Happy Birthday Joe! Sounds like a great ride/ birthday. I'm glad I'm not the only one that hears Dueling Banjos whenever I'm in back country. I want to go here and bring up some chairs and a table to play chess!
On Feb 21, 9:06 pm, Joe Bunik <jbu...@gmail.com> wrote: > Ha, good bean spillin', Jim! :-) > > Yep- I spent a most wonderful b'day out here in Rivendell Country! > with my friend and good neighbor Jim M. I've been wanting to get back > out to Green Ranch for a while, since I'd first heard about and > visited last Autumn. > > For some context, I've had good fortune that 3 of my local riding > buddies here are(/were!) Legolas owners, and I was duly impressed on > test rides. I believe I'd put the phrase "if ever you want to get rid > of this..." out to each of them. In fact, way back when Riv had first > their crop of Legolai(?), it called out to me as somewhat ideal: light > OS, canti, fancy-but-not-too... One day a few months ago, my phone > rang... > > So: I first heard about "Green Ranch" here (see > p.3):http://www.mdia.org/PDF%20Files/MDReviews/Review%20Spring%2005/MDRevi... > ... and was intrigued. A little digging pinned down the location and I > was off. It really is a fabulous trail / fire road, and I will happily > ride/guide anybody interested as circumstances permit! > > The previous visit, I'd gone up there solo late one afternoon on an > ill-equipped 650B conversion with semi-slick too-narrow tires - just > too sketchy for the conditions and quickly disappearing light on the > back side of Diablo - so I turned tail and bike-hiked back out to the > road. This time was exactly the terrain and reason why I brought the > Legolas into my life. Absolutely perfect fit by my book. > > That said, I won't be taking the bum steer we received from the Park > Rangers again. The trails heading out to the park boundary in fact DO > NOT continue on through to Morgan Territory Rd. Given the precipitous > drop in elevation past the Green Ranch site and the 99% humidity > conditions, we somewhat found ourselves screwed and in that rock/hard > place situation when we came to that first gate... then even worse, > that 2nd gate another 1000' lower on the mountain... I was not > relishing an encounter to find out who would win The Big Jerk Award: > property owner or bandit biker (yes, I realize this is sounding pretty > CYA) !!! Plus, I swear kept hearing Dueling Banjos in my head the > whole time. > > Sadly, Legolas Buddy #3 was unable to join in the Legofest. But a > highlight was encountering a crabon fibre roadie at The Junction who > dropped-jaw upon seeing us. Actually, it turns out he races CX on his > L.! You never walk alone in Rivendell Country! > > =- Joe Bunik > Walnut Creek, CA > > On 2/21/12, Jim Mather <mather...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Neighbor Joe invited me for a ride on his birthday yesterday. We had both > > spotted a trail on a map that looked like it might be a good loop over and > > around Mt Diablo, so we loaded up our Legolas' (Legoli?) and headed up via > > North Gate Rd. At the Junction, we headed towards the summit, but then got > > off the road and took the trail less traveled to Green Ranch. Green Ranch > > is a former summer home built in 1939 and designed by William Wurster > > (notable Bay Area architect and a former dean of Berkeley's architecture > > school). > > > The home was designed in a modernist style and built on the southeast side > > of the mountain. Joe has a picture of the current view and an old picture > > of the house at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_bunik/6914384039/ > > The empty pool, tennis courts, foundation and fireplaces remain but > > everything else was dismantled in 1993 to bring the area back to its > > natural state. > > > We continued past the ruins on the trail to the park boundary. There was a > > small gate and a very faded sign that might have once said Private > > Property. The trail was obviously seldom used -- grass was growing in it > > and the only tracks were deer. We hopped the gate and continued down the > > trail heading towards Morgan Territory Road. Eventually the track looked > > more used and we came to a much more secure gate with lots of barbed wire. > > The public road was on the other side of the gate so we knew we were headed > > in the right direction. The gate was high, so Joe squeezed through the > > barbed wire fence and I lifted the bikes over to him. I then squeezed > > through; no one needed a tetanus shot. We turned around to see the gate > > sign: "Diablo Archery Club -- No Trespassing. Danger!" Good thing we > > didn't have our helmets with antlers. The remainder of the ride was less > > fraught with danger. > > > I have a few pictures at: > >http://www.flickr.com/photos/20986098@N04/6773347072/in/photostream > > > cheers, > > jim > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
