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I plan on doing some BDR driving mid of the year with my Jeep, since I don't feel confident and save, riding a bike loaded for a longer distance and in dirt. I think of BDR CA SOUTH -NORTH. I would take all my bike camping gear, food process gear (blender), and all my medical needs. I know it will be sommertime with good warm temperatures. I like it hot and I need it. I will plan on going 1-3 weeks, depending on my treatment plan. Going solo is my normal way, but if someone like to go along, we can talk about it. I don't race, everything takes a litle longer (eating) and I make a mess. That's my new normal. Is this BDR open and OK for a Jeep drive? Like to hear from people who rode it on bikes and Jeeps.

Rumor had it this would be a good one. You never really know with some group rides. So I signed up with 30 soon to be friends for a moto camping 3 day weekend on February 10-12. Wasn't any 'risk' really because it was to be sponsored by Vey's and Klim, and they are good people who know how do it up right. The challenge was going to be weather, and which tires to run. Destination was undisclosed. You'd find out when you signed in Friday morning to launch. We knew it would be high desert, and it was going to be cold. And rain. And 5.5 hours of pavement to get there. So I decided on running the Tourances instead of knobbies and would air down when necessary. Friday 8am at Vey's and 7 out of 30 show up. The forecast is rain, cold, then more rain and cold. Campsite destination was disclosed as Tuttle creek outside of Lone Pine. The Saturday ride would be Death Valley. YES!! We took a somewhat indirect route up until 79 forced us finally onto HY15 North. Then the long slog up 15 and 395 to Lone Pine. The Klim van beat us there and set up a nice kitchen and had the fire roaring which was great... because it rained off and on much of the way, and the wind up there never stopped. Jason and Steve were perfect hosts always keeping a fire going, and food pumping out of the 'kitchen' with plenty of beer and water to boot. These guys rocked it. Even the coffee was awesome! Camp was set, toasts were made, food and beer was inhaled... and the ice cold wind never stopped blowing down from those mountains all evening long. To be continued ...

Pancho and Lefty Play the hits of Charley and Ewan: The Dans take the Leisurely Way Eastbound ”Man, I gotta get away. This job has been sucking lately.” “I hear ya, brother. Where to?” “I’ll think of something. Be at my place at noon tomorrow.” And so on Saturday I headed to DanRider’s place for a mystery ride, thinking about where we might ride/camp. Big Bear? Idyllwild? The Hillbilly Haven north of Lake Henshaw? My only caveats were: Limited highway and back by noon on Sunday. Pulling up to Dan’s place, I could see he was ready to ride. “Yuma,” he said. “No slab!” said I. He nodded, hit the throttle and we were off. The route was Valley Center, Rincon, the 76 to San Felipe Road, the 78 to Ocotillo Wells (where we stopped for a cold one at the Iron Door), Westmoreland to El Centro via the 111. Then the I-8 to Winterhaven where we stopped for Mexican chow before fueling up and heading to Picacho Road. It was 18 miles of a fun gravel/sand road to the Picacho State Recreation Area. There are quite a few burros in the area and I saw a mother burro and little burrito along the way. At the end of the road was a well-maintained campground right on the pretty Colorado River. There was only one other occupied campsite so we paid the fee and chose a place near the water and the showers (yes, there are HOT solar showers). We set up camp, broke out the stogies and tequila and commenced to relaxin’. We quickly dispatched Dan’s tequila (the last of the Frida Kahlo) and started on my Patron. The sun went down and the full moon came up, lighting up the campground like a streetlamp. We sat and talked about bike stuff and work and retirement and other Very Important Subjects. After solving the world’s problems, we retired to our tents, like Old Guys are prone to do. Neither of us had put up a rain fly and I drifted off looking at the starlight display. On a related side note, I recently bought a compact cot and I’ve used it twice now. (OutAd Ultralight Camp Cot, a Chinese knock-off of the ThermaRest one: See my Amazon review here: http://www.amazon.com/OUTAD-Aluminum-Ultralight-Moisture-proof-Stretcher/dp/B019OFR68K -- yes, it IS that purple) I gotta say, it’s quite an addition to my camping kit. Could I live without it? Sure. But I’m at that age where comfort takes a back seat to minimalist camping. I slept so well that I’ve pretty much made up my mind to keep using it. We were up and having coffee by 6:30. As we sipped on the java, there were some vultures eagerly eying the chubbier rider in our group. Nuff said… A nice park employee stopped by to chat with us as we were enjoying the cool morning and she recommended that we take an alternate route back. Pointing to our bikes, she asked, “Those things have 4-wheel drive, right? Cuz’ you’ll need it to get to the really good places…like Taylor Lake).” That sounded like a fun challenge, but, alas, it was not to be. I had to get home by noon for a family function and couldn’t do any more exploring this weekend. That’s OK, it’ll be our next 2 or 3-day ride… We packed up and headed home riding quite a bit faster on Picacho Road on our way out. We hit the I-8 and slabbed it all the way back through some blowing wind. Good for green energy, not great for ADV bikes… Of note, I waved at a group of bikers coming up fast on my left. They waved back as they passed us and it was only then that I saw it was a 6 pack of Hell’s Angels. Shortly after, a much larger group of them passed us…and they waved, too. Interesting. Maybe I’ll join up. Start a 3-pice patch HA dual sport club. Yeah, I can see it now: SDOMGAR. OMG indeed. Dan peeled off at the 67 and I was home right at noon. Nice, quick camp/ride. Already making plans to head back and see the rest of the area.

I’ve wanted to check out the Border Run, a dirt road that runs from Campo to Jacumba, for some time. I saddled up the G650GS Sertao for an overnighter with plans to camp somewhere near Corral Canyon. I left San Diego about 2PM on Friday, March 4th and headed to Campo via Olympic Parkway, Otay Lakes Rd, and State Route 94. Map: Ice Cream Sandwich at Otay Lakes Pio Pico Grocery: I was so excited to hit the road that I forgot to gas up before leaving home so my “one gallon left” light came on just before reaching Campo. I gassed up at the Chevron (with a Sinclair Dinosaur in front?) in town and then headed for Corral Canyon OHV. I had plans to complete Corte Madera Road but with the sun setting I decided to just camp in a nice pull-off spot on Los Pinos Road. Springtime in Corral Canyon: Little Half Dome: Corral Canyon and G650GS: Corral Canyon Panoramic: Final Approach to San Diego: Sunset over Corral Canyon: I had my tent, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag all set up before dark. After taking some photos of the sunset I ate a quick dinner and then fell asleep around 6PM. I ended up getting a great night of sleep; thanks to the comfortable Big Agnes sleep system and inflatable pillow I had. Corral Canyon Helmet: Motorcycle Camping: The next morning I packed up and was on the trail by about 6:30AM. I climbed back up Los Pinos and then back down to Four Corners where I decided to tackle the dirt roads of Morrena Stokes Valley and Sky Valley. After finishing these trails I had worked up an appetite and heading into Morena Lake for breakfast at the Oakshore Malt Shop. Thanks to Charley for the recommendation! Sunrise Over Corral Canyon: After breakfast, it was time to top off the tank and head south to the border. The road to the border fence was easy to find thank the map provided by gpsKevin! Border Fence Team Engineer: Motorcycle Mexican Wall: I only came across one Border Patrol Agent who was riding a quad. We exchanged hand waves as we passed each other on the trail. I am glad I spoke with Charley before heading out on the trail. He mentioned a section that required riding on the abandoned train track; something I would have never considered. The hardest part was finding a good place to cross over the metal railing. The actual riding in the center wasn’t nearly as hard as I would have imagined. Please note: This is an abandoned train track. There were other sections that were almost completely grown over but this section, due to the elevated track, seemed to be harder for vegetation to take root and grow. Train track with drops on both sides: Video: After leaving the trail near Tierra Del Sol Road, I took my favorite cruising pace of about 55 MPH via the Old Highway 80. I rode the 80 to Pine Valley but was detoured through the town and ended up discovering Pine Creek Road, which I took all the way to Sunrise Highway. It was a pleasant diversion with some interesting scenery and almost no traffic. I hoped on the fast-paced I-8 for about 8 miles before exiting on Japatul Valley and then continuing south to Lyons Valley. I was really enjoying moving along the twisties at my own pace. East County has some great motorcycle riding that I’ll have to explore more in the future. Valley Overlook from Sunrise Highway: I returned home a bit saddle sore around 2PM. In the last 24 hours I had covered about 240 miles; 60 miles of that was dirt or gravel roads. I didn’t even stop at a Starbucks so I’d say that my weekend counts as an adventure! Until next time… Motorcycle Selfie: Cheers, Travis