TOUR de CARRIZO
What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dualsport Ride, full day
When . . . . . . . . . . . .Meet Saturday, 09 February, 7:30 AM
Where . . . . . Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County
Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Laine_MacTague
When . . . . . . . . . . . .Meet Saturday, 09 February, 7:30 AM
Where . . . . . Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County
Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Laine_MacTague
If you have not yet read, or have not yet memorized – the VCDSRS General Ride Orientation Please look over it by clicking HERE. – ESPECIALLY if you are new to VCDSRS.
DST rides are not part of the VCDSRS Master Plan, as it were. They are designed to be relaxing and fun, and provide opportunities for experienced riders to bring along a passenger, or for new riders to get some basic dual sport riding experience in a relaxed environment. I encourage more experienced riders to drag along some poor soul who thinks they might be interested in motorcycling, just so they can find out how monumentally horrible it all is. So far, that’s never worked for me: They always love it. Keep trying…
Be sure to check the DST 02 Roster, to make sure I have you on the ride. If you are on the roster, and decide you can’t make it, please let me know ASAP so I can give your space to another rider – there IS a waiting list.
If you are bringing a passenger, please email me their name (gotcha Christa).
WHERE WE GO
Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County @ 7:30 am Saturday 09 February. Show up on time with 130 miles worth of fuel. Remember to show up at the shop at 7:30 – not the gas station.
This is about a 300-mile ride; about a third of the distance (so, most of the time) is unpaved. In the interest of getting back to civilization in time for our usual festive group dinner, we will forgo the scenic morning slab, opting instead for the faster, less scenic route. There will be NO STOPS for about 2 hours – unless we have a problem.
This should put us on the edge of the wild by about 10 am. What will follow is about 90 miles of unpaved roads and sweeping vistas – and basically no services. Aside from the odd short break, there will be a hilltop stop near the midpoint for lunch (which you need to bring, since there is nothing out there… No doubt Tomer will make Turkish coffee as usual, so bring a buck for the tip jar – or at least a cup, so he doesn’t have to carry them all…). Just past our lunch stop is the Goodwin Educational Center, where we can likely find out all sorts of stuff about the antelope, the San Andreas Fault, the Sandhill Cranes, the alien abductions, et cetera…
From there it is a mostly unpaved but fairly straight shot out to the highway, where we will take the scenic route that we skipped in the morning. If all goes well I expect we will be sitting down somewhere in Ojai around 4-5 pm.
HOW WE GO
I won’t be leading terribly fast, and we will be using standard formation. Expect to get posted if you are my wingman (er, pegman, I suppose).
I expect that some of us will want to just cruise through the day, and some of us will want to blaze through. I’m not interested in limiting peoples’ options; be aware that I am leading the cruising group, though: If you want to take advantage of side trails, or scoot up ahead, that’s fine (make sure and get some great pictures), but as ride leader I will only be keeping an eye on you when you are with the group. For more on that, see the General Orientation post.
WHAT GOES [Items listed here represent changes to the list in the General Orientation, to which you should refer if you can’t recall what is listed there…]
PLANNED STOPS
Add one more stop to those listed above – for gas, on Hwy 33, about 20 miles after we leave the Monument. That makes for about 120 miles. If you have a 190-mile range, you can hold off ‘til we reach Ojai.
KNOWN HAZARDS
A week ago, a day after heavy rains, there were many puddles to dodge. I believe that by the time we get there, the ground will be almost dry. However, the mud is very slippery, so stay away from wet ground unless you are looking for a challenge. There are some rain ruts too, but I think they are all fairly small and easy to handle.
Some sections of road are a little sandy. Nothing deep though.
Watch out for big holes in the more undeveloped trails we take; the Carrizo is awash in kit foxes, kangaroo rats, coyotes, and several other hole diggers. It is easy to come upon a hole unawares. Keep your eyes peeled!
A couple sections of the route I have laid out are, well, let’s call them greenswards. I believe they will inspire minimal concern, but ask me about go-arounds for these short sections if you are two-up and they look too challenging.
Be careful on the freakin’ freeway. It’s probably the most dangerous thing we’ll do.
Thou art Oriental. Oriented, I mean. Thou art Oriented.
DST rides are not part of the VCDSRS Master Plan, as it were. They are designed to be relaxing and fun, and provide opportunities for experienced riders to bring along a passenger, or for new riders to get some basic dual sport riding experience in a relaxed environment. I encourage more experienced riders to drag along some poor soul who thinks they might be interested in motorcycling, just so they can find out how monumentally horrible it all is. So far, that’s never worked for me: They always love it. Keep trying…
Be sure to check the DST 02 Roster, to make sure I have you on the ride. If you are on the roster, and decide you can’t make it, please let me know ASAP so I can give your space to another rider – there IS a waiting list.
If you are bringing a passenger, please email me their name (gotcha Christa).
WHERE WE GO
Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County @ 7:30 am Saturday 09 February. Show up on time with 130 miles worth of fuel. Remember to show up at the shop at 7:30 – not the gas station.
This is about a 300-mile ride; about a third of the distance (so, most of the time) is unpaved. In the interest of getting back to civilization in time for our usual festive group dinner, we will forgo the scenic morning slab, opting instead for the faster, less scenic route. There will be NO STOPS for about 2 hours – unless we have a problem.
This should put us on the edge of the wild by about 10 am. What will follow is about 90 miles of unpaved roads and sweeping vistas – and basically no services. Aside from the odd short break, there will be a hilltop stop near the midpoint for lunch (which you need to bring, since there is nothing out there… No doubt Tomer will make Turkish coffee as usual, so bring a buck for the tip jar – or at least a cup, so he doesn’t have to carry them all…). Just past our lunch stop is the Goodwin Educational Center, where we can likely find out all sorts of stuff about the antelope, the San Andreas Fault, the Sandhill Cranes, the alien abductions, et cetera…
From there it is a mostly unpaved but fairly straight shot out to the highway, where we will take the scenic route that we skipped in the morning. If all goes well I expect we will be sitting down somewhere in Ojai around 4-5 pm.
HOW WE GO
I won’t be leading terribly fast, and we will be using standard formation. Expect to get posted if you are my wingman (er, pegman, I suppose).
I expect that some of us will want to just cruise through the day, and some of us will want to blaze through. I’m not interested in limiting peoples’ options; be aware that I am leading the cruising group, though: If you want to take advantage of side trails, or scoot up ahead, that’s fine (make sure and get some great pictures), but as ride leader I will only be keeping an eye on you when you are with the group. For more on that, see the General Orientation post.
WHAT GOES [Items listed here represent changes to the list in the General Orientation, to which you should refer if you can’t recall what is listed there…]
YOU MIGHT LIKE TO BRING
Binoculars
Camera
Extra snacks for Tomer
Binoculars
Camera
Extra snacks for Tomer
PLANNED STOPS
Add one more stop to those listed above – for gas, on Hwy 33, about 20 miles after we leave the Monument. That makes for about 120 miles. If you have a 190-mile range, you can hold off ‘til we reach Ojai.
KNOWN HAZARDS
A week ago, a day after heavy rains, there were many puddles to dodge. I believe that by the time we get there, the ground will be almost dry. However, the mud is very slippery, so stay away from wet ground unless you are looking for a challenge. There are some rain ruts too, but I think they are all fairly small and easy to handle.
Some sections of road are a little sandy. Nothing deep though.
Watch out for big holes in the more undeveloped trails we take; the Carrizo is awash in kit foxes, kangaroo rats, coyotes, and several other hole diggers. It is easy to come upon a hole unawares. Keep your eyes peeled!
A couple sections of the route I have laid out are, well, let’s call them greenswards. I believe they will inspire minimal concern, but ask me about go-arounds for these short sections if you are two-up and they look too challenging.
Be careful on the freakin’ freeway. It’s probably the most dangerous thing we’ll do.
Thou art Oriental. Oriented, I mean. Thou art Oriented.
1 comments. Click here to add yours!:
Sounds exciting! See everyone tomorrow!
COMMENT ON THIS POST
Click Here