Wheeler Beach Ride

A group of eleven riders braved the drive to Usal beach for a ride to Wheeler Beach on the Lost Coast. The six miles of the dirt road to Usal is brutal! I am always amazed how many people use this area, the camps where almost completely filled. The weather was perfect and the views awesome.
As we where getting ready to ride Stan startled a large bull elk that was lounging in the picnic area! It settled down again and we all got a chance to check out this impressive animal.
This was my first time on this ride and for some reason I expected it to be fairly easy. Having ridden other areas on the Lost Coast I should have known better. By rides end Cindy's computer had 22 miles and nearly 4K of climbing!

Mike and the elk at the rides start near Usal Beach.

David at one of many view spots.

Jim stops to check out Usal Beach far below.

The group arrives at Wheeler Beach.

Stan checks out Wheeler Beach.

Relaxing after the ride.

Rick at Usal Beach.

We all had a great time riding together and visiting this beautiful area!
Get out and ride!
Chris

Club Camp

The club camping weekend is done. Gene Barnes won the poker ride and the hill climbing contest. Gene shared his good fortune by donating his winnings to the club. Thank you, Gene.
And thanks to Chris for securing and setting up our camp. Also thank you to David for transporting my stock tanks and working with Chris to make them into "cowboy hot tubs". Stanley and Rose laid out some great food which we enjoyed and appreciated. Thank you, Michael, for returning the pump and hoses to Rent-All.

Rubber-side down,
Rick

July Trail Work Day

Another trail work day is history!

Eleven MCC members came out to help clear downed trees, branches, and brush from old Rd 552. The trail is now ridable from Rd 555 (Berry Gulch road) to Rd 740 (Old Mill Farm access). A new trail was cleared from the old trailer to Rd 740 to bypass some large fallen redwood trees near the Old Mill Farm property.
This is a beautiful area and a good bypass to Rd 408. Check it out next time you are on this part of the forest!

Stan getting ready to play in the mud. His shirt was not nearly as white when he was done!

John and David D attack the Pompas Grass jungle.

Roo stays clear of Gene's Circle of Death!

Colin clears a log out of dip while Nick checks the line.

Mike clears some of many branches from the trail.

Colin and Marc rest up for the final assault.

Gene ready to finish last section after lunch.

I didn't get a good shot of Rick, or of me chasing down folks to get their photos.
Thank you all for helping make this a great work day!

Get out and ride!

Chris

Camp One and Camp Twenty Maps

King Range Camp out and Ride

The two Tims from the Bigfoot Bike Club riding the trail below camp.

Mendocino Coast Cyclists meet with the Bigfoot Bike Club for camping and riding in the King Range over the Memorial Day weekend. Groups from the Bay Area and Santa Rosa where also at Tolkan camp to check out the trail and have a good time.
Tim D. and Tim K. from Bigfoot and I came into camp on Friday evening. The Tims had been having fun riding in the Pea Vine ridge area earlier that day. After setting up we had a few beers with the group from the Bay Area and talked about some of the great riding opportunities we have in Northern California.

Saturday morning Jim and Cindy showed up early to set up their camp after spending the night in Garberville, and a new MCC member, Jack, came up from Little River to join us for a ride. We rode out and back on the roller coaster trail south of camp. After riding with us Jack headed down to the beach to do some surfing. John and Paul showed up around noon and we rode the loop clockwise. Everyone enjoyed the trail and views very much. This was my first time riding with Paul and he is a very good rider! Tim D. rode one loop with his bike sucking chain and decided not to ride again until new chain rings could be installed. The water was not working at camp so he volunteered to go fill our sun showers for us while we rode. When we returned to camp he had set up his shower tent and had all our shower water worming in the sun. Very nice! After a great shower, I started up the BBQ for chicken, Tim K. shucked corn, and Cindy made a great salad for dinner. We all enjoyed the food with some wine or beer, sat around the campfire to talk about bikes, the trail, and the good life.
Sunday after breakfast we where ready to ride some more. The plan was to go to the top of the downhill run so Jim and Cindy could video some of the action. It was 11 when we got to the top and because I had told folks a ride would start from camp at 12:30 I decided to keep going while the video session was happening. This was the first time I rode the complete trail counterclockwise. Coming down the narrow signal track was a blast! No one showed up at 12:30 so I had a few beers with the Tims and the group from Santa Rosa. When Jim and Cindy returned to camp we packed up and they left to check out Shelter Cove, the Tims headed north, and I took one last quick ride before heading home.
We all had a wonderful time and I hope we can do it again next year!

Here are some more photos

Jack came up and rode with us on Saturday then headed to Shelter Cove for some surfing.

John and Paul ready to ride.

Jim and Cindy set up their truck tent.

Get out and ride!

Chris