mjlang

There is a small group heading down for three days from Tecate to Meling to San Quintin and back. You're welcome to join us, we do know where we are going... morgan

I have a 950 Adventure S, so let me know when you go on your next ride. I'd like to tag along. Morgan

RACERS AND RANCHERS ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FUN RIDE / DRIVE Saturday to Sunday April 4th & 5th, 2009 Racers and Ranchers will be conducting a membership fun ride and drive on Saturday and Sunday, April 4-5, in northern Baja. We will be riding from Rancho Santa Veronica, outside Tecate, to the famous Horsepower Ranch outside Ensenada. There will not be a specific work project associated with this ride, but we intend on stopping in at the Ejido Sierra Juarez (Sawmill) and a couple of other ranches to extend some goodwill and friendly greetings. At Horsepower Ranch, we will have a surprise guest speaker as well as a raffle for some awesome prizes. Racers and Ranchers is indebted to Baja off road racer Todd Clement for allowing us to use the private ranch. At our last visit in 2008, we had an incredible dinner with some great raffle prizes, and enjoyed the unique off road Hall of Fame in the ranch's cantina. The cost of the ride will be a 2009 Racers and Ranchers membership or renewal of $50, plus $100 donation for Saturday's accommodations and meals at Horsepower Ranch. You are on your own for gas (available at Sawmill, Independencia, and Ojos Negros, all are area's along the route we will be taking) and lunch each day. We will ask Chuey Ramona and his wife to have ample burritos and tacos available at Sawmill each day for purchase. As usual, Dona Ramona will have drinks available as well. This is open to bikes, quads, UTV's, buggies, Trophy Trucks, pick-up trucks, and any vehicle ready to traverse Baja. Please make sure your ride is completely ready, as "sweep" vehicles are not planned. Groups will be formed by vehicle and ability. Fuel range should be a minimum of 60 miles. This event is intended to foster Racers and Ranchers membership, promote our mission in Baja, and allow the Baja off road community to make new friends and instill camaraderie. Please join us for this fun weekend! Visit http://www.racersandranchers.com/ and browse our website to see what we do, what we've done in the past, and how your membership will keep our riding privileges in Baja alive! HOW TO SIGN UP: Not a Racers and Ranchers Member: Go to: https://racersandranchers.com/membership/signup.php 1. Submit Payment for: Annual Membership $50 Donation: $100 2. Complete secure check-out. Renewing Members: Go to: http://racersandranchers.com/membership/login.php 1. Login (lost password: enter email in lost password field) 2. Renew Annual Membership $50 3. Donation: $100 4. Complete secure check-out. Already a Current Member: 1. Login to: http://racersandranchers.com/membership/login.php 2. Donation: $100 3. Complete secure check-out. Any questions please PM Rudy or Lance at: Lance@racersandranchers.com or Rudy@racersandranchers.com Phone: 310 920-8550 Phone: 619 405-2574 For accommodations on Friday night: Hacienda Santa Veronica, Call Joan Ellis (619) 423-3830. WE ARE SEEKING RAFFLE PRIZES- CONTACT LANCE OR RUDY IF YOU ARE ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE.

EVERYONE, today it the last day to sign up for the R & R ride. They have to make/pay for reservations tomorrow. Please hop on the link above and sign up. This is a great ride and awesome group of folk, c'mon along! I'll be leading a group, so the trails I'll be using will be a bag of fun. Morgan

There is no beach riding for this trip. The D2G beach stuff is much further south.

Christi20, you're absolutely right, you can't beat the price. The Saturday night stay is at HorsePower Ranch and this is not normally open to the public and is a really great place. This alone is worth the effort.

I'm leading one of the groups. If there is an adventure class, I'll Lead/Sweep with a bud who has a Super Enduro. This will be a high mileage ride. If this doesn't happen, I'll twist everyone through all the single track I know. I had a BLAST last year, even though my Husaberg ---- the bed on me.

I rode with four great friends in Mexico the day after Thanksgiving for an over night to El Coyote. Three Gringos and two very good buds from TJ met at Rancho Ojai (formerly the KOA) on Friday morning. As usual, part of the crew showed up fashionably late and were not entirely prepared; well at least Alberto showed up with water this time. We didn't exactly get going at the crack of dawn; more like the crack of noon. We had two KTM 525's, two Honda's, a 450R and 650R, and my trusty ol Husaberg 650. We all are completely up on the latest Mexico news and agreed to be very careful. On the trail, things seem to be very much the same as always. Many of the riding areas are shutting down but I know the trails north of San Quintin pretty well and can still pull together are fun ride. The friends from TJ say most of the problems are focused around TJ and the coastal area south to Rosarito. They don't diminish the concerns as one of the guys is involved with a very successful family business and he now rides in an armored vehicle with x-special forces guards. He told me that when in TJ, he goes from his house to the airport or the office and that's it. I talked to friends in Tecate and they told me that its still very quiet there. OK, I digress... We left at the crack of noon south down Compadre Highway. We decided on a speed run down to Ojos Negros. Dave discovered the bolt that holds the chain guide was missing and his chain was really loose. So we took some time to replace the bolt and tighten the chain. We fueled and moved on through to Tres Hermanos to Santo Tomas. I really like riding the 45 mile section between highway 1 and highway 3. After all the rain, there were new deeper ruts and washouts but best of all NO FRICKEN DUST!!!! The traction was EPIC. We all put new tires on before the ride so we could really get some hookup riding. We decided that the Michelin S12 is the best roosting tire ever made. At Santo Tomas, we had to adjust the chain on Dave's 525 again and the bolt I put in failed... He had an after market chain guide, so I drilled a hole in the side of it and used a zip-tie to hold it. I did the same thing on my old 525 and rode it that way for 10K miles... We headed south on the coast road and had a blast. It was a beautiful day to be out and since we started so late by 3:30 we were only 40 miles south of Santo Tomas. At this point we had to make night time decisions; four of us have HID lights, one has NO lights and Andres has no rear brakes. The sun is starting to set so we decided to head for San Vincente where Andres can get brake fluid (brakes are good) while Alberto and I keep heading south to San Telmo Rd. Did I say there was NO DUST? Alberto and I paired up and slabbed it south towards El Coyote. We turned on to San Telmo Rd. right at dark where its no big deal for him to ride next to me since he didn't have any lights. We made good time and showed up at El Coyote at about 6:00 PM. The throttle on the 650r started sticking during the last 20 miles to our destination, its dark and getting cold, he just has to manage the issue until we get there. At El Coyote, as always, the hospitality and food are first rate. Once everyone was there and showered, we sat down for a nice turkey dinner... no kidding. We told the ladies that we just had THANKSGIVING in the US on Thursday and she said, "we make different turkey in Mexico, you will like it..." She was right, is was a wonderful meal. Sometimes I wonder if the meal is that good or I'm so hungry that old shoe leather would taste great? I guess my answer lies over at Mike's Sky Ranch where they serve shoe leather steaks and I think they suck. We decided to have breakfast at 7:30 so I have time to look at the 650r's throttle. I found the throttle return cable snapped. I also checked the oil and it didn't register on the dipstick. 1.25 quarts later, it was serviced. Dave had to adjust his change again and we're all getting a bit creeped out by the stretchy chain. I asked him if he bought the chain from Gumby Inc. We headed south from El Coyote and picked up some of the 500/1000 courses. It was beat up, rutted and whooped out; the best of Baja. BTW: don't eat a huge breakfast, strap on a fanny pack and backpack before you ride. Eggs with Habanero salsa become shaken, not stirred. We burned past Mikes and down to Valle de Trinidad where we fueled. We slabbed it up to Indenpendencia to avoid the Goat Trail for obvious reasons. At Santa Catarina we adjusted Dave's chain again, getting really concerned about the chain now. Originally we planned to head north via dirt roads and then up to the pine forrest via Ramona's but since Dave's stretchy chain needs adjusted every 50 miles now, we headed back up the Compadre yet again as not to press our luck. We left El Coyote at 8:50 AM and were at Rancho Ojai at 2:00 PM. Lucky I had my tool bag with lots of normally useless nuts and bolts, motor oil etc... came in handy. Some of the normal ride partners opted not to ride in Mexico for a while. I guess I must be crazy. We did run in to more army check points on the trail. As always, the soldiers were cool and interested in what we were doing. They all like bikes and want so see some wheelies....

The chain was an RK. I did a little digging when I got home and my bud used a chain for a 250/400 class motorcycle. He simply over-powered it with a 525; not the right part for the job. I've been using RK Excel chains for years; they were one of my race sponsors and I've always had flawless service. We figured out it was a non "O" ring chain. Great for MX bikes, bad for off road long rides.

Pictures, ---- I'd have to stop riding long enough to do that. Ask Byron, he likes to stop take pictures and eat granola.

The chain was an RK. I did a little digging when I got home and my bud used a chain for a 250/400 class motorcycle. He simply over-powered it with a 525; not the right part for the job. I've been using RK Excel chains for years; they were one of my race sponsors and I've always had flawless service.

I've been stopped by Army troops more than once. Its not a big deal, they are usually led by a Sgt or Lt. Keep in mind there is a difference between a soldier with a gun who has stopped you in the field to search your bag and a soldier with the gun ready, finger on the trigger etc. There is a different body language... These guys are usually casual and just want a good wheelie when you move on.

I went yesterday and paid 15 bucks for a Harleyfest... The events were OK but the rest was LAME; stay home and save your money...

I'm heading down with a bud on our 950s (I have an Adventure and my bud had an SE) but only for the day. We were going to head down south to watch the four-wheel class around Santa Catarina later in the AM. After watching them, we'll head back up to Tres Hermanos area to watch the bikes. Let me know if ur interested.

My understanding is that Corral Canyon and Pine Valley are closed. McCain Valley is open.

I'm gonna ride my 950 Adventure on Sunday across the border, down Compadre Highway, to Valle de Trinidad, over to Erinderia and back with a bud on a KLR. It will be a couple of hundred miles. I'm gonna ride from my house in Rancho PQ out to Tecate, so we can meet north of the border. If anyone wants to go on a big bike ride, c'mon along!

Both

Let me know when you guys go, I'll bring the popcorn... I rode Oraflame from the Banner Grade side a few weeks ago. I only dumped it once and it was a bit challenging down the back side with the tight corners and loose rocks. A better tire selection would have been good. The sand wasn't an issue at the bottom, you just learn to throttle steer it a bit. Morgan

The note below is from Richard Tull, the OHV Manager at Pine Valley. Hello, I know this is short notice and that most of you will have plans already but I wanted to let you know that I will be working on the Phase 2 fence project on June 2, National Trails Day at Corral Canyon. All of the material needed to open the next section of trails at Corral Canyon have arrived so Phase 2 is under way. The reopening work is the only thing on the schedule for that day so if anyone wants to join in be at the entrance to Bobcat Meadow campground at 10:00 am and wear your work clothes. This is not an "official" volunteer work day (we weren't sure when the materials would be delivered so scheduling has been a problem) but anyone who wants to help out will be very welcome. Even though this isn't one of them, I am planning to schedule regular, recurring volunteer days because this project is my number one priority and there is a lot to do (at least we have all the materials now). Look for that announcement soon. Contact me if you have any questions. *Thumpertalk guys- How about posting this info on the forum? Happy Memorial Day! Richard Tull OHV Program Manager Descanso Ranger District Cleveland National Forest 3348 Alpine Blvd. Alpine, CA 91901 (619) 445 6235 ext 3451 "Reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one" Albert Einstein PS -Watch for an upcoming announcement on the formation of "The Friends of Corral Canyon"

I did the Big Bear ride a few years ago and got the finisher plaque for doing all the hard ways and the extra 70 miles. It not easy and you can expect a very full day of riding in the heat and dust. It is fun if you enjoy a challenge. Morgan

Guys, that was a fun ride. We're gonna have to do this again. I'll post a Mexico day ride in a few weeks for all those interested. Morgan

The seat and suspension are coming back this week, so its time to dial in the 950. I want to do some riding in the mountains and check out some dirt roads on my KTM this weekend. Anyone up for a ride?

OK folks, looks like Crawdaddy has the plan. Meet in Ramona at Packards around 8 AM. Let's Riiiiiide!!!!

Its late on Friday evening but wanted to know if anyone wants to meet REALLY early at Pine Valley for a fast loop to 4-corners, around the top and back. It should be about a 40+ mile loop. I have to take the wife to the airport to catch a 6:30 AM flight. I'll probably be at Pine Valley by 6:45. Any takers? If you decide to join me, I have a black Ford Super Crew and a Husaberg fe650. Morgan

I was riding at Corral Canyon today and met the Ranger who is in charge of the Off-highway Vehicle Program from the Descanso Ranger District, his name is Richard Tull. He is trying to get the remaining trails and areas opened up as quickly as possible and thinks this is also an opportunity to expand our riding trails. Yes, that's right EXPAND our trails. He is a rider and off-roader, HE GETS IT. So, what's the catch you ask? He wants to get more folks involved from the local area. This includes all of the off-road passions. (bikes, quads, Jeeps, Mountain Bikes etc.) Richard indicated that the biggest threat to our riding area is not necessarily the non-access people but the apathy and disorganization of the off-road community. Richard is looking in to setting up a 501c corporation (The Friends of Corral Canyon) to ensure a stewardship of the area is created and maintained by the off-road community to ensure access for everyone. At the end of this, I'll add Richard's contact info. He wants all those who want to get involved, hopefully that's all of us, to send him an email so he can at least begin email communications. He wants to start a newsletter and go on from there. Much of this work is on his own time because I really believe he cares about keeping the access open for all of us. Send Richard an email and indicate you're interest to help our riding areas open or at least come to public meetings, what every you can do. Richard Tull Off-Highway Vehicle Program Manager Descanso Ranger District 3348 Alpine Blvd. Alpine, CA 91901 (619) 445.6235 (619) 445.1753 rtull@fs.fed.us