Jim and his sons Chris and Jason have been riding quads at this great place in Joshua Tree for many years and finally convinced Harry and Charlie to join them for a family off-road riding day. The riding spot is located at the end of the following dirt road: 64900 E Broadway, Joshua Tree, CA 92252It turned out to be about 178 miles from Charlie's house in Thousand Oaks. We all left our homes in the early morning and arrived between 9:45 and 10:45 AM. Jim brought Chris, Jason, and Megan's fiancee Bret. Jim rode his Yamaha WR400 and the kids shared their two Honda quads. Charlie brought his Honda XR600R along with Dean who has only ridden his Suzuki DR-350 twice before. Harry came solo with his powerful KTM 525 EXC.
It was a crystal clear and cool morning at about 58 degrees F. We quickly unloaded the bikes and headed for some blasts across the dry lake bed to warm up.
After setting up camp consisting of an awning for shade, Jim took us on a big loop around the area. The loop included a good mix of trails, sand dunes, hill climbs, bush-wacking, sand whoops, rocky trails, and finished blasting through the dry lake bed. It was a great first loop and nobody fell or had any mechanical problems. Dean did remarkably well given that this was only his third time riding a motorcycle and he was riding a 350cc bike. Of course Harry impressed everyone with his ability to climb the highest hills, blast through the deep sand, blaze new trails through the pucker bushes, and pull high speed wheelies across the dry lake bed!!!
After a brief rest back at camp we headed out for our second loop. Jim wanted to take us to the top of a nearby hill for a bird's eye view of the area. Dean dropped his bike a couple of times on the way up to the hill... but hung in there and made it to the top. It was a great view and we were having fun.
There was one rather steep and tricky section on the ride down the hill where Dean fell and smacked his elbow. He learned the importance of keeping his feet on the pegs to provide better balance and control of the rear brake. Charlie and Jim helped Dean get down the hill and back on his bike. We continued on to a very sandy area where Dean then dropped his bike and burned his right calf on the exhaust header pipe. Ouch! After playing possum for a few minutes we got him back down the hill and to camp where we dressed his burn and took a break.
After another brief rest Harry, Jim, Chris and Bret headed off for another loop. Charlie took Dean and Jason in his truck over to the shooting area and set up some targets. The riders finished their loop over by the shooting hill and we had some fun plinking with the 22 LR pistol. We gave Chris the nickname of Clintopher since he was clearly the best shot of the bunch (probably a result of way too many hours playing video games!).We packed up and left at about 5:30 or so and headed to Hemet for dinner with our parents/grandparents. We met at the local Mexican resturant and had a tasty and filling meal. Dad brought his recently refurbished '65 Mustang GT clone which everyone enjoyed seeing and hearing. We all made it home safe and sound that night and had a great time. Thanks to Jim for suggesting such a convenient riding place! Thanks to Dad for a great dinner!
