Mother LodeAdventure Tours
Our Mission is to provide you, the rider, with a unique and personalized riding experience tailored to your riding skills and personal riding preferences. MLAT is a boutique motorcycle dual sport/off-road touring company with tour groups ranging from 1 to 4 riders. The ultimate goal of MLAT is to maximize your riding time, enjoying the type of riding you like to do. You work hard to gain your leisure time. We want to respect the amount of time we have together and realize you want to spend your time riding your dual sport motorcycle. As such, all tours will be individually personalized..... examples would include focused rides on desolate asphalt roads and hard pack gravel roads. This would be ideal for riders looking to gain a greater comfort level on their dual sport motorcycle transitioning from asphalt to other types of looser riding surfaces. More experienced riders will appreciate the wide variety of dirt roads to rugged jeep trails that are abundant throughout the Mother Lode Sierra foothills. Staggering scenic views and substantial elevation changes are the norm. Hard core dual sport enthusiasts will appreciate the labyrinth of single track trails that weave throughout the forests interconnecting with trails of all types. This is a truly unique dual sport motorcycle environment that will appeal to all caliber of riders. The real trick is to align your skill sets, motorcycle capabilities and riding preferences with the appropriate riding areas and trails. With literally thousands of miles of trails to choose from and inaccurate forest maps to get you there, how can you possibly go out and enjoy your day ? Let MLAT lead the way ! What's required to sign up ?
1.) You will need your own dual sport motorcycle (street legal) and a valid drivers license with a motorcycle endorsement.2.) Your bike needs to be reliable so we spend our day riding and not wrenching.3). Appropriate riding gear and safety equipment. This is up to you but should include regular motorcycle boots, shin/knee guards, gloves, helmet with goggles or face shield and whatever you normally wear off-road riding.4). Fill out the rider's questionnaire with requested dates.5). We will contact you to start talking specifics.
All tours will be completely customized so we need your input. Nothing is set and if you have some area(s) you'd like to explore or make a large loop we can work that out. An example would be crossing from hwy 4 to hwy 108 through the forests and back a different way. We can pack a lunch for a quick bite on the trail or we can plan to exit the woods near some awesome burger place for a breather.... A weekday, a weekend day, a weekend or a week. Its your life - start living it !
Because this off-road touring company has been established to meet the needs and wants of you, the rider, I can try to accommodate any type of request. Maybe you want to stay on asphalt roads with hardly any cars on them...ok. Maybe you want to ride hard - all day, on mostly single track trails....ok. Maybe you hardly want to ride at all but instead are looking for instruction/coaching on how to ride on certain types of terrain, get your bike set up properly etc.... ok. Maybe you've got 15 guys that want to ride for a week and get your butts kicked every day.......ok......... but be careful what you ask for !
Different seasons will cause us to utilize certain riding areas. The Stanislaus National Forest Service closes the forest roads/trail system from December 15th - April 15th of every year - regardless of snowfall. Elevation in this area ranges from 3,500 feet up to 8,500 feet. This is a great area to beat the heat in the summertime however, it will be dusty as the summer months rage on. Fall and Spring are the best months as the winter rains will optimize the trails and allow us to ride closer together. It can get quite cold and snow can be an impeding element in the early Spring riding season up in the higher elevations. The lower areas ranging from 3,000 feet down to 1.800 feet are generally too hot to enjoy in the summer but provide relief from the snow and cold of the Winter months.
Key riding area and approximate elevations
Columbia
Groveland
Tuolumne
Hull Creek
Deer Creek
White Pines
Herring Creek
Eagle Meadows
Beardsley Reservoir
Dorrington
Black Springs
Bear Valley
Sonora Pass
Sweet Water Mtns.
1,700 - 3,000 ft elevation / rough trails - fire roads
2,500 -3,500 ft elevation / single track - fire roads
2,500 - 4,000 ft elevation / rough trails - fire roads
3,500 - 6,000 ft elevation / single track - fire roads
3,500 - 5,000 ft elevation / single track - fire roads
4,000 - 6,000 ft elevation / single track - fire roads
6,000 - 8,500 ft elevation / single track - fire roads
6,500 - 8,500 ft elevation / rough trails - fire roads
5,500 - 7,000 ft elevation / rough trails - fire road
5,000 - 6,500 ft elevation / rough trails - fire roads
7,000 - 9,500 ft elevation / single track - fire roads
7,000 - 9,500 ft elevation / single track - fire roads
8,000 - 10,000 ft elevation / rough trails - fire roads
8,500 - 11,700 ft elevation / Like riding on Mars (one can only imagine)
All of these areas are accessible to riders of every level. The trick is where to go within each area. If we can draw some lines of generality they would say the lower elevations have trees (not pine forests), generally lean more towards rough jeep trails and fire roads. Terrain is small rocks/dirt and sand. It seems no matter what region we're in the elevation bandwidth between 5,500 to 6,500 is incredibly rocky. Its all traversable but may be a slow go and especially challenging to less experienced riders. If you want to work on your rock riding skills pick areas with these elevations as areas you'd like to explore and ride in. Anything between 3,500 and 8,500 ft elevation will be in the middle of spectacular pine forests. Again, riders with any and all riding skill sets can ride in these areas - just a question of where we go - up to the max challenge factor you're interested in. The riding areas with elevations consistently above 7,000 feet are not recommended for the occasional weekend warrior unless your other "warrior" activities involve cardio workouts. The higher elevations with the thin air combined with the rigors of maneuvering a dual sport bike may be too taxing to actually enjoy yourself. Once we're up high and away from civilization there's no quick way back to thicker air.
Riding over the Sonora Pass and up into the Sweet Water Mountains is recommended only for riders in better than average physical shape and skill sets that have been previously learned for dealing with steeper hills in low traction environments. A spectacular experience and visuals - a lot of ground to cover in one day so you may opt to make this a two day trip. Due to the extremely high elevations these areas have a very limited riding window - generally from early/mid June through mid September.
Pricing schedule
1 rider $145/day 7 hours
2 riders $115/day per person 7 hours
3 riders $90/day per person 7 hours
4 riders $80/day per person 7 hours
Special rates will need to be calculated for trips that exceed one day due to different types of overnight accomodations
All tours will leave from Jamestown, California at 8:30 or 9:00 am depending on lunch choices. Each tour will include a minimum of seven hours out on the trails. Prices do not include food or drinks. You will need to provide proof of liability insurance and a valid motorcycle license when signing up. MLAT guarantees to stay within legal riding areas on authorized roads and trails. Our function is to act as a tour guide. You are responsible for your own actions. Our goal is to maximize your riding time and getting you and your bike back in one piece. Oh..... and a big grin from ear to ear.
