as a passenger, and made the rutted mud seem like just a little dirt! Amazing.
By now, the guy on the R100RS was carrying his front fender around his waist, since mud was packing underneath and locking his front wheel. None of the low-fender R100GS's had this problem, curiously. The R100RS rider blasted through the steep mud section with gusto and made it easily. How'd he DO that?! With the exception of myself, the R80 G/S, R100GS riders, and the R100RS rider made it all day without any real trouble I heard of.
The rest of Clear Creek Road had its muddy sections, but nothing compared to what we'd just dug through, so it was fun and easy and everyone made it without further incident.
We'd been in dirt in the Clear Creek area for hours, and emerged at about 3:30. Though it was late, we continued on to do the whole route, which included Old Hernandez Road and Gloria Road. On a different Cal ride, Old Hernandez had a torrential river crossing, but this time it was just a mild dip. The rest of the road was hard-packed enough to be paved.
Just before Old Hernandez connected with Hwy 25, Bill Feireisen saw a **mountain lion**, not a lynx, but a full-blown cougar. Jumped right out in front of him. He told us about it while I put my raingear back on, having taken it off not half an hour ago. Except for that half hour, I spent all day in raingear, and so did everyone else.
It started to rain again before we reached Gloria Road. With dread, I remembered that this road has a really weird, slippery surface when dry -- and in rain it was extremely slick and slippery. This didn't seem to concern the other riders, but I never got my dirt legs on this and crept around the off-camber corners at 5mph, determined not to fall. Kari commented the surface was "interesting" and you could slide at will. Eli, a Cal mechanic, told a tale of fun with his DR650's roost marks. There were absolutely no obstacles, the road is completely smooth, but in places it looked like newly laid concrete before it dries. Those places were usually the tight, narrow, steep and very off-camber corners. Still, I always welcome a learning experience, and it was worth it when we were treated to some incredible views of a sunset with fog rolling into a green valley beneath us.
By the time we got to Hwy 101 and to a gas stop, it was dark, getting colder and raining again. But every face was smiling and we were quite pleased with ourselves. The only regret was that the persistent rain would now wash off our bikes on the way home!
Despite, and I even venture to say, because of, the rain, it was a great, challenging ride. Normally I don't go out of my way to ride in rain, but having a G/S does funny things to one's judgement...!
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