L.A.-Barstow to Vegas LAB2V 2012 ***RIDE REPORT***

congrats to you crazy mofos. i remembering seeing those bikes in the boy scout parking friday night and i had to do a double take. took a few pics!! that smallest bike plaque is well deserved!

Thanks for the beta Stu.

"As far as 3 foot sand whoops, I see you've ridden from the railroad to Razor road. "

Yep, there and many other sections in Lucerne and Spangler, etc. It just been about 20 years. I'll be heading back to CA in a couple months and already have a bike. My knee's and wrists are already aching thinking about the whoops.

Like the stripper that finally takes you behind the curtain for a blowjob, RAZR delivers with the goods. Nice video
Charles and a fun rock section to keep ya on yer toes. Spot on analogy with the crowds resembling a ski run and slaloming through them all.

You got anymore multiday trips planned over the next few months?

just got back from Kernville. a wet soggy amazing weekend!!!

Just got another pic from the BMWNA Service Team from Day 2 ... front flat. The BMW Motorrad USA Roadside Assistance program is awesome! Looking at the details of the pic you will see the very nice granite BMW jack stand

Alright, a bit long overdue since I ended up working almost 100 hours in the 7 days that followed LAB2V, but here is my ride report.

I originally was going to take my F800GS on this ride, but since I was not sure how sandy the course would be I opted to take my WR250R as it would be easier to manage. Luckily, I paired up with Jon (jkstehn) who also has a WR250R).

I rode up from near downtown LA on Friday morning to the start in Palmdale. We collected our stuff and hit the trail.

One of many short lived dust free windows.


Kicking up a lot of dust...the whole valley seemed dusted out.


A quick self portrait.


On the LA Aqueduct.


We were cruising along a whooped out section when I came across a familiar rider looking in dispair. BigTodd had hit a deep dip at speed and bent his Paralever link arm.


The whoop, though of course it looks like nothing in the photo.




Later on we hit a sandy stretch next to the railroad and came across an unknown rider who had crashed and was looking in pain. The story is that an oncoming rider who was retracing the trail kicked up a dust cloud and the guy caught a rut at low speed. Turns out he broke a few ribs. A Hummer who was serving as support for another rider was able to ferry his bike out.


Since Jon is a PA, he jumped to action and checked the guy out to ensure he would be OK while help came. Eventually many forms of help came, as the off road ambulance, Kern Co Fire Dept, and SAR.


Due to the unknown nature of his injury, they opted to chopper him out.


In order to make up time, we had to slab it up 395 to make it to Ridgecrest for lunch, gas, and a checkpoint. It was 1pm by the time we left, and needed to try and keep a good pace.

Jon coming out of the tunnel.


A familiar road heading towards Husky.


Jon and his headlight in the dust.


The sun was dropping fast as we neared Black Canyon...


We came across another injured rider, this one had hit a rock and received a minor concussion. While Jon was checking him out, we saw many riders passing by, all hitting the same rock. After a while, I recognized the injured rider as Tom from the Moore & Sons KTM shop in Santa Cruz. It turns out I met Tom and rode with him in Death Valley almost 3 years ago. He did remember me, which was a good sign that his injury was not too bad. We later heard he did not get back to the hotel until 4am, via truck rescue.


Switching to clear goggles for the darkness to come.


The night riding was very interesting to say the least. Jon was all set with his ADV Monster lights. I had improved my lighting with the PIAA bulb in my stock headlight housing, but did not have enough light to go fast enough to stay on top of the sand. It was then a downward spiral as I kept struggling and wasting energy to stay upright (and even a few small falls).


Quick photo of the F104 crash memorial.


And finally we found the dirt super highway that would bring us down into Barstow, at 7pm. A long day, but very fun riding.

The next morning Jon and I were determined to get a nice and early 6am kick stand up start. We woke up at 4:30am to get ready and load the roll charts, and then grab a bite to eat. Well 6am kick stand up turned to 6:20am by the time we hit the start....we were finishing up a nice Denny's Santa Fe Skillet breakfast for the warned long push to the lunch stop at Sandy Valley.

A beautiful morning for a ride.


One of the cool grabs of myself, taken by Grumpy! (http://grumpyphotos.com)


Dust EVERYWHERE! :twisted:


The infamous power line roads of the desert.


Another run in with BigTodd, this time with a flat. Jon looks on while Todd assures us his repair is under control.




One of only two shots of Jon and I together.


These power line roads were a HUGE relief from the sand washes we kept on fighting.


Another self portrait.


We made our way back north to cross I40 and were advised to jump on the ADV route after the gas stop in Ludlow, so that we could have a chance at making it to Sandy Valley in time for the cut off. We made it just after one to Sandy Valley, but did not stop for lunch...only gas and a desire to push towards the lunch stop.

We then came across BigTodd and jnyrav.


Finally, some not deep sand!


We all met again at a small pavement section before Sandy Valley. At this point most of us were ready to throw in the towel. I was beat from all the deep sand and lack of lunch (snacking is just not enough for me). BigTodd was worn out and his bike was held together with duct tape. Jnyrav was feeling beat too. Part of the reason for slabbing was to ensure our fatigue did not get us into a potentially serious crash. Jkstehn seemed to be the only who who didn't mind the abuse! :lol:


From here we all slabbed it into Vegas via I15. BigTodd in dispair again at a gas stop in Primm.


We finally made it to the Orleans!


Sunday morning I wanted to ride the dirt back with jongil and jkstehn, but decided I should get back to LA quickly since I had a huge work project waiting for me the next day. I15 was already full of fast cars at 7am around State Line, so I detoured south through Mojave Preserve. A quick stop for some nature calls and Joshua Tree's...if only I had time to explore this stuff!


Kelso Dunes.


By the time I hit Cajon Pass I was sick of the freeway, so I decided to take Angeles Crest the rest of the way. I stopped at Newcombs for lunch and was surprised to see it pretty full, though it was a nice day. I even ran into some fellow ADV inmates who rode Day 1 so we chatted about the ride for a bit.

All in all, a great ride. I would love to do it again and finish on all dirt. Now I know that it really does require not stopping for anything, as all stopped time adds up. The only thing that would make me think twice about not doing this again is sucking all that dust!

nice report Isaac!

+1:d

+2 for a great write up and capturing my WR in the photo of you and Jon with your WRs.

Spoke with Tom today as he is finally home in Santa Cruz. He broke 5 ribs, punctured a lung, had a tube inserted and is just now up on his feet. He took a helicopter ride to the hospital after dark (vs. the truck) and will probably recover stronger than ever unless he gets pissed and starts riding his mt bike too early.


Great shots and narrative btw

Thanks for the comments guys!

Nice! Attack of the WRR's!

Wow, did not realize it was that bad. Good to hear Tom is on the road to recovery!

Good ride report. Enjoyed reading it and looking at the photos.

Great pic isaac!! Been on the road so I'm kinda late posting here but loved your pics!

Another good pic just because I know what was on the other side, complete bottleneck when we got there, some of the deepest sand I've ever ridden in. That whole RR track section was insane. Hope that guy above^^ is OK. :eek1

Pic by isaac004..


Again, great RR!

Thanks for the comments guys, glad you enjoyed it.

The District 37 Dual Sport Newsletter is now posted on the District 37 message board. I just finished writing it.


It is the Jan/Feb big LA-B-to-V review, and is 20 pages long. There are lots of photos, stories, comments, and quotes from many of you.


Read it here:


http://www.district37ama.org/dualsport/newsletter.php