A day full of mist and dirt and broken bike parts
The meeting place was the 7-11 off of Osborne in Sunland, CA. 8:30am.
I got there around 9.
When i arrived, there was only one adventurer.
I made it two. Both of us are on the '08 Husqvarna TE610.
Xymotic just bought that bike two days before with 126 miles on it. Basically new. By the end of the day he had more than doubled it.
Around 9:15, Espiritu showed up on his shiny KTM 950 adventure.
No more waiting and we were off.
We got nice and wet plowing through a thick mist and rain on the way up Little Tujunga Canyon. "Little T" is a great little 15 mile stretch of the twistiest curves on the planet. Very fun, but a little nerve racking when wet.
At the very top of the canyon (near where Nat and I spotted the CONDOR) is a turn off called Santa Clara Divide (SCD) and it is an old, cracked paved road that turns to dirt and runs for about 30 miles across the San Gabriel Mountains.
Off of the main SCD road there are a couple of old Nike Missle sites. All that is left is the concrete slabs that cover them up. Interesting history on those missile sites.
That's me in the mist.
For the first 5 miles of SCD, the visibility was 10 - 50 yards. Horrible.
Here's the best example of what it was like to ride through it.
The clouds/fog cleared up about 15 miles later.
Then the fun began and we could open it up a little!
Espiritu crashed his shiny 950 in a sandy turn. He was the first to go down, thankfully, at slow speed.
He almost put it down again just for the pic.
Espiritu and Xymotic on the dirt.
Then it was Xymotic turn to crash on the 4N24 hillclimb. 2nd gear, throttle all the way open? Don't think so. Here he is giving the advrider salute.
After handling Xymotic's 300lb TE back into an upright, downward facing postion, i found my sleepy little baby here.
.....Kickstand snapped while unattended....
Notice the nice little crack. Bad news but not a show stopper.
Here is my new $13,000, orange kickstand which included this sharp looking kickstand attendant.
We continued up into the mountains again and over the only water crossing of the day.
We debated which line was best through the water to avoid the underwater rocks. I had always taken center, but Xymotic had always thought right...
Right line though the water...
Center line. Looks like Xymotic is just floating on water...
Espiritu's came out of the right line swinging to the side. He hit something...so...Center Line it is!
This is the view about three or four miles up from the water crossing.
This road is called 4N24.
Xymotic in action.
Back into the clouds at the top of the mountins. We road another 15 miles, over pacifico truck trail and on to a little mountain-top restaurant called newcombs for burgers and a pitcher.
Then it was 30 miles home on the beautiful 2 - the Angeles Crest Highway.
Great ride!
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