Crawdaddy

I'll be at Denny's at ~7-7:15 latest

Good to know that gate is now open across Black mtn bridge.....that's a neat little trail/connector between Pamo Rd. and Black Mtn Rd. Hmmmm......didn't know about the ranchers property on Lusardi but that's not surprising.......may still fiddle around back there just to reaquaint myself with the area.... The only reason I brought up these Black Mtn off-shoots was to let people know about'em and because I thought I might play around/explore a bit tomorrow since I can't ride all of Jon's route due to limited time hall pass (but I did get the green light to ride over and say hello in the morning) See you guys in the morning.....

I'd suggest you just park your trucks across the street in the K-Mart parking lot (or on the road in between the Autozone & the Mobil Gas station).....the K-Mart lot is huge......plenty of empty spaces on the outer reaches of the parking lot along Hwy67 and almost directly across the street from the Autozone.... Hammer - it's gonna take you ~45min to reach Ramona from your place in Encinitas....so if you're planning on having breakfast in Ramona at ~7am (to be ready to ride by 8am) you'll need to be rolling away from the homestead by 6am......which means it'll also be pretty darn chilly.....my suggestion - truck your bike up, chow down, and unload at K-Mart or on the street between the Autozone & the Mobil gas station..... For anyone else considering breakfast, FYI - there's a Denny's about a ~quarter(?) mile short of the Autozone on 67 as you approach town from the west on 67.....

True - that's why I noted the location of the original Packard's which is at 7th & Main (with gas next door at Circle K). It's is a good launching point since you're right at the 7th St stoplight which will lead you out 7th/Elm/Haverford/Pamo/Pile/Black Mountain.... But hey man, it's your party....no BFD to me either way. Have a blast on Sunday and maybe I'll see ya "in the zone" (the auto zone) at ~7:45am (can't commit as I haven't run the request for a morning hall pass by the gal pal yet.....if ya know what I mean.....and I think ya do .......but even if I get the green light it'll just be for a few hours in the morning....so I won't be able to accompany you guys over to Anza......I'll probably opt to explore some local terrain and see what the deal is with those locked gates that I mentioned above)

There's plenty of parking across the street from Autozone in the K-Mart shopping center.....I *may* ride over and say hello/ride with you guys for a short a bit on Sunday since you're starting the ride about ~10 minutes from my house......but I can't work the all day hall pass.....don't wait for me...... FYI for future rides: Good congregating spot for rides out of Ramona is Packards coffee shop at 7th and Main St. (that way you can warm your belly with some java and stuff down a muffin before you head out on your way - gas up next door at the Circle K). If you head straight across main street from Packards on 7th it turns into Elm St......hang a right on W. Haverford (which turns into Pamo) and another right on Pile.....Pile will run you over to Black Canyon to cut over to Mesa Grande or Sutherland Dam (if you stay straight on Pamo you'll come to the OHV area.....but that's really just a boring dirt road.....close/legal spot to take stickered bike/little kids riding to get them acquainted with their bikes/quads.....but that's about all it's good for) Beyond the OHV area on Pamo Rd. there are a few fun dirt roads/trails to goof around on if you have a Dual Sport (plated) bike.....both of these roads (nf - 11504 & nf-12507) connect with Black Canyon Rd. but for whatever reason the access gates are usally locked at one end or the other I know the gate to 11504 from Black Canyon (just across the bridge and to the left) was locked the last time I came through several months ago Likewise, forest service road nf - 11501 turns into Lasardi Truck Trail and eventually intersects with the Mesa Grande Truck Trail which will take you over to the 76.....but again, the last time I went onto 11501 off Pamo (which was a couple of years ago) the access gate was locked after a mile or so..... Map quest link - zoom in to see forest service roads off Pamo

The older I get the more limited my cranium capacity to correlate/remember names with faces……this scenario is only compounded when I have no face to work with and have to correlate a name to a posting handle….a suggestion to all, I think we could ALL benefit if we at least mentioned our first names in our signatures……that will make it easier to remember that Crawdaddy is Chris, Ride-Orange is Rob, KTMrad is Randy, etc…..it would be nice to show up for rides knowing first names in addition to SDAR handles….just my $.02 and no BFD either way……

I'll second Rob's comments......my son has been riding since he was ~10 and we've taken some very cool/fun "guy road trips" together and created lasting memories motorcycling and mountain biking at Bass Lake/Mammoth/Big Bear/etc......most recently in Death Valley this past weekend (only on bikes "with motors" this past weekend ).....and my girlfriend/daughters are always game to go to Glamis to ride bikes/quads...... BUT, my oldest two daughters are all about work/money/boyfriends now so they're kinda falling off the "let's go riding" bandwagon......and at 17, daughter number 3 is slipping into that same mindset......my son at 15 is still "in" whenever we get the chance.......time does pass fast and soon they'll ALL be out of the house and off on their own with other "self" priorities and minimal time to play with dad .......no BFD, that's' just the way life rolls on.......so maximize the enjoyment level with'em while ya have'em (and while they're interested).....sure is fun to get out into the wilderness with your gal/kids and do some fun family bonding away from computers/T.V.'s/etc........just another reason why I love the sport and why I'm willing to fight to keep our trails open.....

Scary stuff.......will fire e-mail into Union Trib address noted at bottom of article - mike.lee@uniontrib.com

Here's a couple of pics my friend sent over.....none of the pics really do the area/ride justice......plan now to do this ride one weekend next March.....

Team Crawdad Racing (the not so speedy duo of me and my son) participated in this weekend's Death Valley 350 Death Valley 350 flyer Fun ride....fairly mellow with few nasty/rocky/goat trail hardway options for small bikes only (we passed on these after hearing about them....no margin for error on some rock ledges) On Sat we rode ~190 miles…..went through Goler Canyon, stopped by Charlie Manson’s place, ate lunch at Furnace Creek……after lunch Jarrett and I went up/down Echo Canyon past the “eye of the needle” and went crash/boom at “the big boy step” then came out of the canyon and dealt with some nasty silt and over to Beatty for the night: General info on area: Info on Goler Canyon Info on Charlie's place info on Furnace Creek I rode with Chris and Nancy in Mex……they have a Death Valley tour that covers much of the same ground we rode through this weekend…..the link below has a picture of the “eye of the needle” in Echo Canyon and also Striped Butte (which is NOT in Titus canyon)…..I took a picture of Jarrett with the eye of the needle over his shoulder….hope it comes out OK TrailBoss Tours Death Valley tour Wasn’t able to “google up” any quick pics of “the big boy step” in Echo Canyon….but it was challenging…..neither of us made it…..had to walk/hump the bikes up the steps under throttle….then more rocky terrain - fun Yesterday we started out through Titus Canyon…..mellow/scenic fire road with awesome scenery……and after we crossed through this canyon we cut over through Ballarat and talked with a couple of interesting local characters……and STILL had ANOTHER 100+ miles of MORE canyons/badlands to travel before returning to Ridgecrest….fun day General info on area: Info on Titus Canyon Ballarat - welcome to no where Looking forward to seeing the pictures taken by Jarrett and Russ/Dave (our riding partners)....I'll post a few once we down load'em/receive'em

If so, let's see her (or him?) suited up and ready to roll (as in roll around on a bike......not in the sack) I'm one of the lucky ones....my gal-pal rides......and takes a much better photo than me....

Don't take it personally. I'm guessing the folks running the track have to make snap judgements to protect against the worst: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211816 See Joilet's comment in the members only section....."The Daddy" agrees with his position/attitude on this subject.....

Or keep your eye out for a "parts bike" with a skid plate.......too bad this one is in NJ: XT600 on EBAY

My folks live in Placerville (~60 miles east of Sacra-Ghetto). I hope to be able to join you on a future trip and visit my parents as well.....thanks again for all your efforts.....it's also nice to see the membership/dialogue picking up on the site......

Interesting.....thanks for the link

Dave Harlan (President of th eDualies) put out a follow up e-mail to members this morning - same subject: Dualies, Looks like I stand corrected and I could have my 2003 KTM plate revoked. I've since learned the DMV and ARB say the 3 or C in the VIN doesn't matter any more. It has to do with whether you have a Federal or California Emissions sticker legally on your bike. Here are two web links that spell out their agenda Bottom-line – in my interpretation of the attached, your bike and mine will probably be recalled unless we stop ARB and DMV with a TRO or Cease and Desist letter: arb dmv If after reading these memos, your convinced that these changes are accurate, then we need to fire up some activism to make our voices heard before its too late Any ideas ? How about writing as letter to the AMA? I'm sending this out to all industry contacts as well to help spread the word and lets try to keep our bikes on the road.

Dave Harlan (president of the O.C. Dualies) sent the below e-mail out to all members this morning.....be aware; Dualies, This is from a trusted source within the club who "personally verified" a revocation letter from the DMV for his friends bike. This made me a little nervous so even though I'm riding orange, I verified the VIN's on my bike and looks like I'm OK. I also found and downloaded the DMV handbook for registering motorcycles and OHV's. If you want the entire handbook, let me know and I can send it to you but the specific page is shown below. You may want to review this in case there is a possibility that you are registered illegally. I would like to make everyone aware of this possibility in case it happens to you. If it does, please let others in the club know and let me know when you buy your new KTM so we can go riding again. DMV Reg Handbook -OHV (see sections 13.030, 035, 040) ******************************************************************************************** DAVE - I just got this letter from a "friend" and thought club members would be alarmed. I know this to be 100% factual as I saw the Revocation Letter from the DMV Involuntary Transfer Section. For anonymity purposes, please don't forward my name or others on this doc. Just erase all the headers and pump it out the club roster. Thanks ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I received a letter this week revoking the license plate for my Honda CRF dual sport bike. It was the result of a license audit conducted by the California Air Resources Board. They polled all recent motorcycle license records, scanned the VINs for the 4th-8th characters and determined which bikes were legally equipped with street-authorized emissions systems. No smog certification = no plate. I was instructed to return my title (now canceled), registration, plate and tags to the DMV. It didn't matter that I moved here with the bike from another state with a plate already on it. Their opinion of that? It was illegally registered in that state due to lax controls. But it did not comply with Federal emissions there so it was illegally licensed. I phoned the ARB and DMV about this revocation and learned a lot about their activities. They have already sent out 1500 revocation notices, have 300 more going out today and many more to come. They told me that ALL off-road bikes that have been street licensed in the past 3 years should expect to receive this notification. The letter is plain and simple - "Your bike fails to comply with California or Federal emissions standards and cannot continue to be licensed for street use". There are no exceptions, except the one we all know: - if your "off-road only" bike was purchased in California before 1/1/04 and a California Street registration was initiated by 1/31/04, it will be grandfathered in under the old law. This is considered a courtesy registration as California law calls for any bike after 1978 model year to comply with emissions to get a plate. They expect many thousands of bikes to be involved. The title is canceled immediately, so the bike cannot be sold or transferred in an attempt to evade the law. If stopped by a traffic officer, the computer will identify the bike as unregistered and the bike can be impounded on the spot. The bike cannot be sold, as it is untitled, and a new off-road title must be obtained before transfer. The only possible courses of action I see currently are as follows: 1) appeal the decision. Chance is slim, but perhaps as the number of complainants builds, it will help- 2) turn in the title and plates and apply for an off-road title and green sticker- move it and title it in a different state and deal with those issues 3) sell the bike out of state using the revoked title to transfer ownership. This MIGHT work according to DMV but numerous states are closing this option in a variety of ways. Example - Nevada now conducts smog tests on street licensed bikes, incl dirt bikes, so if there is no Emissions sticker, you fail and lose your plate. 4)Cheat by adding an Emissions sticker taken from a legal street bike and you've committed a Federal crime per the lawman. According to my conversations, ARB feels they have an airtight case and no appeal will succeed. There will be no waivers or sympathy approvals. If you have street legal smog, you're in. If not, you're out.The price of legally plated dirt bikes is about to go up. Buy now! In the next two months, it is going to get very interesting ... again. Reminds me of 2003 and the big waiver, but this time, they say "no way". Smog expenses are too high and they have to enforce existing laws in order to comply with their charter. Hope this helps prepare club members and their friends. Please don't identify the author of this note if you send this on. Thx guys - the Grim Rider. I'm thinking of switching from red bikes to ... orange. Akkkk!

Rogue MTB Video - Episode One

Guess I'm promoting the hijacking of my own thread?!?! I rode Big Laguna/upper Noble/and semi secret single track I've been riding for years while camped up there this past weekend.....been going to Noble for a zillion years......usually park at the bottom, ride Pine Valley Rd to Indian Creek trail and ride up that to where it intersects Noble.......then ride the remainder on Pine Valley Rd. to Sunrise and over to Penny Pines for the plunge.....much easier to ride up Indian Creek than trying to deal with climbing up all the rocks at the bottom of Noble and not as boring a Pine Valley Rd. Yeah, we'll do a combo day sometime......camp at Laguna Campground and dual sport in the morning/mtn bike in the afternoon......had a my GPS on the handlebars of my Mtn bike this weekend......stumbled upon a few decent fireroads up there too....didn't know the neames before using the GPS......

Downhill "free running"

Pick up a copy of last week's San Diego Reader (issue dated March 15th) to read an interesting article on the site of our Desert Dash - Anza Borrego......the article talks about the author's experience driving/exploring "Canyon Sin Nombre" (Canyon without a name) which was the last turn off/Canyon on Day 1 of the Desert Dash.....check it out.... Text version of article - pick up paper back copy to see photos

Another announcement to Dualie members that I thought I oughta pass on to my SDAR Brethren Your bike may have an exemption if it is approved by "executive order" on the ARB website. Here is the link and an authorization of/for recent KTM's. Here are the executive orders for KTM EXC's if you have a licensed 04 to 06 you may get a letter because of ARB's off highway only classification. 2004 KTM EXC's 2005 KTM EXC's 2006 KTM EXC's Link to look up other bikes

Take 78 into Ramona.....make a left on 10th Street (10th turns into San Vicente)......after about ~4 miles you'll reach a stoplight which is Wild Cat Canyon Rd......make a right turn there and Barona is maybe ~5 miles or so down the road.....

I really like the Kenda Carlsbads.....my local KTM dealer (All American KTM in Ramona) got me started on them a couple of years ago and I've used'em ever since on both of my dual sport bikes.......not DOT but they wear well desipte their aggressive/off road tread......which is a win-win in my book since my riding is probably 85/15 (dirt/street)......that being said, I just installed my first 606 rear tire since it came to me free of charge at the Desert Dash raffle......this weekend's Death Valley 350 will likely include a lot of road given the mileage we have to cover each day.......it'll be interesting to see how the 606 holds up on both pavement/dirt...... The 150/90 tire Schwinn had on his 525 Sunday blew my mind.....talk about "beefy"......wow.....would like to give that tire a try as well just for the hell of it.........

Well said John....