Marbee40 0 Posted January 16, 2007 I just walked in the door and it's 26* in Bonita at 11pm. My lips hurt. Some of the gang is STILL on the road to Encinitas. I'll post more tomorrow, but as usual, another GREAT SDAR ride! Seven hearty fools showed up and seven hearty fools made the entire trip! We have a new name for the little hill behind the Olympic Training Center....."Push-em-Up-Hill!" More tomorrow! Thanks for the support on this one, fellas! Jim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin 0 Posted January 16, 2007 I just walked in the door and it's 26* in Bonita at 11pm. My lips hurt. Some of the gang is STILL on the road to Encinitas. I'll post more tomorrow, but as usual, another GREAT SDAR ride! Seven hearty fools showed up and seven hearty fools made the entire trip! We have a new name for the little hill behind the Olympic Training Center....."Push-em-Up-Hill!" More tomorrow! Thanks for the support on this one, fellas! Jim I would like another attempt at that hill, in the day light. Great ride. The night ride was something different. We should plan more of these after work night rides!!!!!!!!!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marbee40 0 Posted January 16, 2007 SDAR, Ahhh, another "adventure" on the books. This little ride was originally kicked off so that an out-of-town visitor by the name of 625SXC could go for a local ride. Needless to say, he was otherwise detained and we left at 7:20ish. We had 7 riders show up, including three from "up north". Bosman, 2Wheels, Kevin, Pyro, Bum, and a newbie that rode a clean XR650L like his butt was on fire! If I missed someone or got the screenname wrong, my bad! Considering it was hovering around 32* when I walked out the door, I'm again surprised by the number of folks that showed up for what was originally touted as an "easy" ride. Well, okay, it WAS easy, but I'll get to that in a second. We took off down Proctor Valley about two miles in to the concrete wash, hooked a right heading back west and bounded up my favorite little trail that overlooks Upper Otay Res. The downhill section can be a little boogery for new folks, but everyone hammered right along. We then transitioned to the next valley over that parallels Lower Otay. I was going off "daylight" memory. The trail was SUPPOSED to come out over near the Skydiving school just east of the lake, but we ended up doing a loop and back to the road. LESSON ONE FOR NIGHT RIDE TRAIL LEADERS: If you haven't been on the route at night, PRE-RUN first! If I had just marked my GPS with a few simple waypoints, we'd have been fine. OH WELL! Onto the asphalt for a nice starlit ride going East on Otay Lakes we went. Our next stop was at the Thousand trails campground and onto the Otay Truck Trail from the North side of Otay Mountain. At about 2500' of elevation the wind kicked up and the temperature dropped 10 degrees! We stopped at Doghouse junction for a minute to look at the city lights and chew the fat. One of the SMART riders had brought a thermos of coffee! (HINT HINT for the next trip!). I heard a few "THIS is why I bought my bike" comments. Also noted was that this is the location I sometime bring my kids to watch the fireworks on the 4th....which led to "Hey, we should do an annual ride up here on the 4th!" Next stop was the cell tower's only a 1/2 mile away. After watering a few plants and gawking at the "Border Lights", numb fingers all agreed it was time to get off the windy mountain. We dropped down the west side of Otay to Keubler ranch road, waving to a few BP folks on duty along the way. (THANKLESS JOB!) Once to the bottom of the hill, we turned right towards the prison and dropped down the "fence chute" into an area just south of the Olympic Training Center. I stopped everyone to warn that the toughest section of the trip was up ahead and to "stay right, give 'er hell!" I've been up this little climb in daylight about 4-5 times. I remember my first time was a bit scary, but I made it....on a new D606. The first three bikes flew up with only a bit of effort. Then someone on a VERY shiny white Beemer 650 dumped it and I thought "OH CRAP!". With a LOT of pushing and fine clutch work, we got the last three bikes up the hill. By now, everyone was sweating like draft horses. Trust me, this hill is NOT fun at night on a 80/20 tire! Also, I took off my balaclava and glove liners cause I was too warm. MISTAKE! 1/2 way home I got REAL flippin cold. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty good ride. I would like to see more night rides....after it warms up! Sorry, no pix as the cell cameras are semi-useless in the dark! Finally, if you've been lurking on this site or just have a trail ride you'd like to lead, DO IT! Most folks on this list are just looking for a reason to get out. The little trip we did last night wasn't really "exciting" or new ground, but the night aspect throws a wrench in. Signing off.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marbee40 0 Posted January 16, 2007 Okay, since we didn't have a camera, just imagine this in the DARK! (Sorry, spyder, I hijacked your thread!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2Wheels 0 Posted January 16, 2007 Thanks, Jim, for a great ride. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bosman 0 Posted January 17, 2007 That was a blast! Thanks Jim! You're absolutely right that the "night factor" adds a whole different element as did the toasty warm temps & gentle breeze atop Otay Mountain. Just wish we had a little Jaggermeister to keep my toes warm. Strictly for medicinal purposes of course. I'm bummed to hear you're heading north, but somehow I think you'll be back for some Dez winter riding fun. "Jim's Hill" was perhaps better for me left unseen before my run up. And I'm really glad my run up was in the dark, because it damn sure wasn't pretty, just effective. I was thinking I'd rather push bikes up than ride down that in the dark. That & "Damn I'm glad I rode the DRZ400S instead of the R80G/S w/Gripsters". I don't think the boyz from north county have thawed enough yet to post. My left over dinner scraps never tasted so good as last night! It was a pleasure meeting you gents & I look forward to the next ride. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin 0 Posted January 17, 2007 That was a blast! Thanks Jim! You're absolutely right that the "night factor" adds a whole different element as did the toasty warm temps & gentle breeze atop Otay Mountain. Just wish we had a little Jaggermeister to keep my toes warm. Strictly for medicinal purposes of course. I'm bummed to hear you're heading north, but somehow I think you'll be back for some Dez winter riding fun. "Jim's Hill" was perhaps better for me left unseen before my run up. And I'm really glad my run up was in the dark, because it damn sure wasn't pretty, just effective. I was thinking I'd rather push bikes up than ride down that in the dark. That & "Damn I'm glad I rode the DRZ400S instead of the R80G/S w/Gripsters". I don't think the boyz from north county have thawed enough yet to post. My left over dinner scraps never tasted so good as last night! It was a pleasure meeting you gents & I look forward to the next ride. Bosman, were you at the Airhead New Years event at Aqua Caliente? I was there for a while on Saturday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bosman 0 Posted January 17, 2007 That was a blast! Thanks Jim! You're absolutely right that the "night factor" adds a whole different element as did the toasty warm temps & gentle breeze atop Otay Mountain. Just wish we had a little Jaggermeister to keep my toes warm. Strictly for medicinal purposes of course. I'm bummed to hear you're heading north, but somehow I think you'll be back for some Dez winter riding fun. "Jim's Hill" was perhaps better for me left unseen before my run up. And I'm really glad my run up was in the dark, because it damn sure wasn't pretty, just effective. I was thinking I'd rather push bikes up than ride down that in the dark. That & "Damn I'm glad I rode the DRZ400S instead of the R80G/S w/Gripsters". I don't think the boyz from north county have thawed enough yet to post. My left over dinner scraps never tasted so good as last night! It was a pleasure meeting you gents & I look forward to the next ride. Bosman, were you at the Airhead New Years event at Aqua Caliente? I was there for a while on Saturday. Oh yeah, I became famous in my own mind at the center camp bar at mid-night. Pure genius! Happy Fing New Year! That was my little R80G/S over by Spiceman's. Fortunately I didn't repeat Randy's Ride from last year! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pyro 1 Posted January 17, 2007 That was an awesome ride! Thanks Jim for leading us on this adventure. It was great to see some old friends and meet some new ones. It was a good turnout and a fun route. We went through some local trails that were new to me, and at night it made it a real adventure! ODT HILL (Olympic Dualsport Training Hill) was pretty gnarley. The fact that it was dark made it all the more challenging. With some spinning tires and a little teamwork we all managed to pass the test. I really liked the following part at the very end of the ride. That was a fun section. Good times all ! That was the best monday night I've had in a while! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ADV Bum 205 Posted January 17, 2007 Thanks to Jim for setting up the night ride. It was a first for me, well several firsts. Ride down from north county made it a long ride. Maybe thats why I cant sleep now. The dark really adds a different dimension. Street tires off-roading also added a different dimension. I had never been up Otay. Got a little to cocky at the top and almost slid off one of the turns. SCARY! All I could think of while sliding was jump off and let the bike go, but bum luck was on my side. Now as for OTC hill, I did not think EASY meant hill climb. Effort would of scored 10.0, execution 1.8! DAMN IT JIM!! It was nice meeting some new folk. Hope to see you again at the Desert Dash. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Hammerin Hammon Posted January 17, 2007 Thanks Jim that was a great ride. I cant wait to ride more at night. I loved the hills and the rocky sections Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ride-Orange 2 Posted January 17, 2007 Sorry I couldn't make with y'all on this trip. Sounds like it was a real hoot, great write-up! I'll keep my eyes peeled for the next Night Ranger ride... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marbee40 0 Posted January 19, 2007 OUCH! I feel kinda "bad" about that hill. Guess I over-simplified the pre-ride description..... Glad everyone had a good time and truly hope this spurs more night rides. Anyone wishing to revisit ODT Hill again during daylight hours, give me a PM and check your knobby! See ya'll soon! Jim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2Wheels 0 Posted January 19, 2007 Nobody was hurt so all turned out well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
