So having been given the ok by Doc, who is pretty busy at the moment, I am posting pics of our awesome ride on June 22nd.

Doc wanted to meet us in Garberville, around 10am that morning so we would have the whole day to putt around and he could still make it back to Philo before dark.

Well Biker-Murphy had other ideas, and due to a couple of minor technical difficulties, he showed up around 11ish. We were just getting ready to have me stay at the Shell station to wait, and Toby go look for him when he rolled in.

He did try to get in contact with me, but our smart phones were playing dumb, so I didn't get the messages until about halfway through our day lol

We had an awesome day, We rode from Garberville, up the Alderpoint Road, to Zenia, stopped in at the farm briefly, then headed on up the hill and down and around to Ruth Lake. We took quite a few pics, but Doc has most of them.

After leaving the Lake, we rode on to the Burger Bar in Mad River, had lunch, and then went out Hwy 36 to 101. Doc and Toby went on ahead, so they got pics, Doc will have to add his to this thread when he has time.

At 101 we just took the freeway back to Garberville, Doc was wanting to get back to his friend's house before dark so we didn't do the Avenue of the Giants this time.

Here are a few pics =)

Meeting in Garberville...



One the Zenia-Bluffs Rd, which goes up to our place...




More of the Zenia Bluffs Rd. Doc really liked this part of the ride.








At the farm, My daughter and Granddaughter. Alexis is learning her pony riding.



All the other pretty ponies...



The Pass between Hettenshaw Valley and Ruth Lake



Lance's very pretty ride



All the bikes at Ruth Lake Dam



Lunch at Mad River Burger Bar


Lance will have to add the pics he took to the thread =)
It was a fun day, Toby and I logged about 250 miles, Lance did a lot more, because he came up from Philo, then had to go back to Philo.

Looking forward to next time. LOL if any other members like to camp and want to come ride in the wilds... let us know

Loving these threads. Very cool.

What a great bunch of nice looking bike's, and beautiful country. Thanks for posting.
John

Wow. What a great day of riding. Great pics. Would love to ride up there sometime. You gave Doc the VIP bonus run up the mountain to the farm. You've described going up and down that mountain in many of your stories, what a treat that must've been for Doc.

twowheeltherapy wrote:
Wow. What a great day of riding. Great pics. Would love to ride up there sometime. You gave Doc the VIP bonus run up the mountain to the farm. You've described going up and down that mountain in many of your stories, what a treat that must've been for Doc.

LOL yes, I suppose it was. I also now have a witness that can verify that when I call our roads goat tracks, I am NOT exaggerating, or kidding hehe.

Come on up any time =) We have a spot for tent camping to really get the full impact of the country around here, you should come for a weekend. LOTS of riding to do around here...

beauty counrty!......looks alot like my neck of the woods........BC Canada! Looks like everyone had a fun and safe ride......really like the pics and iron ponies!!!


Perry

Looks like a lot of fun and great looking bikes for sure!

Hey Loren, thanks for posting this, it's just what I needed inspire me to upload *some* of my photos to Flickr so I can post a few.

You can view full size images of the following photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskD1aohN

It was great to hang with you and Toby and yes, an AMAZING ride! ...In case anyone is wondering, I'd be willing to bet a Benjamin Silkentek has the best roads in her backyard of *anyone*.

For me, it was 120 miles just to meet up with Silkentek and Toby, but not before I saw my right passing light pointing at my headlight as I left my buddy's driveway at 6:50 AM.



After a few mins of fumbling to fix it, I resigned to wrapping it with Gorilla Tape. ...BTW, nearly 1000 miles and a trip to Holister later, it's the Gorilla tape is still holding. That Gorilla Tape is a staple part of my tool kit.

So I thought the passing lamp was the last of it. Then an hour later in Willits, Hwy 1/101 was under construction and I was forced to ride through town, so I decided to stop for gas. When I went to start my bike NOTIHING! Not even a single light... I was convinced PoBastard had put a hex on me with his shifter!

Well after 30 mins of messing around with the rats nest of wires under my seat from the PO, I found the culprit and was on my way. ...Thanks for waiting for me Silkentek. P.S. You need a new text service.

So we headed out and from the get go the road was clearly not for the novice rider... After several miles, we came to a long bridge in the middle of nowhere, over a river far below...



The view was spectacular...





We continued on our way until we arrived at one of Silkentek and Toby's favorite vistas...





The scenery was beautiful but we had miles to cover and and Toby was ready to ride...



We stopped along the way for some more glamor shots...



Toby and Loren posed for the camera...



This is God's country...



Well 30 odd miles of goat-tracks later and we made it to the farm...



The sunlight was streaming through the trees, so of course I had to stop for a gratuitous photo opp...



What a slice of heaven that was and lots of animals. Let me just tell you, she'll survive the apocalypses just fine.

From there the road turned into newly paved blacktop paradise! I was no more than a few hundred yards form her driveway. BTW, Silkentek's OE R* saddlebags looked great on Toby's Raider.



We played follow the leader down miles of winding hills to come to an alpine meadow with old barns...



When we reached the lake, of course we had to stop for some photo opps... Cuz otherwise it didn't happen. Right?





Got to say, they were some good looking bikes, but I think the location helped too...





That lead to 45 miles of newly paved twisties with a HUGE locally raised, grass fed, juicy burger waiting at the Mad River Burger trailer... I got the double with cheese and bacon... Mmmm... That was a *damn* good burger. I'm ready for another!



Gratuitous shot at Mad River Burgers...



This was followed by another 52 miles of the most picturesque ribbons of tarmac you'll find anywhere! People *literally* come from ALL over the world to ride Hwy 36!



Now I've got to tell you... If it were only a couple months sooner, the hills would have been awash with emerald hues... Julie Andrews would have been right at home spinning and singing at the top of her lungs...



If for only a moment, I could almost believe we were in the Swiss Alps...





The hills were alive with the sounds of Roadstars!!



And BTW, we probably passed fewer than a dozen cars the WHOLE time...

This brought us back to the junction of Hwy 36 and 101. Now mind you, up there, 101 is two lane blacktop, surrounded by giant redwoods and sequoias, where the traffic flows at 80mph! We had another 50 miles of that just to get back to our starting point in Garberville, where Toby and Loren had to ride the 35 miles of goat trails back up to the farm...

For me, it was another 120 miles of twisty back roads, flanked by the Pacific Ocean and 200 ft shear drop offs:





All while chasing daylight...

Determined to make it back to my friends before nightfall. Not 40 miles from my destination, I was pulled over and detained as I watched the sun drop behind the horizon.



I managed to get away with a 60 in a 55mph zone... I'm still waiting to find out the cost of that little unexpected stop.

More than 14 hours and nearly 400 miles later, I returned to my destination. Here's a link to that days' route:

https://goo.gl/maps/dhy1R9fi5eH2

The last 20 miles where probably the most stressful, as my gaze darted from side to side through the dark stands of redwoods, while I "willed" the many deer NOT to run across my path!! Those trees can be VERY inviting in the day, but as dusk falls, I now know why people feared the forest primeval.

Thankfully, I made it to my destination safe and sound, buzzing with adrenaline, but welcomed by a cold beer as I shook off the day's intensity. ...Yep. It was a good day.

...And that was but a *single* day of my week long venture through the redwoods up in Northern California.

Stay tuned. More photos to come...



And thanks Loren! Looking forward to our next excursion.

Thank you for posting those awesome additional pics Doc =) the last 2 wouldn't load for me, probably my internet connection more then anything lol

Yes, it was a really fun day. You really need to pack to camp and come on up for a couple of days... there are MORE roads... we barely scratched the surface. There is Hwy 3... all the way from the junction with hwy 36 to Yreka... the country along that road is breath taking.
Then, there is the Wildwood road... oh and riding on into Red Bluff and further to Lassen National Forest... I could go on

We are also looking forward to the next excursion!

Great pics and narrative, Doc.

Very inspiring.