Dirt Bike Riding

[JimmyZip]

So the doctor says I need to relax. I managed to get a week off starting today and ending Friday. I'm supposed to decompress, etc. So an old buddy calls me up last night after Mother's Day dinner, and says he's got the cure. All day switching between his sweet '94 YZ250, and his newer 250cc thumper, Yamaha that seems to have as much torque as a CR450r I used ride about ten years ago.

Five solid hours of real riding. I managed to dump both bikes a total of five times. "You aint riding if you aint crashing!" is what he was saying each time. We were riding in an area that has dunes, rocky foothil trails, large grain sandy wash trails, and hard-packed dike roads over an area of about 35 square miles along the San Andreas fault line.

I hadn't ridden like that in years. We even had to avoid the local RCSO with some quick riding, and fast thinking.

I felt, and feel like I was rung out through an old roller-ringer. I can barely keep my eyes open, and I am sure I will have trouble walking for the next three or four days, but I had the best time I've had in a long time.

I can still get the front end of a dirt bike off the ground without flipping the darn thing. I can still ride the whoops just skimming the tops with my ass over the fender working the throttle, and I can still manage to fall so as not to suffer as much damage as possible.

I am high on this one. Gonna take a few days to come down off of this cloud.

Thanks Dominic for loaning me the Bike and the gear and especially your time and gas. You really helped a buddy out.

JZ

[High Lord Gomer]

Very cool! Any pics?

In 1995 I rode a friend's 94 YZ250 and like it so much I bought a 95. Those were great bikes.

I have a friend in Corona that I will be visiting at the end of June. We might end up riding somewhere out there. Where did you ride?

[JimmyZip]

HLG,

First off, riding anywhere off road, in Riverside County, outside private property or designated areas of our Nat'l parks/monuments is strictly verboten!

OTOH, rarely will these laws be enforced as long as you are riding off road, because what the Sheriff is trying to avoid is niose and riders not obeying traffic laws. They want to ticket those who ride a dirt bike that is liscensed for off-road while riding on-road. They will even wave to you if you are riding out in the dirt, but hit the pavement, and your getting a ticket, and your bike is going to jail.

So those two-to-three blocks to the open desert are the problem. Some smart folks will push their bikes that far. I'm not that smart

Where we were riding is an area in and around Desert Hot Springs. It is a town known in this area for a high crime rate, and the meth capital of SoCal. It is also surrounded with great trails and eerie things to see.

For instance, I saw where the San Andreas fault actually opens up and you can see 40-80 feet down inside it through a myriad of dry springs that come to life after the rains. A tragic and sickening place where people dump their fighting dogs who lose. A canyon that is washed out of an old dump, whose walls are packed garbage of old cans and bottles, and what have you. A back trail into Joshua Tree Nat'l Monument. There are miles and miles of it out here. When I was a kid, before all of the building booms had taken their chunks out of it, you could ride from the end of our street to Sirocco summit, and never hit pavement.

But if your buddy lives in Corona, you should go out to Ocotillo Wells, North Shore Salton Sea, or if you can go on a week day and like the dunes, there is always Glamis. You can ride all you want, not worry about the law, and you will meet lots of people who aren't so creepy as those you might meet near DHS. (Not the people in town, but those wandering out in the boonies.)

Jimmy

[High Lord Gomer]

That does sound eerie!

When I was there before we rode from his house straight up into the hills of the National Forest. We also loaded up and went to Elsinore. That was pretty cool because he has run the Elsinore GP for many years and was even in "On Any Sunday" when they showed footage of the original races.

I'll see if I can get him to take me to Glamis.

[mwx40x40]

"and I can still manage to fall so as not to suffer as much damage as possible."

HLG, this is the part you need learn

[High Lord Gomer]

Thank you, Mr. Kettle!

I haven't crashed in over 8 months!