Subject: Ride report-finale
Author: tom short
Date: Dec 7, 2004, 4:55 PM
Post ID: 1718016697
O.k, where was I? Oh, yeah, the checkpoint...
About 20 miles or so west of Brawley is an immigration checkpoint. You
just drive up, stop, and the Border Patrol guy asks you what country
you're from, or something like that. I really couldn't hear him with the
helmet on, earplugs in, and the engine running. I just nodded yes, and
he waved me thru. I had to go directly across the road nad into the
lefthand turn lane to get onto highway 78. This goes thru Borrego
Springs and the Anza-Borrego Desert State park. I think it is 77 miles
to Julian from here.
As you drive along, you will see a scattering of motorhomes out in the
desert. They are all out there with dirtbikes, quads and other offroad
toys, doing thier thing. It was nice and sunny and you could see
dirtbikers tearing it up out there. You DO NOT want to have a breakdown
here in the summer. No shade, no water, no nothing! After about 50-60
miles of this, you start heading up the backside of a mountain. The road
gets steep and windy. Soon, the scrub trees are turning into pinion
pines and oaks and such. It gets really nice!!
Then you come around a turn and you are in Julian, a neat little
touristy town that survived after the mines closed. Apples aplenty grow
around there, and Julian apple pies are a must have! I just kept going,
though. Still 22 miles to Ramona. This area was devestated by fires last
October, but looked alright now. I was thinking there was a gas station
right here somewhere but couldn't find it. I had not gassed up since
Yuma. Hmmm. So, following the road down the mountain, I found the gas
station I was looking for. A mere 17 miles from where I thought it was!
Gas and a bathroom break and back on the road. Ramona is just a few
minutes away! But, the sun was at a bad spot. It was in my eyes and
making shadows on the road, hiding turns and such from my sight. I was
being very cautous, much to the chagrin of the few California drivers
behind me....
I start to see familiar landmarks and know that Ramona is coming into
view. Yup, here I am. Now, alls I have to do is drive across town to the
Dos Pecos camp grounds. First, a quick stop at the liquor store for
something to drink. Too cold for beer, so hows about some nice
blackberry brandy! a good choise!
I ride the remaining couple miles to the campgrounds. It's about 4:30
and traffic is getting heavy from the people who commute into San Diego
everyday for work. Dumbasses... I see the turnoff, and there is a break
in traffic, so I lean left and gas it. I am only two miles away now. As
I enter into the park, I see the "Guzzi Rally" signs posted, guiding me
to the back of the park and to the top pavilion area where the rally is
heald. I notice that some of the trees next to the restroom have been
burned. Damn, I say to myself.
As I ride into the area, I see a few bikes on the far side of the
pavillion. I cruise around there, and as I'm driving, I can see the
Guzzi folk looking to see who has just rode in. As I ride around back, I
see about six antique bike all lined up, red and pretty! I pull up and
park on the grassy area where there is a picnic table. I look over to
see a good buddy of mine from northern Cal, Dennis! He rides a Loop! He
doesn't know who it is as he cannot see my face becouse of the helmet.
Boy, there were some good friends there already! I was glad that I had
come. After some time of greeting good friends and standing around the
campfire, it was time to eat. John had cooked up about a thousand
hotdogs, and all the fixins were inside the pavillion. There are about a
dozen picknik tables inside the pavillion also, so seating was easy.
After dinner, out to the warm campfire, and laughing it up with all my
friends.
I did not bring a tent becouse I knew that there would be dew on
everything in the morning, and I hate waiting for stuff to dry out when
you want to leave. So this time, I just brought a sleepingbag, a floor
pad and a heating pad. I was going to be warm at a rally for once! I was
sleeping inside the pavillion!HA! It worked out great, too.
Before sunup, the lights came on and there was some banging of pots as
Don Van Sandt was getting the coffe ready. Oh, boy. Don't have to go too
far for coffee!! Soone, lots of people were showing up. Some from thier
tents, others from town and thier nice motel rooms, and some just
getting there. The sun was up, but that was short lived. By 9am, clouds
were rolling in and by noon it was raining, not hard, but cold! I went
on a toy ride at about 10am, but I got seperated from the group and had
to turn around and go back to Ramona. I had a big talk with my friend
who led the toyride about safety and having a trailer person, and
handing out maps, maybe... He was really sorry I had gotten 'lost' but
was glad to see I had made it back to the rally.I am sure future rides
will be much better coordinated for the safety and enjoyment of all
participating. After I had returned, I went and got in a nice hot
shower, and felt pretty good!
Dinner was real good, plenty of spaggetti for everyone. Then bike show
trophies, door prizes and then the 50/50 drawing for $150, won by ME! I
also won the 'Rat Bike' award.....Lots of smiles and laughs the whole
night, most provided by Mark E.!
It rained off and on all saturday night, and a few other souls moved
into the pavillion to stay warm. This was fine by me, but I knew it was
going to be really bad, when the first guy to go to sleep, Mark E.,
mentioning no names, started snoring loudly. It just got worse as the
others went to bed. I had to use my earplugs to get any sleep.
I was the first one up in the morning, so I plugged in the coffee pots
and went outside to get the bonfire going again. Didn't take too long at
all! John and Lynn showed up to make breakfast for everyone, pancakes,
eggs, bacon, sausage... yum-yum! The rain had stopped, but only till
about 10am. I had gotton my bike warmed up, but needed a jump to do it.
I ran it a while and parked it so I could load it. After about an hour,
I was ready to go, all suited up, but the bike didn't take the charge.
Crap. Also, the headlight would not come on. John told me I could work
on it at his house, so I helped finish tear down the rally, sweep up and
get the trash thrown out. Soon after getting another jump, I was
follwing John and Lynn, in the rain to thier house, about 10 miles away.
My glasses and visor kept getting fogged up, and it was difficult to
see, so I had to keep raising the visor alittle to get the fog to go
away. We arrived safely.
That night, I got the light working and put the battery on a charger. It
had charged sufficiently to restart the motor at John's, so I was
confident it would take a good slow charge. I spent the night there.
In the morning, again I was up quit early. I put the bike
together,started it, loaded it, and watched tv for the news. Julian had
closed becouse of snow! Great. So now I was forced to come home on I-8.
I figured it would be safer than trying to go thru the mountains with
tose icy roads, but the prospect of riding on California freeways was
not an enjoyable one. The nes spoke of clearing skies and warmer temps,
so I felt good about that.
I found my way out of Ramona and down to hiway 67, where I stopped to
fill up. Had some coffee and was ready to take 67 to I-8 and burn it
home, only 300 miles! As I entered I-8, traffic was light as, like in
Phoenix, it was all heading into town. A few miles out, I could see
clouds, or maybe it was fog. The weatherman spoke of fog. I hit the
1000ft marker. Nope, looked like rain. I hit the 2000ft marker, yup, its
rain. I hit the 3000ft marker, why does that sand look so funny on the
side of the road? I open my visor to see better. Oh, its snow! Hmmm, ok,
theres a rest stop in just a few miles. What was that sign? 4000ft,
brrr. 1/4 mile visiblity, cold, cold rain. Do I stop here?No, I am not
touching the brakes. Whoa, what was that? Just the rear wheel breaking
loose from a frozen tarsnake. Better slow it down...I got to the
reststop and put on the rainsuit. It kept me warmer than I was. Really,
only my knees and my toes were cold.. Afew more miles of rain and snow,
and the roadgrade started to slope downwards. A few miles more and the
sign says 3000ft, 2000 ft, 1000ft. As soon as I entered Imperial Valley,
the sky was clear and sunshiney! Sea level, hot! I gotta get this
equiptment off!! I pulled into El Cento and into a Carls Jr. Took off
the raingear, took off my mc jacket, took off the sweatshirt, took off
the vest. Hmmm.Took off my boots and took off my socks. No reason they
can't dry out here while I'm in there getting some grub. Oh, looky, a
gas station right next door. Cool!
An hour later, I was grubbed up, coffeed up, and gassed up and headed
for home. The sun was shining the temps were good and my socks were
dry. Now, only 200 miles to go...Yee-Haw!
The Arizona Kid
LFL 009
Tom Short
AZ MGNOC Rep
Phoenix, AZ