. Anza Borrego Desert........... |
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Ever since we bought our DRZs a couple of years ago, I've been wanting to go out to the desert. But with Corral Canyon only 40 miles away and the desert over twice that distance, it was just easier to stay more local. So one day Chris asks me to go to a friend's wedding with him. I said, "Ok, but if you force me to do that, I am going to force you to make the trip out to the desert with me to ride." That sealed the deal; he had no way of backing out. Even as we were driving out, with the wind blowing hard and the temps pushing into the 90s, Chris said, "It's not too late to stop at Kitchen Creek" just as we were passing said location. Oh yes it was; I had my heart set on my first desert exploration. After we unloaded and started along our first trail, I was really bummed! I'd never ridden sustained stretches of sand and I was having a hard time keeping my bike straight. The front would catch, the bike would start plowing sideways, I'd overcorrect it, and then I'd pinball into another direction. Chris was having fewer issues than I was. I don't know how much of that was owed to him being 70 pounds heavier and maybe having better bite on the tires. I kept my ass to the back of the seat to try to improve rear traction, but it did nothing. I also have a lowering link installed and the front end is dropped, so I'm not sure if this change affects stability or not. What I eventually learned about riding in sand is that after an hour, you get really tired of wrestling the bike so you just don't care any more if you crash or not. And guess what? Not wrestling the bike seems to work equally as well, except you get much less tired. I'm actually looking forward to a return trip to the desert, in spite of the sand challenges. The scenery in the places where you can't see from the road is well worth risking that headlong dive into a cactus. Click on any of the red spots to view pictures. |
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