Descanso - Barstow - Blythe - Ocotillo : 3 days, 700 miles

[JohnnyAirtime 2]

Hey guys...

Thought I'd share;

(3) of us rode CA. Plated bikes... in areas I never knew existed, and then some....

It was an Epic ride, where I was "scouting" a leg to complete a huge loop ride (1200 miles) I plan on doing this next riding season. This ride, was 700 miles of just about everything. A good time (even with the 100° heat) for all of us, and we had a great chase driver meeting us in pre-determined locations along the way.

This was my maiden voyage on my "new to me" XR400... which I must say, did VERY well. I was never underpowered (it kept me from getting into trouble as well) and only on occasion did altitude effect my performance (jetting issue). With my Precision Concepts suspension tuning, and my Airtime-HID lighting... it was TRULY a great experience in all aspects of the ride. So good, we never were in a hurry... and enjoyed the night riding (even though we couldn't see our surroundings, as I too enjoy the scenery on these long destination rides).

I thought I'd share the link to the pics (below)... even though you may wonder about a few of them, as KodakGallery doesn't allow me to post comments about the picture itself... I think you'll get the idea of the ride, and the terrain. (noting, I don't take too many pictures in the really rough stuff... as riding with one hand on the bars, and one on the camera gets a little tricky at times).

I will say, if your bike isn't plated... this is a DO NOT ATTEMPT ride.

We rode places that were posted (as you'll see) illegal for green stickered bikes. And too much pavement pounding to get into towns or trail head to trail head, for a non-plated bike. We also made sure to not stray from the path, and we never ran into any locked gates or obvious places of trespassing. I'm pretty confident in our ride that the trails we took... whether single track, or two track... that we stayed legal and treaded lightly. A nice feeling for such a long ride.

The ultimate path was;

Day one; Descanso, Julian, Aguanga, Cahuilla, Banning, Desert Hot Springs, Lucerne, Barstow (280 miles)

Day two; Barstow, Ludlow, Amboy, Desert Center, Blythe (250 miles)

Day three; Blythe, Calipatria, Ocotillo Wells, Ocotillo (180 miles)

Here's those pictures and a cheesy map;

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharin...Photos-_-Sharee

Enjoy!!!

[dstss 27]

Fantastic. Looks like a hell of a ride. I go to Blythe often by way of Hwy 78. Every time I go, I think about riding there on my bike. Thanks for sharing.

[cmayer31 3]

Awesome pictures! Looks like you and your buddies had a great ride make that huge loop. Definitely looks like it got a little toasty out there!

[kkug 146]

WOW nice pics --What kind of camera ? I am glad someone is thinking outside the box and going on a good local ride. Looks Hot !

[dirt dame 559]

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing.

[JohnnyAirtime 2]

Definitely hot in some places....

It was a bit of my own fault for cutting across the desert in some pretty rough technical (1st and 2nd gear) terrain on Sunday. It was overheating one rider... and by the time I knew it, we were 10miles from the truck. He just rode it in. Otherwise, it got hot... but only a few times where it seemed like my lips were dried up prunes. Even at night... we had to be careful. When I remembered... I applied the chapstick liberally.

All in all, a great ride. A little too much pavement pounding for me. But it was to secure a leg that would take us from Barstow... to home. I already have a route from Ocotillo... to Blythe, to Laughlin, to Vegas, and back to Barstow. I just needed a good leg from Barstow back home. This ride allowed me to see both legs from Barstow back towards home... and therefore closed a loop that will eventually be a 5-6 day... 1250 mile loop ride. I'm pretty excited about it, and can't wait for it to cool off so we can conquer it!

The camera is a waterproof and rugged "Olympus Stylus 850 SW". I keep it on a SCUBA Tether and tucked away in a zippered pocket. When riding, I can pull it out and shoot some pictures knowing if I drop it it's not going too far. I usually put it on super-fast shutter and hold the button down, deleting the unwanted once downloaded to a PC (which I do at end of every day - no matter the time we get in). The camera works great for what I use it for... even been snorkeling with me in Maui, and I used it to video my fiance underwater. Superb footage.

Here's a couple examples for ya...

Aquarium;

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v298/joh...nt=P5150653.flv

Still picture of Fiance';

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/joh...y5/P5130467.jpg

School of fish, snorkeling;

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v298/joh...nt=P5130454.flv

My favorite, Beach wash;

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v298/joh...120278-load.flv

~or~

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v298/joh...120273-load.flv

The ONLY problem with the camera, is it doesn't have a soft-flash like my Sony DSC-T33 Cyber Shot for those perfect shots at dusk. But that little camera even though rugged... isn't water proof. So, it stays home most of the time.

... there's three of us in the group that use that waterproof Olympus. And take pictures while we ride. They work great for that task and it's nice not to worry about rain or water. Just a great little camera!

As you can tell, sorry... I get a little excited about the cool/fun things in life.

[JohnnyAirtime 2]

Fantastic. Looks like a hell of a ride. I go to Blythe often by way of Hwy 78. Every time I go, I think about riding there on my bike. Thanks for sharing.

Who doesn't "ride the shoulder" on a road trip across the desert, or open areas!?! I think, I'm still a kid when I look out the window and imagine myself riding along at highway speeds about 100' off the roadway.

... there are "rideable" areas out there, but some places are closed due to the tortoise/milk vetch/etc, the military, or BLM. Obtaining a BLM map helps a lot. Some are free if you call the El Centro office.... others, are $5 each. Some show the closed areas, some don't. I use BLM and AAA maps, along with my GPS's City Navigator 2011 and other electronic maps to make sure I stay clear of anything we shouldn't be in. It's not easy... and takes days of planning.

[Crawdaddy 96]

Good Stuff Johnny - thanks for posting......

[Audible 0]

Nice adventure.