2006 Diamond Lake 200 Ride Report

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2006 Diamond Lake 200 Ride Report

Postby Tawmass » Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:13 am

Sorry for taking so long, but it's not like I get paid for this, plus I have been having zero luck getting my helmet cam videos posted on the web. So here goes...
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Mi Amigo, Danno, was heading down to the ride on Thursday, so I accepted his very kind offer to haul my banana-yellow Suzuki down with him. With that, I figured, what the heck, I’d drive my Honda car down, since it would be easier and smoother to drive than my old Nissan pickup. (There's more to come about that!) So Friday after work, I had the MP3 player blaring as I watched the odometer scroll in increments down the tarmac. I was surprised to find out that my GPS said that the fastest AND the shortest route to the Diamond Lake staging area was by way of Hwy 58, Hwy 97, and then straight to Diamond Lake. I finally showed up around 11pm after playing bumper cars with Bumper Burgers (Bambi) for the last 10 miles or so – unnerving! Once at Diamond Lake, I found Danno’s posh RV and we chatted about the event, and then crashed out.
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Saturday morning came bright and early as we woke up to smell the coffee - AND to also smell the aroma of dead fish around Diamond Lake (they had recently poisoned the lake to rid it of non-local fish) We headed down to the resort restaurant around 7:30am or so to meet Walt Koch and Frank Noe (now named Falt and Wank) for breakfast. Then we headed over to the start/finish area at the Community Center. The MRA (Motorcycle Riders Association – my old club) event organizer, Jeff Moffett, was running around with roll charts and belting out instructions like a chicken with its head cut off. George Flanagan was doing most of the greetings and helping with initial instructions for everyone. At the rider’s meeting, Jeffro yelled out the event overview and instructions for everyone, then everyone trickled out. My friend (recently imported direct from Italy) Stefano Pellerano and his lovely wife, Veronica, even showed up for their first-ever dualsport ride. Stefano would ride solo today and go two up on the following day. Danno and I headed back to the RV, cut up our roll charts so they’d fit our holders, donned our riding gear, headed back to the start/finish, reset and took off. At the start I got a whopping 60 points on the Fact Or Crap Game. \:D/

Saturday’s course was the same as last year’s ride, except they added a brand-new A-trail section at the end. I was stoked for the ride, as it would be a good warmup for the upcoming Adventure Enduro, also hosted by MRA. Falt and Wank had already taken off on the main jet and Danno and I were our usual start time of just in front of the sweep crew and proceeded to pin the throttle also. Like last year, I was again on my excellent Suzuki DRZ400S with the stock road tires. Danno was sporting his street-legalized, trusty WR426 Yamaha and we railed through the first two-track section passing Lake West and grinning ear-to-ear. Ma Nature was kind to us for the second year in a row, in that it had rained just a day or two prior. Two years ago was a dust-filled experience, since it was dryer than a popcorn fart, but this year's traction was great, even with the Trailwing (aka: Deathwing) tires I was running. Only real problem with these tires was if they even smelled mud, I was hitting the fork stops. Deep, loose dirt was also an eye opener. The Suzuki I’ve really begun to love, as it has great suspension (albeit a little soft for my tonnage), handles well, reliable and does most everything really well.

Danno and I started up the bodacious Minehaha Trail (single track) and couldn’t believe how perfect it was. Damn, that’s some great stuff. Then we worked our way up to the next trail (quad width) on Hamaker Bluff. We stopped and set up our helmet cams to begin recording and to generally play around with. At this event we decided to point them backwards and film the rider behind us for something new. Damn again, we had a ball as I busted my fanny to go as fast as I could in front of Danno, and he did the same thing when we swapped. We got to the top and were practically high fiving each other! Good fun!
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We then again set up our cams to record as we caught the next trail section paralleling Hwy 230 on our way to the lunch stop at Union Creek. I know Danno was laughing his butt off as I did my best to rail each berm in front of him, as he watched me sliding all over the place. Woohoo! I have to admit, soldiering the Suzook with the road tires is actually kind of fun. Why, you ask? Because you REALLY have to be on you’re A-game to keep from augering – a thrill a minute.

We continued onward to the “Dip Head” section of the roll chart. WTF, we were wondering. That was Jeffro’s spelling of “Dip Ahead” – doh! Just before that, some hunter stopped us at a campsite asking if we could help out some lost soul on an old XL600 Honda. We informed him he was on the right route and where we were at on the chart, and he tucked in behind us as we continued on. Danno and I were hooking it up and I kept noticing this guy stayed fairly close to us. Dang, on an old ’83 XL Honda no less – nice!
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The first checkpoint was the Hamacker OHV Staging Area where the world-famous Paul Hildebrand was running a little golf challenge. Danno and I did our usual front-wheel stoppies upon arrival and I took the first shot with putting the astro-turf. Hey, I actually got high score! Woohoo! We took off again with our new XL600 riding buddy, Tom Pilcher in tow. We again did more helmet cam recording as we continued on.

We pulled into Union Creek where a checkpoint game and lunch were located. This year I once again held tradition and started out well on the slow test, but once again got off balance and drove off the board. I’m consistent at least. And who started the rumor that I ‘fell off’ the board last year (George!)? Danno nailed it as he revved the guts out of his WR. Plenty of laughs for everyone.

The lunch was epic! I mean, dang, how much barbequed chicken do you want along with baked beans and ‘tater salad? We bench raced with everyone, ate too much and low and behold, Stefano showed up, giving me Hell for not waiting for him at the start. Evidently he yelled my name at the start, but I didn’t see him, so he also joined us on the adventure after lunch. One note at lunch, Jimmy Loveall had made a sign for the back of his XT Yamaha in response to George Flanagan running into the back of him at the previous Cascade 150 Dualsport. #-o
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After lunch we continued in the direction of Wolf Peak, hitting a bunch of cool Sweco’d quad trails, some dusty, some not. Along the way we rode through a massive windfall that the club had chain sawed a huge slice out of, and wound our way by a scenic vista of a local landmark called Rabbit Ears.
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The next checkpoint was manned by three MRA Members, one being the son of my old friend Doug Kimmons, who used to work the Yamaha Shop in Medford years ago. His boy (sorry, forgot name!) informed me his Pop passed away a number of years back, along with Doug’s friend Virgil Derryberry. That was a long time ago. At this checkpoint we had to throw plastic horseshoes, just like last year and I performed meagerly, much like everyone else. As we left, Danno climbed the rock wall of death, impressing the crowd and scaring the crap out of himself. Nice, Danno!
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After that it was pretty much an easy cruise back to the finish. There was the last A section of trail that we came to. At that point it was around 4pm and we decided to skip it and take the B option to the finish, since it was so late. Turns out it was considerably longer taking the B option and we really missed out – doh again!

At the finish, Danno and I once again performed our patented stereo stoppies and we proceeded to give ol’ Jeffro a hard time, but only in jest, as it was another awesome rip. When all the points were tallied, Danno got third and I got sixth. MRA again did a killer job and everyone had a great time. Gary Lande got the overall and each winner got a cool wooden plaque along with nice prizes.
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That’s when the partying started. Danno and I headed back to the RV, got cleaned up and met Falt and Wank at the bar, as we waited for dinner. The To-kill-ya was flowing rampantly as were the stories and laughs, and it continued throughout the evening.
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Sunday came a bit early, if you know what I mean, and we again strolled down to meet Falt and Wank for breakfast. Thank God for coffee and a poor-man mocha! The turnout for Sunday’s ride was smaller for some reason, as we again got ready and received our roll charts. At the start, heck, we (Walt, Frank & Danno) missed the very first turn, as I thought we reset our odo’s at the lake-road intersection, instead of the start/finish. However, it didn’t matter, since it was a fairly direct route up to the stunning Crater Lake National Park. We stopped and paid our obligatory park fees with the cute ranger lady and putted our way up to the edge of the lake.

I absolutely love Crater Lake and it holds a special place in my heart, since I grew up just South of there in a very-small, don’t-blink-as-you-drive-through town called Shady Cove. Not to worry, as nobody else has heard of it either. Growing up in Shady Cove, I routinely made trips to Crater Lake usually on a motorbike in the Summer or an auto in the Winter. As we got to the first junction, it was clear we couldn’t get our bikes in the foreground for motophoto opps, so I waved for everyone to follow me, since I knew of a great photo opp location. After about five miles, we came upon a great roadside spot and we all started talking about how I wanted everyone to ride through for pictures.

That’s about the time Mr. Ranger drove up.

He pulled up to us, rolled down his window, which displayed this massive gun positioned vertically between the front seats. “Hey, are you guys the ones camped on the other side of the lake?” He looked like he just fell off the Grateful Dead Tour and resembled Jerry Garcia, only not as grey.

“Uh, no.” I replied, wondering about the inquiry. “Wow, that’s a big popgun. I’ll bet you have some great stories working up here, don’t you?”

“Yeah, we get all sorts up here,” he replied. “You all make sure you stay on the roads now,” and he started to drive away.

“Hey, you mind if I get your photo?” I quickly asked.

“No, I don’t do photos,” he sternly responded and commenced to turning around and driving back the direction he came. Great, an eco extremist with a gun – a very bad combo.

Once he got out of sight, we launched into our Kodak Moments. I had the guys taking laps through the roadside pull off doing wheelies and stoppies. Now that’s something you don’t see very often at Crater Lake! Yes, Margaret, we of course stayed on the road – duh.
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We then turned around, zipped up our jackets (it was cold up there!) and headed back the way we came. We tooted our horn at the cute ranger lady as we left, per the roll chart instructions. Today’s ride was almost all road, according to Jeffro, and the next section of two track was pretty fast and fun, stirring up a fair-sized cloud of dust. The route snaked us back towards the Diamond Lake Lodge, then took us North on a rough, rock-strewn two track paralleling Lake Creek. Along the way, we rode a narrow quad trail that had a killer jump on it, which I of course had to snap a few shots of the guys. Then we were directed onto a marathon straight stretch of road called Cascade Lakes Road. We turned left and made our way to Lemolo Lake for lunch and gas. Stefano and Veronica were also there and poor Veronica already had a bad case of monkey butt.
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After that it was all gravel and pavement as we made our way down to Toketee Falls, Watson Falls and Clearwater Falls. Along the way, there was a fresh accident, where it looked like some kids were trying rally car driving - and lost. Good thing it happened BEFORE we got there! The falls all were absolutely beautiful! The hike up to Watson Falls in full riding gear though had us breathing like locomotives – oof. At Clearwater Falls we shortcut the course across the foot bridge and caught the course again on the other side, since Walt/Frank had accidentally found it a couple days prior.
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On our way back, we rode West of Rodley Butte and Mount Bailey by an old landmark named Old Man’s Camp, where we stopped and had a pow wow. Heck, the course was going only a couple miles from where Danno and I missed the A Trail the day prior, so we detoured over to Three Lakes Camp, rode down the newly-groomed trail and came back up it again. What an awesome trail! We were stoked that we got to ride it after all. That’s some fun trail, I don’t care who ya are!
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Then it was just a fun, two-track ride back to the finish, where Danno and I came upon Stefano and Veronica. We couldn’t help but zoom past them on each side, tooting our horns and whooping it up – too funny! We scared them good. :D We checked in at the finish and proceeded to say our good byes to everyone.

Thanks MRA for another good ride, specifically Jeff Moffett! I always enjoy riding my old stomping grounds and I hope you guys do it again!

But wait, my personal saga doesn’t end yet…

After hitting the rain locker and saying adios to Danno, I made my way to Hwy 97 and the turn off to Hwy 58 after Chemult towards Eugene. I wasn’t quite to Odell Lake and was at a road construction piece of highway that had stoplights on each side of a one-lane bridge. I was listening to my MP3 player behind a truck as the light turned green. The truck and I started across the bridge, when my trusty Honda car decided to run on about one cylinder. This was suddenly not good. As I approached the end of the bridge, the car totally crapped out – dead. How bad was this? Now I was in an extremely serious bind; it was dusk, I was in the way of traffic (18 wheelers had to finesse their way around me), cell reception sucked and the car wouldn’t move. I resigned myself to spending the night in my car as it got dark.

That’s when a big pickup pulled over in front of me and this big man stepped out and said, “Hey, you look like you’re in a pickle. Hop in the passenger side of your car and I’ll tow you to Oakridge, where I know a good mechanic. Trust me on this and don’t worry, since I repossess cars for a living. Oh, lay low in Oakridge, as the cops won't like me having you in the car,” and he smiled.

What could I do, but say, “Um, okay” and hopped into the passenger side of my car. He had no room in his truck, since he had his wife and kids. In a matter of a couple minutes we were on our way down Hwy 58. Holy Jesus, I was blessed. I mean, what are the odds that some guy with the setup he had would happen by in my time of need?

We pulled into the first motel in Oakridge about 45 minutes later and he got out, introduced himself as Jim and said he’d tow me down to W&J Auto Repair. He backed my car in front of one of their stalls and said for me to talk to Chris in the morning. I had about $98 in my wallet and proceeded to throw money at him. This kind soul wouldn’t even think of taking it and left with a smile saying, “Hey, do something nice for someone else sometime!” Damn, there really are still nice people in this world.
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I packed an overnight bag and proceeded to hoof it to the original motel on the edge of town. After multiple pushes of the doorbell, nobody answered and they must’ve been closed. Wow, looks like I still may spend the night in my car.

On the way back, I walked up to the office of the Oakridge Motel (with a 'No Vacancy' sign on) and some young blonde was on the front porch talking to another girl. I explained my plight and asked if there was any way I could have a room for the night. She said she could work me in with a room out back. I was relieved and that’s about the time her cell phone rang and she started swearing like a drunken sailor – whoah! Her potty mouth took me off guard, but at least I had a place to rest for the night.

I spent the next day talking with Zach, the mechanic, and his boss Chris, ordering a remanufactured distributor and figuring out when it could be delivered to Oakridge. Have you EVER heard of a distributor bearing going out? I’ve been around mechanical things for a long time, but NEVER heard of that! My old rotor had literally melted, the sensor was wasted and the distributor cap was toast.

By the next day, my mechanic Zach had my car running like a champ and I made my way home, but not without first leaving around $600 to the community of Oakridge. They like me now and I’m sure I’m on their Christmas Card list.
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It was an expensive weekend, but I still had a great time!

CLICK HERE to see all my pictures.
Ride on,
-Tom
Last edited by Tawmass on Mon Oct 02, 2006 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.
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chiny
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Postby chiny » Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:55 pm

Tom,
Thanks for the write up and your commitment to being the willing historian. It helps those of us heading toward "Memory-challenged Lane" cherish great memories of the ride, the weather and the friends we met. Thanks too for including photos of some of us hanging around the periphery.

..and sorry to hear the story about the four-wheeled Honda: glad it worked out.

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Postby Bonnie Meadowes » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:48 pm

pottie mouth ???

Just how do you think Bonnie Meadowes gets up the hills like "powerline"
with a clapped out 250, without talkin pottie mouth ???
Like Bin Rydin ever "cleans" a section ???
I mean get real ~ its a 250...
I might "clean" a few rock debries off the trail
wipe a "limited number" of "undangererd genesus" or something
but on a 250???

you have to whip em hard and talk "bad like" constantly
I mean I have to rev Bonnie up to near embarressment purple lately

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for the photo of the big saw log, and your story as well
Danno DOES look better without the cowboy hat
Dawn is right, just give him a dull putting iron
and his old loose nutz score big time

I finally "got my bearings" from Rocky Mountain M/C
and repacked them with the blue boat grease
put on a new X Ring chain, stainless, chromoly spocket set
and off we go again, eh ?

Great write up by the Tawm In Nator ~ I must say

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Tawmass
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Postby Tawmass » Wed Oct 04, 2006 6:50 am

Garsh, thanks guys. Hey, sorry I didn't get much of a chance to visit with ya, Lee. Was running on Hatcher Standard Time. :wink:
-Tom
You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.

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250 XRL

Postby Danno » Wed Oct 04, 2006 6:20 pm

Lee, I had a '91 250 XRL kind of like yours but not as pristine. I did my first 3 years of Black Dog work on it. I sold it with about 14,000 hard, maintenance free, miles on it. I can honestly say I haven't ever had more trail fun on any other bike I have owned. I ran the P**S out of that thing! I had to, as I am somewhat more girthy than you. It never did not take me where I had to go. Sometimes, I did have to ride around some big bore bikes, stuck on a hill, though... :roll: Danno
"I usually tighten my nuts better"


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