FZ Tag-Team Rideabout January 25 '15

[scobiwonkenobi]

Sunday January 25 - Time: 2.8 Hours - Distance: 108 Miles
Nice ride through the canyons of Hwy 94, known as the smugglers run since it dips so close to the border. 
It was Ch3rry's idea to head East on the 94 as a general point of reference - but that's about all we were going on.
Just after getting off the main section of 94 before it turns into 'old highway 94' a group of cruiser riders came up behind us. Totally freaked me out because I knew we would be going much much slower than anyone more experienced - luckily they decided on a different route allowing us to just continue on without interruption.
Now at the offset of the ride I had no idea what we were getting into. I knew the trip would get us close to the Tecate border and that we would end up going North on the S1 cutting through Cleveland National Forest. The view of ranch land from the canyons was just beyond spectacular - will try and take a camera next time. About 7/10 of the way through the canyons the wind picked up really strong and took us by surprise - so we pulled over at the library for a quick stretch and to make sure all was well with us and the bikes. For being the first crack at it, the canyons were an enjoyable and thrilling experience. The S1 was really gentle and pretty straight, not much to report there. The wind got a bit crazy on the 8 west bound out of Campo. 
 
This is a ride I will absolutely be doing again  (rofl)
 
Map
 
Bonus Photos from F o t o M o t o.us *Hey look its us!*

[hobbs]

Look at you.. moto celebrities!
 
I am envious at all the good riding you Californians get.

[motomeek]

Nice long ride you two had!
 
It was pretty windy over the weekend. Glad you two had fun!

[ch3rryghost]

This ride definitely trumped the previous week's. Twisties are exactly where I like to live although, it was a mental challenge to fully commit and not have a momentary lapse of concentration and when it's one right after another there's not enough time between them to allow me to process the previous corner (how fast was I going? what went well? what could I do better? where were my eyes as I progressed through?) Remembering that it takes your entire body's cooperation in getting through a corner is not something I'm used to; so opposite of a car! Another area of weakness is my inability to judge the speed of which a corner should be taken. The margin of error is that much smaller than in driving a car that I find myself going into a corner very timidly (which is a good thing!).
 
I wish we had video of the guy in the oncoming lane practically dragging knee coming downhill he scared the sh1t out of me. Just tried my best to stay on my side of the road haha.
 
The wind, OH THE WIND. Obviously a new experience being pushed around by the cross winds all I could do was hold on. I'd like to think I looked like the Moto GPers with the squirrellyness but that's highly doubtful It was a great trust exercise though and you really learn how to counterbalance against the wind by shifting your weight one way or the other. I cannot wait to do this ride (or something similar) again! The best thing about the ride was how isolated we were; as a n00b it's great to not feel the pressure of traffic behind you and @scobiwonkenobi was a VERY good pace bike--just fast enough to push me a little but not too fast in making me ride beyond my level.