Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127216
clutch plates an d wh at I im agined was wood seeped into my helmet , as Nat e and I waited for Brian and Paul to crest th e hill. After abo u t a min ut e, I stopped th e mo tor on m y XT a nd walked do wn to see tha t Paul had h igh-centered h is big KLR over a small log , and the rear tire was spi n ni ng and smoking, trying to find tractio n. I joined th e push-and-shove contest, as th e clutch on th e KLR was heating up. A co u p le of heaves la ter, the KLR ro lled over th e log and Pau l continued to leg-paddle and slip the cl u tch up th e loose cl imb until he had cres ted th e h ill. A few minutes later we were on th e m ove again as we jo in ed up with T om and Kinney, wh o had both bypassed th e " Log Trail " for a n easier ro u te - Tom di d n' t thi n k th e big Beem er woul d cl im b th e hill , nor wo u ld Kinney's broken co llarbo ne and came ra eq u ipment a llow him to m ak e an attempt. We stra dd led th e ridges of Rech e Canyon before enco u ntering th e fire roads that would take us eas t towards Mt . San Jacinto, a nd Paul was happy to be on a wid e din roa d a fter hi s log enco u n ter. At th is point I was leading th e way , pitching m y bike over and sliding it through the turns, just as everyo ne else wa s. The din roa d on ly lasted a few m iles until I reach ed th e pa vement a t a " T " intersecti on. I was a ll a lo ne! T he last tim e I chec ked, Brian was behind m e, muscl in g a nd slidi ng th e b ig T ran sal p th ro u gh the turns. I kept waiting a nd eventua lly saw th e rest of the group coming down the trail. As th ey got closer , I could hear lau gh ter over their en gines, and I cou ld see bits of plastic hanging off Brian 's Honda. He was the firs t of th e group to bi te th e du st. For th e first time in my life, I realized I wouldn 't be able to blame this one on cold tires. I' d been suckered into a littl e, decreasing radius right-hander, obscured by Kit's trail of dus t, and when I backed off the th rott le, the fron t end tu cked and down I wen t. My ankle was trapped un der th e bike, an d it took so me tim e to get ou t from underneath it, but I was okay. Th e H onda, on th e other hand, w as v isibly scarred, wi th a large section of its fairing han ging loosely. But it was hastily refastened with duct tape, bailing wire and lu ck, and we were back u nderw ay. . No t bad, th is dirt riding stuff. If I'd done th at on a street bike, I' d be. calling a tow truck . And I didn 't even get road rash! Now it was time to head straight toward 1O,804-feet high MI. San J acinto. Wejumped on the pavement a nd cru ised through the canyons, paralleling th e tra cks of the Sa nta Fe Ra ilro ad. T he a ir was crispy clear with Mt. San J aci n to reach ing h igh int o the sky some 15 miles in fron t of us. We joined Intersta te 10 going east a nd a few mi les lat er exited the freeway an d stopped a t a gas station to to p off. Exce pt for T om - hi s BMW 's n in e-gall on-plus fuel ta n k would last virtually a ll day . Across the intersection was a U .S. Forestr y Statio n a nd Nate and myself ro de over to see if th ey had a ny maps of the a rea. They didn 't , but one of the rangers sugges ted a din ro ad to tak e up th e mountain. A few mi n u tes lat er , foll owi ng th e ra nger's d irec tions, we were m o torin g up a sma ll paved road tha t eventu a lly turned to d in at the base of th e hill. We co u ld see much of. th e roa d as it twisted u p wards a head of us. T he real fu n sta rted as soon as we began ou r climb. Paul a nd I were slidi ng arou nd the turns side-by-side, wh ile Nat e a n d Brian d id th e same just a few feet behind us: Kinney a nd Tom hung back to a void our du st. Paul and I were having a bo u t as much fun as you ' ca n ha ve on a motorcycle, rac ing eac h o the r from tu rn to turn . But we had o ne rule - 'yo u co u ld n 't change lines. T hat meant if I h ad th e inside li ne goi ng into a tu rn , n o m a tter how bad it migh t be, I had to sta y o n the inside. That way, Pa ul co u ld sa fely tak e th e outside line without worrying abo u t m e drifting out wide and cu tt in g him off. With our semi -knobby tires o ffering very li ttle traction o n th e dr y din , it made side-by -side ridi ng a little tricky, especia ll y w hi le bra king. T here were tim es th a t Pa u l' s handlebars were o n ly in ch es a wa y fro m mi ne as we slid th roug h the . turns. But we trus ted eac h o ther, a nd we co u ld hear eac h ot her laugh in g a loud underneath o ur hel m ets. We we re n' t reall y ra cin g , but th e ha ndlebar-t o-handlebar action was reall y exc i ting. T h er e's n othing quite lik e th e feeling o f execu ting th e pe rfect slide arou nd a turn . with a friend next to yo u doing th e exac t same thing, an d n ot havin g to worry a bo u t h im ce n te rp u nc h ing yo u. Club Med 's go t nothing o n th is! Na te and Brian were a lso bang in g bars rig ht beh in d us as we worked our way up th e hi ll. O u r biggest co ncern , tho ugh , wa s o n com ing traffi c a ro u n d th e blind turns. We had to keep o ur eyes open a nd leav e pl enty of room for quick evasion if necessary. Luckil y, we d idn 't have o ne close ca ll th e wh ol e trip; th ough th e fact th a t it was m id-week mo st lik el y helped. We fin all y ca me to th e en d of th e road, so \0 spea k , and regrouped. Du sted bu t rested, th e six o f us were ba ck o n pavem ent and winding o u r wa y towar d s th e top o f th e mou ntai n. A few mi les u p the roa d , we saw a n inviting din road to our left a nd we cou ldn't resist. (Ah , the spoils o f dual -span riding). Our n ew din ro ad eve n tua lly looped back o n to th e main aspha lt road. and it was h ere that th e " road race" guys decided th ey were tired of following th e din bikers. When th e road got real ยท twisty, Pa ul a n d Brian m ot ored away, dragging the peg s and lea vin g th e th e res t of us wonderin g wh ere a ll th e berms h ad gone. . Na te, Kinney, T om a nd I th ought a bo u t tryin g to keep u p wi th th em , but. th at was abo ut as close as we go t. We fin all y reached th e main town