After supper I decided to go for a boot & decided to head up to Eagle Ridge for an evening ride. It turned out to be an 'interesting' ride, so to speak. Normally, I don't have too many problems making it to the top, but tonight the mountain wasn't having any of that. I was having all sorts of problems, managing to score 3 separate get-offs.
To add insult to injury, while riding through one of the rockier sections, my bike suddenly lost power. The engine was still running, but nothing doin!. At first I thought it popped out of gear but I didn't see the neutral indicator lit. Fiddling with the shifter I made sure it was in first & let out the clutch, but still no forward motion, only noise. I thought maybe the clutch packed it in (a side-effect from towing Hondas out of McNutt). Finally I see the chain has come off the rear sprocket! The bike was in a real precarious spot, with basketball-size boulders all around me making it hard to even step around the bike.
I loosened the rear axle nuts & tried to get the chain back on but the extremely steep incline made that too difficult. Tightening the chain adjusters was also out because the incline was putting too much tension on the rear wheel. I was about to lay the bike down to drag it around & point it down the hill when I spotted a Jeep slowly making its way down the track. The two guys in it offered to help & I gladly accepted! A few minutes later the chain was on & I tightened it a little more to make sure I wouldn't be repeating the process further up the mountain
Further up I took the Cypress Lake turn & followed it to the lake. Coming back I veered off & headed up to the Buntzen Lake lookout. Nearing the top, just as I'm sweeping through a banked 2nd gear left turn, I almost run over a freaking full size black bear! He pops out onto the track from my right, cutting me off & forcing me to veer off into the shrubbery on the left side of the track. My front wheel goes over the side as I'm trying to counter-steer back into the track (& avoid taking branches in my eyeballs) but I eventually low-side the bike on its right side. I'm immediately on my feet & notice the bear is about 50ft away, now parked in the middle of the track.
I pull the weeds outa my helmet & quickly stand the bike up, heft the rear wheel onto the track, lay it back down, then drag the front wheel up & over (by the handlebars), then finally stand the bike up again -- all while I've got one eyeball locked onto what looks like a black VW Beetle on legs that's less than a stone throw away.
I am exhausted & running only on adrenaline at this point.
I climb onto the bike & attempt to start it. Oh yeah, I have a broken starter button &
I need to play with wires to start my bike The engine is turning over but it's not starting because, 1) I just dumped the bike, & 2) I can't give it any fuel because my right hand is busy hold freaking wires together.
I finally figure out to use my right armpit to hold the throttle open, then reach under & around the bar to touch the wires & the DR comes to life!!
This new commotion has got the attention of Mr. Bear. His body is still pointing up the mountain, but he now has his head craned all the way back.
It's stare down time!
God this ****er is as big as a house! His ass is so big I bet that 6 people could eat dinner right off his ass & still have room to rest their elbows on it.
He's still not moving, so I think "Oh **** it, Ima take a photo of this bastard! So I start to slowly unzip my camera pocket. Suddenly, he turns his body to face me, but he hasn't taken a step closer. Ok, **** the photo, I zip it, spin the bike around & start heading the other way. I turned to see what he was doing but he had vanished!
Nearing the bottom of the hill, less than 500 yards above the power station, I had to play frogger around THREE 4x4's that were heading up the mountain -- their headlights so bright I just about rode off the side of the mountain!!!
So, who's up for an Eagle Ridge ride?
