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So I lied. I promised to post pictures, i.e., plural. Here is the only picture from today's trip. The gates of the Cahuilla motocross track near Anza, inside a drizzly cloud, bundled for the 42F weather, and looking very Japanese (Turning Japanese [Official video] - The Vapors (HD/HQ) - YouTube). [Kids, don't judge people who came of age in the '80s. Just be jealous that you weren't there.] From Anza we made an attempt towards Red Mountain Lookout. On account of poor planning, poor execution, and even poorer GPS, we only rode around aimlessly on some sand roads for a little while. I won't say today was my best day in the saddle, but the worst day riding is still better than the best day working. Forecast says more rain tomorrow than today. Going to spend some time this evening to see if running to Pioneer Town tomorrow is doable. Even better.

With rain in the schedule I wasn't expecting much of a turnout. I have had a pinched nerve in my hand for the last few days, so I was also kind of being a wuss and trying to have a reason not to go. Since I put the ride together I couldn't do that, so I geared up and rolled into the 7/11 gas station right at 0900. There were already a few people there so it was looking good. We hung around until 0930 and rolled out with eight total. Not bad! Birdi said she was going to meet us at the gate, so that was going to be nine. Sure enough, she showed up a few minutes after we got there so we started riding. Headed up the trail and took a right, following the trail all the way to the back side of Pio Pico campground. It looks like there's a little workaround to get through there if a person had to but we turned around. On the way back up and out I saw another rider heading our way. Sure enough, it was SanRider who was able to track us down and our group grew to ten. We did another loop on that side of the mountain and then Aaron on the T7 said he had to head home so we escorted him back to the gate. I wanted to ride up and over to connect to Otay Truck Trail so we took the trail on the left (east?) and that proved to be a good challenge for a few of our riders. A few tip overs but nothing too bad, scuffs and scrapes. The seasonal ponds were about as full as I've seen them in a long time and everything out there was so nice and green. Definitely get out and ride the area in the next several weeks before it browns up. The trail had a few mud holes, most of them had ways around and I don't believe anyone decided to just blast through any of them. Traction was pretty good, a few slick muddy areas but definitely no dust. We continued on to the intersection with OTT and CVRick said he was going to follow it south to his place. Pokey 151 headed straight home once we got to Hwy 94. The rest of the group stopped at the Dulzura store for their amazing tacos and some cold drinks. It turned out to be a pretty good day and a really good ride. I hope everyone had a good time and a few people learned about some new places to explore. There's more there to see, so post up and we will check it out. Post your pictures and experiences on this thread please!!!

Great ride today! Quite a few shots, maybe too many to dump on here, so here is a link to the Happy Snaps 🤙