The Breakfast Club: Hendy Woods Campout
Sunday–Wednesday, 7–10 May 2023
Marc writes; pictures from Carl, Jag, and Marc:
Sunday
Back in February I posted a message to the mailing list reminding the group of the Hendy Woods campout. Eight people replied that they would attend. Tom and I had reserved sites. Two sites would have fit 8 people. Then Les, a friend of Chris from Pomona, CA and Tennessee, joined too. Chris reserved a third site so we’d have plenty of room. And plenty of room is what we had as two of those who indicated they’d camp back in February must have had a change of heart. There were 7 campers.
There were 9 for breakfast at Giaco’s in San Geronimo. Mike joined us for the ride and Ran joined us for breakfast. During breakfast Tom mentioned a bad smell coming from his bike and signs of leaky fluid. It was a taste of what was to come.
After breakfast, with lots of help in the form of unsolicited opinions and pointing of fingers the issue was determined to be as expected, oil leaking from the transmission output seal onto the muffler. Engine oil was OK. Gear oil was down. Tom, with Mike as a riding companion, decided to head back toward 101 to find gear oil. We’d wait.
Mike texted Jag that there was no gear oil to be found at their first couple of stops so they were going to go all the way to San Rafael. At that point the rest of us saddled up and I led the group to the Tides at Bodega Bay. We’d wait for Tom and Mike there.
When Tom topped off his transmission with the gear oil they finally found it took almost half of the bottle. Maybe another bottle would have to be found before the ride home.
Tom led the group up highway 1 to Elk. There was one stop about 20 minutes away from Elk where some needed to lose the coffee they had at breakfast. And stretch legs. Etc. By that time Mike had pealed off to head back home.
At Elk we ordered our sandwiches and did the SMBC thing. Some stayed there and ate then continued up 1 to 128. Others stored their sandwich and headed to Hendy Woods via the Philo Greenwood road. We checked in and set up camp.
Some of us ate our sandwich for dinner. Jag cooked his typical excellent camp dinner for himself, Chris, and Les. Campfire. Talk. Sleeping bag time. Rain. Lots of rain at O’dark thirty. Still raining at 6 AM. Good thing I’d set up my tarp just in case. Also good I placed my chair under the tarp before going to bed.
Monday
In the morning I drank my coffee sitting under the tarp waiting for the diminishing rain to stop. I was not alone. The rain did eventually peter out and breakfast was made. Tom shared some wonderful chorizo with me. I had eggs. The chorizo scramble was great.
Once fed we mounted up and rode as a group to Ft Bragg where we stopped for gas. Then we did the typical SMBC thing. Carl decided to head back to camp. Harry said he’d join him. I rode 1 up to Leggett then went north for a few miles to have lunch at the Peg House. Chris, Les, Jag, and Tom road Branscomb Road to Laytonville with a stop at Ran’s house. When you ride with us you ride alone.
After lunch I rode down 101 to Laytonville and took Branscomb road the other way back to highway 1. While on 101 heading south I saw Tom on 101 northbound. He had lunch at the Peg House, too.
Carl and Harry hiked around Hendy Woods, visiting the Hermit’s shack and Hendy Grove.
When all were back in camp Jag prepared steaks Chris got for cooking. Chris and Les threw theirs on the fire. And in the fire when Chris tried to flip one and lost control. Les said he couldn’t tast the ash. My late lunch was large and I’d had some chips to go with a beer when back in camp. A can of soup met my dinner needs.
Tuesday
Carl noticed the oil shine on the rear tire of Tom’s bike. It seems the gear oil stopped leaking out of the boot, filled up the drive shaft, migrated into the final drive, and forced out of the housing through the final drive vent from built up pressure. Carl took a run into town to buy some cleaning supplies. Chris and Les took off for a ride on the Skunk RR. Jag went looking for fish Tacos in Ft Bragg – the restaurant was closed on Tuesdays. Harry did some more campground exploration. I did some of the same.
After cleaning the bike Tom, Carl, and I rode into Boonville for lunch. Ten miles. The back of Toms bike looked like it did before he washed it. It is not going to make the ride back to the bay area. Back in camp a call was placed to Fred asking for a pick up on Wednesday.
Wednesday
Without a group breakfast to get to we mostly took our time breaking camp. Les had a long way to go and left relatively early. The rest of us had breakfast in camp with a cup or two of coffee before getting around to packing up.
Jag and Harry left some time after 10 AM. Carl took off closer to eleven. Chris and I stayed with Tom, waiting for Fred to show up in his truck. Due to work meetings Fred left a bit later than he’d hoped. He arrived about 11:30.
The bike was soon loaded and tied down. By noon Fred and Tom were on their way. I left about five minutes later. Chris was still in camp. He’d made plans to meet with a friend in Ukiah and wasn’t quite ready to leave.
I caught up to Fred and Tom in the traffic on 128. They stopped in Cloverdale for lunch. I continued on, first getting gas in Cloverdale and then stopping for lunch in Novato. I still made it home before 4 PM.
Tom was not the only rider with a leaky seal. My right front fork seal gave out a while back. Either I repaired the issue by cleaning under the seal lip with a bit of film or, more likely, there is no more fork oil in my right fork to leak. I didn’t have to worry about oily tires. My seal problem will be addressed when I take the bike in for a service later this month.