Me and the Moonlander!

[Gear]

SoCal Desert Rendezvous, Day 1 - March 23, 2012

Day 1 of the SoCal Desert Rendezvous put on by TacoDoc(Dave). The premise is a weekend gathering of like minded individuals(Overland Vehicle Based). Dave gave out the first GPS coordinate a week before the event. This would be known as Check Point 1. Once there we were given our final coordinate. Where the Desert Rendezvous would be held. Not knowing the terrain I decided to travel all the way into camp with my vehicle. Once there I retrace my route back to Check Point 1 on the bike. Kind of a test run for the conditions on the Moonlander.

In a lot of ways I really lucked out on this location for riding my bike. It was flat and hard packed in several areas. Plus it allowed for me to try out the characteristics of riding in silt beds and on small sand dunes.

About half way back to Check Point 1. I found this nice little dune to play on. I was totally impressed with the Moonlander.

If you look close you can see that the tire is leaving a very small depression. In other words totally rideable.

The floatation was so good that I could just ride right back up to the top.

Check Point 1 - Here are some of the Rendezvous Conspirators manning the first GPS point. Thanks Guys! I hung out for a while and then decided to make my way back to camp. At this point I was pushing into a slight headwind.

Along the way I started to see others making there way to camp.

For a while I rode on the train track.

Who knew the train still used this line. Thankfully he was going slow and I had plenty of time to clear the track.

Back out onto the dry lake bed. Made for fast time on the bike.

A shot of camp late that day!

Once back in camp Dave(TacoDoc) absconded with the Moonlander. He rode it around welcoming the newcomers.

A view of the campers to the East! I counted 59 vehicles at one point. Great turn out!

Distance 21.5 miles
Elevation 611 feet
Moving Average 10.0 mph

 

[Gear]

SoCal Desert Rendezvous, Day 2 - March 24, 2012

Day 2 of the Desert Rendezvous had me heading South, Southeast towards the Superstition Mountain. Just off in the distance.

A quick shot looking back the other way shows how far I have already come. Camp is just below the mountain.

Once I got closer to the Superstition Mountain I asked a couple passing by on there quads about ideas on where to go. They recommended I travel around to the East side of the mountain. It turns out there was more hard packed terrain over there. Heck I even found a nice single track left by some motorcycles.

Finally I got to a point where I needed to turn around because of time. I had left a return time with some folks at camp and wanted to be punctual. No one wants to search for a missing bicyclist!

A nice marker for the Lost Dutchman trail.

On my way back I bypassed the hard pack for some soft sand.

This pretty much sums up this ride!!

Once back in camp the bike was whisked off by others to enjoy!

I also found more time to explore around camp. Just up the wash I came across this car.

The remains of bullet shells. A true sign of being on BLM land.

Looking back at camp.

Mark(Trump) helping out with diner along with many others. Thanks!

Distance 18.3 miles
Elevation 889 feet
Moving Average 8.0 mph

 

[MidnightRider]

Great pictures, I like how you've documented and tracked your rides. That bike is awesome, thanks for letting my ride it, now I REALLY want one.

 

[Gear]

SoCal Desert Rendezvous, Day 3 - March 25, 2012

Sunday - Time to roll out. I wanted one more ride in the desert. So I headed for Blair Valley. I parked the Jeep and headed off for a loop ride.

A short 1 mile section of road took me over the hill to the trail head leading into Little Blair Valley.

The entrance to the trail. I am now in Anza Borrego State Park so all riding is held to roads and trails. No cross country.

Flowers and granite rocks.

Down hill into Little Blair Valley.

Dry lake bed. A favorite spot for astronomers on moonless nights.

Great looking desert. So hard to capture with a camera.

I found this single track. Now comes the questionable part. The trail was marked Riding and Hiking Trail. I am going to have to call on this one. I'm not sure if this was a legal trail for my mountain bike. If it is I will be back for more.

Distance 15.5 miles
Elevation 1020 feet
Moving Average 9.9 mph

SoCal Desert Rendezvous 3 days of riding - 55.3 miles and 2520 feet of elevation climbed. Thanks Dave(TacoDoc) I had a blast!!

 

[blupaddler]

Awesome Justin!

Great report. Thanks for letting me Enjoy the bike for a while around camp. I think I need to start saving for one, or just sell a few surfboards...

 

[bucketosudz]

I am a relative "nobody" here on the Portal, but I have to say Gear that your posts are inspiring! I enjoy reading about your travels and viewing your photos, one day I will add a Moonlander to go with my Pugsley. Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

[Gear]

Great pictures, I like how you've documented and tracked your rides. That bike is awesome, thanks for letting my ride it, now I REALLY want one.

Not a problem. Glad you liked the bike!

Awesome Justin!

Great report. Thanks for letting me Enjoy the bike for a while around camp. I think I need to start saving for one, or just sell a few surfboards...

A few less surf boards might not be a bad thing. The Moonlander would be great on the Baja beaches when the surf is small.

I am a relative "nobody" here on the Portal, but I have to say Gear that your posts are inspiring! I enjoy reading about your travels and viewing your photos, one day I will add a Moonlander to go with my Pugsley. Thanks for taking the time to share.

No need for a Moonlander you have a Great bike. Enjoy you Pugsley. I know I would.

 

[Gear]

Haro Bikes - March 26, 2012

Whats this you ask, Haro Bike's. Well both of my boys have birthday's in April. Starting with my youngest son Nathan on April Fools Day. Guess what he would like. Thats right a BMX bike. Cool, now if he wasn't so indecisive about all the options. He must get this from his dad.

So today I traveled over to Haro Bike Company to ask them a few questions. This worked out well because San Diego got rain again last night. Limiting my travel to roads and DG surfaces. Here is the Dam and Lake San Marcos. Looking closely the water is coming over the spillway.

The tower on top of San Elijo Hills.

Riding the Ridgeline Trail across the top of the mountain.

Dropping off the backside into San Marcos. From here I rode surface streets over to Haro Bikes.

Not that many of us follow BMX riders these days but this is Chad Kerley with my boys. We visited the shop last week and just happened to watch him filming an upcoming video. Man the things this guy can do with a bike. I never knew it was possible to do a 360 bunny hop with a bar spin on flat ground. To say the least my boys were very impressed. Chad was a true gentleman and signed Nathan's cast.

Counter Clockwise from the bottom.

Distance 18.8 miles
Elevation 2168 feet
Moving Average 10.7 mph

 

[BorregoWrangler]

Awesome photos! Sweet bike too!

Man those pics of the train tracks crossing Carrizo Wash reminds me when I was 17 with my 2WD F-150. I was out there when a storm suddenly passed through, bringing a flash flood down the wash. Spectacular sight! However I was freaked out about getting stuck so I managed to get my truck up into the tracks and follow them back to the road. If I hadn't, I'm sure that truck would still be out there, stuck and rusted. Good times.

 

[ywen]

hey what handlebar mount are you using for the Garmin 60Csx?

 

[Gear]

Awesome photos! Sweet bike too!

Man those pics of the train tracks crossing Carrizo Wash reminds me when I was 17 with my 2WD F-150. I was out there when a storm suddenly passed through, bringing a flash flood down the wash. Spectacular sight! However I was freaked out about getting stuck so I managed to get my truck up into the tracks and follow them back to the road. If I hadn't, I'm sure that truck would still be out there, stuck and rusted. Good times.

Well you are not the only one that was debating camping in the wash with rain forecasted for San Diego. Others had stories as well.

hey what handlebar mount are you using for the Garmin 60Csx?

I am using the Garmin Handlebar mount. It works perfectly.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=1004

 

[Gear]

MirraCo Bikes - March 27, 2012

Well with San Diego being a mecca for BMX bikes. I noticed that MirraCo Bikes(Dave Mirra) was relatively close. So today I ventured out to see what they might have for my youngest son's birthday present. I choose to go up and over the mountain to San Marcos.

Managed to link up with a new trail. This was an interesting tunnel under the road.

On the way I stopped by the Carlsbad Skatepark. Love it when all the kids are in school.

I stopped off at the corporate headquarters for MirraCo. The gentleman there was nice enough to give me a brochure and talk about what they had to offer. So with my new gained knowledge in BMX bikes I headed for food, Elevation Burger.

Counter Clockwise.

Distance 24.9 miles
Elevation 2463 feet
Moving Average 9.9 mph

 

[nwoods]

Gear, in the BMX genre, Haro and Miraco are sort of the bottom of the barrel in terms of coolness these days. They both have a decent high end bike in their lineup, but most of their line is regarded poorly. If you are looking at Street BMX or Park BMX, the current "cool" brands, and in most cases, actually decent bikes, are from Sunday, WeThePeople, FIT, and to a lesser degree, Cult. These are not "race ready" BMX lines, for that SE Racing, Redline, and others are still very popular, but definitely not for street.

Check out www.danscomp.com. My son spends endless hours on that site, and currently rides a Foster Signature FIT bike. Your son Nathan looks to be pretty young yet. If you go with a FIT, you can probably go with a 1 or a 2. The lower the number, the lower the quality and smaller the frame. BMX bikes range from 19" to 21.5" top tubes sizes. My daughter is 10 and looks about the same size as your son. She rides an Eddie1: http://fitbikeco.com/eddie-1-black/ Try to get in the 24 to 25 lbs range. You will spend some coin, but will net a pretty nice bike for the little guy.

I want one of these:
http://www.sebikes.com/2012_26omflyer.php

Or maybe the BigRipper, though I really don't want a 29" BMX bike

 

[Gear]

Great Post!

Hello Nathan,
Thanks for posting up about the BMX information. I am doing my best to educate myself before making a purchase. I know for many that it is a simple task. Pick bike and ride, but I am trying to get my boys on something that will inspire them to continue to ride for many years. With most things you usually get what you pay for. I am fine with this. I just want to make sure that the bike he gets will fit him properly so that he can advance in this sport. With this I am looking at an 18" Top Tube / Wheel. Specifically right now I am pretty well sold on the MirraCo Redux 18". It is an alloy frame and weights in at just over 19 lbs. This should make learning to Bunny Hop easier.

http://www.mirrabikeco.com/bikes_detail_20.php

Now I just need to sell him on the color. For some reason this changes by the hour.

Thoughts?

 

[nwoods]

That 18" Miraco is actually a pretty darn nice bike. Compare it to last years offerings, this 2012 model is a major improvement. It's got the cassette driver system, the ratio is about right, the aluminum frame looks to be super light. It's drilled for a Gyro should want to upgrade the headset with one. Oddessy grips are very popular, as is the pivotal style seat. The white half-link chain is the bomb these days, so that is very cool. Black Label is Miraco's parts brand, so not great, but appear to be serviceable. The single wall rims sound light to me, but your son is probably a fraction of the weight my teen is, and likely not to be casing stair jumps and bending rims for a year or two

You might consider getting fiberglass pegs, that will save a couple more pounds, and slide well on rails and so forth. Duro is not very popular, so the tires might be a cosmetic upgrade at some point, and maybe the pedals too. Oddessy is all the rage. The handlebars are a little on the small size, but probably fine for now. I'll bet he'll want a 20" bike before he needs to upgrade the bars.

All in all, I think that REDUX is a pretty nice ride, and the weight can't be beat without going into a BMX race bike, and those are fragile and ill suited for street use. Compare with the FIT 18'': http://fitbikeco.com/18-inch-black/