hoss314 0 Posted August 23, 2010 You missed out on a great ride! Forrest, Argmister and I met at La Cocina in Ramona for some great mexican food before driving down to Pinyon Mountain staging area. Nobody else was there at the staging area so we took our time before leaving. 87 degrees at 7:20 (or so) when we left. Felt really good to get back out into the desert. The sand was thick but not so much you want to give up. As we started up through the rocky section I was reminded how much better the trials tires would be for that section. Ended up smelling a bit of clutch as I needed to feather the clutch to get up the last bit. Once I was up the others were able to see how much of a running head start was needed to get up. (seemed to be the pattern for the night.......make Mike the gineau pig!) Made our way over to Heart Attack Ridge just as it was getting dark. I went down and then snapped pics of Forrest and RJ on their way down. Figured I didn't need to break out the camera the rest of the night as we really didn't stop long enough for me to figure out how to take night pictures with my camera. So your imagination may come into use on occasion while looking at the pictures I did take After the ridge we rolled down the washes up to "Ankle Hill" I was reminded how sunlight really does help your ride ability. Crested the hill with "just enough" throttle. Had some serious doubt I was gonna make it for a second.....but at least the guys behind me were able to see my troubles and correct for their own success. On down to Sandstone Canyon....What a sight! The moon would illuminate the walls of the canyon every other turn. We reached the point where the earthquake on easter had toppled a wall in the road. Group decision....ride over the pile of rocks and finish the canyon, only to turn around and do it again.....or turn around now and continue on with the ride. We decided to turn around at that point and continue the ride. Save the energy for Diablo. Moved on down Fish Creek to the Diablo turnoff. Odd feeling watching for the rocks through the wash at night....just need to keep a loose grip on the bars and expect a rock or two to let you know that they are still there. Speaking of rocks...through the canyon to Diablo. Pace defenitly slowed down to navigate the boulders and was a bit of a suprise for the drop. All of a sudden we had to hit it! Once again.....guys see me make it (barely) and then have a good idea where the sink-holes are, when and how much gas to give, and when to give it to get up. Once we made it up Diablo....we decided to take a cool off break. Was not really hot in the canyons but the humidity sucked! We made no stops in the canyons as you really need to keep moving. The weather was absolutely perfect except for about 7-10 miles with high humidity. Good thing that the humid spots had some breathers in between......so 7-10 miles total of humid zones. Once on top......riding the (berm track) road....we were cooled off with a nice breeze. dropped down into the wash again towards the mud caves. With the damage from the easter earthquake (as well as some really soft sand) we were forced to slow down pace a bit. Not a good feeling to tear around a corner to find a wall of rubble in front of you. Bummer is that when we made it to the best cave.....it just had to be in one of the humid zones. There was a truck parked out front so we decided to continue on as opposed to "spelunking"......(also didn't want to ruin Toyota guy's date night...he may have had some other tyoe of "spelunking" in mind ) Once we made the right on the wash that leads to S2 (name?)........it was time to open her up and have some fun. Stopped numerous times to wait for headlights and later found out that the wind had died down so much.......they were forced to hold back as the dust was sitting front of them. Causing their headlights to reflect back on them. So I told them......meet you at the road! We then were forced to travel on asphalt towards Orilfalme mountain.......my HID headlight can be pretty bright at night for oncoming traffic. I was able to get a laugh at one passer-by as he was flashing his hi beams on and off at me. At first I thought "what more do you want" I was forcing my headlight down with my free hand and it was pointed at the ground in front of me. But, immediately after that, the thought was "Fine then.....how do you like this!" let go of my headlight and could see him inside his truck as he was squinting screaming it burns! it burns! as he passed me. Made it to the trailhead of Orilflame and decided to take the right side for the rock steps......saw lots of turantulas, mice, and more rabbits. Great temps up there but a much better ride during the day as there is only 2 small technical sections and the view is nowhere to be seen at night. Otherwise it was a fun ride! Dropped down on Banner Grade and motored down to the staging area on S2. All in all......great ride! temperatures were excellent given the slight breeze and no crashes. If I remember right it was 81 when we pulled out just before 11 pm. Really was not warm enough to be uncomfortable. 73 miles for the night and can't wait for the weather to cool down enough for daylight desert riding Bottom of Heart Attack..... Forrest making it down.... RJ on his way......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kellymac530 0 Posted August 23, 2010 darn slow orange bikes...i hate them looked like a nice ride nice Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Strega 0 Posted August 23, 2010 That looked like fun! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ARGMISTER 0 Posted August 23, 2010 Yea thanks for the ride and mike i think the rabbits were attracted to you, and that one wash we were hooking it along, the dust was just floating, kept trying to find diff lines but there wasnt many, had a great time, lookign forward to a daylight ride. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnnyAirtime 2 Posted October 10, 2010 SO... checked out the tracks.... You all ready to do this again?!?!?! ... I wanna go!!! Call me "Capable" on a plated bike ... just name the day/night (as I'm unemployed) and I'll meet ya. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pyro 1 Posted October 10, 2010 Looks like fun! Great job thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
