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Before Goofy can tell me, "pics, or it didn't happen", I thought I would drop a quick note about a recent ride. I enjoy reading about other ride Write-Ups, especially when they add insights beyond just pics, heck, I have so much to learn still (gear, routes, mechanical, etc...) !!!!.... and I learn so much from this site, thank you all!..... so I often feel that I should contribute as well. It was a special ride because I hadn't been on a pedal bike or moto bike for quite a while. I even began to wonder if I should actually have moto bikes in the stable..... (what's that phrase - hop back on the horse if you were bucked off?) ..... so what better reason to find out but to wander around the desert for a few hours (Rhetorically - if closer to 70 than 60 years old, how many bikes does one need? Udo, we know your answer. , and the Breakfast club dudes too (although recent jeep comments and new dusty outlanding rigs have surfaced, like that scary phrase, (with age comes a cage. . ) With some time off work, I saw an opportunity to zip out to Ocotillo to do a little loop and get through that Painted Gorge loop gate before it locks on Jan 1. I wasn't able to collect any my immediate rider riding buds for the spontaneous outing, but I often find some extra freedom in solo travel (contrary to all the logical warnings). I was gonna ride easy to protect a recent injury because I was not 100% yet, but I wanted to try out one of my 2 new chest and rib protection armor pieces. #1, for larger bike, likely worn under a jacket - Forcefield EX-K Harness . #2, for smaller dual sport, the Fox raptor, which now sells as CE2, instead of CE1 protection. Not actually try it out fully, just feel how felt while riding - smiles. I laughed out loud as it took me a couple hours to simply pack the gear, and load the bike in the morning (although I grabbed a few extra items in case an overnight became a choice). It was nice that I wasn't in a rush for a change. I left El Cajon around 10 am and all went well, except that I-8 eastbound road construction where 3 lanes merge to 1 just past Alpine... really?? Parked in Ocotillo, it was beautiful, warm, and the windmills were not moving at all. I brought a Ham radio tuned to SDAR channel just in case I heard some chatter. I turned on Delorme and started tracking notifications as an FYI for someone back at the house in case I land somewhere and don't move for a couple hours (while remembering that I always wait 15 minutes after my return to the truck to turn off tracking because while using the 10 minute free notifications, it can appear to someone at home that I may have biffed short of my return to original location if I shut it down 8 minutes upon arrival, if the last point was sent 9 minutes earlier). I headed out towards Plaster City and randomly turned North along the way to find the entry point to the gate for Painted Gorge Upper level (actually had to do it intuitively as I forgot to re-populate my Map 78 with ocotillo region since my trip to Mammoth and recent CABDR explorations). (Still thanking Crawdaddy for his routes in mammoth, and forever will as I show other riders the magic of that region!) Ouch, I was riding at newbie levels as the bike felt very unstable to me - grrrrr... so nice and easy was the call .. that's ok for now.... I guess.... Found the gate, it was open, Yahoo. It was really nice roaming through the PG road as the canyon was narrow. I navigated the soft stuff cautiously (boringly) and bobbled along the rocky sections, although not with a high level of confidence as the larger rocks deflected my front tire often and I lost my line a few times that put me mighty close to a steep drop. I wasn't interested in finding out if the new armor would do as it was supposed to. . About 3/4 ths of the way up, I paused.... as I was proud of my effort, but decided that conquering the earlier 10 - 20 yard sections of rocky stuff successfully (maybe luckily) did not have me prepared for what looked like a 100 yard section of rock which lied ahead... while solo... So a pit stop to bask in the temporary glory was warranted. The views to the east were fantastic! The ride down was significantly easier as I also began to feel more at home on the bike, especially in the smooth sections shown below. Upon leaving the Gorge, I rode some mighty soft washes, and some whoops, as I headed east and then north at random turning points as I planned to head towards the bridge by way of the pelican/stork at the top of a local knoll just before entering the wash to the bridge..... Some nice desert blooms all around! I don't recall if the sand climb on the right in the background is the climb to the metal stork, but I do recall that with the influx of rzrs going up it these days, it has gotten significantly more soft ( I used to casually climb it in first gear, but now need to get a 3rd gear running start to make it, but that could simply be operator error. It was a nice ride to the Bridge from there, as I enjoyed riding in the wash, while being careful not to open it up knowing that some very soft silt sections randomly appear through that section. I was the only motorcycle I saw the entire day, but a few 4x4 and rzrs were gathered at the bridge: Next stop, superstition.... But darn, the roads I used to approach superstition were so dang soft and I was zig zagging far more than was normal, and it was a bit uncomfortable knowing that some rzrs were buzzing past me going 60 mph. I pulled over a couple times to get my wits about me, and it was nice that a couple of the rzr folks asked me if all was ok. (all good, just felt a bit out of place). I have climbed superstition a few times from the west (the soft side), but thought it best if I pass it this time around. I knew that my shinko fatty up front was worn, but when I looked closer, I noticed that almost all of the side knobbies had cracks almost 3/4ths of the way down each of them..... on both sides, for the entire 360 degrees.....in fact, I could use my fingers to peel them back quite a bit (maybe the recent rocks on Painted Gorge ripped them??) and my Goldentyre rear was looking pretty smooth, so for now I will use that excuse for my lackluster performance - haha. Still pretty terrain though: I contemplated heading south east towards Camacho's diner, but I think it was closed, so I headed towards Plaster City. Finally, on my return towards Plaster City, I began to feel like I was telling the bike where to go instead of the other way around. I gambled a bit by opening it up a little, and voila, the perma smile could have been seen in my helmet easily except I was still riding through the desert without a soul in sight. I was quite happy once the machine and I became more connected. Once I hit the asphalt at Plaster City, I slowed down to a comfortable 30 mph and basked in the feeling of contentment as I rode into the sunset: A great trip! 60+ miles and a few hours of joy! Ok, I'll keep that bike for sure. . I considered doing it again with new folks the following day as there was a group meeting at the Stagecoach RV park as posted on ADV Rider, but although I drove through the park for a few laps, I didn't see any bikes... so I was likely a day early for that gathering, so headed home. Cheers.

San Diego Adventure Riders, Hello. I posted the following URL recently in my introduction thread. However, I thought it would be more appropriate to share my gallery within this Four Days & Longer Trip sub-forum. Since I do not have a trip report, I will let the videos and images tell the story. Most videos are only 10-12 seconds long and provide a much better impression of the moment than the images (such as the video of the holy men of Nepal). SD Adv. Riders forum members may enjoy the sub-galleries titled Motorcycle Misc. Wheels which includes anything with wheels and many motorcycle/landscape images. If you enjoy motorcycling, photography and exploring different cultures, I would highly recommend a comparable trip. Australia: 6 months on a Yamaha Tenere XT660Z (Large fuel tank, fuel efficient; Bought & sold locally) India & Nepal: 3 months on a Royal Enfield Himalayan (Best domestic motorcycle for India's rough roads. RE's service shops are excellent. Rented my RE for $9/day out of New Dehli) Thailand: 1 month rental on a Honda CB500. The best rental bike available for Thailand, IMHO. Northern Thailand has some of the best riding I have ever experienced. The CB500 was great, even at 6'3"-6'4". New Zealand: 2 months on a Honda Africa Twin XRV750. Bought and sold in NZ. Music festival & Elvis fans may enjoy the Australian video galleries. Scroll down to near the bottom of the sub-folder for the Parkes Elvis Festival. When I flew into New Dehli, India during mid-July, I did not know a soul. All I had was a cheap hotel in a 14th century village near the airport that still did not have city water infrastructure/utilities...after 700 years! It felt great to eventually replace my Tuk-Tuk transportation with my own wheels! I slept above braying donkeys which were housed on the first floor\barn of homes and in creepy old 1970's heart-shaped beds of old hotels (I slept on the covers in my riding gear). My favorite memory was sharing a home with a mountain family and joining them for breakfast. The carbureted RE Himalayan carried me across passes almost as high as 18,000 feet. I did okay at higher elevations also. Please browse the sub-galleries titled Locals, Tourists & Critters. Although I rode through some incredible scenic areas, the enjoyable encounters with the locals are my fondest memories of all. Finally, a Samsung Galaxy S8+ was used for most images and almost all videos. A Canon 5D Mark II was used for many of the landscape images. See ya down the road... Cheers! https://koonzeekoonzee.smugmug.com/share/dkunze GPS Tracks for India & Nepal: A good day...and memory.

What a great run! Met up with Bill at the Ocotillo Gas station staging area . And rode across the desert on dual sport trails. this was one of those adventures where you don't have time to stop and take alot of photos because of how fun it is.. But I was able to squeeze some in. Here's Bill on his Dr 650 showing me how to climb . His Suzuki climbed like a hoofed animal. No matter what line he took he was putting me to shame. I was really impressed by his climbing ability. Here's Bill doing some single track in Badlands area about 45 miles into the ride. The sky was blue and 3mph wind made for a great desert adventure we went from peak to peak with out any GPS. We just went for it. Here the view from 3/4 up Devils Slide . If you look closely you can see Bill. That's about where I had to start from to get 3rd gear to make it to the top. Sand was steep and deep just how I like it. I think in this photo we are at Shell reef . There are some ridges to climb. The Reef offers some nice views of SVRA. Here we are about 60 miles in to the exploration. We stumbled across some off roaders that were stranded down in a canyon and needed help so we stopped and got their steering fixed. They were grateful we were ripping 150 miles across the dezert with tools that day. Here we were doing math out in the Siltbeds west of Superstition trying to figure out the best average speed for dezert adventure because the sun was going down. We figured average speed would be OK at less than 60mph because that would require us to fly at close to 100 across the dezert and at that speed we would miss some cool stuff to look at. I think our average speed was closer to 20 . Somehow we ended up traveling through Canyon Sin Nombre at night, greatful to be alive and loving life. .The feeling of getting out of the desert alive is a great one . Bill sorting his tire pressures as we blaze the sand washes in the dark near #91. My headlight was pointed toward the sky so if Bill did a wheelie I would be blazing blind till he gave me his headlight back on the wash. I was using my front blinker to see where is was going but I'm pretty familiar with that wash so I just rode by brail. Finally back and safe at the Chevron Staging Area after riding through town to give my loved ones and neighbors a quick Braap to let em know I made it home safe . It was nice to see all their house and trailers decorated with Christmas lights. The 150 mile Borrego exploration adventure to Salton Sea from Ocotillo left me muddy, exhausted, hungry and thirsty (and a little stiff)..the perfect way to be on a Sunday night .

Wow I'm gonna remember that ride forever. Darren thanks again for showing me around out there, you are too kind and way too modest. I couldn't believe how effortless you made the sand look while I was fighting for my life out there. I only snapped a few pictures cause I was too busy catching my breath anytime we stopped. About 120 miles in and the sun was about to set when the desert reminded me I'm only a visitor. I will NEVER understand how you could ride so fast at night with a headlight pointed 45 degrees up into the air (and a bald front tire). He's not joking, he was literally riding by the light of his blinker. And I couldn't keep up, even with my brights on. Not even close. Thanks again for slowing down for me and giving me a little (big) tour of such a fascinating and beautiful region.

Wow, when I first thought about putting this together I figured 3-4 people may be interested but this turned out to be quite an event. I think we had 15-16 bikes at the start or something like that? A few people were just there for the ride, but we ended up with enough people to take up three or four campsites. One minor get-off on the dirt section, sounds like MacDuncan is ok....sorry to see that happen but you shall ride another day. The Warner Springs gas station food was very good, highly recommend that if you're in the area. The campground was awesome, only a few other campers there and we weren't too loud or annoying I don't believe. Thank you to Tim for bringing firewood and beverages. Thank you very much for everyone involved, y'all made this a great experience. If you were a noob camper before (including if this was your first camping trip with this bike, or this luggage system, etc) then you are now promoted to "amateur camper". You may pick up your certificate in my garage if your bring me a cold beer. Please post your pictures and writeup on this post.

Bugz Beta got a new Midwestern Mountain Engineering clutch lever for Christmas, so I though that Friday would be a good day to try it out. The weather was superb, nobody else was out there, bought chocolates at Wisteria on my way home, and the clutch lever did everything that it was advertised to do, so it was a fun, relaxed day on the trail, and my clutch hand never got tired or cramped up.

I tried to explore behind Wild animal park. Ran into private property gates. I then went up and rode Orosco Ridge. I have never ridden that trail. I will say it is a great trail to get some big bike off road training in. Ran in to several groups of DS riders. I can say that the new thermostat on the 990 did not let the bike get over 4 bars. The new gps mount worked out fantastic. Solid! No issues, no movement while I bashed the bike through the trails and was jumping the water bars. I need to adjust my rear suspension. I was bottoming out to much. I changed my seat over to a low seat and man did that help in several situations. Amazing the 1" difference can make in confidence when putting a foot down. Nice little water crossing at the beginning of Orosco Trail. A few pictures from the top.

LAB2V on the Ducati Desert X The Los Angeles to Baker to Las Vegas, also known as LAB2V is a 2-day dual sport ride that starts Northeast of LA, arrives in Barstow at the end of the first day, then reaches Las Vegas on day 2. It is around 400 miles of mostly desert off-road terrain. I learned about it early in 2022 and immediately became enamored with it. As I started devouring videos online about past years, I realized that most bikes doing this ride were dual sport dirt bikes. The KTM 500 EXC is the prototypical bike in this category and was found in troves during the LAB2V. So, the question: why on a big adventure bike? Well, because I could, or I thought I could. There’s something I can’t explain about coercing those 500+ pounds of metal on going through rough terrain that gives me a lot of satisfaction. It wouldn’t be impossible because other people had already done it, even on big BMW “the whale” GS1250’s. I knew this would be a lot of sand. A LOT OF SAND. Having just finished a 5-day trip to Baja on stock tires (Pirelli STR Rally), I knew I would struggle, so I’ve installed a set of MotoZ RallZ. From past year’s videos, I saw that some riders would finish the ride in the dark, so I installed a set of Baja Designs Squadron Pros on the crash bar. Oh yes, crash bars. Ducati still has crash bars back-ordered, so I bought a set of aftermarket crash bars from a company in Poland called Heed. They look sturdy enough if I couldn’t keep the rubber side down. The last modification was heated grips. The forecast was 30’s and low 40’s for the mornings. Installing the heated grips was not that difficult, but I still had to take the Desert X to the dealer since both heated grips and fog lights require the dealer to enable those features. Yes, that’s Ducati in a nutshell. Knowing how much sand I would face during the ride, I also decided to ramp up my sand riding skills. First, I took a couple of adventure off-road classes with Sedlak Off-road School (SOS) and West 38 moto. They helped me to brush up on the fundamental techniques and body position. I also took a desert enduro class with Edgar Cota from SOS in the desert east of San Diego. That class helped me improve my body position for endurance and reading the desert terrain at higher speeds, which proved fundamental on the LAB2V course. All that preparation boosted my confidence riding in the sand, going from the typical “I hate sand!” to “I love sand! (not really, but at least I’m comfortable in it)”. The “competition” traditionally starts the day after Thanksgiving, early in the morning, so after spending Thanksgiving “brunch” with my family, I loaded my Ducati Desert X on the truck and started driving to Palmdale, where I would spend the night before the event. Early morning on the day after Thanksgiving, I unloaded my bike at the Embassy Suites hotel in Palmdale – the starting point for the event. Every step was well organized, starting from all information sent to riders before the event, so assuming a rider read the info, everything was organized as it was supposed to be. After registration, GPS loading, and roll chart collection, it was time to hit the road. I had the company of 3 friends for this ride: Roque, Jeremy and Robert. Roque and Jeremy were the organizers and leaders for the Baja 5-day adventure from a couple of months ago. Both Jeremy and Roque were on KTM 790 Adventure R’s. Robert had the most aggressive ride with a KTM 450 dual sport. All of them were very skilled dirt riders. After a short asphalt segment, it was time for dirt. Just a few miles in, the terrain transitioned to what was to come for the rest of the trip – sand, lots of sand. The immense cloud of dust from the rider in front of you caused an inevitable separation from your group, so we planned on meeting on odometer reset points (mostly for the ones using roll charts), which happened about every 15 miles. As the old saying goes – “every plan is a good one – until the first shot is fired” this became very true within the first 10 miles of dirt when a racer came to my side and screamed through his helmet that I had lost my jacket at the beginning of the dirt trail. That was a brand-new limited-edition Desert X jacket. I couldn’t abandon it and decided to backtrack my steps. Easier said than done. I had to go back 10 miles outside of the main track, outside the main track. Needless to say, I didn’t find the jacket and decided to forget about it and proceed with the ride. As a tremendous coincidence, 80 miles into the ride, on one of those odometer reset spots, I was complaining and ranting about the jacket to a group of riders when one of their friends arrived with my jacket strapped to his backpack! He found it! I continued the ride in much better humor after that point. The ride was a mix of single trails with every depth of sand imaginable, whoops, fire roads, asphalt, and rocky terrain. The organizers give you a choice of hard or easy ways, from the perspective of dual sport bikes, so the “Easy Ways” is not easy for big adventure bikes. The morning segment had about 90 miles, from which about 60 were in the dirt. The lunch checkpoint was in Helendale, with a pause for gas and some carne asada tacos. At Helendale, I reunited with my group and rode to Barstow in the afternoon. As you can guess, it was more desert riding. The segment approaching the city was particularly challenging, going through several dried river washes with deep soft sand. In Barstow, after stopping by the checkpoint, we collected our luggage from the organization, stored the bikes in the event parking lot, and checked in at the hotel for a well-deserved shower and dinner. On Saturday morning, the day started early and cold, sub 40 degrees. We picked up our bikes from the parking lot. They stayed overnight under the watchful eyes of the Barstow scouts. We knew it would be a long day, even more than the day before. We also learned the segment to Baker was going to be a long stretch boring stretch of dust that combined with the sun rising on the East, would provide very unpleasant riding conditions, with close to zero visibility. We decided to bail out and take the asphalt to Baker. That was the right decision. The leg from Baker to Vegas was the highlight of the trip, with all types of terrain. We also had a really lovely stop for lunch at the Sandy Valley Firefighter’s Station, including a refueling and washing pit stop. The cherry on top was going over the mountain range west of Las Vegas, where we even found some patches of snow. Arriving at “The Orleans Hotel and Casino” after so many hours on the dirt was surreal. We stopped by the checkpoint and had our traditional arrival picture taken with Santa Claus and the Las Vegas showgirls. After checking in at the hotel, we had some time for drinks at the casino while waiting for the District 37 banquet. It was nice to see 300+ riders in one room. The organization of the event provided dinner, and after a round of speeches and curious facts, the night ended with a series of raffles. The next day was dedicated to coming back home. I was painfully aware of the traffic situation that is typical coming out of Las Vegas, so I woke up with no alarm clock, ordered room service breakfast, and slowly started to pack, in dire contrast to the past 2 days. I absolutely had to stroll through the Vegas strip with the Desert X. As I hit the I-15, just out of Vegas, the freeway is a parking lot. I timidly lane split because Nevada is one state that doesn’t yet allow lane splitting. As I crossed the state line, traffic is much better, with a few stops here or there, but then I could reap the full benefits of being on a motorcycle and lane split with no fear. I arrived in Palmdale, where I left my truck, loaded the bike, and drove the rest of the way down to San Diego in a very uneventful way. All in all, racing the LAB2V was a dream come true. It made me step out of my comfort zone and ride much faster in sand, as I’ve never done before. It gave me a lot of confidence in all depths of sand, and allowed me to be among hundreds of riders that share the same passion as I do. I will definitely return, hopefully next year, and this time I’ll take my chances with the Desert X on the hard ways.

The Intro: I've been a lurker here for over a year. I found this awesome forum through @tntmo youtube channel. I was searching for fun DS rides near Jacumba/the border and XR carb info and came across @tntmo's youtube, awesome local channel. Anyway, I found a great deal on a plated 96 XR600 last summer that had a seized carb (sitting with old gas for a decade in a garage) otherwise garaged with few original miles. I ended up getting a new carb, rebuilding the rear shock (spung for my 240 lbs at 6'5''), new KK Superpinion front sprocket, chain, new fluids, checked valves, new cables, bar, controls, wiring, NiCd battery, etc. Still need to swap out the fork springs and reinstall the desert tank (installed with rotted petcock when I bought it). To get to the point, this site along with some youtube channels has inspired me to get into dual sporting. I've been riding around east county since I got the bike but have been hesitant to take on anything off-road until the rear shock was done. The Report: The off-road maiden voyage started in Santee/Lakeside through Wildcat Canyon to Ramona and on to Black Mountain TT. Up and down Black Mountain (your photos posted here do not do that view its true justice). An amazing view I'm sure I'll be visiting regularly. I continued on to Santa Ysabel TT, past Sutherland Reservoir, 78, San V, and back on Wildcat for the ride home. 85 miles in 3hrs 20mins and a perma-smile for the rest of the day. Thanks to everyone for your regular content, ride reports, etc. I wanted to make my intro at the noob ride and camp but had plans that weekend. I know the regulars know this, but it begs repeating... This is a great community. I'm sure you guys are motivating other lurkers out there like me. I'll try not to be one anymore. Cheers, Joe

I met the group at the motocaffee in Ramona where everyone trudeld in in the expected time. Had a coffee and the afternoon cake and a lot of talking was going on. It's an easy ride and we stopped the first time at the Southerland dam Bridge. At this point we lost one rider (Dunken)and gained one ( Hawk) who run late. Next stop the old MesaGrande trading post and one at the Hideout. One more dropout here. Than we got our sausages in Warner springs and on the road / trail we went. The sky start to get darker with the minute. As soon we arrived at camp, we picked spots and setup tents. We ended up with 6 tents at one spot and some scattered around. The candrink and shats where more popular than the tent setting. Assoon the fire got started, everyone gathered around the fire pit. Meet the new guys, learning about the past and hearing about the future. It was a active discussion going on and you have to listen to 3-4 conversations at all times. We got some sprinkles during the night but not enough to get flushed away. That would be a Adventure. In the morning, I called it a night with my wake-up call. After setting up the kitchen I made breakfast for me and started the day as it should be. The ride home went without incident, except that I got past by a TW200 and a Husky, (I stopped to take a picture). Back home safe,thanks to Tom, welcome all Noob.

Seems like it had been forever since Jim and I had got to ride together. At least a year I think. So I threw out the idea of going Friday, so we both cleared out the schedules and left my house about 9:30 or so in the rain. I warned him this would be my first "legitimate" ride off road since the clavicle repair, and the penalty he'd have to pay if he took me too far into the weeds would be he'd have to lift my bike. Fair enough. I really like Pine Valley. It's got enough character to the primary trail to give you something to do beside just gaze over the handlebars at the countryside. So I was surprised when just after we crossed the cattle guard he took a hard left into the bushes. In fact I had to skid to a stop and back up to follow the hidden track through the brush. OK, game on. We rode single track up in a clockwise loop back to the road and the further south took a hairpin right, onto another singletrack. As many of you know, the rolling track has just about all the fun components packed into a cow trail for miles and miles. Loose rock, embedded rock ledges, lots of ruts . . . in fact the primary trail itself is often a peg deep rut about the width of a couple rear tires or so. Keep your toes in boys and don't get sloppy. Seemingly endless numbers of blind sandy chicane like corners. Overhead high bushes that make it impossible to see more than a few yards, often less, especially in the corners. For me, first gear is too twitchy, 2nd gear smoothes things out and keeps you rolling up, over and through stuff. Just gotta stay focused to keep it in that narrow track. That 1250 motor is absolute magic at happily pulling you up the trail at the very bottom of second and third. Very few pics on this day as there isn't a lot of places to easily get a kickstand down. But I snapped a few where you could at least know you'll be able to start without spinning. Here's a low angle log hop. Jim was smart and put his right foot on the log (that's overhanging space). I on the other hand put my right foot down on the dirt just before it. Only to find it began falling away down the little cliff. This is never a good thing seeings how it doesn't take long for the bike to lean far enough that you need to abandon ship. The solution of course is often to just GO. So I did. And just ahead, finally, I nice spot to take the lid off, drink some water and catch up on the nitty gritty of what it was like for him in Albania last month. Pretty amazing to hear the backstory of what really went on that week at the Trophy. We climbed around on some rock.. snapped a couple pics... And rode until I was completely gassed. Mid afternoon we were stopped for water and 4 riders on 2 strokes came ripping up the trail that of course we were blocking. We hadn't seen another soul out there all day. The lead rider kills his engine and says "is that Duplease?" Turns out 3 of the 4 were riding Pro globally and the fourth just got back from 4 months of riding Idaho and Canada. so we had a great time talking and cooling off a bit. Later, out at the trailhead they were all sitting around there trucks and we spent another half hour of so just talking bikes and Idaho, and good moto stuff. Super nice guys. Jim and I hit Discanso Junction for lunch and then railed back to town so I could shower up and meet Barb with some friends for the evening. But just before going into the house I looked back saw this. I don't have many pics of the day, but I do have a reminder of just how tight the trail was with miles and miles of branch ducking, brush grabbing the handlebars, and scratching up the windscreen. Better the screen, than my arms and chest all day long. Good stuff! I'm pretty rusty, but can't wait to go back.

Today is Sunday, and the weather was perfect for a ride. You know, it was light and there was oxygen outside. My friend, Dale G (who I just convinced to join the club) and I decided to do a dirt route. This is a route that EVERYONE knows, but who cares? It was a perfect day We met in the Albertsons parking lot in Ramona, since we both have trailer queens. Our bikes are "brothers from another mother"....my KTM 500 EXC-F and his Husky FE 501. Dale also has the perfect oxen to pull around his trailer queen. I am jonesin' for one of these! Anyway, to get ready for an arduous day of dirt bike riding, we decided to go to the Kountry Kitchen before we start. I was good with 2 eggs, 2 bacon, and even 2 sausage, but when I finished the french toast also, I wanted to nap, not ride....Damn! I gotta keep up with this 30 something youngster, so get over it!! We took a left on 7th and jumped on Pamo Road. Did not stop till we ascended Piney Top. Clear day, oxygen, etc....nice! Met a solo rider named Jason on top, who was also on a KTM 500. Shot the stuff for awhile and we began our descent. We decided we weren't done with dirt, so turned left onto Upper Santa Ysabel Rd and headed over to Black Canyon Road. This is one of my favorite trails as it can be easy (relatively) or dang sketchy, depending on the weather. The dropoffs always give it a certain pucker factor. Black Canyon just didn't look like fun, and as much as we like going up to Mesa Grande we turned around and reversed course right back thru Upper Santa Ysabel Rd and back down to Pamo Rd. A couple of miles later, we turned right and went up Orosco Ridge. Lots of ruts, but much fun... After running the ridge in both directions, we decided it best to go home and explain to the wives how this could really "be fun." I'm still working on a convincing line of logic, but my wife of 42 years just smiles and pats me on the head. It's all good!

@J5ive, @DSM8, and I took a little jaunt today. Dirt portion was Puerta La Cruz (Lost Valley) and Cooper Cienega from Warner Springs to Anza. We need to take more pictures. https://www.relive.cc/view/v4OG9j3Gwmq

It took awhile, but finally have it in print.

I really have been missing riding at Big Bear this summer, though I have been keeping up with all the storms, mudslides, washouts and wild fires that have been disrupting and ruining that area lately. I really miss the forest rides. So yesterday, my riding buddy Kim took me out to Pine mountain to experience some forest riding up here. It is less than an hour's drive south of Rock Springs, and it's like a tiny Alpine oasis sticking up out of an otherwise high desert landscape. The desert is already at 7000 feet in elevation, so riding on Pine mountain brings you up to over 9000 feet. From the south rim, you can see into the "Three Corners" area, where Wyoming, Colorado and Utah all meet. In fact, there is a trail that lead off the mountain, and goes right to the marker monument. We didn't ride down there, yesterday, but instead explored all the gnarly two tracks that ran through the mountain drainages. Lots of aspen trees getting their first f all colors, and the forests are made up of mainly fir trees. We found the trails not maintained to any real degree, littered with washouts, rocks and trees. We also found some abandoned cabins and a few small ponds. It was pretty nice day, although I ended up with a head cold late in the day. Oh well, we got germs up here too.

Had a great day mountain biking in the Lagunas. Temps in the low 60's, sunshine out and plenty of patches of snow (and mud) on the ground. Only saw a handful of people so basically had the mountains beauty all to myself. Haven't been on a bicycle in more than 3 months so this felt really good to get out!

Hey friends, I just thought I would share my experience to allay some fears that some of you may have. While I am a fatalist about whether I would get Covid and stated often that I was either going to get it or get a vaccine eventually. Well Sunday before last it was my turn, High fever while freezing for about 16 hours, couldn't warm up and no energy for 2 days after that, appetite was ok, no nausea, lots of muscle aches. Very similar to a flu/hangover/malaria. Lots of fun. Anyway 9 days in and I'm just about back to 90% good. By the way I'm 63 and have a history of asthma. I must admit I was spooked at first, now I'm glad I was careful but not crazy worried for months. A funny note, I tried a microbrew yesterday and it tasted like pickle juice, yum. While this post isn't really ride related I thought I could give back a little to this community by allaying some fears of fellow members, this is in no way meant to minimize anyone elses experience or make light of the illness. Just carry on, you most probably won't die from it and most likely can't avoid it, so ride on and be careful. Your friend, Uncle C.

I want to wish everyone at San Diego Adventure Riders a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! I hope 2023 is your best year yet. Especially the one's I've been lucky enough to personally meet. I'm thankful that I've been able to meet so many great people in the short time I've been on the site. I've found everyone very welcoming and supportive. Many giving their time, whether at a Tech Days, putting together a Noob camping trip or different people taking me on rides at a pace/level that I didn't stress the whole ride, people willing to share their bike so you can try out different kinds/styles. Everyones willing to share their knowledge and experience with you. Have a good one all - Merry Christmas

I didnt go to theTestical Festival Cornhole Competion on my block today so I went for a little ride around my neighborhood scouting for a great dualsport route. My ADD kicked in and next thing I know I'm following some 4x4 tracks over a landslide. NOT realizing how deep it was.. My bike came to a stop because the sand was loose and deep even though I had plenty of power. I searched far and wide for a nice place to cool my 650cc displacements and drink some water that was So I followed the creek until I crossed the S2 Highway that divides this Dual Sport Mecca. Just as I was needing a nice picnic table and shade I came into this nice area called Bow Willow Campground nestled behind a bluff. Bow Willow has fire rings, picnic tables, campsites, shaded cabanas pe4fect for stringing up a hammock, also it has well maintained bathrooms. Is very quiet here and renders a nice view.. Thanks for coming along and enjoying my story. See you on the next one, ☺

"Ya'll should've seen @J5ive out on the trail. He got on my KTM 500, took off and left me like I was yesterday. I saw him jump a whoop and got at least 2 credit cards of daylight off the rear tire!!!" OK, I told John I'd make him sound good, so now that's out of the way, I'll start the RIDE REPORT... BEAUTIOUS Sunday morning, driving to Ramona. A little nip in the air, but I don't care....I'm in my truck We decided to meet up at Dunkin in Ramona, so about 8:30, @J5ive and @ECDave showed up. Then, here comes @DSM8 on his 1290 to wish us good luck. Dave didn't want to ride with street tires but must have needed a morning ride....good for him. Soon after, @Goofy Footer comes strolling in to shoot the bull. So, while Dave is there to wish us well, Tim starts talking about all the mangled bodies he's had to airlift out of sand washes etc. as a firefighter. Hmmm, John and I started thinking an extra donut and a ride home was sound pretty good. Thanks Tim 🤣 Anyway, after our goodbyes, off we went. I headed through Ramona on Main Street and turned left on 7th......paved to less paved to dirt (Pamo Rd). Just before the dirt, John and I swapped bikes, which was the intent of this whole endeavor. He wants to try some smaller dirt bikes. So, I jumped on his Yamaha Tenere 700, and he got on my 500....a mile or so up the dirt where you turn right to go up to Black Mountain, there appeared to be some trepidation. So cooler (read: older) heads prevailed and I took the group back to Orosco Ridge. Nice riding, but not too intimidating. Seriously, we had a great time! As you can see, there was minimal blood and ZERO bandages visible. So, time for another bike swap. @ECDave has been in the rear the whole time. I told him to take the KTM and John would try his Kawasuki DRZ 400....honestly, today I just learned about the Kawasaki/Suzuki badge engineering. Cool! So, Dave jumps up front on the KTM....BAM! He's gone. I tried to keep up on the Tenere, but couldn't quite do it. John was pulling up the rear on the 400. Good riding, lots of ruts but generally everything was quite manageable. Good for bike swapping....NO ONE wants to dump someone else's bike! The day ended at what used to be Packard's for a crepe and a Coke, along with a debrief of the ride. What we learned: @ECDave found out he kinda likes the KTM 500....it's really skinny in the middle and it responds....but with the 400 and a Husky 701, why? (Great point) @J5ive found out after 50 feet on the Kawasuki, he liked it better than the 500. It wasn't as aggressive. Makes total sense and that's a good decision on his part. He wants to enjoy learning how to "off road". I totally get it. Me @moto_rph, I found out what a nice bike a Tenere 700 is. Wide bars, not too heavy, good torque for plunkin along. Also found out it's just fun to go riding with buds. Wait a minute. I knew that already!

I've recently finished a 2-day training + 2-day ride (video coming) with the West38 guys in Borrego Springs. I've learned a lot during the 2 days and finally got really comfortable with sand. All the instructors were top-notch, including our own @Zubb If you have an opportunity to do the class, don't miss it. It's totally worthwhile.

It was my first trip with my KTM 690 and first time using the Mosko Moto setup. I had used a Giant Loop bag on my Husky before, so have done soft luggage in the past. Packing before the trip, I realized that my usual sleeping bag just wasn't compact enough. Might work now that I have repacked a few times, but I used my wife's sleeping bag that is much more compact. It was ok. I have a small pillow that I have always took along, will probably replace that with an inflatable. I carry too many tools, not sure that I can change that because I am "that guy" who helps others. My tent, may experiment with not packing it in the original bag to see if I can make it smaller. I don't want to get a smaller tent. All said, the trip was put together by me for 100% selfish reasons so I could test my setup. It was my honor to be able to share the experience with everyone who showed up.

The welders cloth had been slowly failing, but did get us to camp. Adam had been communicating with his brother in law (gotta love those Sena's) through the afternoon and had him searching for a replacement can. Finding another Remus was not happening, and $1200 didn't settle well with his wallet either. But Doug did come through finding a guy in Denver with an OEM can for sale, for . . . . wait for it . . . $100. I figured I'd put Adam on my bike for class and I'd spend Saturday morning running a 3 hour loop to Denver in Dusty's truck, and have the bike whole again by noon. But alas, the gods were with us, and it turns out the seller had been wanting to take a W38 class. So I encouraged him to come up Saturday and have breakfast with all of us and hang out for a bit and watch. Well it took about 2.4 seconds for him to agree that was a capital idea even though he couldn't free up the whole weekend to actually take a class. And just like that, a proper solution would be delivered right to camp the following morning. Super nice of the guy to ride up, hang out, and practically gift us the solution. About 10 minutes with the tool roll and we were good to go. Adam is an excellent GS rider and had some moto related ambitions for later in his life. He's never had any formal training though so the greater plan was to run him through the Level 2 class. Then he and I would ride COBDR north to south, looping back to Ouray the following weekend for the Level 3 class. Class begins... ... and for next 2 days, a good time was had by all. Sundays final segment on drifting corners at speed ended at the Wyoming state line. Adam and I had planned to begin our trip from this point instead of going back to camp and overnighting there again. Rather than head to the official end (start) of the BDR we tracked west on dirt back roads across the northern edge of CO toward Steamboat. Our plan was to camp at Strawberry Springs but Covid rules were in play still and we could not get a reservation. Even though I tried for the 6 months prior to this trip. So I'd planned then to camp up on Rabbit Ears pass. But by the time we got there it had already been a long day and we opted for option 3. The Rabbit Ears motel in town and another steak dinner. It's good to have options. Steak. Whiskey. Hangin' with my son. Good times.

Hi all, I'm Angela, wife of @Hawkins, and am just starting out with motorcycle riding. I took a dirt bike course during a week of middle school summer camp a million years ago, and rode a moped around Chiang Mai, Thailand with @Hawkins in 2013. Just bought a Royal Enfield Himalayan (2022) and have had a few lessons to get me started so far. I only have my motorcycle permit, but have my drive test scheduled for August 11, so looking forward to being able to ride longer/later after that. I have a gaggle of young kids around me most of the time, but they all go off to school/preschool in a couple weeks, so I'm looking forward to getting more seat time in soon!

Quick update. I met Dress4Less to take a look at his trailer. I came with just enough knowledge to know that the trailer he was offering was pretty much what I was looking for. After some pleasantries and a kind exchange with my two youngest kids, we got to the ever exciting moment of price. He said, "Well, you've been researching these, what do you want to offer?" I wasn't real sure, but thought I had a pretty good idea of what I should offer. I'm pretty straight forward and don't really try to haggle unless it's a part of the fun, so I told him what I'd be happy to pay. A short couple moments of silence and I was wondering if I had shot too low and insulted him. He didn't like my offer. Uh, oh. Not only did he not accept my offer he added, and I hope I'm not giving away too much here, "Well, you're generous, how 'bout we cut that in half." What? In addition I didn't have the hitch ball to pull it and he just said, "Let's make it a package deal and gave me his off of his own truck so I could take it home. He showed me how to use everything, how to maintain it, some ideas for packing it, and even gave my kids some stickers. I was blown away at his honesty and kindness. Dress4Less is a great ambassador of this sport and this forum. I'm glad I got the chance to meet him. He just said he was happy it was going to a new riding family that could put it to use. A serious "Thank you" is in order and I just wanted to share this and what he did for me and my family. You blessed us that day and I'll remember it and pay that blessing forward when my opportunity comes. About a year ago when I joined this site, 350thumper reached out and offered me (a noob) some kind assistance right after I had introduced my myself in the introductions page. He was my first impression of the kindness of those on this site and and it was just reinforced/confirmed with this trailer purchase. I'm impressed by the caliber of folks on here and look forward to finding some time to join on some beginner rides with some of you. No, I'm not usually this sappy and I haven't been drinking, 🤣 just wanted to share an awesome experience and give some credit to a good guy. His only request was when I get it all loaded up and get to our next family outing that I post some pictures on here. So I'll be sure and honor that request, hopefully soon. Thanks again.