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This will be our second year out from the Right Coast for this event, which IMO is one of the best organized off road events in the country. The ride starts the day after Thanksgiving and is off road form Palmdale, CA to a night in Barstow, CA ending up at The Orleans in Vegas Saturday night.

It is load up day today for us here in CT. We don't like the term old and prefer to call our crew, "Experienced". Doug, who is handling the drive out just got this new trailer the other day and it will work out much better than my heavy trailer fuel wise. We have 5 bikes in the back and one in the pickup. All the bikes are cable locked. Barring no travel problems we should all meet up with Doug in Palmdale, CA next Tuesday for the opening ceremonies. Since we will be there a little earlier than the other 500+ riders the ceremonies mainly include us hanging around the Holiday Inn Bar.

Dont forget to stop at "Train Wreck" on the way.

Cool place.

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Bad decisions make the best stories.

My CR500R would be perfect for this!

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This is true. Where I grew up the hills were so steep and long, when your ball rolled down the hill you just said "screw it"...

So, I guess it is time to get off my tuckus and post up a few pics of our trip. Needless to say we had a great time, I love the West Coast. You guys have it made out there. No roots, mudholes, off camber wet pine logs, or bar banging trees. I mean you got some dust, well maybe a it's lot of firkin dust. I so especially love the way it acts like fog in the morning and evenings and just lays there blinding you in the sunlight, anyway.

This is the entrance to Jawbone ORV Park. Like Hungry Valley last year this place is huge. The other guys rode here and I went sight seeing. It is mainly a place of big hills.






Big Azz Campers are all over the place here. When we were driving out to this spot, about an hour away, all we saw were RVs with dirt bikes, quads, side by sides, sand rails, and anything else that had a motor heading out to the desert. These folks have a ball out here riding and camping. I noticed they all had big coolers too, something that is common to both coasts it seems, and even places in the middle like Deals Gap.


Our truck, trailer, and rental car seemed a little out of place next to the mega motorhomes.




But, then again, if you have a hot chick, a couple bikes, and a good dog. A weekend out here, is all you need.

This is one big pipe! It is one of 2 that crosses Jawbone carrying water to LA at the rate of 300,000 GPM.






They seem pretty serious about this pipe.



The locals don't seem to care much about the warning signs.



We kept our distance from the pipe anyway. And yes, it was a hell of a climb for me to get up that hill to take these pics and also spy on the hot chick with that looser and his dog.

Some pics of the guys riding up and down the hill I climbed. This hill was one the smallest out there.

Doug coming up the hill. Doug is a former AA New England Rider and has rode many GNCC Events. He is very fast, no, that's not true, he is very, very, very, fast. He is also in great riding shape making the Western Desert Whoops look like Mole Hills to my slow butt as he dusted me after about a hundred yards from wherever we stopped. He seems to be sliding away more from competition and just having a great time with friends at events like this. Come to think of it, that is pretty much what our crew is all about now.



Paul coming up the hill. Paul is a past New England Hare Scrambles Champion and former AA Rider, and another very, very, very, fast guy in the woods.



Larry, my business partner. Larry is a die hard Enduro guy. Top A rider for many years who I would put against almost anybody for his 50++ age. Larry never works on Fridays, I cover that. He rides Fridays with some of the best guys in New England all year long, snow, sleet, you name it. The upcoming Snow Run Enduro sponsored by our clubThe CT Ramblers has a lot of Larry's hours built into it.



James, a long time New England Enduro and Hare Scrambles rider. James is a heads down, get it done rider who I hope to some day be able to keep up with. We have known and rode together for many years off and on.It was a true pleasure to have him on this trip.



Timmy getting a little out of shape at the top of the hill because I was in his way photoing. Timmy is my Brother in Law and a frequent member of many of our trips. He is just as happy riding the Gap as off roading in Colorado or sucking up dust in the Mojave. Timmy is the guy who brings everything on a trip. He makes you feel guilty because he has everything you already packed, so you get to ride light. A great rider and great friend, he always likes to ride the last guy position but don't let that fool you. He is only doing that out of the goodness of his heart and the fact that he LOVES when stuff breaks down that he takes that slot.



Larry coming back to the top of the hill after collecting Tim and James. All of the guys left at the same time as a group but got broken up within 2 minutes. I could watch the whole thing unfold from my vantage point on the hill. They finally all recollected back at the hill and stayed together after that.


Don't know how well these pics will post but this is a Copper Sulfate deposit that stood out pretty nice further in the park.

On Turkey Day we took the truck and trailer to Vegas and left them at The Orleans. We then took Paul's rental car and headed back to Palmdale. You would think with all the land out here they could find a better place for a gas station than in the middle of a powerline

Other photos coming soon. The Wife stole me away for abit and I lost all the new pics and postings.

When I still lived in the Los Angeles area years ago, I used to really enjoy riding the Barstow to Vegas race, and the Baja 500, along with crewing for riders in the 1,000.

Jawbone Canyon is always a great ride, as is Lucerne Valley, and dozens of other areas down there.

You guys have fun, and, be careful.

On Friday at 6:00Am signup opened at the start. The start is at Palmdale Supercycles, the local Yamaha, Kawasaki, KTM Dealer. Larry and Doug talked to the owner for awhile, who I believe was originally from back East. He told them the next time we came out that he would take us to the best riding in the mountains and away from the "Yahoos" of LA.



The route sheet for just one day is huge! At least they don't need to be cut and taped. The detail is also very good though they use a little bit different acronyms than us.



The New England premier route sheet holder was unable to manage the long lists. The EE ones barely held them. A lady was going around selling other holders which I guess hold more but, we managed. You really need GPS and the Route Sheet Holders on this ride, especially us NE boys . We are use to following bright Orange arrows, blindly in fact. We get lost very easily looking for ribbons, many of which are lying on the ground. At the end of the event in The Alligator Bar of The Orleans we discussed why they don't use arrows, and maybe more than a few, WTF. Then, the guy who was not doing shots with us interjected, "They don't have trees here to staple stuff to". Oh, right.



Doug and Larry ready to go waiting for us. If any of you know Larry, he is always "Ready to Go"