NorCal fire/4wd roads?

[sp4ce]

I'm looking for some good fire/4wd roads in northern california to go explore this weekend. I'm taking my wife out for her first time dirt riding on her new xt-225. Looking for something super mellow and easy with little traffic. Definitely not one of the OHV parks full of MX nutters and hill climbs. She's going to need nice easy fire roads and 4wd roads without huge ruts, stream crossings or mud bogs. The only place I have experience with is the south end of the Lost Coast, but I was hoping not to drive that far (coming from SF.)

Any suggestions?

sp4ce

[Ride Far]

Mendocino Nat’l Forest, 1 ½ hour north of SF. Head north to Clear Lake, hop on M1 at Upper Lake. Follow M1 just past Lake Pillsbury to M6 to near Alder Springs. There, turn west on FH7. You can follow FH7 out of the forest, to Covelo.

Or, you can turn north on M4. M4 will take you north and then east, again out of the forest, to Newville on the east side of the forest. My buddy & I were last there in May and there was snow on M4 … we made it thru, but was a bit challenging.

Note – this is a VERY tame route! In fact, maybe 10% is paved, north of Upper Lake and around Lake Pillsbury. There are no stream crossings, no mud bogs, and negligible ruts. It’s pleasant if unexciting.

I found this out in May the hard way! Back in March, I rode M12, Twin Valley Road, M10, and M3 and enjoyed a dozen plus fordings and fairly challenging conditions. Figured I’d find more of the same on the route I describe above, but noooo…

Then again, we did venture off the route for some cool hill climbs & etc. Plenty of opportunity for that ...
AAA maps are surprisingly good for these routes, BTW.

[sp4ce]

Sound like good suggestions, thx. Came a little too late for this trip, but they sound perfect for next time. I need nice boring, lame stuff for my wife to learn on.

sp4ce

[Renazco]

Come up to Santa Rosa and I'll show you a nice road perfect for learning.
Hardly ever see anybody out there and you can enjoy a small town nearby for lunch and refreshments. Probably about 8 miles of off road that drops you off right at the coast.

[folmonty]

Originally Posted by Ride Far

Mendocino Nat’l Forest, 1 ½ hour north of SF. Head north to Clear Lake, hop on M1 at Upper Lake. Follow M1 just past Lake Pillsbury to M6 to near Alder Springs. There, turn west on FH7. You can follow FH7 out of the forest, to Covelo.
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This is a great suggestion. I rode FH7 last weekend and really enjoyed it. Lots to ride up there and you can make it challenging as you want with all the options. Very little traffic out of Covelo.

[Ride Far]

So sp4ce, where'd you & the missus end up?

[sp4ce]

Originally Posted by Ride Far

So sp4ce, where'd you & the missus end up?

We ended up going to Stonyford. It was really good. We camped at Fouts Springs Friday night and on Saturday did a 30 mile loop around Letts Lake. Rode the M5 outbound and then other roads I can't remember on the way back.

Unfortunately my wife had a really unlucky fall and split her knee open pretty badly. The trail we were on crossed the road and she didn't understand why I was stopped, saw the stop sign too late and panicked coming down the hill to the road. Accidently gassed it first and then tossed it away on the only 10ft of pavement we had been on all day. Landed square on one knee...gloves/jacket/boots not even scuffed, but her knee was split open laterally from side to side down to the knee cap.

We spent the next three days in the hospital in Chico.

Luckily (if you can call it that...) she has no breaks/fractures or ligament or tendon damage. Just a very bad cut/tear.

Bad intro to dirt riding. She still wants to ride though. Got pretty pissed when I suggested that it would be OK if she quit. I made her promise to let me buy her serious knee braces, padded pants, and a pressure suit before she goes out again. I had been trying to buy her that stuff before this trip, but she convinced me to wait until she knew if she liked it...doh!

sp4ce

[folmonty]

sp4ce - sorry to hear about your wife's mishap. Tell her it was the pavement that caused this and not dirt riding Similar thing happend when teaching my SO to ride. Too much gas, big rock, panic & crash. She never did take to it but loves riding buddy-up. If she does stick with it I know you'll buy the riding gear before heading out. Best of luck and hope she heals up quick!

[Ride Far]

Man, sorry to hear about your wife's spill! Good for her wanting to get back on the horse ... in pants with kneepads!

Similar thing happened to a gal pal of mine in March. She's a newbie, did great on Saturday, Sunday morning she's riding too fast and took the inevitable spill. Wrecked her confidence, she spilled four or five more times after that.

Tore ligaments in her knee, hasn't been back on the bike since. Not that she doesn't want to ... waiting for the knee to heal.

[sp4ce]

Thanks for the concern. Not too worried about her getting back on the bike. I have been trying to give her an 'out' on that (so she didn't feel pressured to ride) but she just gets pissed at me for suggesting that she gives it up. Mule.

sp4ce

[folmonty]

Originally Posted by sp4ce

Thanks for the concern. Not too worried about her getting back on the bike. I have been trying to give her an 'out' on that (so she didn't feel pressured to ride) but she just gets pissed at me for suggesting that she gives it up. Mule.

sp4ce

Rock-on Mrs, sp4ce! If it feels good, "do it"! Bravo for you for supporting her.

[fahrtleiter]

Originally Posted by boejangles

Come up to Santa Rosa and I'll show you a nice road perfect for learning.
Hardly ever see anybody out there and you can enjoy a small town nearby for lunch and refreshments. Probably about 8 miles of off road that drops you off right at the coast.

Willow Creek Road? Some loose tight turns, mostly lots of fun just avoid the cow pies and potholes.

[Renazco]

Originally Posted by fahrtleiter

Willow Creek Road? Some loose tight turns, mostly lots of fun just avoid the cow pies and potholes.

Yup that's one of them, actually there is another road towards Guerneville that just got a bunch of big rocks bulldozed in front of it when I rode pass there yesterday. Typically a lot of those closed roads are owned by the Mendocino Lumber Company and you would need written permission to be on them, that and of course the keys to open the gates. Been on a few of them here but nothing like going just north of here for all day riding.

[sp4ce]

Originally Posted by tirebiter

I also ride with my wife, and were allways looking for other couples to ride with.

Thanks for the offer, tirebiter. That sounds like fun. Unfortunately, my wife is out of commission for at least a month, probably 2. We went up to Stonyford and she had a get off. See the face plant report here:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44379

When she heals up, I'll PM you, though. It would probably be helpful for her to have some other people to watch and learn from

sp4ce

[sp4ce]

Right on. Cow mountain sounds good...I was looking at that area too, but went with Stonyford in the end. I also really want to do the Usal road from the south end of the Lost Coast.

When the wife heals I'll PM you and we'll all go for a put.

BTW that link doesn't work. I think it is a link to the page you were using for editing. It tells me I have to be logged in when I follow it.

sp4ce