Some spring rides

[ChinaV]

We don't really do 4 seasons down here in Guangdong, what little winter we have seems to instantly turn to summer. So I decided a new thread was in order for the next couple months of weekend excursions. Some of you have been following the old winter thread, this will be more of the same.

Besides the fact that I'm vain and crave your attention, I post this stuff to keep you folks entertained. It's quite obvious, with all the off topic b/s popping up all over the forum, most of you are suffering severe MWS (motorcycle withdrawal syndrome) and winter has kept you cooped up too long. Spring is here, let's get back to being a happy, (dysfunctional) family, and riding.

And by the way... you... yes you... get off your ass and post something. I'm sick of hearing about some experience you had, yet you never seem to post any pics or commentary. Stop asking questions about how to get somewhere and then never posting about what happened when you went. Let's just say that I know a whole heap of you have done something interesting on a motorcycle this year, yet you kept it to yourself instead of sharing. Some of you are 10 ride reports behind, and you're at the doorstep of a whole new riding season. Many have spent the winter fixing up your bikes, so where are the tutorials and tales from the garage?

If you ride and don't want to make big deal out of it, take a couple pics, write a few lines and throw it in this thread. I would enjoy seeing more of China and more Chinese moto's in other parts of the world.

On with the show...and the first installment.

What goes down won't necessarily go up

It was about 17º inside my concrete cube as I sat drinking coffee and blabbing to Felix on Skype. Cold shitty and rainy in Shanghai, drizzly and grey down in Dongguan. My neighbor, andy74rc, called and asked if we were going to do our usual "On Any Sunday" routine, so I went out to the garage to assess the riding conditions and discuss tactics. Much to my surprise, it was 27º outside, summer had come overnight, complete with humidity and mosquitos. We figured things would dry out after lunch, so we decided on a 2:00 departure. Off we go!



A few weeks prior, we came across a steep downhill trail and decided to come back when we had more energy and time. That would be today.



It started out OK. Plenty of ruts and damp leaves to keep you on your toes. A few spots where you had to get off your bike and walk it down. We continued on, hoping the trail actually went somewhere, as backtracking up some of the hills was going to be rough.



Came to a split in the path and followed a riverbed for a few meters, dead end, so we paused for a break.



Arriving at this clearing, we realized two things. We were very tired, and our chances of getting to the end of this trail were slim. It was 4:30, so we had about 2 hours to get out of the jungle before nightfall. I walked the trail about half a kilometer and returned with some grim news. The trail had several huge drop offs, we could probably get the bikes down, but it would be impossible to get back up. If the trail didn't have an outlet, we would be screwed, with no hope of getting the bikes out, and a 4 kilometer, uphill hike to get out. We decided it was better to turn around and head back.



Which started out OK, but eventually we hit the steep stuff and it became impossible to keep going. I reached the middle of a huge climb and was stuck. We tried pushing, pulling, fighting, swearing etc., but we were making very little progress. On one attempt, I got a little too aggressive, and the bike simply wheelie'd and endo'ed back on top of me…ouch. An hour passed, we had managed another 7 meters of progress. We still had 5 more major climbs to go. At 6:30, we finally called it quits. We were about 1.5 kilometers away from the trail head and darkness was coming fast. Completely exhausted, we decided to abandon the bikes and return the following morning.

We hiked out of the jungle and walked another couple kilometers of road, trying to get phone coverage to call the wives. Finally our saviors arrived in the car and we went back home for a cold beer and some much needed rest. The following morning we were up early and bought a rope and a pulley so we could go back to fetch the bikes.

Rescue mission…



The girls came along to see what kind of trouble we had gotten in. It was a long hike back to the bikes with a whole bunch of "you guys are stupid" remarks.



Setting up the pulley and rope for the first hill.



I think this shot gives you a good idea of what we were fighting. Plenty of leaves and moss covering the trail kept us spinning.



Heave… Hoe…



More climbing and trail analysis.





More fun.



Mrs. ChinaV … Don't do that again!



Finally making it out past one last obstacle.



Be careful out there,



We finally made it home after 2 hours of rescue efforts. Oh well, if you don't push it, you will never know your limits.

Cheers!
ChinaV