Last Monday, the temps were decent, and I had some free time on my hands,
so after dropping Butthead off at school, I loaded up, and headed for the Mesa. I haven't ridden this area in over 20 years, and have never staged at the official staging area, so I was looking forward to a new adventure.
First stop before hitting the freeway, was a bacon and egg sandwhich.
Before 1 bite of breakfast, it was brake lights.
After making 2 stops for the adventure pass, I was at the staging area.
There was one other truck with a bumper carrier, so I left a sticker for him. I was too chicken to stick it on his bike rack.
The obligatory self shot of the day.
First stop was at the lookout area up top.
This is looking down the pass. Notice there is no smoke on the horizon.
Here is the same shot the other way. That would be the world famous El Mirage Dry Lake in the distance.
USFS dollars hard at work.
A little farther down the ridgeline, there was this wierd down hill. I took the sandy drop, but there was a lot of work put into laying all that brick.
Since I stopped for the picture, I figured this was another great resting spot.
From there, there weren't many pictures, because the next thing I realized, I had this on the horizon.
I rode another 10 minutes back towards the truck, and when I saw this, I knew I could be in trouble. The fire was right next to the freeway, and if they had to close it, I would be F#@%ed. I rode straight to the truck, loaded, and got the hell out of there.
Luckily, I only hit a little traffic right at the fire, and I would of got picture of the big water helos 40 feet over my truck, but the same old dead battery story will apply here.
North bound had only 1 lane open, and it was backed up for miles.
So, I did 41 whooped out miles, and I sure felt it the next day. I've had too much time off the bike, and too many soft rides lately. I'm looking forward to maybe taking the scooter off the stand more often, and hopefully have a great riding season.
I also found out later, that the fire took out some powerlines, and they did close the South bound lanes, so a major SNAFU was avoided..
so after dropping Butthead off at school, I loaded up, and headed for the Mesa. I haven't ridden this area in over 20 years, and have never staged at the official staging area, so I was looking forward to a new adventure.First stop before hitting the freeway, was a bacon and egg sandwhich.
Before 1 bite of breakfast, it was brake lights.
After making 2 stops for the adventure pass, I was at the staging area.
There was one other truck with a bumper carrier, so I left a sticker for him. I was too chicken to stick it on his bike rack.
The obligatory self shot of the day.
First stop was at the lookout area up top.
This is looking down the pass. Notice there is no smoke on the horizon.
Here is the same shot the other way. That would be the world famous El Mirage Dry Lake in the distance.
USFS dollars hard at work.
A little farther down the ridgeline, there was this wierd down hill. I took the sandy drop, but there was a lot of work put into laying all that brick.
Since I stopped for the picture, I figured this was another great resting spot.
From there, there weren't many pictures, because the next thing I realized, I had this on the horizon.
I rode another 10 minutes back towards the truck, and when I saw this, I knew I could be in trouble. The fire was right next to the freeway, and if they had to close it, I would be F#@%ed. I rode straight to the truck, loaded, and got the hell out of there.
Luckily, I only hit a little traffic right at the fire, and I would of got picture of the big water helos 40 feet over my truck, but the same old dead battery story will apply here.
North bound had only 1 lane open, and it was backed up for miles.
So, I did 41 whooped out miles, and I sure felt it the next day. I've had too much time off the bike, and too many soft rides lately. I'm looking forward to maybe taking the scooter off the stand more often, and hopefully have a great riding season.
I also found out later, that the fire took out some powerlines, and they did close the South bound lanes, so a major SNAFU was avoided..
Thanks for wetting my appetite for food and riding And just for that you should join me at Gorman this Wed or Thurs..
