Marbee40

Pyro, I'd bet that we're the only two to show up! COME ON! This is an ADVENTURE group! Yes, it's gonna be cold as 'ell, but that's just your excuse to LAYER up! I doubt we'll see snow unless a bit of moisture rolls in. Anyways, I'm stoked about this ride, so load up on caffiene and warmies and get off the COUCH! Again, 619-726-5432 is my cell for this trip. Jim

Mangler et al, Did you go this morning? Any closures? How was the ride? How is your wrist? Jim

The trip has been renamed "Jims Alaska Training Ride".

Howdy gang, I'm looking for a good quality, DURABLE, digital camera. Don't need SLR type camera, but I do want HIGH quality pix, with the option to upgrade storage capacity. Don't care for bulky, but would like to have a decent zoom rate, so some lens is okay. Finally, as mentioned above, I need something that won't break on the first drop and that might be water resistant. As we say here at work....SEABEE PROOF! Jim

Carguy John : I know NOTHING is Seabee or Marine proof, but I gotta ask! I'll get off my buns and start looking this weekend (payday!). I've got a 3700 mile trip to AK coming soon and I'd hate to miss anything! All, THANK YOU! Feel free to keep the responses coming as I like to research a number of camera's. My little Sony videocam S*CKS! Takes GREAT tape video, but the pix and dig video are HORRIBLE! I should have researched a bit more before buying. That's why I'm asking. Any other responses will be greatly appreciated and I'm sure another poster will eventually ask the same thing. Jim

Nahhh, not yet. The troops gave me crappola at work yesterday so I had to go get my ears lowered again. I keep telling the wife I'm gonna look like this after I get out! "Bumpershot Coyote"....way too funny! Ohhhhh, HP2.... Mmmmm. I sat on one once at the dealer. Nice ride, Roxus! When ya comin out for a ride so I can eyeball your bike???

Bawstun, How's that wrist holding up? Take it EASY, brother! Hope to see you Monday evening!

Yes, your 80/20's should be fine, we'll have to take it easy thru two sections. One is a downhill of about 150'. It is NOT like Heartattack Hill, just gotta go 1st gear and take it easy. One uphill section below the prison is a 5 on a 10 scale. My first time up was a little daunting, but with everyone there we'll get thru fine. Again, I can't emphasize enough that we need to be CAREFUL. I will be calling the Brown Field BP office to let them know that we'll be in their sector for the evening. They usually radio their guys. Speaking of which, we will likely run into a few "International Hikers" along the way. For those of you that might be worried, don't. I'd only be worried if I was traveling alone. Our visitor, 625SXC is NOT staying at Campland. He had to move to the RV park off I-5, near exit 2, so he won't be riding with the folks from Mission Bay. Finally, we will depart at 7:15 latest, heading EAST on Proctor Valley Road, past the new houses, and up to Upper Otay Res. Again, cell phones get service, so call if you're running a few minutes late. Looking forward to another memorable ride! Someone bring a camera! Oh, someone bring a few doggie treats for our little friend at the top of the mountain, too. Jim

Okay, I've contacted 625SXC (Mike) and I'll post a new thread labled "EASTLAKE NIGHT RIDE". Jim

Soooo, that's two. 2Wheels, can you go on Monday? We can start at 7pm. MikeyB....do you live near Chula Vista? I'm just down from 2Wheels in Bonita so this will be an "easy" ride with very little commute for the both of us. Tell you what, I'll make a call right now and see if 625EXC is available. Once I figure it out, I'll start a new thread labeled "Eastlake Night Ride". Jim

1. Dangit! I missed a ride! 2. Gee, maybe it's a good thing I missed this ride! 3. Kaw'ee: Heal fast and get back on soonest! Until then, watch Rosie and Donald make absolute a**es out of themselves.

All, Anyone interested in a "nightride" next week (15-19JAN), I've got a simple one I'd like to lead. We can meet at Sweetwater Park (off the 54) and I've got a trail that is fairly easy. (MUCH easier than Heartattack Hill and Squeeze Rock). Total ride time is approximately 3 hours (and that's taking our time). The first half is "top secret" . The last half of this trip is up Otay from Thousand Trails and back down to Keubler Ranch, then cut over to the shooting range (by the prison) and in the back way to Eastlake/Olympic Parkway. I just did it last month, so everything is OPEN. If anyone is interested, ping in and I'll call 625SXC to set it up. I was thinking maybe a 5 or 6pm departure....I'm flexible. I know some of you have families, etc, so if we don't get a HUGE turnout, so be it. Wed, Thurs, or Fri?

I just realized that's my dumb arse holding your bike up and that's it's sitting on the rock that "bit" your bike. When this picture was taken, I do recall someone stating that it looked "staged"...... Looks about as bad as when I first rode up! OUCH! Hope ya heal fast, bro!

All, GREAT ride! Colder 'n heck when I rolled out from Bonita. Therm said 35* and I believed it. Had on every warmy I could find, which ain't much considering most of my "good" stuff is already packed out to the Great White North. Thank the good Lord I had my balaclava. I also had to double-up on gloves which helped immensely. I rolled out at about 7:30 and took I-8 up to the Descanso turnoff. Made it to Julian at about 8:35 and grabbed hot coffee and a tasty breakfast whilst introducing myself to the yet unbroken Boston Mangler. (Yeah, his Bawstun accent is appearant). As I attempted to pay for my breakfast, the owner offered to buy it for me based on my military ID. I politely refused saying he had already done that two years ago for a buddy and I on a H-D ride. I explained that once was MORE than sufficient and that a man can't run his business giving out freebies! He laughed and agreed to take my cash. Needless to say, his cafe is always my FIRST stop. (Mom's pies ain't half bad, either). Soon after the Mangler and I got aquainted, Sandiegoland showed up. Firm handshake and a very businesslike attitude! (Sorry, I tend to describe everyone I meet....) Also, very YELLOW riding gear! Right after that, Alex showed up and said "Do we have time? I need to unload my bike!" Now that I think about it, I was so wrapped up in my durn HOT coffee (and cold hands) that I didn't even offer to help. I DO recall thinking "Sheesh, bet he was WARM on his DRIVE up! ". Just kidding, Alex, seriously, I should have helped! Our planned departure got bumped to 9:30ish, which was great because it gave everyone a few minutes to get aquainted and prep bikes. My expectation for this ride was admittately low. I didn't expect more than a few bikes, and certainly not such a well rounded group. My past experience has been that when weather is rough, folks stay home. (It was cold enough that I almost stayed home!) Also, the group was made up of both intermediate and advanced riders. I use the term intermediate LOOSELY as I was usually far behind the pack, using the excuse that if I didn't stay behind, who would watch out for Sandiegoland! Off we went, getting a taste of the asphalt portion of dual sporting. Gotta love a bike that has a foot of ground clearance....keeps the pegs from scraping tarmac in the corners! After a few short miles, we turned off and headed UPHILL. Uh oh....is this gonna be rough? No, it turned out to be a fairly clean old road that went on for miles. I was concerned about the rock and downhill sections. Usually pictures make a section look WORSE than it is in person, but Squeeze Rock and the one rough downhill weren't as bad as I thought. CHALLENGING, but not impossible. At both of these junctures, all riders stopped to assist and give advice. This worked out well as not everyone was 100% comfortable with the terrain. After the two nasty obstacles, we meandered down Fish Creek into the Ocotillo Wells area. Stunning cliff's and fast sand wash riding. A few of us had minor spills, but were motoring along nicely until I came around the corner and saw BostonMangler sprawled in the rocks. UHOH! That big old boulder jumped out and snagged front end, causing him to twist a wrist on the fall. Luckily it wasn't bad enough to warrant hitching a ride, but I did see him eyeballing a few bikes to see who hadn't removed the rearsets. From there, we rode to Ocotillo Wells and had a great lunch. (Try the beans, they stick nicely). At that point, BostonMangler gave me my excuse to bow out as I had chores to do back home. I lamely offered "I'd hate to see him ride home alone with a bum wrist." and followed him with Sandiegoland back thru Ramona. Had a great time and put 220miles on the odo. THANKS! Well led and good company. Look forward to riding again soon.

35 toasty degrees in Bonita as I get my my gear on! See ya in Julian!

Nice pix! Thanks! Been up there a few dozen times and never bothered to ask about riding trails other than the Truck Trail. I really like the pictures of the border note. Figures that our side is covered in grafitti and the other side is clean as a whistle. Crazy. Jim

I've seen folks fix that with JBweld and a tube of rubber . Good luck, hope you get it before tomorrow. See the rest of you there. Jim

I sure hope so, i will be running 50% bald STOCK Tires!

Hmmmmmm....sitting here alone in my temporary bachelor-hell (wife is in AK) and wondering what the heck I'm gonna do this weekend. So, it looks like I might do this, but I'll be riding 100% unless someone wants to trailer me. I'm in Bonita (805/54 area). I got zero plans for Sunday, so if anyone wants to iron-butt this with me, we can leave EARLY from town to head up the hill to Julian. I'm game either way. I've got a D606 with about 75% tread...is that good enough for the rough sections? Also, what's the weather plan? Thanks, Jim

I saw that evil rock jump out and snatch him off his bike! About a 1/2 mile later, it's twisted twin brother jumped up outta nowhere and grabbed me! Sorry to hear about your knee. Jim

Whew. So here it is. Moving back to Alaska after almost 20 years of traveling the earth on YOUR tax dollars. During this little adventure at your expense, I've been to more countries and wheeled every type of motored transport I could get my little hands on. I've got a little work done along the way, but mostly just had FUN! Well, that little free-ride party is about to come to a close and I don't think I want it to end! I've got a background in construction, specifically operating engineer and management, so I'll always be able to earn an income, especially up North. BUT....that type of work isn't exactly soul source material, so I've decided to look into what's written in the topic description above. BTW, it's YOUR fault for showing me that tour outfit up in Anchorage, so blame yourselves. Yes, I've been leading military folks on little adventures all this time. From rounding up 2-dozen stock trucks to attack the John Bull trail in 89, to guiding folks on glaciers in Iceland, I've found that I have a knack for suckering clear-thinking people into leaving the safety of home to see the world! Most of you SDAR folks know EXACTLY what I'm talking about....just take a look thru this forum and you'll see it on every other post! I have a bajillion questions. I'm meeting with an employee for Alaska Rider Tours over the holiday break and I'm sure I'll get the straight scoop, but I was hoping you could collectively get me on the right track. Don't be shy, yank off the gloves and give it to me straight. I know some of you have even taken these types of tours and I could use your insight. I've always been successful with things I was passionate about, so I'm sure that I'll do fine here. BUT, I can't even seem to get this resume started past the objective part! HELP! If any of you don't want to post on the thread, PLEASE PM me as I could really use your experience. Thanks,

[ AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sooooo true! And you should see his garage floor! SPOTLESS! Almost blasphemy! Muscalero commented that Chief's bike looked like a trophy in a case! We should all be so clean! Jim

Hmmmm....me thinks carguy know's somebody on the inside!

Considering the dates, I think I'm IN. But someone needs to tell Chief Gunner that his bling-bling might get scratched! Jim Oh, almost forgot to mention that if we go BELOW Guerrero Negro, ya should have your passport. Just got back and needed it. On bikes it ain't too bad, but I try not to leave home w/o it. Jim

PING! Leaving the WarPig at home this time. Anyone need a ride? I'm in Bonita. Gotta be back for a Christmas party at 6:pm, so no dawdling at the end of the day. Jim