Beach to River, Inaugural Run

[PastaPilot 17]

Day 1:

Got to an early start on Friday morning. XR650L Bum, Spaugh and I hit the road after a small breakfast and a brief discussion on bike packing.

From there rode to the Silver Strand state park to get our tires in the sand and begin our adventure.

From the Beach we took a little ride south to route 905 where we topped off the tanks and started up and over Otay Mt. We didn't stop anywhere for photos as most everyone has a pic or has seen one from there. But as were descending into Marron Valley we were greeted with a little stream to cross.

Spaugh went first

Then me and finally XRBum

Mike shows his waterlogged packout.

No pictures from here to the border fence. We stopped in Tecate for more fuel and lunch.

Took the Border Fence road all the way to Boulevard. We stopped and talked to the Minutemen on watch in Campo.

They told us we were being watched closely as they also had a number of Mexicans approaching the fence as we were riding up. They say the big thing is to throw the dope over the fence to some motorcyslists who pick it up and ride away.

After the border fence we did a mixture of slab and dirt into Jacumba and then the wagon trail onto I-8 and down to Occotillo where we entered our first sand wash.

I think the rains this season have had an effect on the desert roads. The trail behind us had two-track leading up to it and was now barely 3 feet wide. Perfect width for DS bikes.

The first of many....

I don't have any more pictures from there to El Centro. There was a few nasty areas to contend with and then the farmland started so we slabbed it in to the Ramada Hotel for the night.

Me un-packing the bike for the night.

Our room was right next to the bikes.

A little relaxation ater 175 miles of riding. This one's for KTMrad

Day 2:

Saturday started with a beautiful morning ride through the farmland of the imperial valley. Temps were in the 60s and the veiw was spectacular.

We gassed up again in Calexico and started along the canal roads east.

After awhile we got bored with riding strait along the canal so we decided powerline roads were more fun

The powerlines ended for us at the duner's diner

We had second breakfast there and the sand begun....

This is the bad, XRBum found a dune that rolled slowly up and came to an ubrupt end. He soared off the top and when he came down lost control of his bike, smashed into the bars and ended up on the ground.

This doesn't look good...

We got Bum back to the entry road and he rode all the way to Oceanside. We tried to set him up with a ride home, but he'd have none of that.

From here it was just two of us. Spaugh and I went to and conquered Test Hill

350' vertical of pure sand hill.

After the hill we started across the open dunes.

It sucked, we spent more time digging our bikes out of the sand then riding. Brad has about 200 photos of me crashing, crashed or about to submarine my front tire into the sand. We both know how to ride sand but I think after Mike's misfortune we were being a lot cautious.

It took 2 hours to go 18 miles and 8 of it was on the street, but we finally made it to Winterhaven for more gas.

After topping off the bikes we started off into the great unknown of this ride. Areas none of us has ever ridden on and doesn't know anybody who has. As we got closer things looked good...

...and sometimes not so good...

...,but we made it to the mine....

and kept on going.

The trails got really rough at times trying to get through the washes and old 4x4 roads around the mine areas. Eventually we made it through and the goal was in sight.

Picacho Peak.

Awesome ride after the mine, strait, flat, wide open roads with dips into small sand washes.

Brad shows us how it's done

We made it to Picacho Rd

and it was only 10 miles to the halfway point...just a few minutes after 5PM we made it to the river.

We were spent, but after a shower we mustered up the strength to go back for more pics.

Our camp....

....was the foundation of an old mining home from the 1800's when Picacho was an actual village.

Day 3:

We got on the trails again just after 8AM. We had a long way to go and if we were going to get to San Diego by the end of the day we needed to get going. We don't have a whole lot of pictures as we had the throttle wide open most of the morning. But we stopped for a few.

We headed North on a pencil straight dirt road toward Glamis at a speed that would turn most rangers white. In fact we passed this train on the way to rte 78 and then had to wait for it to get to Glamis.

More sand,

this time it was a lot of fun, there was a bit of moisture in the sand and getting through was no problem.

After the dunes we took a little ATV trail to where the famland began and then slabbed it in to Brawley.

The ugly part of the story was the first flat of the trip.

because 2 minutes later there was another flat.

Yeah, it's the same place, it's just that it took two minutes to get the rim back on the bike and find out the other tube didn't hold air.

Well we were only 4 miles from Brawley maybe there will be a parts store in town and we can get it fixed there. We were wrong, the closest shop is in El Centro, 20 miles away. Yup we were in a bind and had enough of changing tires. So we called in the chase team,

sat at the Jack-in-the-Box ....

....and waited....

....for the truck.

The End.

[dirt dame 559]

Good story and nice hair. Get some of those Husqvarna Michelin innertubes. They are literally 4 millimeters thick. Hope Bum is doing okay with his busted shoulder and he gets healed up quick. Maybe another time, another try. for full circuit ride.

[XTSTEVE 0]

Great Job Guys!!! To bad you couldn't have made it home but the truck ride must have felt gooood. Bum is a good guy and I hope he recovers quickly. I hope next year I can go with you.

XTSTEVE

[Crawdaddy 96]

Good job guys!

Hey, as the saying goes, " happens!".....what is so cool about that ride is that it was charting the unknown.....truly exploring.....true "Adventure Riding" on a combination of pavement, dirt and sand......and how cool is that? .......as the days pass that ride will seem sweeter and sweeter as you reflect back on it despite the few mishaps (well, with the exception of Mike's mishap - Hope you're on the mend Mike).......

As Pyro would say, "Ride On Amigos, Ride on!"

[Chief Gunner 2]

So sorry I missed this one, You're killin me!

You done good Pilgrims....now the rest of the flock needs to gather and tackle that!

See ya's on a ride soon!

[RogerTOWM 0]

Awesome photos! Sorry about the shoulder Bum. I go to the hospital and get morphine when I have a little spill and get the wind knocked out of me. You RIDE home with a busted shoulder! I feel like a little girl. (sorry mimi)

This sounds like it was a great ride, just the type I want to do when I grow up. Can you ride along the cannel through the dunes or must you go over them? I haven’t ridden that area for about twenty years but I seem to remember a road runs along the cannel. Just wondering incase I can’t get over the dunes if I ever get the chance to ride this route with you guys.

Did you find you were running short of gas or water at any point? Did you bring anything that you would not bring next time, is there anything you would bring next time that you didn’t bring?

Thanks for the photos and ride report! It was even better then cannibals and Slim Jims.

[sandiegoland 0]

Glad to hear the Bum made it back OK. There was a kid riding cross-country last year that got paralyzed going off the short side of a dune on loaded pig... they drop off fast.

[Paul 0]

Back in 1989 I bought a YZ490 and put a nice paddle tire on it. With a three seasons of dune experience on 3-wheelers and quads I was ready for the bike. Or so I thought. 1 hour of riding= a dislocated shoulder and a broken Humorous (upper arm) when the front wheel tried to find the bottom of a sand-dune. I swore off two-wheelers after that.

Hope Bum is doing ok!

[Bbg.will 0]

I caught a brief glimpse of you guys riding on orange ave in coronado i guess at the beginning of your adventure. You guys looked tough, like a mini dual-sport motorcycle gang. All that was missing was you guys wearing your colors.

.02

[carguy 1]

You guys looked tough, like a mini dual-sport motorcycle gang. All that was missing was you guys wearing your colors.

There we go, club colors, initiation, dues. We can be the 1%ers.

[PastaPilot 17]

I kept a really good trip log and wanted to share some of the data of the ride.

Day 1

Silver Strand Beach to El Centro

153 miles travelled, 85 dirt, 68 street

8 hours 45 mins

Distances between fuel stops - 37,60,46

Day 2

El Centro to Picacho State Park

106 miles travelled, 89 dirt, 17 street

9 hours 45 mins

Distances between fuel stops - 69, +

Day 3

Picacho to Premature end in Brawley

71 miles travelled, 56 dirt, 15 street

3 hours

Distance between fuel stops - 103 Winterhaven to Brawley. (Could be less as I've heard there is gas available at the Glamis Beach Store but I didn't see any pumps. Maybe there is in back but the hillbillies in the store scared me enough that I just left. Brawley is 25 miles away and plenty of gas available there.)

Total 330 miles, 230 dirt, 100 street; 70% off-road

We travelled roughly a third of the way in three hours and we kinda f'ed around in Glamis longer than we should have and had to deal with a flat tire. I do think it's possible to make it back in a day.

I'd love to do the whole trip again next weekend but more than likely it'll have to wait until Sept. or Oct. High temps were around 90 and mixed with digging the bike outta the sand is a recipe for heat stroke. Spaugh needed to stop in Occotillo for more water and I got close to running out of water in the dunes.

Next time I'd pack my Honda tool kit, it might be small and light duty but you can pretty much rebuild the entire bike with it. Keep the heavy forged steel tools in the garage, bring the factory kit, it's got what you need and weighs less than 5 pounds. If you don't have one, I'd recommend getting one for your bike. I'd also bring a change of shoes. Wearing the Alpinestars around the hotel and campground sucked. I didn't need to bring 2 little bottles of Patron to the river, I needed 4. Should've brought matches or a lighter. Oh and I forgot my toothbrush but was able to get one from the hotel.

[Spaugh 1]

Here are some other photos:

my questionable insulation (it worked fine the whole time)

us landing at the beach:

more on river crossing that got my boot full of water

1 of many pyramid historical markers along the border

border shot east of jacumba wilderness.

more border shots

riding in a swamp

jon on the dunes

post dune experience

close to the river

at the river

glamis

rescue truck # 3 (rescue truck #1's replacement )

[Spaugh 1]

I packed super light and it worked out. My tent was like a coffin, and I didn't bring a pair of shorts but other than that everything was fine. We would have been better off with more tools and more tubes, but Mike had that stuff so we just didn't plan on the way things went. Food and water was not really a problem. I ran out of water a few times, but rationed and timed it so I could get more at the next stop and not die.

The trip was killer and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Jon did an awesome job planning the routes. The american girl mine and the area east of it are a must see. The area is beautiful. The pictures don't do it any justice. I think trucking to picacho and riding around that area for a few days would be worth it. There were beautiful rock formations and wild mules running on the mountains. There were also some fun technical sections there too along with the WIDE open desert. And I mean really WIDE open. Bigger and badder than any of the stuff near anza borrego or plaster city. We must have literally held an average of 50MPH post american girl mine.

Hopefully Jon can get those tracks up and we can see a Google Earth snapshot of where all we were.

Thanks again Jon for the planning and Mike I hope the specialists take good care of you and rework your arm properly. I feel your pain, I've had a similar injury on my shoulder and had the ligaments ripped off my knee cap before. I know how much it sucks to have a serious injury requiring surgery. Do what the docs tell you and you will be riding again after summer.

brad

[PastaPilot 17]

I forgot to add a note about the gear on the bikes. A lot of people were worried about loading there bikes up with the tent and bag and loading themselves down with multiday trip necessities. I thought that after the first 100 miles of riding I didn't really notice the gear much at all. It took awile to get used to the sleeping bag behind me, but by the end of the trip I think I was back to my normal riding style. Hell we were passing quadtards in the dunes on the way through to Brawley....

[Rob 0]

Great pics, hope to hear from the injured and hope all is well. I hope I can do this ride sooner than later, I just had a little one and I don't want to wait till he is old enough. Thanks again for all the pics.

[Strega 0]

Great pics =)

[SCHWINN 0]

You guys looked tough, like a mini dual-sport motorcycle gang. All that was missing was you guys wearing your colors.

There we go, club colors, initiation, dues. We can be the 1%ers.

What would our club colors be..RED AND WHITE...NOOOO Thats taken by the HELLS ANGELS,we can take em I guess it will be ORANGE AND WHITE

[ozzy 0]

I vote for orange and black or grey but that would mean hondapilot would have to buy a new pair on pants

[sandiegoland 0]

Here are some other photos:

Nice shot Spaugh!

Looks like Pilot is reaching down to pet the dune... "Nice dune... stay!! Good Dune..."

[Crawdaddy 96]

Nice shot Spaugh!

Looks like Pilot is reaching down to pet the dune... "Nice dune... stay!! Good Dune..."

Those dunes are a lot easier to soar over when you're unencumbered (and paddled).....Here's my son Jarrett on the original Crawdad Racing Dual Sport machine.....98 yz400F.......now owned by Bikeslut's buddy Tim......

I can imagine that it was a different story on knobbies with heavier bikes/riders/gear......sounds like you had a better time on the return trip......you guys must've discovered a few of the secrets to two wheeled success at Glamis (more throttle, sweeping (not tight) turns, and always carve a turn on the top of any given dune since, as Bum discovered, you're never sure what is, or isn't, on the other side)

[tntmo 887]

Looks like a great local adventure, kind of like a Trans American Trail practice run. Wish I could have made it, good show guys!

[Bbg.will 0]

I vote for orange and black or grey but that would mean hondapilot would have to buy a new pair on pants

This is my vote

[Strega 0]

Will I have to learn the SDAR gang signs if we go with that logo?

[RogerTOWM 0]

I hate to say it, but that green patch logo looks nice. Good job and sorry for the hijack.

[SCHWINN 0]

I hate to say it, but that green patch logo looks nice. Good job and sorry for the hijack.

If we go green we will have to get permission from the "VAGOS" & "BOOSEFIGHTERS"