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Hello all, It is with great pleasure that I'm announcing that starting today, Sedlak Offroad School, our homebrew off-road school for Adventure, Enduro, and especially kids off-road school, is under new ownership. I have acquired SOS and as of today, the new business name is SoCal Off-Road School (www.socaloffroadschool.com). While I'm the new owner behind the scenes, legendary Edgar Cota, the Mexican Tornado and the most recent Baja 1000 Iron Man Champion (which was really 1300 miles, 6 hours ahead of second place), is leading the company. We are 100% committed to the ADV community. While short term it's business as usual, we are fully committed to become the #1 ADV school not only in California, but in the entire US, if not the world. I don't have words to describe how excited I am to embark on this new journey. Let's make San Diego a center of ADV (Big Trail, Maxi Enduro, etc) for the world to see! I have some exciting plans for the future and I'm counting with your support. Stay tuned for exciting new events and opportunities in the months to come. Cheers!

The wife and I have a pair of Honda Ruckus' (Ruckai, IDK) that we "dual sport". We have done day trips only but are planning this weekend to venture out further on an overnight. Hoping Thomas Mtn. will be free of snow... probably not though. I camp up there often on the ADV bike to test gear and hoping to show her one of my favorite campsites. We'll see how far we get, I'll report back. Thought you guys might enjoy seeing the lightest version of Dual Sport I can think of, lol.

Strangely, I had never discovered McCain while I had my KTM. Due to back issues, I recently sold the KTM and bought a much lighter Talaria MX4 ebike. I've been taking it out to McCain and trying to learn my way around. I have modest skills and am pretty slow, especially on a trail I don't yet know. But here is a video I captured last Wednesday. (It's not like some of the rocket rides I see some of you guys posting, but I had fun.) The ebike has been great for me as it is so light and low. For those that are curious, I seem to be able to go about 24 miles and still end the ride with enough battery to be secure (say 20-40% left over). For me, that's about all my back can handle, so it works out fine.

The 2024 SoCal Roadbook Rally just finished, and it was a great first rally for me. As I will explain here, it's perfect for rally newbies. There were all kind of rally bikes, ranging from as simple as putting a tablet on a KTM 500 EXC to full rally spec monsters. There were quite a few Koves as well. It's gaining tremendous popularity with the rally crowd. From what I hear, the rally pro model is really ready to race in all aspects. From about 80 participants, only 2 "big bikes", mine and a T7. I arrived at the bivouac on Wednesday, just a few miles outside the 395, about 20 miles north of Kramer Junction. After unloading everything from the truck and setting up my tent, I went out to ride the "calibration" loop. A short 50 Km (yeah, rally is all in metric and French) loop designed to give you an intro for the days to come and make sure your equipment is working fine. The really nice thing about the SoCal Roadbook Rally is its non competitive nature, so the organizers provide you not only with the roadbook, but also with a GPX file of the course. I mounted a rugged Android tablet to the DesertX, so by just clicking a button, I could switch between TerraPirata, the roadbook navigation software, and DMD2, my favorite mapping application. From the 50 km in the calibration loop, I was lost almost half of the time and had to "cheat" and follow the GPX track... The next day I left the bivouac pretty early to take the South West loop, also called the Edwards AFB loop, going all the way to California City and totaling about 220 KM. I didn't get lost as often and had to cheat 5 or 6 times. The desert after all these rains and with spring fast approaching is absolutely stunning! The next day I took the Helendale loop, another 200 KM loop, and I was a lot more comfortable with reading the roadbook and navigation controls. I really started understanding the meaning of "chasing waypoints". For every "tulip" (one row in the nav book), you get a jolt of dopamine - "I got this one!". During navigation, you are under constant self-doubt, and when a road, intersection, or landmark appears at the right (or near) odometer reading, it's a great feeling. I've also made great friends at the bivouac. Our community is great no matter what modality you're participating. "Allegedly", Mason Klein (Dakar stage winner, champion of Rally dos Sertoes, Honda factory rider) wanted to try my DDX and in exchange let me ride on his rally honda. Those machines are real beasts! All in all, this was a perfect introduction to navigation rally. It's a completely new dimension lay on top of off-road riding. I noticed I looked and appreciated the environment a lot more than if I was just following a blue track on my GPS. I'm definitely hooked on it now. I'm energized to create a San Diego Rally Club. I think anybody who tries this will get hooked as I am. It's so freaking cool!

Vet track was a ton of fun! I've only ridden a track one time, probably 4 years ago, so I'm a complete noob. I arrived around 830 and I was one of the first on the vet track around 910. It was intimidating for the first few laps, but there is a good variety of small jumps with small gaps, rhythm sections, and large table top jumps so I could slowly work my way in to each jump as I felt comfortable. The berms were really fun just flowing around the outside of each corner. Around 10 or 11 more people showed, but it never felt crowded on the track. By 11 am I was feeling much more confident and having a great time. I was tuckered by 1 and packed up about 130. I was really happy to have an easy up. There is little to no shade out there. I parked along the road between the main and vet tracks and would sit at my car under my shade and watch one track or the other while taking a break. I wore ear plugs the entire day. Those track guys really open up their exhausts and are LOUD. my ktm 450exc was soft on suspension, but the smooth broad power was perfect and helped coming out of corners or going up jump faces. Cost was $40 which is more than last time I went, but still cheap compared to driving 2 hours each way out to the desert or mountains. I think I'll go back next Friday. I'm hooked.

I want to give a huge thank you to tntmo (Tom) and my friend John P. For helping me get my sidecar and Ducati 900 Elefant out of storage today. Soon, the sidecar will be mated back to the BMW 1150GS, and I'll get the Elefant back on the road and trails.

Friday night I posted up a quickie call for anyone to join Jim and me on a Saturday morning Otay ride. Bill and Mike answered the call and the 4 of us dove in at the Pink Gate. it’s been years since I ride there so it all felt new to me. I’d forgotten how much good trail there is in there. Jim was in classic form, ever ready with an eye for a good pic here and there. Thanks Jim. This was my first ride on the 450, and it did not disappoint. Amazing machine, and quite the adjustment from the 1250. . . . Ya THINK?!?! What a hoot. It’s gonna take a minute to calibrate myself to this little rocket. Gotta say, it’s a treat to fly it over “stuff” and land on a cloud. And pull the throttle to effortlessly lift the front over trouble. … and a good time was had by all! Especially when you end with those incredible street tacos in Dulzura. until next time!

@moto_rph officially became a year older yesterday, and wanted to get a ride in before family festivities, so we met up at Warner Springs Gliderport, and ran Lost Valley ANd High point TT / Palomar divide. Bikes and riders were @moto_rph on his 500, Kyle on his 701, Justin on a 500, Myself on the 690, and @J5ive on his XR650L. Lost valley has a lot of new rain ruts of any and all angles, and a couple fun puddles to splash through, High Point TT is extra fun right now, the rain has made some of the ascent a bit more 'textured' than years past, it's more like upper Black Mtn right now.

Several months later I got this done. It was some work but I am pleased with the results.

I hope all you SDAR members have a great Easter Sunday, whether out on the trail or relaxing at home with family.

Death Valley Noobs Rally 2024! Dual Sport / Adventure Ride and Camping https://youtu.be/cX5ixyaREbs

Proposing this date for an SDAR BBQ meetup, not a tech day. I have plenty of room to host and if people bring a camp chair as well just in case can easily host 20-30 people with no problem. Will have the grill going and the plan for now ( what I will provide at this time ) are the obligatory hotdogs and buns (* I am very simple) As usual I do not serve beer or such, peeps are on their own to bring their beverage of choice. We will have the usual honor jar for donations which go to Randy to help keep the lights on here at the site. Look to the calendar for location etc. @bajadog if your bringing the elk burgers let us know @PaulyPickles come and see what the hubbbub is all about yourself @KTMrad here is the placeholder @AdventureSmeghead this is the thread you are looking for....

Since Dave's shop (DSM😎 is cluttered with a big project, I can offer my place for a techday if needed. let me know and we can make it happen.

I haven't been riding motorcycles much lately Got out for a ride in March, but haven't had much time for doing everything that I'd like to do since I had to go back to work. Admittedly, I have been doing a lot of fishing on my days off....but last Saturday, I decided that I needed to either ride one of my dirt bikes, or start putting them up for sale So ride it was. A day in the Uinta mountains.

Thankfully I was relieved of my duties of employment and am going to do a two week trip to Northern California to visit a sorely missed relative on the Feather River and also do some moto camping and exploration with my new (used) trailer. Did I mention the NorCal BDR just had the inaugural opening as seen on YouTube? I looked around for a small towable teardrop or similar and they were really expensive and didn't have enough space that I needed to get a bike inside. I've done my own self-contained toy hauler with a $3,000 trailer that I found it on Craigslist. Here's where my adventure begins! If it doesn't go well, it's been nice knowing you all! 😉

Just returned from Italia (2.5 weeks). More improvements to the Casa , new exterior paint, some plumbing up grades (new shower mix valve and whole house filter), more landscape cleanup, woodsman work on the fence line. All new dual pane glass windows. new paint added as required interior. New light fixtures and furnishings throughout. pool has new hd pump filter system but is still a work in progress. (clean up needed). We are on Airbnb and VRBO as Casa Di Leone, Montieri, (GR), provincia Grosseto, regione Toscana. You can find us on Google maps as well. Attic work for more bunk area is slowly being worked on. Garage is cleared out and capable for moto storage. laundry is working well as are all the gas appliances. Heat is hot water circulation into radiators in each room and with the new windows will be super for cold season. Future 2 wheeled plans/dreams. MTB,eMTB trail links direct from the house to Montieri MTB park and west to Prata and throughout the area on gravel roads. A full on enduro bike loop and a property (14 acres) perimeter Trials bike semi hard enduro loop. The area due to enviro political sensitivity is much more a Bicycle paradise, but I feel I can do some motorized loops as well. Saw in the area Wild Boar/pigs, hedgehog, foxes, rabbits, cats , all types of birds and now was told by locals that the wolves have repopulated the hills

I did all this before it even was the AZ BDR.

We took the scooters up to Big Bear over the Memorial Day weekend. Had a great time riding some dirt roads (mostly 2n08 & 2n10). Still a little snow up there. Camped in the van, weather got down in the mid 30's overnight.

SDAR friends, I am going to refresh my 1999 TE610 to prepare for local DS rides. I prefer 90% offroad type rides. I believe I will be slowing down a bit from my racing and hardcore riding and will be more in tune with my age (due to some actual physical aging issues). But I still want some challenges but with the required plated machine. The TE610 is a brilliant machine.... but at times even a challenge as a kick only machine!!! Pokey check in as the summer season kicks in I hope to some stuff in the northern county areas. I will for sure be doing some south county stuff as well. This is just my way of stating publicly my intentions!!! Note: I need to get back into my machine for some updates to get my Trail Tech gear back online as well as the carb cleaned out all else is great with the old, world champ enduro machine. Signed- SDAR supporter for life Robertaccio (Robert Nantista- Casa Di Leone, Montieri (GR))

Glad to help a fellow moto guy, it's what we do as a community. Looking forward to seeing that Ducati running again. Seems like a neat bike!

3 days of riding Day 1 - Placing the repeater https://www.relive.cc/web/view/vdvmJp8woxO Day 2 - U2 Site/Reward Mine/Alabama Hills @screaminsal & son Dennis and some bloggers dont know their names https://www.relive.cc/web/view/vXOdXEZNd4O Day 3 - Chloride Cliffs https://www.relive.cc/web/view/vLqex8K5dR6

Yes, ADV Rider event. Very cool, we have the entire campground for the weekend at Panamint Springs Resort, over 200 riders. It’s a good way to get introduced to riding Death Valley and a fun time hanging out with friends old and new. I’m finishing up the edit on my video, might be out in a day or so.

OK ok ok already. I'll give it a go. I don't know if the 1250 GS is pouting, or just relieved. Maybe a little of both. But I put a splash of orange in the garage. Like a salmon swimming upstream to it's first home, a certain members KTM returned to La Mesa and took refuge in my garage. Am looking forward to exploring desert and single track with a more appropriate machine. Am looking forward to getting familiar with this thing!

And https://wheelsthroughtime.com/ in North Carolina