Valle Dela Palmas Adventure (April 20, 2008)

[Gery XT-225 0]

Special thanks to 2Wheels who set-up this ride adventutre last weekend. And of course to all adventurer riders who joined with us for a great expidition at Valle Dela Palmas along Baja Mexico.

We met at the Starbucks parking lot along Olympic Parkway in Chula Vista last Sunday the 20th of April 2008 @ 9 AM. We started with a cup of hot coffee and introducing each other which bonds us prior the ride.

At exactly 10 AM, we glide in moderate pace along Hwy 94 and to Hwy 188 which lead us to cross the border of Tecate Mexico. Within another 16 miles or so, we reach the intersection of Hwy 3 and Valle Dela Palmas where we took-off some air preassure on our tires before hiting the dirt.

The entry of Valle Dela Palmas are smooth dirt to start. As we move along, the terrain varried from soft sand and more rugged surfaces. The mountain scenery was great as we squeez our throthel along the yellow wild flowers along our route. It was awesome...

Unfortunately, somehow we got lost each other on the trail. We were separated into 2 groups that never see each other until the end of our adventure.

I lost control and light fall a couple of times on some very technical trails. I can see now the advantage of a tall rider that could paddle both feet when it comes to technical deep powder dirt and big rocks terrains. One of our rider had a rear flat tire, unfortunately we didn't succeed fixing his tire. He ended up riding his bike 10 miles off-road and another 20 miles on the pave Highway. It was really scarry watching him sliding all over the place but his great dirt experiences made him through back to US.

Next message are the pictures we collected during our Valle Dela Palmas Adventure. Enjoy...

Ride safe,

XT-225

[Gery XT-225 0]

Meeting Place at Starbucks Coffee Shop By Olympic Parkway, Chula Vista

Our group of 5 Adventurer Riders

Entering Tecate Mexico

Dirt Trike

more pix coming up....

[Gery XT-225 0]

Valle Dela Palmas Entry

Roilling out the dirt

Intersection where we lost each other after

Awesome trail

more pix coming up....

[Gery XT-225 0]

Navigating the area

Some rugged trail

Got a flat tire

We met a friend

Ride safe,

XT-225

[2Wheels 0]

Nice Photos, Gery. I didn't get many, but here they are.

Gery taking a picture of the rest of us in Valle de las Palmas

This is the field where Mike, the guy on the KLR with the side car, and I waited wondering where the rest of the group was.

Within 5 minutes, the ride went from taking a break and talking about how nice the scenery and weather were to to waiting and wondering where everyone went.

I guess we should have talked about what to do to keep the group together before leaving. One way of keeping the group together goes like this. Everyone keep an eye out for the guy behind you. He may be staying way back to avoid your dust. If you don't see him for a while, slow down or stop. If you still don't see him after about 5 minutes, start retracing your steps to look for him. You never know, you might find him unconscious underneath his bike or standing next to a bike that quit running.

It seems to work pretty well on the rides I've been on. If the last guy has to stop, everyone will eventually go back to where he is. If someone in the middle has to stop, the guys behind him will catch up to him, and those ahead will come back.

The most important thing when a ride starts is that everyone gets back safely. I will not continue a ride if one rider wants to stop and go back for whatever reason. At the very least, I'll stay with the rider until we get to a place where AAA towing is available. If need be, I'll go back, get my truck, and give the rider and bike a lift back to safety.

Any ride where everyone makes it back safely is a successful ride. We had a successful ride.

[sandiegoland 0]

We met a friend

We're assuming, since you made it back, that he's at least not an enemy!!