BBTR Moonlight Madness NIGHT Ride

[Crawdaddy 96]

Fun weekend up in Big Bear……..headed up Friday night and stayed with some friends who have a vacation villa up there…….Sat morning started off with some wake boarding.....Ken was the first one in the water.....

My noonish it started to sprinkle out on the lake so we bailed and picked up some lunch…….by ~2pm it was actually coming down a bit hard and I was started to get worried that the cloud cover wouldn’t clear out in time for the full moon ride……false alarm, by ~4pm the skies were clearing so Ken and I headed out to pre-run the middle section of Moonlight Madness course (which was essentially a repeat of the BBTR Big Bear Run Sunday loop…….complete with the same 3 hardways options – Belly Ache Springs in section one, UP a portion of White Mtn, DOWN Gold Mtn)…..I passed on taking Ken up White Mtn or Down Gold Mtn since it was late afternoon and I had to get over to the convention center to ride sweep with Gil……snapped a couple of photos of Ken along the way.......

Ken coming down an OHV single track near Hanna Flats campground (a separator trail between Redonda Ridge and White Mtn):

Another pic at the customary jerky/water/photo spot across from the cabin out in Holcumb Valley.....note the setting sun....

Took Ken up to Independence Mine and then meandered our way over behind Gold Mtn and cut down to the dump so we could get back into town…..

Ken headed back to the house and I turned into the Convention Center to chat with the BBTR crew……not sure what time it was…..maybe ~7pm?…….saw Randy when I pulled in so I stopped and said hello and then he was off a few minutes later once Keith (D37 Prez) arrived in the parking lot…..

BS’d a bit and ate some pizza with the BBTR gang then Gil and I headed out to ride middle sweep on the same section I had just ridden earlier with Ken…….it was fun re-riding the same terrain again in the dark…….and the hours old familiarity came in handy on a few turns I might’ve missed had I not been out there earlier in the day…..

As stated in the ride announcement thread, no need to worry about powering accessories when your bike has a 350 watt alternator.......the WR250R powered the Trail Tech HIDS on my helmet with no issues......they lit up the sky like a football stadium.......

They also illuminate the dust so I needed to keep a good distance when not leading.......very thankful for the afternoon sprinkle to tap down the dust level......likewise, thankful the skies cleared again to take "full" advantage of the "full" moon......on more than one occasion I thought I saw headlights in my rear view mirror.......nope, just the moon at my back

I took my plated 230F up with me so my friend Neal could ride with us on Sunday morning (Glamis riding buddy – never ridden dualsport before……I’m always happy to try and sink the Dualsport hook on someone new ……my other friends, Ken and Lily, both have 09 TE450s – they got tired of my nagging)…….Ken wanted to show Lily some of the terrain we rode on Sat afternoon……so I rode that same loop a 3rd time in less than 24 hrs……Ken and I had Lily and Neal hold up in a couple of sections so we could loop out to tackle some tougher stuff……another fun afternoon and I think Neal is hooked ……time to start bombarding him with Craigslist “bike for sale” ads :tease:

A few pics from yesterday morning…..

Lily and Neal with Big Bear Lake in the distance:

The lake was looking surprisingly still/glassy for 10am……I know she enjoyed the ride, but I think Lily may also have been wishing we were out on the boat again…..that’s one of the nice things about Big Bear…….you can catch the morning glass on the lake then follow it up with fantastic riding in the afternoon…..nice……I can certainly see why they opted to buy a place up there…….I wish Bass Lake was closer…..

Neal on the 230F by Holcumb Valley

At the remains of the mine near Gold Mtn:

The crew up top by the mine....Baldwin dry Lake in the distance:

Lily on her lowered TE450 (Ken lowered the rear suspension, raised the forks in the triple clamps, and shaved down the seat)

Just another ho-hum Kick Ass weekend in So. CA.

[ADV Bum 205]

Just another ho-hum Kick Ass weekend in So. CA.

Amen!

[toofast4uu 0]

Just another ho-hum Kick Ass weekend in So. CA.

Amen!

Nice! Rub it in!!

[dsfox 0]

Looks awesome! and nice to see another chick does what it takes to get on a dirtbike....sorry we seemed to ride opposite areas all weekend up there and never got to say "Hi"......but hopefully we can all plan a trip back there soon...I'm ready to go!

[Guest Crusty]

Nice pics.

My wife and I are going there, next weekend for our first, dirt adventure.

Can't wait.

Crusty.