alfalfa

well our 3 days of winter in SoCal have passed and we got out for a run up the best, closest motorcycle road - Hwy 33. picked the best bikes to do it on, too.

yep, north route has some good tarmac! Road thru Gateway is Butler gold route. Panguitch route is one of my favorite paved routes, too!

You liked those boats, dinnit ya?

Electric. Great sounds from it!

Another weekend, another try at distancing. Headed out to Joshua Tree area where a friend has 20 acres of..., well gravel, sand and shrubs. He has brought in a container which contains some necessities. The highlight of the weekend was the music! Will upload the video and post a link. Lunch stop in the middle of the desert. You can probably guess the political leanings of the owners. First, for being open for outdoor eating ahead of the official relaxation of restrictions. A rare sight in Cali. Not the gas prices, but the snow on the mountains. More snow shots Camping at Owen's. Might not be too warm in 30 degree temps (F, not C) Funniest part of the day was the guy in the gas station/market. For some reason he thought the long line was for the cashier, when it was actually for the bathroom. He finally got up near the cash register and started yelling at the cashier for only having one person to wait on everyone. He felt kind of foolish when we all let him know he had wasted his time in the bathroom line when there was no one in the check out line! Weekend music entertainment! Music video, Joshua Tree-style:

BIke is a beauty!!! Cant really go wrong with a Honda. I had those until i became an old fart and switched to the BMW brand

Southern California, place called Carrizo Plain. It parallels the San Andreas Fault (earthquake fault for y'all that dont have em). Speed limit? Hmmm, i dont believe so. I've never seen an officer of the law on this 20+ mile road, so i would say you're good. Plus, amurica, ya know. we dont follow too many rules. Seriously, most true dirt roads arent marked with speed limits. They just leave it up to something happening and then citing you for unsafe speed, which could be 5 mph (in Bruce's case)

Topic specific forums (i.e. motorcycles) will always attract a majority of like-minded people. Couple that with the fact that most riders are pretty good people, Bruce excepted, and you have a much more enjoyable place to hang out. Unfortunately, that also hampers the amount of different discussion that takes place on FB. Maybe if the forum software was configured to display conversations similar to how FB does it, it might be more inviting. On FB, you only have to load the app and you are hit with every single conversation the algorithms can throw at you. I liken it to my restaurant experiences with the club i ride with - everyone is talking at the same time so the noise level is high. Forums like this are more like polite, mature conversation where you listen before speaking. well, mostly.

thx. kinda "Spanish" weather. You usually cant go wrong riding in the Mohave Desert or Death Valley

we usually dont get accused of being "normal" ?

Well, elections, closed restaurants, winter (what passes for winter in Southern California), made it time to get the heck out of Kommiefornia. Nevada was a little more "open", so it was off to Pahrump for the weekend. The destination was never really the important thing, it was about the ride. Isnt it always? The route was based on the twistiest roads we could find between here and there (Pahrump). In the middle of the desert, on old Hwy 66 - the Mother Road, you find the remnants of a roadside motel. These always bring back memories of my youth, as i was an Air Force brat and we travelled a lot in the 60s and 70s. Also in the middle of the desert, was Kelso Junction. Once a busting railway station, back when train travel was more popular. I would love it if the railways had special cars that you could drive your bike or car on and travel longer distances before hopping off. Of course, only when vacation time is short. Pahrump was nice, great food and drink. But, it was just a stop and nothing special was planned there. Plus, the brothels are still closed.... The return route took us through Death Valley: Dante's View Well, in all fairness, they do have to haul fuel a long distance to get here. After Death Valley, we headed out thru Trona and Randsburg. There just happened to be a peaceful demonstration going on, so we were able to get food in Kommiefornia. Saturday's lunch was at a little farmer's market in 29 Palms.

Did a pic in honor of Neil Peart

Had a great first weekend in December.............

really good pics. in spite of the bike ?

My "son" (long story, but a good one) said he wanted to see the Baja1000. Something i've always wanted to see, too. So, we arranged for a third buddy (fluent in spanish and baja) and headed off last Thursday evening. Checked the gummit websites to see if borders were closed (they were), but have had several riding friends crossing over and back. I guess dirt riding in Baja IS an essential activity. Got a great BNB in Ensenada ("son" is a non-rider, so we drove) and spent all day at Osos Negros, on Hwy 3, watching the bikes, quads, trucks, beetles and what not. Came back to Ensenada saturday afternoon to an excellent dinner at Sano's Restaurant, before crashing into bed around 5:30 pm. Not really lightweights, but due to scheduling errors, we had been up since Thursday morning. Saturday was a day off (see scheduling errors) so we hit La Bufadora and then Coyote Cals for lunch. Crossed the border into the newnited states of amurica sunday morning, after a 2 hr border wait, but we got to hang with several trophy trucks in line. Great time and an eye opener for the kid, as it was with me several years ago. Baja sunrises are epic! Poor planning left us at the section where there was a 35 mph speed limit! ? But, we got great, clear shots of the racers Great apartment in Ensenada, on a hill overlooking the harbor. $65/night which is crazy cheap considering hotel costs in the USA. Asada fries and freshly made guacamole Best thing about Baja is that there really are few rules, and even fewer traffic police. This trophy truck was driving thru town, on the way back to its shop. The co-driver was asleep, which was quite an accomplishment, considering how loud the truck was. Instant ticket on several counts in "civilized" USA You pay your $75 fee and you can race what ya brung. La Bufadora - the blowhole! Love the "we arent responsible for people who dont follow the rules". Obviously, Baja has way too few lawyers for their own good ? Well known with the dirty crowd Turtle had no name. Guess that is ok as it probably wouldnt come if you called it. Well, it wouldnt come right away. Damnd straight, skippy!

hmmmm. this is where Bruce finally rides Flames??

really good shots. one of which reminds me of Jalama beach, near me. great destination, at the end of a road.

you know my weaknesses ?

Loving these tours of the ruins/abandoned!!

The R9T has that great DOHC motor. A friend has one and takes it to track days. Once we tightened up the rear shock, he started flying!.

loving the look of the bumblebee!!

beautiful country!!

yes, it was! I'm learning to love the desert, after visiting Death Valley every year with our club. Something about the desolation, that really isnt.

yep, heavy bike. Especially noticeable when pulling it up from the sidestand. Weight is down low, tho, so it doesnt bother me when in motion. And, that torque!! dang! accelerates like a much lighter bike right up to about 90 mph, then flattens out. Not that you'd want to spend much time at that speed, given the lack of a windscreen and fairings. Love looking out over the single gauge, headlight and wide bars