6/3/06 Ride Report: Teepee Poker Run (Night Ride)

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6/3/06 Ride Report: Teepee Poker Run (Night Ride)

Postby Tawmass » Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:42 am

For something completely different, I managed to finagle my bud, Frank Noe and his misses Erin, to join Ellen and I at the annual Mt. Scott Teepee Poker Run (night ride) at McCubbin’s Gulch in Mt. Hood National Forest. And to REALLY make it interesting, I planned on riding it two up with Ellen. I figured, hey, no worries, take it really easy and my newly purchased, used, ’87 XL600 Honda would be the perfect torque thumper to carry our fannies around the course. Plus it had a killer headlight.

The forecast said 10% chance of rain until around 8pm, where it would then turn into 30-50% chance of rain. I figured that it rarely rains on the other side of Mt. Hood, so no worries. Frankster carried the XL, dubbed “The Mule”, up with his caravan and I waited until Ellen got off work and then we drove up. By the time we got there, it was getting dark, and so were the skies. We finally found Frunk and Erin, geared up (me in just blue jeans, jacket and open-face hat and boots) and took off to sign up. Also in our caravan were Vint Holman and Dave Newell, whom I hadn’t seen either for quite awhile. We still didn’t think that it would be bad as we finished signup and started on our way, while the sprinkles started. After about the first mile or so, it progressively segued to light rain, after which it then transferred into solid rain.

Argh, simple trails were becoming quite the challenge as we gingerly poked along in first gear, occasionally snicking the gearbox into second, but eventually back to first. It was getting slick, on a very heavy bike, with two large adults on the back tire, making the front tire very light, in now very slick mud – driving at night. Not a good combination or pretty picture. By now I was really glad I had elected to wear blue jeans and my old jacket, which wasn’t waterproof – not! Since we got started kind of late, eventually the sweep crew caught up with us. Doh! After one lipskid from the front wheel washing out, Ellen and I’d had enough and asked for the shortcut to “the bridge”. You see, the bridge was the halfway point where there was a big bonfire and a free soda pop or water. Back in the day, the bridge was a beer check, but due to our inexcusable, litigious society, those days are long gone. Taking the shortcut to the bridge was yet another adventure, since we eventually got to one steep hill that had two quads and a bike very stuck and spinning their tires wildly. I made Ellen walk up, once they all made it over the top, and I thrashed the mighty XR over the top. Poor Ellen had no lights to see where to go though and it was a greasy hike up the hill. We finally came to The Bridge and, after we’d stopped for awhile, the sweep showed, and it was time to leave already. Frank and Erin finally showed and Erin’s bike was running the battery down, due to a weak stator, so a bump start got her rolling again. Ellen and I caught the first gravel road and sailed through the downpour back to the finish. We got a horrible set of poker hands and just hung around waiting for Frank, Erin, Vint and Dave. They still hadn’t showed by 12:15AM, so we headed back to the trucks. By around 12:45AM they finally showed and had all matter of stories about dead batteries, no kickstarters, bumpstarting, Erin hitting the wall, but it was all good as we all changed our sopping-wet clothes under the awnings and EZ-Ups.
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By the time Ellen and I got back home, it was almost 3AM, but we truly did have a great time, even under the inclement conditions. Next year will probably be so dusty, we’ll still have to stay in first gear, but we’ll try again anyway. Good times.

You can view the few pictures I took by CLICKING HERE. I know, the pix are weak, but it was very difficult keeping the camera out of the rain and from fogging up.
-Tom
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You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.
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