Crawdaddy 96 Posted December 2, 2008 We're back.......1099.1 miles on my odometer after riding up to the event, riding the event, riding eastern half of Mojave Rd. on Sunday, Joshua Tree / Salton Sea area today before jetting home after late lunch with Doug in Salton City......got in a couple of hours ago......more later.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeslut 1 Posted December 2, 2008 you guys rock! And your ride report will cost mrs. Bowers $10,000 I bet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul 0 Posted December 2, 2008 Salton Sea area today before jetting home after late lunch with Doug in Salton City......got in a couple of hours ago......more later.... Cool we are looking forward to the full report, talk about an Iron Butt! I have read that people get a lot of flats doing B to V. I was just out in Salton City - went to pick up my mail and ended up at West Shores by the RV park. Superburger was closed - gassed up at the casino on 86 - late lunch in Borrego Springs. Did you see that huge gas station being built at S-22 and 86? I had to make a few runs on dirt (including Fonts Point) even though I was on a street bike (98 Honda VFR)- maybe time for a big adv bike. A friend of mine said that he had his Honda VFR up to 90 (indicated) on the wash going to fonts point and 150 (indicated) on S-22. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaynen 0 Posted December 2, 2008 What kind of Bike Paul? and who is mrs bowers? Can't wait for the ride report! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShocknAwe 0 Posted December 2, 2008 Give me a few days to post my ride report. I need to fix my bike first. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaynen 0 Posted December 2, 2008 At least its your bike and not you thats broken Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeslut 1 Posted December 2, 2008 and who is mrs bowers? Mrs. Bowers to the white courtesy phone... fake names' wife... when dug picked up his bike from colorado, fn started jonesin' for an adventure bike real bad... priced out the BMW 800GS for 10 large... and he would've done it, if they had one in stock, and his wife signed off ... like THAT is gonna happen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted December 2, 2008 and now I'm another giant step away from an ADV bike. Just pulled permits to repair/upgrade electrical and sheetrock in the garage. See other thread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted December 2, 2008 As planned, we rode up, rode the event, then rode home to San Diego via the eastern half of Mojave Road to Kelbaker Rd / Joshua Tree / Salton Sea on Sunday/Monday......interesting experience this year riding the Adventure Sled instead of the "toy" bike (520). Stuck to our plan of riding the Dual Sport route on Friday and the ADV route Sat morning followed by Dual Sport route after lunch in Sandy Valley.......Roger's day one injury solidified our plan of avoiding Manx Wash/Afton Canyon on Saturday morning.....some highs and lows..... The Highs: Great event as always.....nice to see/mingle with the usual dualsport crowd....fun time at the Banquet (Roger, Doug and I sat with Kevin and 3 other Ghostriderz, Ca Stu from ADVRider and a guy from Washington who’s buddy got airlifted out on day 1) ....also saw Shock and Awe at the banquet and heard about his “Swim” through Afton Canyon……other high was post LA-B-V…..the ride across the eastern half of Mojave Road/Joshua Tree area on Sunday/Monday was really nice…. Pic of Roger snapping pics at Jawbone Friday morning……that’s about the only pic I took during the ride……Roger and Doug have more to share….. The Lows: Roger fractured his foot/partially tore his Achilles hitting a rock with his left foot before lunch on Friday (I’m sure he’ll elaborate on the circumstances).....he sucked it up and finished the LA-B-V then RODE ~400 miles of pavement home on Sunday to visit the doc and receive the formal findings about the extent of his injury.....stud…..Doug and I were both surprised when he suited up for Day 2 of the LA-B-V….. A couple of front flats on day two.....not really a low I suppose, all part of the "Adventure".....still managed to get through Red Rocks before nightfall....."I" got hit with a front flat soon after we arrived at Red Rocks....."follow me.....I've ridden through here before"....then I flatted about a half mile later.....so much for leading the way I didn't take many photos during the LA-B-V ride (I’m sure Roger/Doug will post theirs).....snapped a couple on Mojave Road/Joshua Tree on our return: Doug out front on Mojave Road between Kelso and Kelbaker Obligatory stop at "The Mailbox" along Mojave Road: Too bad we didn't have any SDAR stickers with us..... Near the Mailbox on Mojave Rd. there are two other small.....I'm not sure what to call them.....monuments?.......one of a bunch of turtles and one of some knomes: I'd never been through Joshua Tree before....beautiful area: Finished off by riding through Pinkham Canyon (at tail end of Joshua Tree) / Box Canyon / Meccacopia Trail north east of Salten Sea: In Pickham Canyon.....a bit sandy in places..... Trail marker the end of Pickham Canyon near the 10 fwy: Then Doug and I grabbed lunch at the Travertine in Salten Sea and pounded out the remaining miles on pavement......we thought about running up Blowsand on the Adv bikes fully loaded but it was getting dark and we were a bit burnt out..... 1099.1 miles......nice Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zracing 0 Posted December 3, 2008 That looks like good stuff. Thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DigDug 0 Posted December 3, 2008 Great ride Chris and Roger!!!!! I've got a few good pictures to post, but the hotel internet is horribly slow - I'll wait until I get back home and upload them in a few days. The event was excellent as was the "adventure" route home. The 950 is a blast to ride and actually feels quite a bit lighter than I expected (yes, even picking it up!). Riding hard stuff with the bags takes some getting used to as they like to reach out and grab everything around them (bushes, rocks, trees, my legs, etc). That bike is a BLAST on the wide open dirt roads! It spins the tire at 60mph and has loads of smooth power. The wide open sections leave me with a perma-grin!!! One of my goals was to see what it was like to do over 100mph in the dirt. No problemo(pay no attention to the switch for the heated grips): Thanks again for the company Roger and Chris and to Chris for planning such an awesome route home!!! Heal up quickly Roger!!! That bike needs to be ridden. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShocknAwe 0 Posted December 3, 2008 Fun ride with good people - would do it again tomorrow. There were highs and lows to this learning experience. My group of three was late getting out of Barstow. Consequently, the sweep crew already took down the direction ribbons. Lesson learned: start early. Doug (not DigDug) had mechanical problems with his XR600R in Manx Wash so the sweep truck lifted him to our chase truck driven by Steve. John and I continued until I drowned my bike in the deep pond at Afton Canyon (see video below). Lesson learned: drive fast through puddles, not ponds. The electric start and kick start were instantly shot. A dune buggy tried pulling me to jump start without success (this is hard to do in dirt). Just fixed it today after a lot of work. Our pit crew drove us to Vegas (my first time there). I saw Strega (limping), Crawdaddy, and DigDug at the reception, along with 300+ riders and their crews, wives, etc. I won $300 in Moose racing gear, which compensates for the things I have to fix on my bike. My group still has the roll chart and is ready to ride this route again. Picture slide show: http://web.me.com/rachaelsmithey/Barstow-V...stow-Vegas.html Videos (select "High Quality" at bottom right of screen): First pavement (30 seconds) Desert trail (24 seconds) Shock loves driving through mud and puddles (49 seconds) Small puddles (15 seconds) Desert Chase (19 seconds) Manx Wash - Deep Moist Sand (1:43) Deadly pond that ended it (25 seconds) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
humptythumty 0 Posted December 3, 2008 Thanks guys, for the stories and photos Looks and sounds like a great adventure. Really wish I had done this ride. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 559 Posted December 3, 2008 Looks like you all had a great time for the most part , except for the injured foot part Maybe some day I'll get to do something like this ride. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted December 3, 2008 The wide open sections leave me with a perma-grin!!! One of my goals was to see what it was like to do over 100mph in the dirt. No problemo(pay no attention to the switch for the heated grips): I think Doug showed us that 100+ mph GPS screen a dozen times.....like a proud father showing off his son's grades .....needless to say, he left me and Roger in the dust a few times......and we both left Roger with a case of "heated grip envy" ........Doug and I kept chattering into the radios that our hands were too hot therefore we needed to put our grips on "low" or turn'em off........meanwhile Roger was trying to get the feeling back in his hands Heated grips are a ~$30 mod I'd recommend to anyone who plans on doing an extended ride at speed in the winter months.....bet Roger has a set on order now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amgems 79 Posted December 3, 2008 Pic of Roger snapping pics at Jawbone Friday morning……that’s about the only pic I took during the ride……Roger and Doug have more to share….. That's me and Ralph waiting for gas. He has blue jacket, orange helmet, I have grey jacket, blue helmet. You guys wereright behind us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted December 3, 2008 That's me and Ralph waiting for gas. He has blue jacket, orange helmet, I have grey jacket, blue helmet. You guys wereright behind us. But only for a moment.....we didn't need gas so we kept on riding rather than waiting in that line at Jawbone.....the big/gas laden Adventure Sleds have their advantages sometimes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
