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There is a large group of dual sport riders here in San Diego. The San Diego Adventure Riders puts on an organized ride every year called the Desert Dash. The last couple of years I have always had some sort of conflict, but this year I was finally able to do it. The event is staged at the Butterfield Ranch RV resort in the Anza-Borrego desert area. I sent in my entry form and made reservations at the RV resort for the weekend. I was able to get one of the other SDAR members to haul my motorcycle out there and back for the weekend. Otherwise, I would have had to pull our big 20 foot trailer just to get the bike out there. Fortunately, this person lives about 2 streets over from my house.

The riders in this event must have a dual sport (dirt/street) motorcycle, since most of the route is on dirt roads and washes in the State Park. You have to have a street legal vehicle to be on the park roads.

I headed out Friday evening in the RV and got down to the RV park an hour later. Found a nice spot, got hooked up, retrieved my bike, and then was able to relax a while before registration. The registration was supposed to be from 6-9pm, but it was delayed until 8pm due to the main guy being stuck in traffic or something. While we were waiting in the lounge, I got my GPS loaded with the tracks for Saturday and Sunday. I had never used the tracks feature of the GPS before, but after figuring it out, it works great. Just keep the little arrow on the little track line. It saved me from getting lost a couple of times! We also were given a roll chart with mileage and directions, and also a set of maps. The roll chart was also a new experience, but it was very helpful in letting you know when turns and intersections were approaching. You just had to remember to reset your trip odometer at various points.

Saturday I got up early and had already made some arrangements to ride with a couple of other guys. We took off at 7:45am and headed over to Oriflame Canyon. This is a remote canyon just east of the Cuyamaca mountains and it drops you off in Banner. My riding partner (another guy named Bruce) and I waited for our other riders, but after about 30 minutes we decided to press on without them. This turned out to be a good call. They were new riders and had some big BMW's that were not well suited for these dirt roads. They ended up bailing out early in the day and stuck to the street for the way back.

From Banner, we headed east on Hwy 78, then went up Grapevine Canyon to the Jasper Trail and then down Montezuma Grade to Borrego Springs for our first gas stop. It was about 48 miles in this first section and I topped off the tank with less than a gallon. The next stage headed out of Borrego Springs past the airport and around the county landfill into some very sandy washes that eventually connect with San Felipe Wash. I was having some real issues in the sand. It was extremely hard to get the bike to turn and to get traction. We left San Felipe Wash and took the Buttes Pass trail over to Goat Trail. This was my first time on Goat Trail, which was really a fun trail. We reconnected with Hwy 78 and headed to the Blu In for another gas stop. I didn't bother filling up here, since we had only gone about 25 miles.

The next section was a real long one. We rejoined San Felipe Wash going southeast, then to the Pole Line Road and out to Superstition Mountain. We braved more deep sand at Superstition, then crossed the Bombing Range towards Plaster City. Got to see the Blue Angels out practicing from their winter headquarters at El Centro NAS. By this time it was nearing 1:30pm and we were very hungry. The lunch stop was down in Ocotillo by the I-8 freeway. Getting there from Plaster City was probably the hardest section of the day. Really deep sandy terrain. The tracks we followed took us through a culvert under the freeway. You had to pop up a small concrete spillway, then duck your head as you ride into a small tunnel that was barely 5 feet tall. Once on the other side of the freeway I stopped and waited for the other Bruce, but he was gone! I took off solo and headed over to the next gas stop at Ocotillo. I had gone 77 miles from Borrego Springs. I got over to the lunch stop and found the other Bruce there waiting for me. He took a wrong turn, but knew where he needed to end up for lunch.

The final section of the day was from Ocotillo out on the Evan Hewes Hwy, then along a dirt road next to the railroad tracks. We then headed north to Canyon Sin Nombre. This was a really beautiful canyon section. Then we head up the old 1849 Overland Stagecoach trail on Vallecitos Wash, and finally back onto paved road to the RV park. We did 166 miles in just under 9 hours. Probably 95% on dirt and sand. I was sore and tired, to say the least.

I took a shower to clean off the dirt and dust, then headed over to the Clubhouse for a BBQ dinner. After dinner they had a raffle with a ton of stuff. Everyone there got something. I got a set of tire irons.

Pictures of the event are here.