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Not too long ago we lost a dear friend, a true ADV rider, a staff member at West38Moto, and entrepreneur.  Roamin' Joe.

Joe left my house on a Friday after celebrating his fantastically good fortune landing a career dream job. The next morning he would head to to Salt Lake for the final drive to a new home and job.  We were ecstatic and we all knew we'd miss him, just didn't know how much or how soon.

That evening Joe checked into the VA hospital feeling off and then his aorta ruptured.  He was about 55 years old I believe.

Joe was a lesson in gratitude.  He had suffered considerably (as many have and will) but never let on to the struggles he endured.  He was always happy, encouraging, kind regardless of what challenge he was facing.  I bought a baseball hat awhile ago thinking about Joe.  It 'seemed' to be his motto.  Gratitude. Kindness. An energetic problem solver and adventurer.

Friday Afternoon:

Joe received a burial with full military honors, and it was an incredibly solemn ceremony.  The first like this I'd witnessed.  We then went to Joes favorite cigar bar in Old Town and spent the afternoon and evening laughing and celebrating Joe's memory.

Saturday Morning:

There were six of us who decided to spend the weekend doing what Joe loved - - Riding!  So we left La Mesa at 7 a.m. and headed for Pine Valley, and up Pine Creek road to Sunrise Highway.  I love this broken up old lost road.  It's such a fun roller coaster ride in so many places.  We only met one Jeeper coming down and it was a safe and polite encounter.  By the time we got into the pine trees most of us had swept the sleep out of our eyes and were getting throttle happy with some passing back and forth.  At the top, helmets came off and of course, there were six huge grins and plenty of happy banter.  We had really MISSED this trail while it was closed for much of Covid.

Onto the highway and LEFT to Julian for breakfast!  But first . . . . .

The weather on the ride up so far was classic fog, heavy mist, coooooold, ... but as we topped out at the highway we broke into the most beautiful day!  You know the days when there isn't a speck of pollution in the air and you can see farther then you ever thought possible.  So I drug the group into Inspiration Point for a short look out over the desert, and the blue sky.  It was unusually breathtaking.

Then breakfast was had at the Miners Diner in Julian.  Now I was really ready for my favorite stretch on pavement in SD county.  Banner Grade.  The bike was running like the well oiled german machine it is.  The tires . . . I'm almost through my second set of RallZ's on this bike and absolutely love how they stick. There is no knobby drift when deep in the corners like so many others. Pick a line through the corners, throw in down all the way to the edge and stick your chin in the mirror.  The thing rails, like it's on rails.

At Banner we hit the skids and turned right on Rodriguez, flipped to Enduro Pro and rode up to the first gate. Oracle had tipped me off the gates were closed but unlocked as it was public roadway.  He was right.  He also warned me to make sure I didn't miss the hard left soon after that to take Rodriguez down and out Oriflamme. He emphasized that going straight down Mason might not be fun for everyone.  In retrospect he was right.  Even though the goal of the weekend was to ride hard, it did turn out to be 'more' than a couple riders anticipated.  But alls well that ends well.  We pre- walked a few spots, cleared a few rocks here and there, and one or two riders dead clutched down some baby head ruts here and there.

The wash at the bottom of Oriflamme was spectacular!  Very tight windy track winding through the brush with quite a bit of deeper loose sand, but it's kind of course so there's good traction (comparatively).  I call it hero sand.  All the fun of floating, slow drifting corners and hero roosting with just enough traction to let you get away with it on the 550lb'r.

Turned left and explored Blair Valley, ate lunch and then blasted off for Grapevine.  I think Roamin' Joe sent the grader in from the bottom ahead of us because the wash was in GREAT shape, and I'm guessing it was about as good as it gets.  Braap Braap!  We stayed left at the Y and kept going up toward Ranchita, making a late right turn to ride Culp Valley down and then into Borrego.

We checked into the motel and walked next door for the usual Mex dinner.  After dinner we rode out to Camp Dusty.  Once or twice a year W38M collaborates with Bill Dragoo and he'll bring his class and tour to mesh with ours.  Sat/Sun Adv bike training and then Monday off to Baja for 5 days.  So we rode out to camp and told stories, drank a couple beers and toasted to Roamin' Joe.  Good Times.

Sunday Morning:

Over breakfast at the Red Ocotillo we invoked the democratic process as each rider raised his sore arms to vote. . . . Baileys cabin fell to the axe... Lost Valley and High Point TT were in.

The video below tells the rest of the story.  Joe would have been pleased that we spent 'his weekend' this way.  Life is Good.  Embrace it, drink it in, go out and do whateverthehell makes you happy, and do it today.  We did that weekend.  And will continue to do as often as we possibly can.

 

 

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video pending

 

 

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Good call Mr. Zubb, you are doing it right!  Sorry to hear of your buddy, and sounds like he was a bud to many, but you did it right in his honor.  Life is Good. Cheers. 

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Great story sir.  There's nothing like good friends.  Enjoy them while you can, every one of us is on the clock and none of us know when it's time.  

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Cool ride, Kelly. When we talked, I didn't know the ride you were planning was in honor of your buddy Joe. My sincerest condolence for the lost of your buddy. Glad some of my input was beneficial, even though not all of it was followed...🤣 . But like I always tell my kids when we get to a section slightly above their level.... if you never try it, you'll never make it.

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Nice writeup and great video Kelly.    I'm sorry for the loss of your friend Joe.   55 is much too young.   Looks like you guys did a nice "celebration of life" in  his honor.

 

I've been wanting to hit Rodriquez....but not alone.  

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Perfect weekend Zubb! The smiles says it all! Joe is smiling ear to ear! Thank you for this post it sure made my day! 

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14 hours ago, Bub_Hannah said:

Nice writeup and great video Kelly.    I'm sorry for the loss of your friend Joe.   55 is much too young.   Looks like you guys did a nice "celebration of life" in  his honor.

 

I've been wanting to hit Rodriquez....but not alone.  

Thanks, and I just rode Rodriguez Sunday (up).  It is a lot friendlier than Mason.  I hadn't ridden it for about 3 years and had forgotten just how fun it is.  Coming up, on the 1200's it was mostly 2nd gear touring.  Lot's of lines to pick, ruts to cross, just enough sand to make you want to roost here and there.  A few rock/rock ledges you might want to loft the front a little on to take the impact off the front.  I really enjoyed it. Will try to load a video here today.

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By the way, it's great to see you sticking to the "don't ride alone" credo.  I've seen several guys get trapped under their bikes (even 500's) and need assistance to extricate themselves.  I won't say that I NEVER ride off-road alone.  But I pretty much never ride off-road alone (if that makes any sense).

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Last Saturday was a honey-do day, but a couple of friends persuaded me to mount up on Sunday and go check on a couple of spots.  You know, just see if they were still there.

We left La Mesa at 8 am and rode 94 east and eventually onto old Highway 80.    Dang!  It was full-on cold SD weather and Wade and I were both mumbling about leaving the winter gloves home. Steve (Africa Twin) must be tougher than us.  Either that or he chooses to suffer in silence.  It was classic 50 degrees, May-Grey socked in heavy mist riding all the way to Boulevard.  As we neared Valley of the Moon though the sun popped out and temps immediately climbed 10 or 12 degrees.

We pulled off and punched the Enduro pro buttons, and I let some air out of the tires.  I usually just ride 30-32 lbs front and back but have been taking notes on the pressures and performance of this particular set.  Plus off-road, 35/35 just shakes the heck out of the bike. 30/30 plushes it all out on washboard and embedded rocks. Yeh traction improves as well but it's not often I feel the need for more traction than the RallZs supply.

We had intended to go to the back reaches of Valley of the Moon.  But technically, much of it is a non-motorized vehicle trail.  We met a string of "jeeps" coming up and pulled off to both watch them pass and walk the trail a ways.  You'll hear in the video, that Toyota was definitely going to the shop when / if he got home.  Something has seriously broken in the drive train as he went by.

We decided to respect the sign (non-motorized) and our clutches. The ride back up that jeepy section was likely to test how good we were at picking/keeping our lines and carrying momentum in an attempt to not scorch clutches.  They tend to cost a little more than clutch packs on skinny bikes.

After a photo-op at the cell towers, we headed back down to the 8.  I've always wanted to pull off the freeway and poke around that Mtn. Springs exit/area and decided this was a good day to check that box.  It's cool and eclectic in a Salvation Mountain kind of way.  It was a 10-minute detour that was worth the effort.  Checked that box, and off to the Red Feather for the world's best hamburger and a Coke.

Yum.

Then we scooted through the windmills and A-B park at a real nice clip until we hit the Oriflamme cutoff.  Again, the wash at the bottom was buttery delicious sand . . . . hero sand, and makes you feel like you're riding in a cowboy movie.    When we came out the other end and hit the 'triangle' in the trail, we stayed right and rode up Rodriguez, eventually to Banner, where we approached those same dam low hanging clouds we started the day in.  All zippers went back up, the desert gloves came off the mid-weight gloves went back on.  Wade put his lower rain shell on and I whimpered as I wished I'd thrown mine in the kit before we left my garage.

Julian was as expected.  Heavy fog, visibility 75 ft.  Rain thinly disguised as mist.  visors open just enough to fight the fogging and closed enough to try to minimize the stinging of the cheeks.  Full-on non-stop wiping with the little squeegee built into my gloves left finger.  It would have been a dead stop without it.  I don't know why every moto glove doesn't have these built-in.  I won't buy a pair without it.

We headed west instead of south at Julian.  Julian is just over 4,000'.  If it's bad in Julian, it's gonna be hell over Mt. Laguna (6,000'). So the ride down to Santa Ysabel was a game of following tail lights, close enough to see them, far enough to hopefully not rear-end them if sh*t went sideways.  We of course stopped at the Chairs for natures call, some fuel for Wade, and a final chat as Wade lives closer to Poway/Escondido and would be splitting off.

Old Julian, Wildcat Canyon, and home for an immediate soak in the hot tub to get that cold drizzle off my bones.

Bikes, Friends, Miles, and finally a beer in the big hot bubbler.  Yes, life is good.  Don't waste it.  Spend it doing what you love.

 

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Thanks Jim.  We gotta go ride my friend.

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3 hours ago, Zubb said:

By the way, it's great to see you sticking to the "don't ride alone" credo.  I've seen several guys get trapped under their bikes (even 500's) and need assistance to extricate themselves.  I won't say that I NEVER ride off-road alone.  But I pretty much never ride off-road alone (if that makes any sense).

Oh man....  I wish that were true in my case.  I ride mostly alone...don't like to though.     There are areas I know better to go alone and know my limits...but I know thats not a perfect plan either.

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I wanted to tell my story about Roamin’ Joe, who considered himself a Moto, Photo, Foodie. 
I found his Facebook page, but can’t seem to paste it here. You should check it out, and see how involved and passionate he was about motorcycling.

I had the privilege to go on two rides with him with the San Diego Moto Campers Meetup. 
The first one he led the ride to Idyllwild ( my first Campout on the WeeStrom), where we took Wilson rd, to Sage rd ( lot to explore up there) up to Hemet and then to Idyllwild.C6572D43-1351-4BCD-B694-F781EC9442C9.thumb.jpeg.45a8057e196f5a92ccad80622e69c4ac.jpeg94F9A8D0-96AB-4DC3-A330-EAEC17671A50.thumb.jpeg.70c97dbf2db407850bb22602b11b30f8.jpegJoe had been asked to show off his cooking skills at an Overland Expo later that year, and he wanted to practice for us ( how lucky we were )! He cooked for us Saturday evening, and Sunday morning. I sure wish this old brain could tell you exactly what we had, but it was Damn Good! He led a ride on Saturday from Idyllwild, up and over Big Bear where we ended up at Pioneer Town for lunch. I’d never heard of Pioneer Town. 
My eyes were really opened up to camping and longer rides on this trip thanks to Roamin’ Joe.C86BA7E7-EF82-4868-972C-9BE42C52DB8D.thumb.jpeg.e79dd5fff55bff2ed98630350b19b06a.jpegThis was on July 22, 2017, and the temps down in the desert, if I remember was 104*ish 98E0CB4E-0D7C-405C-9261-06741D578221.jpeg.e5e95af6aea28179f564911d9e040526.jpeg

 No ATGATT for this guy E2E6F9EB-0437-479F-B022-8FE84F90EB37.thumb.jpeg.997727b08df9d5d609447fca44bbc232.jpeg
This is one of my favorite photos, and I was riding behind him catching some of his ash! Very cool dude though 👍
9B60567F-5EF4-4BCB-988B-3901AA41D620.thumb.jpeg.889ed2b5a64ed64ae31828ffb2bd9e5f.jpegThis was a wonderful trip, and I really wish I could thank Joe again for his cooking, and his knowledge and experience. I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to make his memorial, but his memory will stay with me a lifetime!

Thank You Roamin’ Joe, you are missed!

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Thanks Jim, glad you shared with us here.  Joe was among other things, our camp chef @ west39moto. 

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Wade put up some video of our Valley of Moon and Rodriguez run  

 

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Great video!       Would love to give those rides a try.

I'd give it a like, but that feature doesn't worky for me.

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Here’s a video edit mostly from Steve’s bike cam. 

 

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