Day 4: September 6
Sunday morning was C O L D! Steven said his thermometer said 21 degrees. Kevin said his bike showed 18 degrees! CRAZY! I think 29 was the coldest I ever saw it there and I've been there 5 times before. It's usually in the high 40's at night.
So the highlight of the entire weekend is really on this day, Sunday. WMRS opens their gate up on the mountain twice a year now and this Sunday was one of those days. It's a good idea to get up their early to beat the Jeep traffic up the mountain, plus I wanted to be home in Irvine by 5:00 but we were again about 45 min late leaving camp. All that stuff to take down, pack, etc... takes time.
Group shot before we left. Brice is shirtless, no doubt for his Grindr profile pic
About 8 of us headed out south and went down Casa Diablo. Arwi and Maria were two up and took it slow. Ross took a fall in a tight, soft corner near the end and bent his rear brake lever but he was okay thankfully. We got gas in Bishop then headed up the mountain. We got going up there and then ran into Kevin and Danny coming back. They said another rider, Mark (Scott?), had fallen and busted his shoulder. They had already taken him into town with the help of some 4wd people and were back to tackle the mountain but it was too much for Danny. Kevin, seeing he had us to partner with now, said his goodbyes to Danny and joined us up the mountain.
Silver Canyon was REALLY torn up this year! Lots of loose rocky stuff had Steven Green turning back at first, and then Arwi/Maria, Jonathan and Ross. Mike, Kevin, Fonzie and I went for it on this steep hill and I saw Greg and Anja at the top of that section! I was glad to see they made it up that hardest part. The rest was tricky but not as bad as the first third we'd just finished.
Kevin, Mike and I ended up just racing for WMRS and Fonzie showed up not too long after that, as did the Sena crew on their Yamaha 250's (cheaters!). I passed a group of AOLrider friends of mine I've ridden with many times before on their way back down White Mountain Road. It would have been fun to catch up but I was anxious to get home to Irvine.
12,333' in elevation! Not many places in the lower 48 you can get that high, even in Colorado.
Mike went back down Silver Canyon and Kevin and I raced down to Big Pine. He hadn't eaten lunch so I left him there and just blazed back home. I got home at 7:15 and was just wiped out.
What a weekend though huh? I can't wait to see the professional shots our photographer Fonzie took! I want to see more of everyone else's photos too. I'll have another video done shortly too so stay tuned....