BluepoofBikes Motorcycle Adventures

RIP, Reggie Dunlop

Yeah, I know I'm a day late, but I was swamped yesterday. 

RIP, Reg. What'd heaven trade for you, a used puck bag? 

(Image shamelessly ganked from the Hockey livejournal community.)

Go Team R4!

Today was the NCWHL draft and, since I'm a captain this season, I was finally privy to the inner workings of this bi-annual secret ritual. I can say: it involves lots of coffee. 

I'm really excited about our team this season. I'll be skating with people who I'm really happy to be with again, as well as new people that sound like fun.

Impending hockey seasons!

This week starts the new NCWHL season, hooray!

I'm a captain this year, along with with my fabulous co-captain, Jeannie.  We've played on many many many teams together and I'm psyched to lead a team to world domination with her.

This Saturday is the draft, when we try to steal our friends away from the evil clutches of Andrea and Steph, Nora and Wendy, and the other two captain pairs who I don't know yet. ;)

In addition to NCWHL, I've also signed up to play on the Monday night league at Ice Oasis.  It's a mixed-level, co-ed league where the teams are named after their corporate sponsors.  I got the rink to change our team to Team Danger for no charge; now I have to convince Microsoft to hook us up with nice orange jerseys. ;)  In the meantime, I think we've got red jerseys. 

Our IO team should rock; Nora is our goalie and we've got Peter and our friends Joe and Ben.  I don't think we have a ringer, so we'll probably get our asses handed to us, but hopefully we'll have fun doing it. ;)

So yes, lots of hockey this season. 

Altitude Sickness ride report

The Altitude Sickness ride report is (finally) done!

Clicky clicky for the write-up!

Campground review: French Camp, Inyo National Forest, CA

Location:
Inyo National Forest, near Tom's Place, CA
(760) 935-4339

Directions:
The campground is approximately 30 miles north of Bishop (18 miles south of Mammoth Lakes), off of Highway 395.

Take the Tom's Place exit from 395 and go about 1/2 mile up Rock Creek Road. Turn right at the French Camp sign.

More info:
http://www.recreation.gov/camping/French_Camp_Ca/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70803&topTabIndex=CampingSpot

Date of visit: September 5-8, 2008.

Weather:
We really lucked out and the weather was perfect; 80-85F during the day and an overnight low of 60F. Definitely check the weather before you go, though -- the campground is at 7100' elevation and the weather can change quickly, especially in spring and fall.

Campground Condition:
* The campsites really vary in size. Our site, #79, was the largest campsite I've ever stayed at; another guy's site (#74) was even larger. I think 8 or 9 people stayed at his site and there was plenty of room to spare. On the other hand, another friend had a very small site that would only fit one two-person tent.

* The campsites are very dusty in early fall, which means they're probably very muddy in winter and spring.

* Each site has a fire pit with metal grill, a picnic table, a food locker, and a place to park. There are water faucets at the bathrooms.

* The bathrooms are pretty simple; flush toilets with a sink in each room. Many of the bathroom rooms were out of service/locked when we were there. There are supposedly pay showers available 1 mile down the road at Tom's Place, but they were out of service as well when we camped.

* This is bear country! Use the food lockers for everything, even clothes that you cooked food in. There are substantial fines for leaving food outside of the lockers, day or night.

* Firewood is available from the campground manager.

What to do:
Closest to the campground is Tom's Place , which has a few rooms, a restaurant/bar, and a general store. The restaurant has very good breakfasts and a good beer selection. The store sells pretty much anything you need as well, from snacks/water/soda to fishing supplies to automotive bits.

This is an amazing motorcycling location, especially for dirtbikes and dualsports.

There are little dirt roads (mostly 2-track) everywhere. It's also a nice ride up to Mono Lake, Bridgeport, Yosemite, Bodie, etc. etc. etc. This is a very popular fishing location; Crowley Lake, Convict Lake, and Rock Creek Lake are all close by and stocked with trout.

In the wintertime, the campground is 6 miles from the Inyo Forest Sno-Park, with miles of snowshoeing/cross-country skiing trails (passes available at the Tom's Place store).

The campground is also 18 miles south of Mammoth Mountain , which has tons of skiing/snowboarding in the wintertime and rock climbing/mountain biking/more in the summertime.

The area is also home to many hot springs; we found two while camping: "The Tub" and "Shepard's". Both are described and mapped out in the book "Hot Springs of the Eastern Sierras". Hot Creek springs is also very nearby but was closed to swimming when we visited due to being about 130F.

My photos:
Campsite #79, where my friend Nancy and I camped:

 

The sign you're looking for off of Rock Creek Road (it's on the right as you enter; this was taken when leaving the campground):

 

Rock Creek, which you can hear throughout the campground. Sounds wonderful as you're lying in your tent at night!

 

The scenery around the campground is gorgeous:

Site #74, which is absolutely huge:

"The Tub" hot springs:

 

Campsite review: Yosemite Pines RV Resort, Groveland, CA

Location:
20450 Old Highway 120
Groveland, CA 95321
Phone: (877) 962-7690

NOTE: Normally I don't like "RV Resorts" but camping here has become an annual tradition for me and a few of my Women on Wheels friends.  We come up every mid-September to ride in Yosemite and have dinners in Groveland.  Frankly, I'd rather stay in one of the many Stanislaus National Forest campgrounds, but my friends don't like camping and they like the yurts and cabins at Yosemite Pines.  So, there ya go.

Directions:
Directions from the Bay Area:
Follow Hwy 120 East to Groveland. Continue 1/2 mile East of Groveland on Hwy 120 and then turn right onto Old Hwy 120. Follow Old Hwy 120 for 1 mile. You will see Yosemite Pines RV Park and Campground on the left.

Directions from Yosemite National Park:
Follow Hwy 120 West for 22 miles after you leave Yosemite National Park. Turn left onto Old Hwy 120. Follow Old Hwy 120 for 1/2 mile to the Yosemite Pines RV Park and Campground on the right.

More info:
http://www.yosemitepinesrv.com/

Date of visit:
September 12-14, 2008 (I go every mid-Sept)

Weather:
This year the weather was very pleasant; highs in the 80s and an overnight low of about 50.

Previous years have been very chilly overnight, though -- never quite freezing but definitely cold enough for a hat at night.

Campground Condition:
* There are three campsite areas; I've only ever stayed in the "A" area, so that's what my report will focus on.

* The campsites at "A" are very close together, with nothing separating individual campsites.  Bring earplugs.

* An eye mask is also a good idea if you're light sensitive; there are little lights on top of all of the RV hookup stations (one per campsite) and I've never figured out how to turn them off.  Light from the main building also gets to the campsites at night.  It's not that intrusive, but I always bring an eye mask to sleep in and then it's no problem at all.

* The campsites are very dusty in early fall, which means they're probably very muddy in winter and spring.

* Each site at "A" has a fire pit with metal grill, a picnic table, a water faucet, and an RV hookup with electricity. 

* The bathrooms are in the main building, across a small footbridge from the camping area.  There are 2 showers, a few sinks, and a few bathroom stalls.  Unlike most places I camp, the bathrooms have both soap and paper towels!  :D

* Firewood is available at the general store.  The store also has drinks (beer, soda, water, gatorade, etc), some food, some toiletries, and some automotive and fishing supplies.

* The roads inside of Yosemite Pines are gravel -- it's very packed, though, and I've never seen a streetbike have a problem on it.

What to do:
Yosemite Pines itself has a bunch to do, including:
* A rec room inside the main building with a ping pong table and a TV/couches
* Swimming pool
* Playground area
* Gold panning demonstrations (schedule posted at the general store)
* Petting zoo (hours posted at the general store)

The campground is in a great riding area, too.  It's pretty much right on Hwy 120 and is very close to Highway 49.  Side roads out of Groveland go off in every direction up into the hills.

The riding is awesome for both dualsports and streetbikes. 

Yosemite National Park is 20 miles to the east.

My photos:

Campsite A-17.  You can see how close together the sites are; the blue tent behind my bike is mine and the yellow and green tents are at the neighboring campsite.

Campsite A-17, looking towards the short footbridge to the main building/bathrooms:

My girlfriends like to stay in the yurts at Yosemite Pines; each one can sleep 3 (one double bed and one bunkbed).  They have lights/electricity, a microwave and fridge, a coffeepot, and fully made beds (sheets, blankets, pillow).

A closeup of my site:

Local roads around Groveland:

And of course, Yosemite:

Altitude Sickness Rally, Tom's Place, CA

I took 350 pictures at the Chain Gang rally in the Eastern Sierras this weekend!   

I haven't gone through them all yet -- much less written a ride report -- so to tide you over, here are a few teasers.

Andy (Señor Peligro), Ranier (commo_soulja), Mike (Tex_Tibertus) in Yosemite on Friday:

Tom's Place must have known we were coming:

Nancy (Red) going north on Hwy 182 on Saturday:

Yet more Nancy (Red), this time leaving Bodie:

The BBQ on Saturday night:

Nancy and I found Rock Creek, which the campground was named for.  I loved lying in the tent at night and listening to the creek. :)

The Eastern Sierras do not suck.

Me on my solo ride on Sunday:

Mike (Tex_Tibertus) and his wife Andrea at "The Tub" hot springs on Sunday evening:

Mike (Tex_Tibertus), Ranier (commo_soulja), and Andy (Señor Peligro) along Sonora Pass on our way home:

 

First bike surgery with the Harbor Frieght lift

My moving present to myself was a nice Harbor Freight motorcycle lift.  I'd heard good things about them on the Chain Gang website and, since I spin a wrench now and again, I decided to go for it.

Peter and I finally got it into position last night (it had previously been used as a crap table for the garage while we're getting everything moved in) and put the DRZ up onto it.  Yep, it's only taken me 2 months since we returned, but I'm finally going to do the cross-country trip repairs on the poor little Suzuki.

As you can see above, the lift works perfectly for the DRZ when the latter is up on the little dirtbike stand that I got at Cycle Gear (the XT will also use the stand; the Beemer has a centerstand).  I use two tie-downs to stabilize the bike onto the lift's two U-bolts. 

The front wheel is also stabilized by a vice-like chock -- I wouldn't rely on the chock to hold the bike's weight (i.e. minus the tie-downs) but it does keep the wheel from turning.

If I were going to do anything that would really require torque (removing the front sprocket nut comes to mind), I'd get two more U-bolts and tie down the bike in four places.  The lift has holes for four U-bolts, but only two came in the package.

Removing the DRZ's rear wheel was really easy with the little trap door in the lift.  In the photo above, the lift is all the way down, but when I was working on the bike I had it up farther and the rear wheel just dropped nicely through the trapdoor (it gave Peter a scare, though, when a spacer fell and noisily jangled its way down through the metal lift...I think he thought the bike crashed over onto me).

Raising and lowering the lift is super-easy with foot pedals.  The foot pedals can also come off of the lift when you're not using them so that hypothetically uncoordinated people don't hypothetically jam their shins into them whenever said people are walking around the garage.  Hypothetically. 

My lift also has a hydraulic lift attachment, but I haven't used that yet.

One of the best parts about the lift is that it's also easy (read: possible) to move the bike around mid-maintenance.  I got partway done with the DRZ last night, lowered the lift and, with Peter's help, paralled-parked the lift back in a corner of the garage so that it's out of the way of getting the Beemer in and out.  *happy*

All in all, I'm thrilled to death with this lift.  You'll be seeing more photos of it in the future!

Labor Day Tournament: Game 4

The illustrious yellow A1 team won game 4 yesterday, 3-2 in an overtime shootout, thus cementing our place in history as the #3 team in the Labor Day Tournament.  Woot!

We had actually tied in the standings with the team that wound up being #2; they got to go to the championship game instead, though, because they'd scored one more goal than we had during the previous three games.  Doh!

All in all, the tournament was a really positive experience.  Despite having a nasty cold, I thought I played well and I definitely had fun.  Nora, Wendy, Chris, Trista, Peter, and I hung out in the restaurant after our game yesterday, looking through the photos that April took on Saturday, drinking beer, and just goofing around.  Good times.

Here are a bunch of photos (copyright April Tse; no stealie for you!) for the three of you that know the people on the team. ;)

I go zoom:

 

Peter puts the moves on Tierzo:

Wendy waits for the faceoff:

Trista lines up for a faceoff:

Peter and my size difference is a little obvious on the ice...

Nora charges for the puck:

Chris puts the hurt on against the boards: