Zubb

Oops. Forgot about the pooch. I say drive out, pitch a tent and bring a bottle with you. 8-)

Ride the Katoom.

Negative, ghost-rider. Page is down.

Bring it!

The route is complete and ready for print, to my knowledge. I have no doubt it will quickly become the new favorite. If you've explored CA, you know this state has world class views, trails and roads. This will be my primary interest for riding this summer when the snow melts.

In. And thanks Tom. I hear you too on the retirement thing. I'm less stressed, but have way more to do. I'm looking forward to hanging with the group and also testing out a lighter camp kit. Seems like by now I'd have it figured out, but I find smaller and lighter is a life long journey.

I’ve actually been churning away at the thought of building this…

I was wondering this week when yours would deliver. 🤷‍♂️😉

I wanted that flying squirrel.

Welcome! You live within reach of a ton of big bike friendly trails. Congrats, and welcome to a great group of riders here with a ton of info to share.

Also of note: comparing 1 layer, 2 layer and 3 layer Goretex isn't an absolute. The garment maker is key in the garments performance. It's best to compare/discuss jacket and pant "models". A 3 layer Gtex jacket from Revit may perform quite differently than a 3 layer jacket from Klim even though they use the same Goretex.

Gore Tex is breathable compared to a plastic rain jacket. I’ve been wearing it since it was invented. All different levels of it. Breathability is a scientific fact but not a practical one for “me”. I had the Carlsbad and ride it for a couple years. I Toured it through numerous multi day downpours and found it to be about 98% waterproof. It’s a good jacket and for me, worth the spend. For me living in the southwest deserts… it didn’t vent well enough for our climate and weather. Note it’s perfect though for more northern climates where it’s not so dang hot all the time. I’ve since abandoned goretex shells for Mosko Moto’s E-vent. It breathes a hundred times better. And it’s 100% waterproof under the worst of the worst multi day endless downpours. My son and I have torture tested it far beyond reason. If I were going to Alaska, unquestionably this is what I’d take. As for cost, nothing is worth the money until you really need it. Then it’s worth every cent. Do you need to wear this? Only you can answer that question. Cheap pull over rain suites? I wore one once. They always tear, always leak, never fit right or comfortably. I’ve never seen one on tour that survived a couple days rain very well. If it’s all you got, wear it, run it, and have a blast regardless. I currently have the Rak it’s one of the most clever designs I’ve ever carried. It’s unusual but is a 100%effective cold layer and rain layer. I love it. But wait, there’s more. MM will be dropping a new rain shell on us this winter called the Deluge I believe. It should be perfect for us Baja and desert riders as a 100% rain shell that is stretchy (yes stretchy) and rolls up in a little ball. Light and tight for those of us that rarely encounter actual rain. It could be a game changer for us desert rats. I may run it in Baja in Feb/Mar/April cost is TBD Riding gear is like bikes. Buy what you can afford and then enjoy the heck out of it. Adapt as needed.

Funny thing, I spent 2.5 hours in the Mojave yesterday looking for the leak in my rear tire. Went thru 2 spray bottles of soapy water slowly inching the bike forward and back. Was a sh*tty time to have a bolt lost from my center stand!!!!! couldn’t find it. So I pulled over every 5 miles to pump up the rear, and get to Barstow. A-1 cycle/tire was closing when I got there so I overnighted and saw him this morning. The leak was at the spoke. Upon dismounting the RallZ from the Woodys we saw air bubbles under the tape. First I’ve heard of a Woodys failing. Had to tube it. Just got home now and will follow up here with further details.

Am burning my way home from UT right now. The custom molded silencers in my ears are the only way to go when running left lane with with all the L.A. cagers at triple digits for multiple tanks of fuel. Note I am running a mini screen.

Can’t help but think these guys apprenticed under Tom. Fun stuff in the spirit of real adventure riding.

I have some custom molded plugs, and the silence when installed is shocking. It's literally too quiet. I can't hear my com, music, traffic, nothing. It's like getting shut into a vault. Therefore, . . . . I rarely use them. I've thrown money at most (all?) of what's out there, promising to be the perfect answer for shooting and riding and I've concluded there is no magic answer. I know I won't be buying the $30/pair stuff as they don't work for me any better than the tub of plain Jane foamies I buy from Amazon once a year. So offroad I don't use any. Riding speed on most trails don't require them on my bike/screen setup. When on tour on back roads I'll run foamies. Sustained speeds above 45, these are great. At 75mph and up I still use those for shorter periods of time ( a few hours). I'm heading out tomorrow for CO and will be burning miles to get there. So I'll start the day in foamies. I don't foresee riding triple digit speeds on my route otherwise I'd start with the customs. After 3 or 4 hours of books on tape/music/podcasts I'll throw in the customs just to change it up in my helmet and enjoy some silence for awhile. This sounds like a lot of hassle when I write it all out. But It's a pretty simple system for me. I've learned (permanent damage) that long sustained periods of high wind noise, like 12 hours or more can beat the living hell out of my eardrums even with foamies. Changing it up a bit through the day seems to work best for me. Thing is . . . . what works for me has little to do with what will work for you. Different bike, helmet, windscreen, riding speed, duration. Like oil and tires, you just gotta try it all until you find what works.

Fixed. 😉😁

You realize you just fed his dream of doing inappropriate things with the wrong bike ….

I have a pair of Gaerne 12's that are superb in every way. But I do find that after 2 or 3 hours of aggressive off roading my right foot gets a pressure point that hurts. I'm wondering if anyone here knows of a person or a shop that can stretch the boot in one particular spot. A ski boot fitter is obvious as I've had every pair of ski boots ever owned stretched . . . in that same spot. But my Gaerne's are heavy leather, not plastic shells. Anyone here ever done something like this?

Thanks Dan.

Oops. Just realized I need to have 75 or more sandbags put in place before Saturday evening. I need to push my riding to the other side of the hurricane.

Kinda looks like the rains won’t hit until late afternoon. I’m still going for the morning.

Thanks for posting up your summer wanderings. It's always good to see/hear how you are doing there. As for winter . . . . well, you might want to stock up early on whiskey and poker chips as there's another super el nino stewing over the pacific, promising another winter of epic proportions. Don't shoot the messenger please. Maybe it's time to sell one of those bikes off for a snowmobile? Cheers!

DJI.

I’m riding Saturday morn approx 8:30 - Noon from La Mesa. Just going to lay down some street miles and then hopefully a good hour of easy dirt (maybe boulder creek). I just need to see if the new bars are going to work before touring again. Will probably take a few minutes to fly the new to me drone. So basically, a gear test ride.