Ural-a-ling in the southwest, a winter sojurn 2012

C'mon, Dave, you can't leave it like that!

Hi Dave,

I'm glad to read that you're having fun... I don't remember the boys' names.
By the way, since last summer there's a new family member in our home : a Munsterlander Spaniel. Her name is Pooch. She"s 10 months old.
Thierry aka Terry.

Looks like good stuff.

Thanks all for posting.

Howdy Thierry,

Its great to see you posting again, its been a LONG time since you have done so. Did you ever figure out how to get back onto Soviet Steeds?

Yes I had wonderful time on this latest trip, I have been kinda busy the last couple of days and neglected to post to this ride report, that will be corrected TODAY.

My 12 year old Dachshund is named "Spot", the 3 year old one is named "Newt", they go everywhere with me. When you get the time please post up a photo of your dog, hug your lovely wife for me and the next time you and Patric share one of your countries wonderful beers tip a pint for me.

Howdy All,

I'll now post up a ride that Craig and Jennie took me on, the air was brisk but the sun was shining as we ventured forth on roads I have never ridden before. Our first photo op was at a gate overlooking a dam.




The Boys were wondering why we were stopped, when its cold or raining they ride under the tub cover but when ever we stop they pop their heads out to see whats happening.


I have no idea what road we were on Craig will be able to provide those details but we kept gaining in elevation and soon found some snow on the side of the road to play in.


Jennie and her rig parked n the snow.


I let Craig try the Gear-Up and its two wheel drive, I think he liked it.


I told him to ride it out to the deeper snow so he could see how the two wheel drive worked.




The Boys are NOT accustomed to a stranger driving their rig.


Spot looks like he's checking for damage, Newt is on guard in case that interloper tries to get on their rig again.


For some reason, I always manage to park in strange ways.








Craig and Jennie are a bit more conventional in their parking technique.


We ride down the road and come to this neat over look.


We stop in a couple of different places to take in the view.










Craig then took me to a very curvy road, many off camber corners with decreasing radius, up and down roller coaster type hills, this was a road that could GET you if you weren't paying attention.




We stopped for a quick lunch then headed to some neat rock formations.






We rode under a rail road bridge, past a do not enter sign and onto a dry river bed with DEEP sand in it.


Craig with his one wheel drive Retro was doing OK.............until he stopped.:eek1


Yup, the Retro is stuck.


But with a little pushing its soon moving again, until he slowed down to make the U-turn to get back on the harder packed two rut road. Darn amateurs.


I advised Craig to run along side of the rig as it was digging its way through the sand and then to jump on when it had gotten straightened out and started to pick up speed, this is easier explained then it is done especially for someone who has never done it before


We got back to the main Hwy and rode up a very steep-long pass, stopped at the top to get a couple of photos next to this old building.


We rode past a VFW post on the way back to Craig's home.






The next day was spent doing some plumbing repairs to my toy hauler and taking Newt to the local veterinarian. I had noticed that Newt had a swelling under his chin, at first I though nothing of it as it caused him no pain and when I felt it it was soft and he didn't mind my touching it, I thought it may have been from a bug bite. However the lump got larger and harder, so I took him to the vet, the vet checked him out and said that it was a broken blood vessel that was draining underneath his skin.

So the little guy had to have a drain tube inserted into the blood pocket, how this happened I don't know, the only thing I can think of is that he may have struck the underside of his chin running up the steps to get into the toy hauler, every now and then when he running-jumping those steps he misses one. He had to have the tube in place for five days, it was taken out the evening before I left from Craig's home and headed north.


The next chapter will cover our visiting an old west town built to film many old western movies and TV shows, stay tuned.

Great Ride report. Now I'm really jealous I couldn't stick around longer and join your group ride out of Victorville and Wrightwood. Had to get the wife home for an appointment. I knew I should of let her take the Motorhome home and rode the Ural back after the FUN was over.

We all have to make are own decisions, you know how to find me and I know others who like to play, just give us working stiff youngsters a heads up

As Dave said the trailer needed some work and the important issue was getting Newt fixed up, I knew a few places to suggest and both got taken care of. What got left out was the fact that the arrival of Dave seems to disrupt our weather, we had some snow flurries and rain when he was in town and it had been WARM prior to his visit. We did use a few days to take care of "chores".


As was said I would know the roads, we took Main St out and around to Hwy 138 and climbed up and up. We past Silverwood Lake and once to the snow it looked like a good place to turn around but as my pics will show, Dave is a big kid. After the snow and overlooks we continued down 138 to Mormon Rocks, this is the section that will bite if you don't respect it. After getting stuck and looking at the rocks it was up towards Wrightwood until my hands got cold and I figured a photo at the old stone building would be a chance for me to change gloves, Urals allow you to carry lots of gear. On the way home we stopped at the VFW since I figured a tank would make good pics. Great day for a great ride with a great guy and his dogs.

Shows the road behind

Our faithful monkeys

I told you he is a BIG KID, he loves to play

Whats the worst, I get stuck?


He sure moved some snow

Newt Making sure no strangers take his rig

Yep another of the pretty rig and good scenery

Silverwood Lake


Mormon Rocks

Wrong Ural for dirt but you run what you brung


He Is A BIG KID

The Road That Will Bite

The VFW


Like Dave said next is an old movie town, stuck bikes, and even food pics, great fun, and YES I like two wheel grive and want to add to my Ural stable, I think others will the Retro is great in twisted pavement.

Your up Dave.

Howdy All,

Thanks Craig for providing your words and photos they make the ride report much more complete and ad to everyones enjoyment, please continue to add to this report as you see fit.

After getting Newt fixed up and the drinking fountain leak in the toy hauler fixed a group of us headed out to "Pioneer Town". The sun was shining but it was a bit on the cold side. I had come to the southwest to escape the gloom of the Nor-Wet and since being in this part of the country had been rained and snowed on, woke up to FROST on the windows and had a small electric heater running in the toy hauler to keep warm at night whilst sleeping, thanks for letting me plug in at your home Craig.

And then there was the wind, now I have done a lot of riding in windy areas but nothing like what was in store for us today especially the trip back to Craig's home after spending the day sight seeing. Again I'll have to depend on Craig to supply some details as to the roads we traveled, he had given me a map on which he had marked all the roads we traveled but sadly I have misplaced it, I know I still have it I just don't know where it is.

The Uralistas, Jason on his Gear-Up, Kaven on his Patrol met at Craig's home and we headed Pioneer Town. Remember I was talking about wind, on the way to Pioneer Town the wind was coming at us from about a 45 degree angle off our right front or directly from the right side, it was blowing so hard there were times I was in third gear just to maintain 50 mph, for a couple of miles I rode sitting on the left hand edge of the sidecar just to keep the sidecar on the ground, the wind coming directly from the right side would go under the sidecar and cause it to life, two little Wiener Dogs are NOT very good ballast.

I snapped this photo of a plaque that describes Pioneer Town and why it was built.


One of the highlights was the "OK Corral".


The Boys hanging ten, I mean come on folks we are in southern California.


We stop at the post office.


Some folks do actually live here, most of the yards where people live have neat yard art in them.


The old church.




The old Saloon has been boarded up.


The Boys do a bit of bull riding, remember the wind, take a look at the ears on the Boys, they look like airplanes ready to take off, the wind was blowing on their ears and turning them into airfoils.


This house is being lived in and is for sale.




The Boys try their hand at mining but they are much more interested in something else.


The general store is still open.




The Boys aren't much interested in being farmers.




We pay our respects at boot hill.




We stop in at the restaurant to grab some lunch, you can tell by the way the rigs are parked that other then myself the folks who comprise this group of rolling miscreants have NOT been involved in the shadier side of motorcycling in the past. When parking your bike-rig in front of an establishment that serves alcohol you NEVER pull into your parking place you BACK in that way you can get the HELL out of Dodge in a hurry should the need arise.


As can be seen here, Kaven's rig is totally blocked preventing a quick exit. Kids nowadays, what can I say.


Once we are seated, the Boys get their own chair and bowls.


Me and the Boys.


Jason tries his hand at controlling the wild Weiner's.


ALL of the carnage that follows is "Jason's" fault, he was leading when we left from Pioneer Town, he lead us down this old dirt road and this is what happened. The first victim was Jennies rig.










Next we have Kaven's rig buried in the soft sand and a washout.




Not to be out done I fail at strattleing a deep washout and eventually fall in.




Again Craig drives Jennies rig into a sink hole.




Yup, I do it again.


Trying to back out only made it worse.




Going forward just dug it in some more.


This WHY you ride with a bunch of young strong guys, with them pulling I drove the rig out. NOTICE how Jason has assumed the role of supervisor, that guy ain't dumb.


Out at last, that was a deep washout and some very soft sand.


Looking back from where the above photo was taken.


After playing in the dirt it was time for everyone to head back home, the ride back was AWFUL the head wind was unrelenting, I spent at least half the ride back in third gear. It started to get a bit chilly when the sun started to drop, sure glad I had heated grips and my Gerbing jacket liner, the Boys were tucked in their fleece blanket, life was kinda good. Stay tuned, there's more.

Oh before I forget, someone I can't remember who took some video of the idiocy in the sand, could they PLEASE post it to this ride report. And a special THANKS to Kaven for giving me some great photo taking tips.

Hiya Dave,
Ask and ye shall receive... Sorry for the crap quality!

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And one more.

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Howdy Jason,

Thanks for the videos.

I am still amazed that I bought a ural with a side car. My wife did not trust a trike. I took the Ural home 30 miles to home going over the skyway bridge near st pete. I was really nervous and worried but made it home. I am reading the riding course to be more skillful riding. The bike is so well made and simple at the same time. Will post more as I go along

Well like was stated we had wind, at the start of the day we looked at the weather report and saw a high wind warning and had a chat, we decided to go for it since it wouldnt be that bad, the sun was shining after all, it was, miles of working the Urals hard in 3rd when we didn't have a tail wind. We rolled out of Hesperia and it was east bound into Lucerne Valley and on to Old Womens Spring Rd. After checking the map near Landers it was onward. For those not familier with the area, Pioneer Town is centered in "BFE" out near Landers and Yucca Valley, it does have a good eats place Pappi and Harriets, Dave enjoyed his Chile Burger, and the boys got treated like kings.

Post Office, it is still active.

Art?

Jdub enjoying

Saloon

Invading

Eating Place








Food Stuff, Mmmmm Good Stuff, We Enjoyed




Art at eats place

It was a Pretty Day other than the wind

The Town

My wife Does Get out of Her Sidecar at Times

More Town

My Wife and I

More Town

Off The Road, Kavens Rig



My Rig, sure would like to add a GearUp to My Herd

Mr Cob does it good

Like I Said Centered In "BFE"

My Wife Shooting From Sidecar While We Wandered The Dez, Thanks Jason We Had A Blast, Glad I Agreed To Explore




Hope you are enjoying the ride and pics, thanks for the video Jason.

Hey, everyone should try it once!

great to see so many Urals in one place!

Howdy All,

This will be my last installment on this ride report, thanks to ALL who have provide photos and commentary, please add more if you have it. This installment will cover rides taken on old Route 66, in California to snow covered back roads in Oregon as I was heading back home to the Nor-Wet, saddle up, lets ride.

The days ride started with riding to Marks home, from there we would ride UP into the mountains on what I think was called the Angels Crest Hwy. Here's Mark and his hacked Kawasaki, pretty darn neat machine.


The groups gathers in front of Marks home.


This gives you an idea of the terrain we were riding in.


This road like all mountain roads at times gave me the willies, I HATE cliffs and edges, in this photo you can see the dirt berm along side of the road, that's all that kept you from falling a LONG way if you missed a corner or had some other problem that would put off the road, in many places there was no berm, no guard rail, just the EDGE.:eek1


I was talking about edges and cliffs, we came across a bunch of people who were stopped on the side of the road, many were looking over the edge, there was no place to park so we continued on a couple of miles were we stopped at a large turn off. While at the turn off we saw a helicopter flying in a pattern that looked like it was searching for something.


From the large turnout we looked to the west, saw the ocean, Catalina Island and the city of LA.












As we were busy sight seeing and taking photos, we were told we would have to move so that the helicopter could land in the turn out. We were told that back where the people were looking over the side of the road that a car had went over the cliff and was smashed into the brush 600 feet below the road where it went over.


The helicopter landed and soon rescue vehicles of all types started to arrive, it was probably more of a recovery operation as I doubt anyone would have survived going that far down over the cliff edge. The road was being closed so we had to leave the area to allow the rescue-recovery folks to do their gruesome job. From what one of the rangers told me this is a common thing and happens at least one or two times month usually sport bike riders or fast car drivers who can't make the corner at the speed they are riding.


If you look real close about the center of the photo you can just make out the red fire truck, it and many other official vehicles are at the spot where the car went over the edge.


We move on down the road before its closed and we wouldn't be able to leave. We look down into a river bed and see what looks to be other vehicles in and around it.


Here the road ran along the top of the ridge, STEEP drop offs on BOTH sides of the road.


Mark and Rosie with their Gear-Up, Craig and Jennie with HER Retro, the Boys in my Gear-Up.


We stop at an over look where a bunch of sport bike riders are gathered.








We stop at a cafe for lunch, this is the ONLY place I have ever been told I couldn't bring the Boys in, after I told them they were in violation of the Americans with disabilities act, for refusing service they let me and the Boys in, PRICKS.




If this road wasn't closed, it would have been much shorter to ride back to Craig's home.




looking back down the mountain.








We stop for some ice-cream.






Mark and Rosie head for their home, Craig and I head back toward his home, on the way we ride a bit of the OLD Route 66.




When we arrive back at Craig's home, I load the rig in the back of the toy hauler, we go out to eat a last dinner together. The next morning Craig will be off to work, I will be heading NORTH and back home.

I spend that night camping in a wall-mart in Medford Oregon after having driven the truck and toy hauler over Siskuse (sp) Pass at night, in the DARK during a snow storm so heavy the windshield wipers had a hard time keeping the windshield clear. Oh yeah lots of fun tapping the trailer brakes to keep the toy hauler BEHIND the truck on the way down even thou I was going SLOW.

I awoke the next morning, grabbed some fast food breakfast and headed toward "Paindoc" Tom's home in Brandon Oregon, I would spend a couple of days with Tom scouting out the area as the FIRST Southern Oregon Ural Rally, S.O.U.R. will be held there this coming May, click this link to be taken to the thread concerning this rally.

http://www.sovietsteeds.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19893

On the way to Tom's home I would drive through this,




A few miles later throw in a huge rock slide.




Then some more of this before reaching Tom's home where in the next few hours it would rain, sunshine, sleet, snow and then the sun come out again. Oh yeah, I am back in the Nor-Wet.


I got settled in at Tom's home, getting a 38 foot long toy hauler into a space that would easily accommodate a 20 foot trailer was FUN but it happened. The next day Tom lead me on some fun rides in the area, one road going down to the beach.


We rode past a large heard of Elk.


This is looking UP at where Tom's home is, his home is located on the top of the ridge above where the bike is parked.


Looking out of Tom's living room window down to where the above photo was taken from, the rig would have been parked in the center of the photo on the near side of the little road.


After spending a couple of days with Tom, I stopped into see Mylash, spent a few hours there and then drove back home.

I had a wonderful time, met a lot of new Uralista's, accompanied my old and new friends on some great rides on roads I had never before been on, it is a trip I will always treasure. Thanks to EVERYONE who had a part in this winter sojourn a special thanks to Craig and Jennie for allowing me to park the truck-trailer in their front yard for a week. I so enjoyed my time with ALL of you folks and look forward to doing it AGAIN. Anyone who has photos and commentary that would add to this ride report PLEASE post it up for us to enjoy. Thanks.

That will bring this ride report to an end, I'll end this ride report as I end all of them with a shameless plug, if my ride reports, photos and videos have positively influenced your decision to buy a Ural, please send me a PM or an email stating this. These PM's and emails when presented to IMWA encourage them to continue to provide the back door sponsorship that they have been giving me over the years. THANKS.

Great ride report, Dave! Can't wait to do it again!

Hey Matt, when you and Kris make it back from South America, get out to California. We'd love to ride with you guys!

we'd love to make that happen, though from South America we made be headed somewhere else before we come back to the US. either way, when we do get back it would be awesome to ride with such a big group of hacks like in this report.

how is your other hack, mr. cob? planning on any extensive trips with it?

Howdy Matt,

I assume your talking about the hacked GS, I had that rig built to be my primary long distance, FAST paved road, machine. In between my Ural-a-ling trips I'll be knocking down some miles on it.