1997 DDMR COMMENTS
Thanks especially to Grumbler, Mike, Steve for everything.
let's not wait a year for the next event.
George
In a rare moment of clarity this morning, I realized that the DDMR list
is more or less private as compared to the other list. That is, they are
different, and not everyone on the other list was invited to go on the DDMR
only those serious canyon riders (hehe) - is that right Grumbler?
Therefore, before I posted my public thanks to Steve, Mike and Grumbler, I
thought it best to find a copy of the DDMR list and post only to them -
or else we'll be answering all kinds of questions. Tell me, someone, am I
off base here?
Anyway - thanks to those already mentioned plus those who helped with my
shifting and speedo macarena fix - Dave, bobc, and JW, and thanks for
use of the tools to Mike.
BTW, JW and Dr. Steve - what happened to youse guys - decide on a beer or
something?
Most excellent weekend. Most excellent ride. Most excellent friends.
Everybody get home ok?
Ride Fast and Enjoy the Pot Holes...
bc
We were hanging at the back, when you all jumped off on 4 east. We
were on the outside lane and missed the exit. Could have jamed the
brakes and cut in, but decided forget it and just took 4 to 680 and
blasted home. Would have been much closer for Steve that way anyway.
Tried to way at somebody, but no one looked. I s'pose you all took
the Byron Hwy?
Hey, I'm getting this getting lost down to second nature!
Yes, had a good time, thanks to all the hospitality of Steve
and Mike, and Grumbler for organizing! Thanks dudes.
See ya,
JW
Wow, can't believe how well everything went, it is truly a credit to Grumbler,
Mike, and Steve. My hat's off to you guys, excellent excellent job. I had a
great time. I'm sorry I didn't find a dead skunk to tie wrap onto the back of
my bike, that was the only letdown of the entire trip.... We will need to
start looking for dead skunks earlier in the run.... next time Ya get caught
frigging one dead skunk..... Heading home on Mines Road was an excellent
ending to the weekend.
My Award Nominations:
Iron Butt1: Mike on the 600, excellent job dude, you have my respect.
(Yea Right... Like thats something special) Anyway, good job.
Iron Butt2: All of you assholes that ride soft tails. =8^) I can't believe
they sell as many of them as they do. I guess the theory of not letting people
take test rides before they buy is a good theory. Yea I know vibration is a
FEATURE.
P.O.S.: This gotts to go to Steve and his P.O.S. Triumph. The only bike that
actually, almost shed parts. It don't matter that it runs excellent, handles
great, wrecks shoes, wheelies, looks and sounds great, it still almost shed a
horn. P.O.S.
Best Drunk: Gotta go to George on Friday night.
Best Looking: Gotta go to George on Friday night.
Best Uglyist: Hard to pick a winner in this category, we were all bad off.
Best Fart: Gotta be me, outside that breakfast place in Lincolin, I coulda
played IndaGodaDavita, long version.
Mr. Innocent: Chris on the BMW. Kinda quiet guy, humble enough to not tell us
all we ain't shit. BMW with enough miles on it to have gone to Marz and back.
Cob webbs on the dash plate was a good touch... The boy can ride, the boy can
ride. Even if I had a new Honda Vtwin I'm not sure I would want to TRY to keep
up. Your bike needs new heads... You scraped them off!
Best dudes in the world for throwing this run: Grumbler, Mike, & Steve,
You guys take a blow job out of petty cash, you earned it.
Favorite parts of the ride:
Route: Cordelia-Suisan Valley Rd-Wooden Valley
Rd-121-128-Pope Valley Rd-Butts Canyon
Rd-29-53-20-Williams
Route: Redding-299-Douglas City
Route: Douglas City-3-Peanut-36-Red Bluff
OK Back to work,
Stupor
Well, I did sumpthin' I've been rather proud not to have as part of my
rep up to now... I bailed.
My biz trip kept me until Friday and having missed 10% of my daughter's
life because of it, I decided to stay home Saturday.
Then some drunk fool calls at 2:00 am Sunday morn to curse at me... but
that was on my business line and we all slept through it. Hehe, if ya
called on the right line I mighta had to stay up with a baby for the
rest of the night.
Grumbler, I hope Ganzelli's gave you the message. And I sent an email to
Mike's place Sat morn and called Steve's place Sun Morn, but I may have
been following all your fumes by then.
Aw well, I guess I'll set up a Mt. Aukum Classic for next spring to try
and make up for it.
-RB
Dave:
>Iron Butt1: Mike on the 600, excellent job dude, you have my respect.
>(Yea Right... Like thats something special)
Yeah. From a guy that can't remember names. ;^) That was Jeff
on the "anti-Christ"...
see ya,
JW
Best Manly Fire,
Hey!, jumped any fires lately?
I can just hear some other'rs now, "WHAT RUN?"
Who melted the bottom of my boots? ;-)
Grumbler was that "everyman for himself" on the way back? !-O
That was the best time ever...with that much fun, I'd hate to
wait a whole year...thanks to Mike, Steve, and Grumbler.
Surfer Bill
At 9:25 AM -0800 6/30/97, Stupor wrote:
> Wow,
> Can't believe how well everything went, it is truly a credit
Yes, it sure did and it sure is...
>Ya get caught .....
MacGregor the skunk...
>Heading home on Mines Road was an excellent ending to the weekend.
The sweepers on Vasco at 85 was mega-kewl....
>Mr. Innocent: Chris on the BMW. Kinda quiet guy, humble enough to not
>tell us all we ain't shit.
>Your bike needs new
>heads... You scraped them off!
Was that his name? Chris? Thought it was just Hesh... oh well... You got
that right, there, Big Dave. He would just kinda cruise along behind me for a
while, then I could see that he was getting a bit bored and I would wave him by
and zoooom, he was gone, and around the next three of us, too. I was
impressed...
>Favorite parts of the ride:
agreed with all - I thought 32 was way kewl...enjoyed 160 on the way
home, too.
Something most of youse guys missed, but surfer and MikeO will remember -
the three of us were taking the back roads thru Livermore over to rte 84 to get
to the Sunol Lounge, Bill in the lead, Mike to the right and back about three
feet, and me behind surfer. I'm cruising along, enjoying the ride, figuring
I'll just follow surfer wherever he goes. Suddenly surfer realizes he's missed
the turn - I'm thinking he saw a deer or something and lookin around to see
what's up - surfer's on the brakes hard - Mike's got his rear tire locked up
tight, and I'm headin between 'em - wonderin' if there's something I'm gonna
hit, but I don't see nothin' - we all got stopped, still in formation, and did
the u-turn and just kinda chuckled.... no harm done... prolly looked pretty
kewl to anyone watching...
bc
Uh, yah, that was the right turn instead of going to the VA hospital...
usually I get lost in there...when I heard Mike on the brakes I let
up giving him some more room and passing the turn...guess my
cruising speed was turned up a little...:-)
-bill
I broke the front master cylinder a while ago and only have one screw holding
the whole assembly to the handle bars. I'm really afraid to apply anything
close to maximum pressure to the brake lever. I might end up with no screws
holding the master cyliner to the handle bars ==8^O Not to mention I wasn't
paying attention when Bill hit the brakes. I can't tell ya how thankful I am
that Bill noticed my lack of braking and decided to go straight. I'd also like
to thank Grumbler for the last minute reminder, Mike & Steve for the
hospitality, Stupor Dave for the FXR ride, and everyone for a great weekend.
Later... MikeO
Thanks to all - this is a great group/ride. Something I look forward to every
year. Even more so now. 5 years ago I took rides like this several times a
month.. Between work, new SO, and a house project, I don't get out doing the
fun stuff as much anymore.. (oh that's gonna change though - we've had "that
little talk" ..)
Hey thanks also for your generousity - $229 in the kitty in Dave's name -
pretty damn good. In '95, we raised $95. Last year we had $170. In '95/'96 I
doubled the contribution to Make a Wish in Dave's name.
This year I'm a little tight, but will kick in enuff to match the '96 total.
Thanks again folks.
I realize many of you hadn't met/ridden w/ Dave - so I'll take a moment.. I
met Dave in the late 80s at work. We were friends at work cause we both liked
bikes.., but we never really got together outside of work. In '90 or so, he
hooked me up w/ grumbler whom he met through the net I guess. I got to know
grumbler through email and in '92 we organized a weekend ride with us plus one
of Dave's friends (Pablo for anyone who knows him). The emphasis was one
eating a bunch of killer northern CA hwy miles, riding hard, having fun w/ good
company, and swilling suds and such afterwards (things haven't changed much)
and this became an annual late June event.
In '94, Dave started getting sick. The '94 ride was his last real ride on the
FJ. A month later he was off the bike and in bed. By spring '95, he quit
chemo and faced death .. Last time I saw him in May of that year he was still
talking about trading in the FJ for a new 900.., and getting back on the
bike.., but I and those there knew it was the last time we'd see him. He died
7/10. We had the ride in Sept of that year and grumbler then dubbed it with
the apt title - DDMR.
Grumbler and I are going to get an album together of '92-'97 DDMR rides for
display at future events.. Send grumbler any particularly good photos..
Dave liked Make a Wish and asked that any $$ spent on flowers for his funeral
instead be donated there. Speaks for his character me thinks - why waste money
on cliches that die then mean nothing when you could instead contribute to an
event of a lifetime for a dying kid. BTW, Make a Wish (you all probably
already know this) uses contributions to take terminally ill kids on once in a
lifetime trips - like Disneyland, etc..). Even though he's gone he still makes
a difference in the lives of kids who need it most. Dave was a good rider,
loved bikes, loved his family, worked hard, all around quality guy. I'm sure
he eyes the ride and the friends that gather each year w/ a smile..
Sniffle sniffle. OK now I'll recap some of my highlights from last w/e..:
Chico to RedBluff Fri afternoon - blasting by 3 cars near the ton then back to
70 and 10 seconds later a CHP passes by. Whew. 10 minutes later another one
this time having just slowed to about 65. Whew. Dammit Dave you get in front!
I'm not the f'in bait!
Sat morning leaving Mike's place starting the XT - hey Hesh get off there
you're not even getting a sputter .. brapp brapp brapp ... OK he's started
thumpers before.
299 just east of Whiskytown - after breaking in the Trump peg feelers w/ Hesh,
stopped at that real cold spot coming down the hill to put on my gloves (yes
$3.00 garden gloves - Dave used to give me a lot of shit about that) .. 10 feet
to the right of where I stopped lies the freshly dead Bambi. George I suppose
that sight was for you.. Coulda still got some fresh backstraps off er..
3 between 299 and Hayfork - killer road! No cars. Raming speed!
The Hayfork Cafe - Ol' Tyler at the cafe bar w/ arms bigger than my thighs.
Whispering to his buddy - "lookie Elmo, them city boze got perdy mouths..". Do
da do do do do do da do.... hee heee ... wheeeeee! Squeeeeel like a pig boah!
3 between Tyler's resort and 36 - killer twisties w/ a little gravel. Hesh
points down as if to say - watch out, slow down, there's gravel there. Then he
proceeds faster..
3 between Tyler's resort and 36 - Putting faith in Hesh that he picks a
gravel free line. Hey my toes are getting cold..? These shoes had a 90
day warrenty.. really I'm just a little pigeon toed - these shoes are
defective..!
36 at Platina - Pathetic wheelie attempts on the Trump. Man this here
street bike just don't do that like the ol' motoXers did..
36 to Red Bluff - Better looking power wheelies off the rises :-) Getting air
with Hesh over one perfectly timed rise. Damn good fun. A little air on a
steet bike feels like 20' up on a dirt bike.
36 to Mineral - Grumbler slow down! The Wing feels like your riding on it,
not in it. Feels huge. But my butt likes it.
32 down to Chico - Dr. Steve pointing to the chuckle hole - and me following
his finger in it. Duh time for a beer. Just missing pulling out to pass on a
double yellow rise .. and the Sherrif whizzing by .. The ticket gods were with
me.
Chico - Trump horn falls off. Right mirror bends in w/ speeds past 80. Now
Dave before you hand off the POS award, consider catching air on the FXR
and see if all the parts are there when you land :-p ..
SN brewery - why the hell did the babe waitress take the dern picture. Shit
next time one of us uglies to take it and get her on someone's lap. Next
time..
Wheatland - duh.. where's JW? No BFD, he's probably just broke down 60
miles back in Chico ;-/..
Laura was pissed at me cause I told her 2 dozen mole burritos. Well hell
it warnt enuff. Sorry - next time she saze she'll make 3 dozen and have
beef and pork in addition to chicken.
Dr. Steve - saying to Laura it was nice to see her again after last year.
Ooof! :-/ Yeah she's a little sensitive about that. .. Me squirming behind
her trying to hand wave Steve what was up.. Oh well. No damage done - she's
a little sensitive bout past girls but she got over it. And Steve you recovered
quite nicely I might add :-).
Me trying to keep Laura warm getting her close to the fire, but keeping her
out of range of dirty jokes.. OK time for bed :-) .. Next time, she'll either
have more of her friends there (sure you all won't mind) or she'll take a
hiatus for the eve.. I would have liked to socialize a little more .. but
wanted her to meet yawl as well so she'll let me play again unsupervised.
You know the deal.. Oh well, next time I'll make up for the lost time.
Me coming in to the house at around midnight to get my longjohns and
grumbler snoring in bed ... and me half drunk trying my damndest to get
the jonnies outta the dresser w/o waking him. Then walking out the door
realizing WTF am I being so quiet! He can hear Jeff's XT but not my
drunken noises..
Hey Geo thanks for the Eye of the Hawk - swilling one as I type.
Cass - thanks for the down south perspective. I love that place.. Was cool
to meet/talk to a native .. makes me want to go back .. anyone up for
a Cajun/Nawlins tour soon? (I'm dead serious..)
BC gets the grungiest dirtbag award Sun morning at breakfast :-)
Jeff gets the most bodacious combustion noise - that's right a dern
far east bike amidst all that barking americun iron.. When I was on the
hotel (Wing) between Red Bluff and Mineral inhaling exhaust notes and
fumes during the 80 mph pases, the exhaust note that stood above the
others (in terms of audibility, not quality :-) ) in the quiet Wing
turbulence bubble was the 6000 rpm single trapp wail of the 600..
Viva la thumper!
Hey I was disappointed w/ Lincoln Cafe. They normally have killer breakfasts.
But the service sucked and my food did too. Next time we head somewhere else.
Laura's brother's friend is a killer cook and has a Mex restaurant in Rocklin
so mebbie next time we'll try that.
Next time - I like George's suggestion to do it again. DDMR is an annual
thing, but I'd love to host a fall ride - could take off Sat morning from
Redding and Bay Area and meet near Sac then ride all day and party in Lincoln
and off Sunday. Laura and I prommise enuff burritos to stuff your gutz and
another keg of course. I thought the beer was so so.., but am glad other's
liked it. Next time I'll get an ale. Hey you a-holes didn't finish it. We
sat out Sunday afternoon and I thought I'd have one last beer ... seven later
... was a little pasty at working this morning. Those kegs are bottom- less
pits. Maybe next time we can camp out at my property (and flog the TS-100
through the ravines :-) ).
Thanks for a great ride. Never ceases to amaze me how fast Softtails can go in
the right hands. I'm really impressed at Mike's ability to throw one through
the twisties w/ bars high enuff to poke your eyes out w/ the ends if you don't
watch where your walking in the lot..
That's enuff rambling.. Keep the ass-end pitched,
Steve
Thanks everyone!
Had a blast. Great trip report there Steve. I bet you could
sell that shoe design to some of these Johny Rocket folks...
HIghlights... Let's see the ride... The food. The beer.
Watchin Hesh go screaming, (quietly) by and then go sailing
thru the turn with a little daylight under them cylinders...
I coulda used about 1/2 that much extra lean on 3 after I
blasted by Mikes friend on the shadow... Should have never
mentioned not touching the floorboards at breakfast as I
dragged em like a Racer drags his knee... Only louder...
Wish I could follow him thru more than 1 or 2 turns... :-/
Speaking of dragging... Dr Steve has been working on clearancing
his ride so he can lean further and further... I'm impressed.
Maybe it's the oil on the parts letting em slide gently thru
the turns, or maybe the earplugs. :-)
Steves wheelies in Platina were not as smooth as I remember
but when he hopped the rear tire off the ground with the front
pointed at the sky I was impressed... Kaskey's wheelie into
the SNevada brewery parking lot was real graceful... uh if you
think legs flying thru the air is graceful... I think the taillight
kept him from flippin... Fork seals? What fork seals? ...
I was especially impressed with Dave Karakis as he was so fast I
never saw him once... :-) Hey George, that blue suppository
is supposed to be able to stop on a dime not in the intersection...
That trunk was a killer beer cooler I must say. And lest I forget,
MITM has the keeper of the Fire and the great stump burning, but
other has FIREWALKERS. :-)
Special thanks to Mike and Steve for the hospitality.
Thanks to Grumbler for only getting us lost a little this year.
Oh yeah. Has anybody seen JW?
See ya'll next year, er, time...
Thanks Dave Day.
later!
bobc
At 8:33 AM -0800 7/1/97, Fred wrote:
>Anybody know total mileage from our area?
340 + 330 + 160 = 830 miles
bc
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