Entry 6: "Barstow to Vegas Dual-sport Ride" My thoughts on this, the longest and oldest sponsored event of its kind, are few. Few, I think, because this will be the first experience I have with an organized off-road ride over quite a vast distance (300+ miles in two days). Because if I overthink it, I may just cause unnecessary stress. Mostly... I don't know what the hell I'm getting myself into. And that feels like a recipe for adventure! I'm no fool - or so I tell myself. I've spent a few thousand miles riding on and off road in the Northwest since obtaining R2 [D2], my dual-sport motorcycle, in mid July. The original intention was to condition myself for the harsh roads of Baja Mexico. As It turns out, the highways and roads for the most part aren't all that challenging. The roadways certainly have dangerous obstacles which we encountered and overcame, but nothing as seemingly grueling as 200 miles +/- on packed dirt, silt and sand under an unrelenting sun for eight hours a day - if you're quick. Getting caught in the sandy devastation of Bahia de Los Angeles and searching out the Old Mill in San Quintin on a gravel-sand-silt-mixed road prepared me more directly for Barstow - Vegas than the many damp or dry-packed, windy, elevated forest roads that the Northwest has to offer. Though the trails brought me closer to my bike and taught me how to use my nerves to bring energy to my alertness and perseverance, it isn't the terrain I am about to face. Save for a 'yucking' through an unforeseen patch of sand, I had not ridden (voluntarily) through sand or silt until last week. Last week being less than three weeks away from my 300 mile desert adventure this Thanksgiving. What's to come? I don't know. I'm trying not to dwell on it. I'll just prepare as one should prepare and anticipate enough to get some butterflies stirring. Other than that, I think a little mystery teamed with a sense of adventure will propel me forward... maybe onto my ass... Then forward again. (Photo by peanutbuttercoast)
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