Mines/Mt. Hamilton Ride - Sunday, August 23rd

[Alex]

Hi all! Let's do this again! How about Sunday, August 23rd.

We're going to head out to Mines again. Mines is a terribly fun road, away from much of the population and unfettered by driveways or even other traffic. It also gives us a number of good options for people who have more or less time to do different ride variants that day. We can meet once again at the Starbucks on South Vasco Road in Livermore at 10 AM:

Starbucks at Las Positas & Vasco - Livermore
223 South Vasco Road
Livermore, California 94550
925-371-0539
google maplink

and we will ride out of the parking lot at 10:30 AM. There is gas a few blocks from the *$, so make sure to come with a full tank. The route will take us all the way down Mines to the Junction, and we should be there by 11:30 - 11:45 at the latest for lunch. After lunch at the Junction we have 3 options, all of which are on the table.

Option 1: Those who want a bunch more miles can head east on Del Puerto out to Patterson. Del Puerto is a terrifically fun road! From there we can just double back west to the Junction, or some can head back via I-5 in Patterson if they are short of time.

Option 2: We can continue south on Mines from the Junction to head up Mt. Hamilton Road, which will take us down into San Jose on the other side. From there people can get right to 680 to head home.

Option 3: Folks always have the option to just turn back and head north on Mines, heading right back to Livermore.

There's no need to decide now, or even that morning; we can all decide what works for each of us while we're eating at the Junction. I hope a bunch of us can make it, I always enjoy these Mines group rides and it's a simply perfect road for our ninjettes.

Here's a writeup with some pictures of this same ride last month!

[SpyderGirl]

WOOT! After the night I had last night I am totally ready to unwind. Apparently just moments after making my last post in the other thread my blood sugar dropped to as low as 27, I passed out, and I ended up taking an ambulance ride and was in the hospital all night. Fun times. I'm totally okay now, I just have to take better care of myself and my diet. See you all Sunday!!! I'm excited.

[rutger]

I have been wanting to go but every time I could not make it but I will be there this time. See you sunday!

[SpyderGirl]

Same here. I'm stoked.

[ninjablk08]

ill be there with some friends that want to come along for a good ride

[green.saki]

hey all, sorry, i won't be able to make it. hope you guys have a good time!

[SpyderGirl]

Aww... that's too bad Leo. My husband will be along on his Nighthawk CB750. Oscar, are we going to meet at the HD store in Pittsburg and ride down together??

[ninjablk08]

yes

[krbreton]

Had to work for it, but I got my kitchen pass for Sunday.

I'll be there for the full route if you guys are willing to wait up for me at the stops

Looking forward to one of those root beer floats.

-Kyle

[Alex]

Tires aired up, fairings plexus'd up, tank gassed up, and all other systems should be go for the morning... See you folks there!

[SpyderGirl]

See you all in the morning... I need to get some sleep. Zzz....

[Angel-be-Good]

Bah, I'll be at Infineon with my dad tomorrow. Enjoy the ride, hopefully it's not a million degrees Fahrenheit.

[Alex]

Fun ride! With some excitement along the way... Here are some shiny ninjettes at Starbucks:



Here's a few more, along with few other makes:



This was the planned route:



9 or 10 bikes left as a group a smidge after 10:30 to head down Mines. Weather was nice! And road conditions were decent as well. I stopped a few times to let folks regroup, and we were making a steady pace to the junction. For the last 10 mile stretch, myself, Kyle, and Jeff kept at it until we reached the restaurant. I waited for awhile, and started to get that uh-oh feeling. After a few more minutes, I headed back north to see what the hold-up was, and distressingly, I passed a number of bikes coming in the other direction that weren't with our group. Eventually I came up upon a whole pile of bikes parked on the side of the road near a sharp corner, and I imagined the worst.

The bad news is that one of us sent their ninjette down into the ravine; the good news is that the rider walked away with minor injuries. After slamming through barbed wire and rolling down a cliff (the pictures do not do it justice; it was really steep right there), it's a good day if you can walk away chuckling about how much this is going to cost, rather than having to worry about any life-threatening injuries.









After the fire folks checked out the rider, we all headed back to the Junction for lunch, only 3 or 4 miles south of the off-road excursion. From there, the proprietors were able to call for a tow and start working out how to extract the bike, as well as getting the rider to the ER at some point soon for some xrays (again, not life-threatening, but better safe than sorry). Once we had all downed some grub, people chose different directions towards home. A number of folks headed back north to retrace our steps on Mines, but krbreton, Rutger and myself headed south to Mt. Hamilton. Here are those two at the Observatory lot:



The rest of my pics are all up right here. Hope everyone else made it home safe and sound, and happy and healing thoughts sent to our injured friend....

[Angel-be-Good]

Well Alex, that's two consecutive rides with falls (...three if you count SpyderGirl's drop pre-Starbucks). Something in the air?

[Alex]

I know; clearly we need be more vigilant about enforcing the no-crashing rule. It hurts! There's nothing particularly challenging about this road, but the issue is it isn't very forgiving if something were to happen. It is pretty mountainous terrain and we are out in the middle of nowhere if help would ever be needed quickly.

[ninjablk08]

Alex we made it back safe and sound ,its too bad about the accident but glad that it was not serious ,cant want for the next one so i can finish the route,i still had a good time thanks all

[green.saki]

sorry to hear about the crash, thats always a downer. but glad the rider is alright. hope he/she and the bike recover soon!

[SpyderGirl]

The ride was absolutely beautiful, and the bike was performing well. However the road was very dirty and was littered with gravel around every turn it seemed.

The downed rider was me, and I am okay if you are wondering. After 3 hours, and $585 for the tow, the bike was pulled out of the ravine. After seeing the hill from the other side it was very apparent that I was VERY lucky. I could have gone A LOT further down than I did, which was only about 15 to 20 feet.

What happened was I went to the outside of the turn to see around the corner. The front tire caught some gravel and started to slip a little. I tried to lean the bike over more to get it through the turn as the slide wasn't THAT bad... then when I realized it wasn't going to stick I tried to straighten up as much as I could and gently hit the brake. The next thing I knew I was going through the barbed wire fence and rolling down the hill. The leathers really saved my @ss for sure!!!

The bike isn't really in too bad of shape. The fairings are of course scuffed, scraped, and broken in some places. The windshield and part of the front fairing is gone. The handlebar controls are shot, the clutch pedal is shot, the tank is dented, and the radiator is leaking. Honestly, I don't think it's a total loss though, they'll probably fix it.

Pam at The Junction was kind enough to let me leave the bike there until this coming weekend when I can come down with my husband's car and the trailer to get the bike home. So Saturday we'll be down on Mines Rd again and this time I'm taking the Spyder and following the husband down. I'm not going to let that road get the best of me. It's a tough road and several riders that I talked to said that accidents happen frequently up there and that it tests the skills of even some of the best riders, so I don't feel so bad knowing that I am one of many who that road has won over.

We managed to get back up Mines Rd and into Livermore and then back up to Walnut Creek where $100 and 2 hours later I was out of the ER with a tetnus shot, and a bottle of happy pills (Vicodin). The right side of my body is very sore, my hand is badly bruised and swollen, and my right thigh is also very bruised up. No fractures though.

As for riding again, my husband really doesn't want me to ride anymore, and honestly I am a little shaken up by the experience. If the insurance company fixes the bike, I will probably keep riding, but I'll probably stay away from Mines Rd and stick to more familar routes. I don't want to give up riding, but since I was 18 I've been in two bad accidents, and managed to walk away with very minor injuries both times (first accident was a roll over in a car - not my fault)... eventually my luck will run out.

I hope I didn't bum any of you out, and to the rider that was behind me that saw the accident... I am sorry I scared you. I hope that it was just a friendly reminder to you, and everyone, all the gear, all the time.

Thank you all for a fun ride (while it lasted)!!

[krbreton]

Katlyn- Glad to hear you're ok. We saw a group of fire, emt, and tow headed up Hamilton, and wanted to make sure nothing had worsened. Must have been another incident. Seeing the accident site I was pretty surprised to see you with such minor injuries. Nice thing that the wrist isn't broken, and like I told you there - if you want to go off-roading that badly, get a dual-sport

Other than the accident, the ride was a very good one (Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?). Good weather, and a good group of riders. Hamilton was beautiful as usual.

I look forward to riding with y'all again soon. Thanks for setting this up, Alex.

-Kyle

[BlueTyke]

Good heavens girl!! I am so glad you are okay!! Geebuz!

[SpyderGirl]

Originally Posted by krbreton

Katlyn- Glad to hear you're ok. We saw a group of fire, emt, and tow headed up Hamilton, and wanted to make sure nothing had worsened. Must have been another incident. Seeing the accident site I was pretty surprised to see you with such minor injuries. Nice thing that the wrist isn't broken, and like I told you there - if you want to go off-roading that badly, get a dual-sport

Other than the accident, the ride was a very good one (Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?). Good weather, and a good group of riders. Hamilton was beautiful as usual.

I look forward to riding with y'all again soon. Thanks for setting this up, Alex.

-Kyle

Kyle -- we took Mines Rd back up to Livermore. My husband wasn't having much fun on the twisty roads, he is a very conservative rider.

Yeah, I'm all good. The hand is still pretty swollen up. I hope the other rider was okay.

And I might just have to stick to dirt bikes and just avoid street bikes all together. They don't seem to like me very much.

The ride was fun nonetheless. Glad everyone got home safely.

Ride with you guys again real soon.

[rockNroll]

Barbed wire can be very nasty... glad to see that you suffered only minor injuries

[krbreton]

Originally Posted by SpyderGirl

I hope the other rider was okay.

Well, I think you spooked him a little but I followed him up and down Hamilton. He's a good rider, he'll be fine, probably just a little bit more cautious from here on out (which is a good thing, overall).

See you soon...

[SpyderGirl]

Originally Posted by krbreton

Well, I think you spooked him a little but I followed him up and down Hamilton. He's a good rider, he'll be fine, probably just a little bit more cautious from here on out (which is a good thing, overall).

See you soon...

I'm glad to hear that. I can only imagine what that had to have looked like to him. But that's the painful reality of the sport.

[KJohnson21]

Katlyn,

Glad to hear that you came out of that relatively unharmed. That's the best part (even though it rarely feels like it at the time).

It certainly sounds like you have a clear understanding of how it happened.

I hope you don't totally give up on street riding.

[SpyderGirl]

Originally Posted by KJohnson21

Katlyn,

Glad to hear that you came out of that relatively unharmed. That's the best part (even though it rarely feels like it at the time).

It certainly sounds like you have a clear understanding of how it happened.

I hope you don't totally give up on street riding.

Yeah, I should have just been a little more careful coming out so much on the turn. I leaned more hoping that I could save it, but the traction just wasn't there. Then I straighted it up and tried to stop but by then I was already into the fence and down the hill.

I will probably give up the two-wheeled street bike for a while and just stick to dirt bikes. I also have the Spyder which I can ride on the street.

Thanks for the well wishes.

[noche_caliente]

Katlyn, I'm so sorry to hear about your accident, but I'm glad you weren't too banged up as a result! How did you gear hold up? Don't forget to keep ice on those bruises, it will really help a lot!

[SpyderGirl]

Kim, thanks for your concern. My gear held up very well. There is a rip in the front of my jacket and on the bottom right pant leg and other scrapes here and there. The helmet had just about zero damage, just some scuffs from the brush. And my boots are a little scuffed. The swelling has gone down about half... I can see my knuckles again!!

[noche_caliente]

you are so lucky it wasn't worse - I'm glad to hear you're ok!

[SpyderGirl]

Yeah, I definitely have a guardian angel, that's for sure.

[green.saki]

sorry to hear about the crash katlyn! i'm glad you're okay though. must be tough to shake off something like that. for me, just reading about crashes puts a little reality into what we do, and gives me the willies. i haven't crashed on my motorcycle yet *fingers crossed* but i bit hard on my bicycle not too long ago and only now am i getting more comfortable about riding my bicycle fast again. hope you recover both mentally and physically to be able to ride again soon!

[SpyderGirl]

Thanks Leo. Believe it or not, I'm not as shaken up as you all might think. I actually was out riding yesterday on the Spyder. I told my husband I needed to feel normal again. It hurt to get on and off the Spyder and pushing the brake with my right leg hurts, but the riding felt good. I can't seem me ever giving up riding motorcycles... just might stick to 3 on the street and save 2 for the dirt. We'll see though, I still don't know if the insurance company is going to fix my baby up or not. I know the blue book on that bike is just under $3K, but I owe over $6K. Believe me, that actually hurts more.

[SpyderGirl]

Just found out from the insurance company that they are going to total the bike and have salvage pick it up.

[krbreton]

Originally Posted by SpyderGirl

Just found out from the insurance company that they are going to total the bike and have salvage pick it up.

Katlyn - Sorry to hear about that. Who is the loan through? Often, on car loans, there is a clause that says that if the car is totalled, the rest of the loan is forgiven (not really forgiven, but an insurance that you get with the loan). You might want to read your paperwork really carefully at this point.

Also, without trying to be insensitive, but how much do they want for the salvage bike (often you can get the bike for a few hundred and either part it or sell the bike whole as a project)? I might not mind having a project around the house...

[SpyderGirl]

Kyle--

The loan is through HSBC. I do not have GAP insurance so I know know what they are going to do about what will still be owed on the bike. As far as the buy-back option, I am looking into it. I have someone who is interested in buying the bike from the salvage company but he said he couldn't offer more than $1K, depending on the damage. I should know more next week. I will be heading down Mines Rd this Saturday to pick it up and salvage the exhaust off it and swap it out for the stock exhaust I have at home.

[Alex]

How did they determine it's a total loss, they had an adjuster already take a peek at it while it's at the Junction?

[SpyderGirl]

Yeah, he went by there yesterday. They wanted to pick it up but I told the insurance guy that I wanted to swap out the 2 Bros exhaust for the stock one I have at home and sell it. It wasn't damaged at all in the accident. I am thinking about a buy-back if the price is right, then I just may part it out or sell it as is to someone else who might want to turn it into a track bike. Or I might keep it as a project. I don't know yet. I'll know more next week when the numbers come in.