daijones

Was great conditions yesterday, I got out there about 10am and rode for near 3 hours and saw nobody but did see some fresh tire tracks, glad you guys also had a fun ride.

I'm signed up for 2 day full deal with overnight parc ferme etc., will go up friday and may ride the MX track a bit as they used that last time for part of one test and good idea the know which jumps to roll and which are safe to try and jump.

I'll be a "hopefully" for April 29th (have race in Tecate on saturday so have to see how beat up I am) and "probable" for May 6th.

I've pre entered already. Started it last year as 1 day but got lost along with bunch of others on first transfer section where apparently some hikers where hiding the arrows, they restarted the race an hour later but we were so lost going back and to trying to find out where we went wrong missed the restart so want to really ride it this year.

One thing I forgot to mention, by one of the downed trees on trail #9 as I was trying to move it get past I ran into a load of bees and got stung on my forhead as had my goggles off and on my elbow so please beware and keep clothed especially if you're allergic to bee stings. A few days later I also got stung twice more on neck by bees at McCain while riding, guess they kind of like me:)

Wish I could Christi as loved the last time there but on my way to UK for enduros this weekend and next.

Heck yes, if they're shortening course may go for ironman class this year, or maybe that is just to silly idea.

Unfortunately I can't make it, I will be back in UK racing british enduro championship 2 day event that weekend. I rode most of the trails at Corral Canyon today, the ground was just about perfect and even a bit of water running in the creek on trail #4. Yes there is quite a lot of storm damaged trees so I spent some time clearing where I could but some were just to big to move on my own and will need either ropes to winch them out of the way or chainsaw to cut them up, Trail #9 was worst but all were rideable.

Not been to pala yet so not sure if this is usual but definately the flagger was not in the best position being totally blind to riders on approach to jump, he should have been at / near the peak of jump so can see and be seen, whether he was told to go there or just made a bad decision but promotor should make sure all flaggers are in correct position and know what to do before race. Do hope Bryce recovers quickly, also feel sorry for the other riders that couldn't avoid crashing into him, they must all feel real bad.

Upcoming D37 Gold Rush Qualifier on March 18th at The Ranch, Anza CA, same place a few of us raced back in September and which was an awesome event. Gold Rush Slightly different format but much same terrain, unfortunately (maybe) 3rd loop isn't run for my B 40+ class so may be tough, have to see if can ride it anyway of if have to ride B 30+ class instead. Anyone wants to do an enduro type race this is a great opportunity to start, as close as it gets to SD other then Tecate and nothing too silly but be prepared for lots of turns, some said they only got into 4th gear twice in 4 hours riding. Expect online entries to up soon, who's in, Rob, Matt, Brad, Briana, Christi, others?

I would really recommend a rear rim lock on your Aprilia, it has so much torque and power it will be spinning rim inside tire which will generate heat and will cause mousse to wear out prematurely, yes a little more difficult when changing tires but really no big deal.

Yes you would be fine for that trip with no issues, does vary with bike/rider weight, speed and temp but I get >100hrs of hard riding/ racing from rear and more for front but that's with clean/relube every 20/30hrs when turning/changing tires but that's on mainly single track.

KTM brake and clutch levers come pre notched but still take quite a bit of bending before I finally broke one, and I agree with running perches loose enough so they will rotate or slide in a fall. But since going to cycra pro bend hand guards I run them tighter and never had any issues even with some big crashes. As to whether you should carry spares it comes down to how far you are riding, what you would have to cover to get out, what you can jury rig as Mimi showed some interested pics and how well you maintain your bike. If a clutch lever then perch also, and cable? Throttle cable is one of most important spares as extremely difficult to ride home with broken cable. With vice grips or pliers on gear lever shaft you can start off and get out of worst sections in 1st or 2nd then probably start off in 3rd on a fire road to get home, not pretty but better than walking and as long as you have 1 brake you shoudl be able to ride most anything, or at least bulldog bike anything more extreme.

So as non d38 member $60 for a 1 hr race plus $10 gate fee, I'm not particularly poor or cheap but this doesn't sound like great value for money, so maybe there but more likely try and burn $20 of gas in bike in McCain or Corral Canyon.

Looks interesting, after the snow could be great fun depending on the course.

You should have been out to McCain today. Lots of thick drifts and Larry Roeseler was out there too. Was thinking of it but decided to ride there wednesday instead with Tim, should be fun

Can you imagine riding a Vespa through the dunes of the Sahara? I couldn't imagine riding a Vespa anywhere let alone through the dunes of the Sahara, nor riding many of the other bikes in dunes to be honest, that guy that rode the Bultaco Frontera 370 in 2011 must be totally crazy.

Updated title and first post, now this next round is actually round 2 of their championship and last round we rode was actually round 1 not round 2 as was originally said, seems like they decided to split their MX and HS events into 2 seperate series. Anyone that likes technical single track riding will like this event, similar to McCain in many ways but bit more elevation changes.

I have to be happy with another class win (3 straight races now) and 41st overall from 160 2 loop finishers is decent but more pleased with 27th OA on first test (although to be fair early A riders had little trail to follow). I lost quite a lot of time on 2nd test stuck behind another ride that wouldn't let me past, turns out he won the Vet (30+) B Hwt class so not bad to be on his pace. Beat a load of A riders and in fact was only 1s off 3rd place in Senior A Hwt class but the conditions were much more suited to my background although I've only raced a couple of times in snow in last 4 years since started riding again but riding at McCain in snow a couple of weeks ago was helpful.

There are some sweet bikes there, great to see.

Great video, wish I could have had such a clean run, I was stuck behind other slower riders the whole time it seemed.

Sorry we didn't see you Matt, glad you made it. Agree being prepped can make a huge difference. My changes from normal riding are few, sealskinz socks to keep feet dry and warm, pak jak to keep core dry and not too warm, I use rolloffs on goggles with fishing line so doesn't stick when wet along with habervision vent fan to keep from fogging, first loop I used normal pawtector gloves but didn't get hands warm enough before start and fingers were popsicles by end, second loop used polarpaw gloves and got them nice and toasty on exhaust before start and were fine, right equipment and prep. Roll offs are so good in these conditions when done right, I spent the whole second loop/test a few feet behind another rider and along with the driving snow I was pulling fresh view every few corners so I could always see.

I'm not really a morning guy and the thought of battling thru snow covered roads before any plows in my 2WD van just to get to the start held little appeal so I drove up saturday afternoon. That was bad enough in torrential rain with cars span off and stopped all the way up the 15, after that was OK up to Anza but drive up dirt road to the track was difficult and only just made it into the main (lower) parking area which was very muddy with several ponds. Signed up, fitted number, sorted score card and back into van out of the weather, by 6pm had dropped below freezing and rain was now snow coming in horizontal. So settled in, watched dvd, read a book, text updates to Rob then off to sleep which was fine, warm enough even though no heater but van moving around a bit in wind and some heavy rain on roof. Up at 7am fresh and found 4+ inches of snow, Brad, Briana and Alan arrived and went to sign up and found start had been delayed an hour until 9am, Rob and Cyril were still on their way and arrived shortly after and signed up. Quick riders meeting discovered course had been cut dramitically and we would only ride a 3.5 mile special test twice, quite bummed really but they were concerned about safety and getting injured riders out would have been very difficult from anywhere far from the main roads. So now at my key time of 9:31 headed off on first loop/test, messed start onto MX track a bit so last of 4 on my minute but got past 2 OK but other guy was going quick but caught him heading into single track but he was riding well and I never ride well early so dropped back a bit. Passed a bunch of riders and was finally catching guy on my minute but he was getting past slower riders better. After about 3/4 of test I was on him but couldn't get past in single track as he wouldn't pull over and going off line into snow which I tried quite a few times just didn't work so at end of test I was right behind him but lost some time to what I could have done. Got back to my van and my fingers were so cold so got warm, fresh gloves and goggles and an hour wait for 2nd loop/test. In meantime Brad came in with a barb wire fence around his rear wheel, Alan seemed to have had enough so with Briana they all loaded up to get out before it got any worse as by now there was a full blown blizzard. 2nd test I got better start behind the guy who had just beat me on 1st test, he rode nice and quick but was holding me up so tried a few passess on mx track but as soon as you went off into deeper snow there was no way past. So into ST I kept on his tail, now was more cut up with some deep ruts and I was getting plastered with mud, trying different lines around him, hoping for mistake but again he wouldn't pull over despite I was quicker and he was holding me up. We passed a bunch of others again and unfortunately these were in some of the only opportunites I could have passed him withought block passing so had to follow him to finish covered in his mud. So not too happy as could/should have done better as this suited me so well, my faults but if it had been longer as planned would have suited me better. Drive out of the The Ranch was not easy, very glad Robert followed me, we got to one bit of hill I was concerned about and there was long line waiting with 4x4's crawling up with big trailers, I didn't get a good enough run up so got stuck first attempt, Robert my hero backed everyone so I could try again, fail, try #3 fail again. So back maybe bit firther for last try before resorting to putting on chains and just made it up, doesn't help with worn rear tires but the Sprinter isn't great in slippy conditions without weight in rear. Then 15 miles later we emerge from a blizzard onto #79 and it's a different world. Fun day, memorable, even epic.

See y'all up there sunday morning, should be epic.

Flyer is up, sign up as it should be a fun ride and great track, even if we get no more rain after this weekends storm dust won't be big deal as terrain is so tight, per organisers they plan to have a fun endurocross section by pit area. BORCS Flyer