The Adventures of Tyson and Hobbes

[av_mech]

We had a nice lunch at the local bar and grill in in Halfway, OR. Jesse was a little late as he went ahead to get fuel.

After lunch, Mike decided he was done for the day and needed to head home. First time on a bike in three years means the motorcycle muscles aren't in shape. Thanks for coming Mike! We'll ride again soon.

And then there were three.

We came back up 86 and stopped in at Scotty's fuel stop. There were a ton of bikers there waiting in line. It took a few minutes to get though.

I talked to a guy on an SV650S and we poked a bit of fun at the group of Harley riders that had a sag wagon with trailer following them. Just in case a break down happens. It was full of coolers, but I'm sure it could have served another purpose.

I also made another crack at all the assless chaps. Jesse informed me that all chaps are assless. If they had an ass, they would be leather pants. Touche. Still fun to call them assless chaps though. Makes it sound kinda gay. I still think they look stupid.

Onward.

A short ride up the Oregon side of the Snake River to our next challenge point.



Homestead. #26



From here we came back down the way we came and crossed over to the Idaho side again. We were going to try to take the 4WD road out of the valley, but it was blocked off by the ranch that owns the land. Looks like it has been closed for quite sometime. Both Benchmark and Garmin need to update this change. U-turn.

Now we are going to go up the Kleinschmidt Grade. I've never been up this one before, so it should be fun.













That was fun! And very pretty. This such a cool area.



Cuprum, ID









We turned North on FR 106 to get to the next two challenge points. This would be an out and back on this road as well.

Just past Lockwood Saddle, the view opened up over Hells Canyon and it was spectacular.



The Wallowa Mountains of Oregon and Hells Canyon. Read about Hells Canyon HERE. It is North America's deepest river gorge at 7993 feet from the top of a peak in the Seven Devils of Idaho to the Snake River below.















The end of the road is Sheep Rock. Challenge point #31.





Dax's bike is fancy and has a thermometer (I wish I had one. WTF Triumph?), so he noticed that we went from 90 degrees at the river to 61 degrees here. Almost 30 degrees change! Hope I got those numbers accurate. I think we said 30.

There was a little 3/4 mile or so walk around Sheep Rock. We took a little hike to look into the canyon.





That's the river waaaay down there.



Looking South and turning right.

Photo #1



2



3



4



5



6

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The two tallest bumps in the past picture are part of the Seven Devils of Idaho. So that's where the deepest part of the gorge is.







Lots of pretty wild flowers blooming.



The next challenge point was just off of 106 and only a few miles away. It was a very fun ATV trail down tho the old mine site of Helena.

Still a bit of snow.





Challenge site #32. Helena.





A few fun little rocky sections on the way up. I caught some air on a few of the water bars. This is big bike to be jumping it. But, it's fun.



I got to the top of the ATV trail where it met back up with 106 and waited for the others to arrive. And waited....and waited... and waited. About five minutes goes by and I know something's happened. I go back down to investigate.

I find them parked on the trail. Dax is out by his bike, but Jesse is sitting off the trail in the shade. Dax tells me Jesse pinched his left foot between that cut off long and his peg. Dax came along and asked if he was ok. The reply form Jesse was "No!"

I did the exact same thing on my CRF earlier this year. I can sympathize. That fucking hurts!!!!

Dax and I looked at the map to figure out the quickest way home. It's about 5:30 if I remember right and we are a long ways from home. We won't get the last two challenge points that were on the list for today. Those were bonus ones anyways. They are much closer to Boise and can be gotten another time. We got all the ones we really wanted.

I guess this whole time I was thinking he had more of a stinger than anything. I had no idea how bad it actually turned out to be.

He broke his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th metatarsals and dislocated the 5th.

I'll let him post the X-rays. Pretty gnarly. Going in for surgery soon.

Back to the time it happened. I was more than happy to offer a few suggestions on how to ease the pain while shifting. I seriously thought a few miles down the road it was gonna be all good.

Down the road we go!





I took a number of photos over the next 20 miles or so of "normal" woods riding in the mountains of Idaho. It always seems that pictures are of all these spectacular vistas. Well, there is plenty of riding to be done between those vistas and this is what it looks like.



Mine for sale.



Stopped and waiting for "Hop-a-long"



Didn't wait long. He was only a few minutes behind. Broken foot and all!





















I had to stop and take a picture of this old school house. Just the way it sat on the side of the road jogged an old memory.

When I was about 12 or 13 I was totally in love with a girl down the road. Well, a little further than just down the road. About 7 miles. I was a country kid if you haven't figured that out yet.

Anyways, we were kinda "going out". One night we made plans to sneak out and ride our bikes to meet at this old church which was about halfway, but a little closer to her. We successfully snuck out at our predetermined time and were on the road.

I remember it was pitch black that night. No moon with a layer of clouds that even blocked the starlight. And cold. Late fall in Northern Wisconsin.

I was riding along on the correct side of the road and all of a sudden, a scream and skidding bike tires! We totally ran right into each other it was so dark! She was on the wrong side of the road and we totally had a head on bike collision!

I remember her being a little panicked. She was yelling, "Oh my God, Oh my God, please be Tyson, please be Tyson, I'm gonna kill you if you aren't'!!"

After she calmed down, we rode to the church and made out in the cold of the Wisconsin Fall until enough dew had gathered on the grass so it was no longer bearable. We parted ways and rode home before our parents discovered we were missing.

Ahhh, memories.



Back on the pavement and heading South towards 95 and Council, ID.



Me 'n Hobbes









We stopped for a break and fuel in Council. It was also time to air up the tires for the remaining 125 miles home. Poor Jesse was hopping around and not putting any weight on his foot. I can't believe he is still riding.





And that is the end of the photos for the day. Just some highway and interstate home. We all split up around the Payette area and went our separate ways.

468 miles on the day. A great ride with only the one downer.

Jesse, please post your X-rays and the rest of your story in here. Feel free to just copy and paste from your previous posts in the Boise thread so you don't have to write it twice.

The End. For now.

[Rob.G]

Originally Posted by av_mech

I'll have to admit, it's tough to find the time. But, writing this thread has become something that I really enjoy doing. Sometimes the ride is easy part!

I've only done one ride report, and I ended up getting chastised for it because I found fault with some Harley assholes and idiot campers that would pull in and campo next to me when the entire rest of the campground was empty, so no more. I'll take photos and stuff to remember the trips, but I don't do ride reports anymore.

I agree it's a lot of work, and I definitely enjoy yours!!

Rob

[av_mech]

Originally Posted by Rob.G

I've only done one ride report, and I ended up getting chastised for it because I found fault with some Harley assholes and idiot campers that would pull in and campo next to me when the entire rest of the campground was empty, so no more. I'll take photos and stuff to remember the trips, but I don't do ride reports anymore.

I agree it's a lot of work, and I definitely enjoy yours!!

Rob

Getting chastised doesn't bother me. I am very opinionated and also a "don't take shit" kinda guy. I remember one guy awhile back felt the need to tell me in here that he thought I was an asshole for my view on Harley riders and told me he'd never read again. Didn't bother me a bit. His loss the way I look at it. I know there's a lot of people that really enjoy this thread. My opinions and all. 57,113 views says so.

[Rob.G]

Originally Posted by av_mech

Getting chastised doesn't bother me. I am very opinionated and also a "don't take shit" kinda guy. I remember one guy awhile back felt the need to tell me in here that he thought I was an asshole for my view on Harley riders and told me he'd never read again. Didn't bother me a bit. His loss the way I look at it. I know there's a lot of people that really enjoy this thread. My opinions and all. 57,113 views says so.

Yeah you have the following to do that. I've only done the one... I don't get out to do real rides like that real often. And so then the one time I do a report, of the dozen or so comments I got, a good third of them had issues with something or another. I just figured fuck it, it's not worth the frustration.

I AM glad you continue to do yours. And I share your view on Harley riders. But then again, I hold almost the entire human race in contempt because I think they're self-centered, oblivious morons.

Rob

[Handy]

Thanks for taking all of those great photos, my wife enjoyed seeing what I was up to on Saturday. I told her that you named your bike Hobbes, she suggested I call mine "The Bone Crusher" I don't know if I am down with that.

Here is my series of posts about "the incident"

6/24/12 4:19 AM

The good news is I had a blast yesterday! I had fun on my first ever ride with other people, saw some absolutely beautiful country, checked off 5 challenge sights, and improved my riding skills by TRYING to keep up with you guys! Thanks for being patient with me and giving me a few pointers today, it was great to meet all three of you.

The bad news is I broke my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th metatarsals and dislocated the 5th. It hurt like a sonofabitch when the doc reset the 5th, I have a temporary cast now and go in for surgery consult next week. I went to the ER at the VA and there was another motorcycle related foot injury when I got there!

I really appreciate you guys watching my back on the way home today.

Hopefully I heal up soon and we can go out and knock out a few challenge sights together.

Oh, and now I can't sleep.

6/24/12 9:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverspurs bummer!! sorry about the toes! now, where's the rest of the story??

I caught my toe on a cut off log that was sticking out into the road a little bit, when you go to Helena watch out for that sucker.
It probably wouldn't be so bad if it was just the toes, unfortunately it is the bones in the middle of my foot, it hurt so bad I almost threw up when it happened. Somehow I was able to get the kickstand down and get off my bike. I was laying on the ground muttering some choice expletives when Dax pulled up, he said "Are you ok?" I said "NO." Turns out I was right!

Tyson, were you wearing motocross boots when that happened to you and do you thing that is what kept you from breaking your foot?

6/25/12 8:25 PM

I was standing up on the balls of my feet. I have PivotPegz and the more I think about it I think that since I was standing and going uphill my toes were pointed down but still flat on the pegs. So instead of my foot just getting knocked off the peg or bent down like it might have on a regular peg it more likely just got smashed between the log and the peg, that makes sense to me since it broke my foot bones instead of just dislocating them.
At any rate I think I will invest in a pair of motocross boots and pay more attention to how close I am to rocks and logs.

You know what they say, if you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough!

6/24/12 9:31 PM

Here I am at about 3 AM after I finally got home from the hospital, I guess I should have finished reading "The Essential Guide to Dual Sport Motorcycling" before the ride. It says right in there not to hit your feet on logs.


6/25/12 4:39 PM

Went in for more x-rays and to see the podiatrist today. I took my splint off for the x-rays and laid my foot flat on the table, flexed my ankle and rested my foot on the table on the left side. It didn't hurt at all so I was feeling pretty good, maybe it's not that bad, hell maybe I can start walking on it!
Not so much. I saw the podiatrist and he said it is pretty messed up. I have to go in for surgery next Tuesday to get some plates and some pins. I should be off the crutches about two weeks after that and all healed up in about six weeks.

Here are some x-rays:

Saturday night, hmmm somethin' don't look quite right


Damn! What's my toe doin' over there?


It wasn't fun getting that toe put back in place, I was reaching around in the air, I just wanted to grab something, anything and squeeze the hall out of it! My wife made sure to stay out of reach



Here it is today, good to see that little piggy back where he belongs


6/25/12 7:07 PM

Well, we got the neighbor kid to mow the lawn, but our house sure could use a vacuuming and dusting...

[av_mech]

Video of Hells Canyon at Sheep Rock. Idaho side.

[av_mech]

Thanks for posting that Jesse. Those X-rays really show just how much pain you were in for that last 175 miles. Unbelievable you pass out on the bike. Heal up and we'll ride again!

[daxm]

As I was the sweep on the ride out I noticed that just after we got on the main road from the 4 wheeler trail (well, maybe a mile or two down the road) I noticed what looked like a near wipeout at a corner in the road. By the looks of the track it appeared to either be a front end washout or the backend breaking traction trying not to miss the turn. Was that you by chance?

[av_mech]

Originally Posted by daxm

As I was the sweep on the ride out I noticed that just after we got on the main road from the 4 wheeler trail (well, maybe a mile or two down the road) I noticed what looked like a near wipeout at a corner in the road. By the looks of the track it appeared to either be a front end washout or the backend breaking traction trying not to miss the turn. Was that you by chance?

I know exactly what corner you speak of. I noticed the skid mark on the way in. On the way out I put a second one down on the gravel. Didn't wipeout, or really even come close. Just had to apply a little more brake than I initially thought.

[flyboats]

Originally Posted by av_mech

Hi Chris,

Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!

I first started typing everything in the "new reply" window on the forum, until my computer locked up and I lost several hours of writing. Never again! There is a much better way to do it.

I use Microsoft Notepad. NOT Microsoft Word. There is a difference. Notepad is the free one that comes with Windows and is located in the Accessories folder. The problem with Word is, there are many hidden characters and codes that can screw things up when copy and pasted into a forum like this and all that computer gobbly gook writing shows up. This doesn't happen with Notepad.

What I do is I split my screen about 60/40 vertically down the middle with my photobucket account in my web browser taking up the 60% on the left half of the screen and Notepad taking up the 40% on the right. I write my story in Notepad and insert the embed code for the photos into the story where I want them. It works pretty slick.

There is only one catch with this simple method. While typing in Notepad, I select the "Word Wrap" option under "Format" while typing so it wraps from line to line. Otherwise Notepad will only drop to the next line when you hit enter. The catch is, you mus deselect "word Wrap" before you copy and paste the whole thing into the forum post. It does some funny things if you forget.

The other trick I'd offer if you put a ton of photos in like I do, is when you start with a blank Notepad and have "word wrap" selected, hold enter for about 15 seconds and put a bunch of blank lines in before you start. That way when you type and want to add a photo you don't have to worry about hitting enter after your writing, and before your photo and then after the photo again. It makes copying and pasting the embed codes go really quick. It also ensures that you have that nice one line space between all of your photos and paragraphs. That may sound a bit confusing, but you'll figure it out.

That is what works for me! Hope that helps.

Good info on posting and the RR. I just copied this info and emailed it to myself. Now you won't have so much re-training of me after our next trip.

[flyboats]

Originally Posted by av_mech

Are you still planning on coming out this year? It's gonna be tough for me to take another week off this summer with our Alaska trip next summer. I could do a long weekend and that would be it.

Yes, after the OR fire season. Probably leave 2nd week of Sep after I get 'my work' done. What ever time you can get will be fine. We could just do day rides, cookouts and drink beer! (from most of the RRs I read it's a toss-up as to which liquid has the highest consumption rate - petrol or beer) Maybe T-rev needs to come to ID. He wants to go S, as in out of country South so I may go that way on my way home. I really don't have a return planned. Dogs will be with Jeff and Diane and I will train them on some parts of the business.
This is more email stuff so I'll just finish by saying 'I'm on the left!'

[flyboats]

Originally Posted by IDAHandy

Thanks for taking all of those great photos, my wife enjoyed seeing what I was up to on Saturday. I told her that you named your bike Hobbes, she suggested I call mine "The Bone Crusher" I don't know if I am down with that.





Here it is today, good to see that little piggy back where he belongs


6/25/12 7:07 PM

Well, we got the neighbor kid to mow the lawn, but our house sure could use a vacuuming and dusting...

Bone Crusher , not funny at all
Looks like you may have a chip off the 1st metatarsal floating around in there too. Damn, that really looks like it hurt then and now. You have my sympathies!!! I would suggest you chat with your Dr and get some heavy duty pain killers for your on-bike First Aid kit. If you keep hanging around with this crowd something similar will probably happen again.
Good luck on the recovery.

[Handy]

Originally Posted by flyboats

I would suggest you chat with your Dr and get some heavy duty pain killers for your on-bike First Aid kit. If you keep hanging around with this crowd something similar will probably happen again.
Good luck on the recovery.

When it happened I had Dax grab me some IB Profen out of my tank bag. It wasn't until I got home that my wife reminded me that I just put some Norcos in my 1st Aid Kit. I guess they will be there next time I need them.

[Handy]

Hey Tyson, I think that I heard you say you had Sasquatch do some suspension work for you. I think since I will be off the bike for a while I may do the same. Is it worth it? Does it help more with on-road or off-road? You think an ol' hop-along sumbitch like me could get the shock out?
Wish I could go down to Nevada this weekend with ya! Whatever you do, have fun!

[Petrolburner]

Moto boots are a must! Do not ride off road without them! And while you're at it throw in a good pair of athletic insoles for shock absorbtion. I think I got mild sprains in both ankles today from failed attempts at climbing big rock walls on my trials bike