DigDug

[another hijack] I hear ya there I used to be 50/50 when it came to pinching tubes. I've been pretty good lately though. I think there are 2 main points there... First, get some good irons - aluminum, the kind with smooth, spooned tips. Some even have a little "nub" to keep from catching the tube. Put them in JUST ENOUGH to catch the rim. I think all of my intallation flats were with cheap, steel irons. Second, inflate the tube some before you put it in the tire. It'll hold it's shape better and stay out of your way. The hint I've seen is to inflate it so that it just barely creases when you hang it over your finger. Here's a pretty got set of 3 online videos to help with technique. I had to use this twice last weekend at the Big Bear rally (once in the field)... http://www.transworldmotocross.com/mx/how_...1215721,00.html [/another hijack]

I've only ridden up there once before - and from that time it all seemed like easy routes. Wide open fire roads, with great scenic views in all directions. I think it'd be perfect for a newbie... I just gotta get out and explore a little

[hijacking my own thread] I always carry a flashlight - don't want to have to walk out of anywhere in complete darkness... by the way - did you see this thread? Check out the last two paragraphs of post #55 http://www.district37ama.org/forums/showth...5073&page=4 [/hijacking my own thread]

Uh oh... I'd better watch out... I think I'm going to go shopping for a better roost guard before I ride with you again. Sounds like a blast - did you get a good deal on it? And break out that camera and post some pics!!!!

Yup - that was me... Black pickup with the 450EXC. Just repairing some of the carniage from Saturday so I could ride Sunday... Here's the list: Busted mirror (had a spare in the truck) Popped the plastic off the handguard (zipties) Coolant topoff (event the catch tank couldn't hold it all - and my fan hasn't come in yet - I'm going to have to stop messing around with OEM jets and order the JD kit) Flat tire (already been mentioned ) Back left blinker (popped off and right back on again - lens is destroyed but bulb works) Clutch lever catches on blinker switch assembly (simple adjustment - all is well) I took a look at my air filter too.. IT WAS BROWN!!! And I wasn't even behind that many other riders for most of the ride. I think I'm going to have to buy a second filter for multi-day events like this, pre oil the spare and stick it in a ziplock bag. Nope - I wouldn't say a stud... Just a stubborn guy that doesn't like to call it quits... This was my first ride on the new back tire - I threw a Kenda Trakmaster II on just before this ride. Saturday took almost 1/2 of the knobs off!!! Boy does that tire slide around on the hardpack too... While I was getting ready with Brett and Roger Sunday morning, I saw your truck (the plate makes it pretty unmistakable) but you had already left. Post up when you're ready to go back... I'd love to re-ride the AM hardways!!! That last single-track into checkpoint 4 was a blast!!!! I'd also love to check out the afternoon ones too... This goes for anyone!!!

What a great ride – I’m already planning this one in for next year!!! Well, here’s my story if anyone has a few minutes to kill (sorry, I don’t have any pictures – I just didn’t feel like lugging the camera around and didn’t think I’d want to stop at take pictures along the way): My planned buddy had to back out (we missed ‘ya Rad), so I decided to go at it solo, still wanting to get all the hardways done. I figured there would be enough riders, and with the checkpoints and sweeps I’d be ok – all that was true. I got a late start out of San Marcos Friday evening and didn’t get up there until almost 9pm – just in time to check in and get my rollchart for Saturday’s ride. I got checked into Motel 6, took a quick look at the route so I wouldn’t be riding blind and went to bed. I figured getting a good night sleep was more important than a super-early start so by the time I got up, got the bike ready, and hit the trail, it was 7am. The bike was running great, the weather was awesome, the scenery was incredible. I headed north of the lake towards the first hard split. That’s when it all started. About 10-15 miles into the route, on the cool little single-track (really fun trail by the way!!!) leading into John Bull I hit a rock a little too hard with my front tire and PPPssssssssss -- PINCH FLAT!!!!!!! I had figured 15psi would be plenty with the heavy duty tubes even with the rocky terrain. I guess I was riding a little too fast, trying to make up for my late start and time lost getting stuck behind other riders trying to climb the obstacles. Luckily, just off the side of the trail was a perfect workshop – one stump for the bike stand, and 3 feet away a second stump for a workbench. The wheel came off pretty quickly as did the first bead of the tire (good thing the tire was warm). New tube went in, but in my haste, I didn’t get the valve-stem lined up with the hole. I spun the tire/tube on the rim to get the stem lined up but that spun the rim guard (that rubber thing that keeps the spoke nipples away from the tube) making it a PAIN to get the valve stem through the holes!!! In all it took almost 45 minutes for the whole tube change ordeal. I aired both tires up to 22psi, figuring I’d deal with lack of traction to avoid another pinch flat. At the advice of a coworker (after the fact), I’m going to pull those rim guards off and use a couple wraps of electrical tape instead. In all, I lost almost an hour to my lack of tire-changing speed. Off I go again. Over John Bull – really fun trail, but nothing terribly difficult. Back down to the merge with the easy route on Holcomb valley road – fast fire road, a chance to make up some lost time. I boogied over to the start of the next hard split – Gold Mountain. This year’s route had riders going down Gold Mountain – thank goodness! I worked my way down, stopping a couple times to help other riders through some tough sections – at least I wasn’t last! Great trail – loads of fun – especially the boulder field! A few miles on the pavement were a great rest, then back onto the dirt up to checkpoint one – again meeting up with the easy trail. Going through checkpoint one, I was rider number 186, near the back of the pack. I grabbed my well-earned hardway ticket and took off – trying to make up some time. Down Jacoby Canyon – very scenic, fun riding. Past Cactus Flats OHV staging area and on out the Vista Trail. This section was relatively easy single-track – with an amazing view of the valley. Making up more time, and I was actually passing a few riders. Again the easy/hard split came into the rollchart window and although I was starting to get a little tired, I followed the hard route. The trail winded its way up the canyons. I came upon checkpoint two. The guy running it said “go ahead and do the loop and we’ll get you on the way back out”. OK – no problem. The loop took us the difficult direction up Heartbreak Ridge. It’s called that for a reason!!! I think this is the only area of the course that I dropped the bike. Big, jagged boulders, climbing a hill mixed with loose dirt. As I think back on it now, it wasn’t that hard, but being tired already made it very hard. I think my 2 “get-off’s” were on easier sections too – I was just too tired to hang onto the handlebars as the front end bounced from rock to rock. Couple that with trying to work my way around Jeeps and it took WAYYYY tool long, eating more precious time. This is where the fatigue really set in. Luckily, coming down the backside of the ridge was fairly easy. I picked up my ticket, signed in at the checkpoint and took off. The road was good from there – loose and rocky, but fairly level and open through Broom Flat. A good chance to rest and make up some time. Across the highway and up some “unmarked/unmapped” single track. This section was a little bit of a challenge – but I think it was mostly because I was so tired. This was also the first section that I saw riders turning around, heading back to switch to the easy section. Hmm.. doesn’t look that bad up there. Up I went(Okay – so maybe it wasn’t THAT easy, but I made it). At the top of the hillclimb, I was happy to see a forest road- Wildhorse Road. Pick up the speeds again and work my way back down to the highway, into checkpoint three. I was now rider number 77 – making up some time (or maybe everyone was bailing to the easy ways). A short stretch of pavement, then more forest roads. Up Clark’s Grade – a good, fast dirt road that winds its way up the sound face of Big Bear Mountain. About this time, the camelback went dry. The fatigue was setting in and my body was aching. Good thing this section was so long and easy, giving me a chance to recuperate. Good straight open sections, mixed with some sharp curves with big dropoffs. I took the turns slowly, knowing that both my body and concentration were dulling. About halfway up, I was heading for a sharp right turn with a steep dropoff to the left when I see a rider motioning me to slow down. I pull of the side and notice that one of his group had gone over the edge. The crashed rider was standing at the top – bruised and scraped pretty bad but otherwise in good shape but they needed help getting the bike back up. It was wedged in a bush about 30 feet over the edge. We looped together a couple towstraps and were able to get it up onto the road. Good ‘ol XR400 fired right up!!! (That comment's for you Hammer ) This took just over half an hour, before I continued up the grade. About 2/3rds the way up came the last hard split of the morning route. I came across a group of 3 riders that were debating whether to go at it, or head up the easy way. I made the turn up the hardway ahead of them. This trail was the best of the day for me! It looked like it wasn’t a even legal trail. On the side of the hill, just wide enough for your tires – true single-track! Portions of it went through brush so thick that you couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of you. At one point, I had to get off my bike, lean it over almost onto its side to push it under a tree across the trail. The riders that I saw debating at the bottom of the tail caught up with me at one of the obstacles and we buddied up for the rest of the trail. They were all low on gas (we were near the 80 mile mark) and asked how I was. I looked into my tank and said I could spare a little if they needed. We topped the trail and hit checkpoint number four. After the fact I heard some people discussing this trail. Apparently, the BBTR guys found it marked on a map but couldn’t find any trail where the map said it was. So they cut the trail themselves! All that was left was the ride into the gas station, about 15 miles of easier dirt roads. The couple manning the checkpoint were out of their rider gas, and the guy was draining gas out of the bike in the bed of his truck to pass to riders in need. Since I promised to stay with these 3 riders to the gas station, I waited as they took on gas just to be safe (I think two of the three were already on reserve). That took 20-30 minutes and off we went. Shortly after the checkpoint, my bike started to sputter. I quickly reached down and swapped to reserve – smooth running again. By the time I pulled into the Shell station, it was 3pm. I filled up the tank, bought some water to top off the camelback and debated whether to continue the ride. I had done about 95 miles in the last 8 hours. The second half was about 85 miles if I did the hardways. Unlike the morning trails though, I knew and had ridden most of the trails planned for the afternoon hardways. I also felt that they were easier than what I had just done. I figured I’d give it a shot – heck, I could always turn around if it started getting too late. Fighting a headache, a tired body, and a time constraint, I climbed back onto my bike and started off. Gee, this front end feels kind of heavy. I looked down and what do you know? Another front flat!!! It was about 3:30pm, and the prospect of pulling the tube out at the gas station, trying to patch it (since I had already used my spare tube), and hoping that it would hold air was just too much. I decided that it was time to call it quits. I rode back to the hotel on the flat (which worked pretty well on the streets surprisingly – even up to 40mph) and called it a day. Boy did that shower feel good! The food at the banquet was also very welcome! Despite being the toughest day of riding I can remember ever having – it had to have been the BEST day of riding I’ve ever had (maybe being the toughest is what made it the best). The small shop on the mountain was out of 21 inch tubes so the next day, I got up early and patched my first, pinch-flatted, tube and put it back in the tire for the Sunday ride. It was supposed to an easy ride and I figured the patch would work fine for that. I checked in with the organizers and picked up my rollchart. There I ran into Brett and Roger. They graciously let me join them for the Sunday run. The Sunday ride was a nice, relaxing tour through the mountains surrounding Big Bear. Lots of scenic and historical stops. A bit more pavement than I like, but it was a refreshing change from Saturday. It was nice to slow down a bit and enjoy the scenery. The tube held up well – no problems at all. Thanks Crawdaddy for turning me on to this event. Definitely one ride I’ll remember for years to come! The support was outstanding. The rollcharts were dead on (at least for the hardways). The organizers were great. In all – a first class event – well worth it!!! Okay who’s ready to go back up there and attack this thing with me again???

I know that some of the riders do it solo. In the interest of safety you should have a buddy. Also having a buddy can help get the bikes through the tough spots. There are sweeps and check points which helps make it safer if riding solo. You are also riding in a very crowded area. Well, it looks like I'm back to solo. My partner had to bail. I'd still like to take a shot at the hardways - I know it's late notice, but are any intermediate-advanced riders interested in showing those mountain-men how hardcore us San Diego riders are?

Sounds like a plan!!! I've also got reservations at the Motel 6. I decided it wasn't worth it to manuver the toyhauler up the mountain roads for just 2 nights, just for myself. I'll try and hook up with you guys Friday afternoon/evening. I was hoping someone else was going to take a shot at the hardways. I've gotta give it a go, but was a little leery of doing it solo. See everyone up on the mountain!!! Doug

Well get off the internet and get to work so can you finish up and help me push my bike through the hardways!!! Just kidding - good luck!!!

Cycle Gear is a pretty good shop - Only problem is I wind up spending WAYYYY too much when I go into one... I'm sure most already know this, but Cycle Gear gives Military/Law Enforcement/Firefighters a 10% discount on non-sale items if you show them an ID card (It's worked at all the local stores I've been to)... Last street helmet I bought they special ordered (for my large cranium) and still honored the 10% discount...

Okay!!! I'm signed up!!! I pushed my hall pass luck and went ahead and signed up for both days . I'll probably pay for that one. I figure I'll attack the hardways with KTMrad (if you're still up to it and will have me) and try for that coveted plaque on Saturday, then see how I feel for the Sunday ride. I don't think it's worth it to manuver the toyhauler up the mountain roads for just myself for the weekend so I'll take Crawdaddy's advice and get reservations for the Motel 6. One funny thing though - for some reason, I couldn't get the BBTR's website to accept payment online - and it gave me a "registration error" after I finished all the steps. Ah well, I see my name on the list, so I'll worry about it up there. Looking forward to it!!!

Alrighty!!! It looks like I'm about 98% sure I'll be at this event!!! I can't wait, it sounds like an awesome deal. I've got the a new rear tire waiting to go on (hopefully I can tear a few more knobs off the one on the bike before then - it's got some tread left, but I want the fresh meat for the event), a brand new rollchart holder, new fender bag with tubes/tools (so I won't need the duck-tape to hold it to the fender), and a fancy new towstrap!!! I hope I won't be needing the last two items. Right now, I am leaning towards only doing the Saturday ride (although I'm easily swayed) and going for all the hardways (gotta come in with the right mindset and give it a good shot). I'm still up in the air about lodging though. It sounds like even if I only want to do the Saturday ride, it's a good idea to spend both Friday and Saturday nights up there due to the lenght of the day. Crawdad swears by the Motel 6, but I noticed there's free RV parking at the convention center for the event - so I could pull the toyhauler up there. That seems like overkill for just myself for 2 nights so I may do the hotel thing. Anyone that's done this thing - do the hotels fill up quickly for the event (ie should I just make the reservations now), and is the convention center's RV lot typically overcrowded (in which case the hotel again sounds like a good deal). It looks like pre-regestering is best. The website already shows a couple riders signed up. See everyone up there!!!

I commute every day on the XR! Like mentioned here - get a second set of wheels(rims). I have one set (dirt - set) with MT-21's and a 48 tooth sprocket. The second set has a set of IRC-GP110's that I picked up cheap and a 45 tooth sprocket. The 50/50 IRC's make the bike feel soooo much more nimble on the street - I'm sure it would be even more so if I got an even more street biased tire. I picked the wheels up on ebay for 150-200 each. Swapping takes 15-20 minutes, and that includes changing from a 15-tooth (street setup) to a 14-tooth (dirt setup) countersprocket. No problem once you get used to it and have a decent MX bike stand or jack. If you haven't, get a bigger tank too.. I have the clarke 4.7 gallon. I've got just under a 20 mile each way commute and would have to fill up every other day with the stock tank. I can go ALMOST the whole week on one tank with the clarke. If you have anything to carry, get a good set of saddlebags - much more comfortable than a backpack. I got the Dirt Bagz - they're a little pricy (about $200), but worth every penny. I also sprung for a nice comfy street, full-faced helmet. It doesn' t look as cool as the MX helmets, but it's SOOOO much more comfy at highway speeds. Quieter, less pull on your head, easier to lift the visor at stoplights, etc. I've heard of some people putting on windshields, but the only place the wind really bothers me is on empty roads (where there are no cars breaking the wind in front of you) at speeds over 65 or so. The XR does just fine a highway speeds. It does get blown around a little, but you learn to anticipate it. I run 75 with the traffic and it'll do short jaunts up into the 80's as long as you're not fighting too much of a headwind or climbing too steep of a hill. I've got over 13,000 on mine in the last year and a half and it's still pulling strong...

Sounds good. Like I said, I'm still working out the details, but would love to pair up with you. I think a pair of riders or even a small group (3 or 4) stands a better chance at finishing the hardways than a lone rider or larger group. You have extra bodies for the manhandling/manuvering, but don't have to do it for a large group of bikes (2.5 hrs for an 8 mile trail like we did last Saturday probably wouldn't make it in the allotted time). From the literature, it seems like Saturday is the big day - the one to do if you can only make one day. It also seems like a fairly long day, so spending the night before and after looks like the way to go. Yeah - the low gearing is a great help in the tight stuff. In order to pass noise/emission requirements, the '07 EXC's come with 15/45 - real clutch burners. Right now I'm running a 14/50 combination which works pretty well (I've heard that's what the non-street legal XC's come with), and have a 13 tooth front that I could throw on if needed. I'll let you know the details on how my planning for the event goes... Thanks...

Anybody thinking about doing the all hardways on this ride? I'm toying with the idea of giving them a go (at least until I can't take any more), but think it would be better to attack with another rider or two (rather than going at it alone). From what I understand, this is an intermediate to advanced rider endeavor - one report I read had 160 miles in 10 hours (16 mph average), and only 1/4 of the riders finish all the hardways (not sure how many attempt). Don't anyone count me as a definate or anything - I still have to get my hall-pass worked out (as well as my nerve)... I'm thinking about just doing the Saturday ride - maybe pulling the toyhauler up there (free RV parking right at the convention center). Just a feeler to the group.

Hey everyone!!! Thanks for tagging along. The great company always makes the ride. Well, it seems as though the posts so far do a pretty good job of describing the day and the ride. I’ll just get to the pictures: A couple of the guys, ripping up the forest road enroute to the first technical challenge: Riders working their way up Dispan Springs: Riders taking a break and filling up the water at Crab Flats campground after negotiating the Deep Creek black-diamond trail Redonda Ridge trail – one of my favorite black-diamond trails out there (sorry papa, I had truly forgotten how hard it really was. You’re riding in style in this shot though! Papa taking a spill on the newly named “heart attack hill”. I don’t think that’s it’s official name, but it surely was that on Saturday. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure that’s where I spent 15 minutes kicking DigDug Jr's KLX300 a few months ago when he dumped and flooded it. (I gotta get a hot-start for that thing…) More than one rider got up the hill like this: Another dirt snack: A pretty cool little obstacle – easy to thread the needle on a bike. The quad guys ahead of us had to work a little harder. Joliet taking a spill almost over the edge, on the single-track down into Devil’s Hole: I thought about turning around to help, but figured I’d better not press my luck. It’s a LONG way down off that narrow trail! My camera batteries were dying and the card was full (too many photo ops), but here’s one of the Devil’s Hole crossing. Great teamwork to get the group across!!! Just when the riders thought the crossing was over – they had to negotiate this boulder field to get up to the jeep trail out of Devil’s Hole. I had a great time out there. Thanks for the great turnout. What I want to know is when is everyone ready to go back and attempt the entire loop without the shortcuts??? I know I am!!! See everyone next time around

This Saturday, 26 May 07, I'm heading up to Lake Arrowhead with my son on his green sticker bike. I know this is a dualsport board, but I'm sure some of you wouldn't mind a little roller-coaster like single track The plan is to meet at the Deer Springs / I-15 Park and Ride (the one on the west side of the freeway, in front of the ARCO station - not the one on the east side) at 6:45am. I'll be driving the black diesel Silverado with the 450EXC and the KLX300R in the back. We'll roll out of there at 7:00am for a 2 hour haul to the Pinnacles staging area north of Lake Arrowhead. Post up if you need directions to the P&R. We'll ride a few of the easy and moderate loops right there to warm up. Go back to the trucks for a quick lunch then head out for a longer afternoon ride - Either mild or wild depending on how we all feel (We've ridden some really cool trails up there). There are trails for all levels of riders - from easy fast forest roads, to the hardcore single-track. Most of the trails we like to ride are comparable to the Kernan Cycle trail between Pine Valley and Corral Canyon - the second, less rocky section that goes up the hill to the Four Corners area. The weather channel says it's going to be 75 degrees and sunny - bring some sunscreen!!! You'll also need a National Forest Adventure Pass to park at Pinnacles. Available here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sanbernardino/ap/ , or better yet you can pick one up at many of the sporting goods stores in the San Diego area. This page lists them for your town: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sanbernardino/ap/vendors.php . Bring a gas can with gas for your bike to fill up at luchtime. Also bring a lunch for halftime. Directions to Pinnacles Staging area(I found these somewhere on the internet, and they work pretty well): •Drive north on I-15 to I-215. •Drive north on I-215 to SR 30. •Go east on SR 30 to SR 18 (Waterman Avenue) in San Bernardino. Exit the freeway and turn left (north). •Drive north on SR 18 up the mountain to Daley Canyon Road about 5.5 miles east of the Crestline SR 138 turnoff. Turn left (north) on Daley Canyon Road. Note your odometer and go as follows: •At 0.5 mile, junction with SR 189. Turn left. •At 0.8 mile, fork. Go right and then immediately left onto Grass Valley Road. •At 2.8 miles, fork with Grass Valley Road on the left. Turn left. •At 5.3 miles, intersection with SR 173. Turn left. •At 5.5 miles, intersection with Pilot Rock Road (2N33). Keep going straight. •Continue on SR 173 about 0.7 mile to the entrance of a rifle range. Just past the rifle range, take a right on Willow Creek Jeep Trail (dirt road). Pinnacles staging area is on your right a couple hundred yards down. GPS coordinates for the entrance to Pinnacles Staging Area: N 34° 17.89' W 117° 11.98' So far the following are in: DigDug DigDug Jr KTMrad Joliet rex everything papaalex Ride-Orange Ride-Orange Jr dirt dame (maybe) Brett Anyone else?

Great to have you along!!! We'll watch for you at the P&R. (We'll be all the ones with the bikes in the backs of our trucks - easy to find) I guess that means I'll remove the (maybe) from your carpool mate's name? No problem - we understand, your LC4 frame is not the metal you're wanting to twist this weekend. We'll have to take lots of pictures to make you jealous and motivate you to get ahead on your work for the next time around...

About 1/2 of the 45 mile loop is on black diamond trails. The trails ratings on the OHV map aren't broken down for types of vehicles (hard trails for a jeep, but a small motorcycle can weave around the obstacles), so you can pick the hard lines for more of a challenge. There is one 8 mile section (Redonda Ridge ) that is good black diamond single-track, no real bypasses on the trail, but a parallel forest road meets up so people can bypass if they want and meet at the end for the rest. I'd consider myself an intermediate rider and the trails keep me entertained, I'm sure you'll love it. The scenery can't be beat. I'm easy when it comes to the plan. If we'd prefer to do the big loop first, that's fine too. We could head out and stop to eat along the way. There's a couple great places to stop along the loop that would be great for a break and a quick bite... If we still have time (and energy) and want to do an afternoon ride, we could do ride the forest roads over to Silverwood lake (still all green sticker). GREAT photo op's along that trail!!! I'll break out the map I've got so we can all look it over and make the call then...

Actually, I was looking forward to the extra 1/2 hour of sleep... No problem at all. On another note, Ride-Orange's PM reminded of something I wanted to mention. This shouldn't be an issue since we're all good - but Pinnacles is the ONLY staging area I've ever had a Park Service Ranger check my bikes. Make sure everyone is good with registration, spark-arrestor, sound, etc... The time we were checked it was a quick "let me see your registration", stuck a stick up my exhaust , and "be careful out there".

It'd be good to have you along!!! If we ride the loop I'm jonesing to, it's all green-sticker with the exception of the bypass around the White Mountain trail - which should be piece of cake on a little bike... We'll watch for you at the Park-n-ride...

Sounds like a good meeting spot to me... I'll update the original post to reflect... I've got a couple green circle and blue square trails for a the morning warm-up in mind... Plenty of that kind of stuff to play around on before lunch. After lunch, if everyone's up for some more technical stuff, I've got a 45 mile loop that I've been wanting to put together. I've ridden all the trails involved (on my XR650L - but will be on the KTM this time around :bomb: ) but never all in one ride. It'd give everyone a good sampling of what's up there. There are easy options for the two hardest trails with good rally points after them. I'd like to do the trail that drops us off into "Devil's Hole" but that means we have to cross "Devils Hole" - a stream crossing. Fortunately, we can take a look at the crossing from the easy side and see if everyone's up to it before we go all the way around. If you can ride the Kernan Cycle trail all the way from Pine Valley through to 4-Corners (Corral Canyon), you should have no trouble on this loop I'm planning - we'll be going the easy direction on both of the hard sections. If you're looking at a map, my loop is from the Pinnacles staging area - follow road 3N34 to deep creek (green circle with a couple blue square sections). At deep creek continue on 3N34 up Dispan Springs (this section is black diamond - with no real bypasses, but good lines if you're on a bike - not so easy in a 4-wheeled vehicle). Near the Crab Flats campground I'd like to pick up 1W17 (Redonda Ridge trail - one of my favorite black diamond trails up there - but 3N16 makes a great fire-road bypass for the bigger bikes). 1W17 becomes blue square and dead ends into 3N11 which leads us up to an overlook (the same one we stopped at 2 weeks ago). From there left on 3N17 down White Mountain (rocky black diamond trail - but the bypassers can backtrack a mile or two and roll up 3N14). From the bottom of White Mountain, we pick up 4N16, right on 3N14, and 3N59 (all easy green circle trails) to the start of the real single-track. 2W12 is true single-track, not wide enough for quads. It's mostly easy (not many rocks) but narrow. The hard part comes at Devil's Hole. Look at the pictures I posted of my son in the water. Unfortunately, there's no bypass for the stream crossing - you'd have to backtrack a ways. Fortunately, we'll swing by the crossing on our morning ride and get eyes on to see if we really want to attempt it... If I can get the BRP across, by myself, I know we can get everyone across as a group... If you're not looking at a map, ignore that whole paragraph and follow DigDug Jr... He knows the way... Of course, I'm just happy to be out there riding - so I'm open to suggestions too...

I'm not sure how far you want to go, but last fall I rode an area in central CA called Clear Creek. It's about an hour drive into the mountains from Coalinga, CA (about 5 hours north of San Diego - along I-5). I was up in Sacramento on business and had a few days to kill on the way home. I rode there for 3 full days. You could ride the place for a week and never hit the same trails twice. I'd have never gone that far just to ride and, honestly, the only reason I went was because I was up there anyways... But after riding it, I'm definately going to go back and camp for a week or so... Great riding!!! Great scenery!!!

GREAT!!! the more the better!!! As far as eating KTM roost, I thought you were in front of me most of the Hixon/Allesandro ride. Rocky sections eh? Here's a little more eye candy: A little more rocky: Even more rocky: Rocks and water: More water: Not many rocks, but fun singletrack nontheless: I'll add updates/schedules/etc to the original post. Be sure to check back there once in a while. Looking forward to riding with you guys out there!!!

We were planning on just the day... My wife is out of town so my son and I are babysitting the pets. They're fine for the day while we're away, but we have to get home in the evening. We do have a few overnighters in the works for the summer, probably taking the toyhauler up to Big Pine Flat CG. We'd love for you to tag along - my son has been off his bike for a month or so, and I'm sure he's itching to do some rock climbing as am I . We'll try our best not to hold anyone up!