TOP DEAD CENTER
Links to key info are here. Clicking them will change the info appearing below the table, or take you to the EarthRider website.
UPCOMING RIDES

NONE! VCARS is NO MORE!
Contact the shop to find out about their
monthly rides now put on in-house.



Check the EARTHRIDER site
for more rides, tours, & classes
READ B-4 U RIDE

WHAT TO BRING ON A RIDE

SETTING UP YOUR BIKE

ADVENTURE DAY RIDE FUNDAMENTALS
PART 1. . . . . . . . . . .PART 2

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Scroll down in this column for a link to tons of VCARS ride recaps, photos, & video.

DS Two-up 04 - Jun 2008 - Orientation

DS TWO-UP 04:
TEHACHAPI LOOP

What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dualsport Ride, full day
When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Meet Sunday, 8 June, 7:30 AM
Where . . . . . Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County
Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Laine MacTague

[DST 04 Roster]


If you don’t remember the VCARS Read Before You Ride information, please look over it by clicking HERE. – Certainly do so if you are new to VCARS. There is a lot of info there – at the very least, learn Standard Formation.

Be sure to check the DST 04 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.

If you are bringing a passenger, please email me their name.


WHERE WE GO

Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County @ 7:30AM Sunday June 8. Show up on time with about 175 miles of fuel. Remember to show up at the shop at 7:30 – not the gas station. We usually meet on Saturdays; the shop will likely not be open on Sunday.

This is a big loop! We will head toward Lake Hughes from the shop, cross the western end of Antelope Valley and follow the hills north and east, eventually turning north to Tehachapi for a lunch stop. Afterwards, we will follow a little known route through the Tehachapi Mountains, roughly in the direction of Arvin. Once into the central valley, we will dogleg our way south through agricultural areas until we reach the Grapevine. Our last leg will be a quick one on I-5.


WHAT GOES [Items listed here represent changes to the list in the General Orientation, to which you should refer if you don’t recall what is listed there…]

NO SPECIFIC CHANGES

Although less weight almost always equals easier control, the terrain we cover on Two-ups allows a lot of flexibility RE what you can comfortably bring. Saddlebags (and the items you might want to put in them) are okay, for instance.


PLANNED STOPS

1) Perhaps a quick leg stretch just before we descend into Antelope Valley?...
2) Regroup when leaving unpaved terrain for Tehachapi-WillowSprings Road
3) Lunch & refuel stop in Tehachapi – The Apple Shed seems the most likely choice.
4,5) Brief stops at two gates in the Tehachapi Mountains
6) Brief regroup stop before logging on to I-5 for the return
7) Possible early dinner stop in Castaic


POTENTIAL CHALLENGES

“Improved dirt” roads in desert regions are often sandy / washboarded. Watch for this in Antelope Valley; there will be a few miles of this.

Some of our route will follow a winding track of mixed concrete slab / dirt. Either surface is fine on its own, but where a little of the one gets spread thinly over the other, it can be quite slippery.

Much of the improved dirt road through the mountains is (shallow) gravel, which can be disconcerting at times if you are unfamiliar with it; when in doubt, a slow pace should serve well.

That’s about as rough as it gets; I swear it this time!


Oriented you are. See you soon!
[DST 04 Recap]

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Movie of the Moment


Strong intermediate riders on R4 terrain. BMW R1200GS, Suzuki V-Strom, BMW X-Challenge. ['10 ADR 02/13 - R4]

picture of the week (or vaguely similar time period. Click to enlarge.)

"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul." ['10 ADR 04/10 - R3]

Community (Click to enlarge. [Er, to enlarge our community, come on a ride.])

Huzzah! Another best-laid plan "gang agley" yet survived all the same.
['10 ADR 03/13 - R2 (became, oh, R8 due to mud... and stubbornness!)]