RUTS Central Coast Weblog

The April RUTS Fun Run is coming up quick. Some of you out there are in need of directions on how to get to Clear Creek.

So here goes:

Directions to Clear Creek

From King City (Highway 101): Take First Street exit. Go east on G-13 about 15 miles to Hwy. 25. Turn left and go about 2 miles to Coalinga Road. Turn right. Go about 16 miles until you see the BLM sign and kiosk for Clear Creek. Cross the river and look for a big grassy meadow. We are staging on private property. Look for the RUTS signs.

From Coalinga (I-5 and Central Valley): From I-5 take Hwy. 198 towards Coalinga. Turn right on Gale Road, then turn right on Derrick Road. Turn left on Los Gatos Creek Road and go about 30 miles until you see the BLM sign and kiosk for Clear Creek. Cross the river and look for a big grassy meadow. We are staging on private property. Look for the RUTS signs.


From the Bay Area: The best way is to take 101 south to Gilroy. After passing through Gilroy take the I-25 exit to Hollister. Follow the signs to the Pinnacles. After getting to Hollister, drive through the downtown section and follow the signs to Hollister SVRA. After you pass the high school you will reach and intersection with a stop light. Going right will take you to Hollister SVRA, go left. Turn right at the second stop light. This will put you back on the I-25 and on your way to Tres Pinos. Optional: when you get to Tres Pinos, stop and have breakfast at Flap Jacks. Follow the sign to the Pinnacles. After you pass the entrance to the Pinnacles, it's about 12-15 miles to Coalinga road. Go straight onto Coalinga road and go about 16 miles until you see the BLM sign and kiosk for Clear Creek. Cross the river and look for a big grassy meadow. We are staging on private property. Look for the RUTS signs.

Here are some links to some maps on how to get to Clear Creek.
http://www.dan.prxy.org/Motorcycles/Idria_tour/New-Idria_map_v2.html
http://www.dan.prxy.org/Motorcycles/Maps/Clear_Creek/Clear_creek_map.htm
http://www.picacho.org/get_there.html
http://www.blm.gov/ca/hollister/clear_creek_management_area.html#gothere




See ya there........

Well, you guys missed out. Last weekends ride was awesome. As usual their were frozen puddles in the mountain shadow on the New Idria side. It got down to 31 degrees or so Saturday night. The camp fire didn't seem hot enough unless you were stand in the middle of it. It was crowed Saturday, but the crowd dissipated on Sunday. Carl took me on some new trails I'd never been on before (which is one of the things I love about Clear Creek, you can always find new trails) and I made a new one of my own after falling into a ravine on the way back from the plane wreak. Oh, and I found a new piece of the plane wreak while working my way out.

One hill I couldn't climb because the trail was frozen over. It's not a good feeling being in second gear, throttle on, feet planted and your still sliding backwards. I also managed to get lost on the front side (the area I'm least familiar with). I got separated from the group after hitting a very square rock and doing a face plant. I broke the first rule when getting separated from the group, stay put. I figured I could catch up, but made a wrong turn along the way. I followed the widest trail and it took me all the way down to the Salinas Ramble's property. After a nice gentleman gave me direction on how to get back to Oak Flats, I proceeded to get lost again. I keep hitting a fence. After running into this fence a few times I found myself back at the Salina Rambler's campground. After checking my fuel, I decided to just take Coalinga road back and risk the massive fine for riding an OHV on a public road, if caught that is. I made it back to our Jade Mill campsite without getting into trouble, again.

We rode about 50 miles a day. I took about 10 gallons of gas and can back with less then 2. Good thing I put my large fuel tank on.




The view from San Benito mountain was stunning. You could see clear across the Central Valley to the snow covered mountains of the Sierras.

We did pre-ran some of the RUTS fun run that we'll be dong in April. All in all, it was a great weekend. No broken bikes or bones.

We're planning a trip to Clear Creek for Dec 3rd and 4th. Camping at Oak Flats or Jade Mill, hope to see you all there. For current and projected weather and conditions, click here or on the MP3 icon for an audio update.


How to get to Clear Creek: Click Here.
Location of Oak Flats: Click Here.

This is a picture of my other kitty. A 1990 CR-500R. This picture was taken at Hollister Hills SVRA on Jan 30, 2004.

Although Hollister Hills in a nice place to ride, I prefer Clear Creek.

Maybe someday I'll be able to convince the wife I need another kitty. Say a 2003 Honda CRF-400. A new CRF would be nice, but a 2003 is the only model year that can legally carry a green sticker.

Here is another good link to find info on the Clear Creek area. http://www.picacho.org/

Well, half a weekend report, to be exact. I had intended to stop by the office on Friday for just a moment on my way down to the Creek and ended up spending four hours. I finally got down there about 2PM and took a ride up to our meadow to inspect a fence that our neighbor recently built that cuts off T140. More on this in another post.

On Saturday morning I headed down to the CC entrance to work with Jim Kennedy and Carl Anderson, both members of Racers Under the Son, to distribute information about the Clear Creek battles and to educate riders. I guess it is because it hasn't rained much this year that the number of visitors is still low or it may be that many people drove in on Friday, taking advantage of the three day weekend. Whichever, we probably only greeted around 50-60 people between 8 AM and 10 AM. I really appreciate the help from Carl and Jim and hope that more people will step up and volunteer to help.

Afterwards, I went back to the club property and hooked up with several other members for a five hour, one leg cramp ride on some of my favorite trails. I started the ride following along behind the group that included an 11 year old on an YZ85 and our two newest club members. As the ride progressed, I eventually took the lead and led the group out to the Spanish Lake area. The 11YO, RJ Mendez, hung with us through all of the nasty rock trails and only had to be helped a couple of times by his father or uncle. The kid is a an expert in the 65cc motocross and just recently graduated to an 85cc. RJ can't touch the ground when on the Yamaha and I think this will help him become an even better rider. If you think about some of our off-road racing legends like Larry Roesseler, Dick Burleson, John Martin and Shane Watts, the one thing they have in common is that they are all under 6 foot tall, some significantly under. The take-away here is to get up on the pegs and go faster!

I am pleased to report that the Salinas Ramblers hosted another Doc Wong dual sport and dirt riding skills clinic at the club property last Sunday. Doc (he's a chiropractor) had a good group of riders participate. Riders skills ranged from almost first time novices to intermediate off-road riders. The bikes ranged from a 950 BMW to a XR80.

I would like to thank Doc Wong and this students for their donations to the Clear Creek Legal Defense Fund. Their donations amounted to right at $1,000. Doc is planning another clinic in the January timeframe. If interested, contact him to get on his mailing list. He also puts on street riding clinics and suspension clinics up in the Bay Area.

Thanks also go out to Off Road Only (San Jose) and Motion Pro for the donated products that were handed out during the lunch break. Finally, thanks to the guest instructors/coaches Joe (Racer) Wytman, Ed Willis (Motion Pro), and Carl Anderson (Central Coast Racers Under the Son) for their assistance during the clinic.