Dual-sport weekend post mortem

Lots and lots of lessons learned from this past weekend’s dualsport ride.

good.

  • The XT did really well on the trip. REALLY well. It ate up those 500 miles and could have kept going on into infinity.
  • The 30 L Seal Line dry bags we bought kick ass. By the time I got home, my black bag was brown with dust, but all of my clothes and toiletries inside were fine.
  • The PVC racks we built were rock solid. I was honestly surprised at how well they ended up working. Not a single slip or slide, either on the freeway or going over rocks and ruts.
  • My gear was very comfortable in warm weather. It was 108F in Coalinga when we arrived, and I was more-or-less comfy in my Frank Thomas mesh jacket, FirstGear mesh pants, and Fox Racing flattrack boots. My Camelbak fit over the jacket very well, too. Thumbs up.
  • Parkfield Cafe french fries. Holy crap, are those yummy. Crispy and tasty.
  • Our room at the Parkfield Inn was the “tool room”. It was slightly disconcerting to have sharp farm implements hung up all over the room in a place that bills itself as the “earthquake capital of the world”. πŸ˜‰ Awesome decor, though. I tried to convince Peter that our towel racks at home should be huge box wrenches.
  • Dirt GOOD. I continue to really really really love the off-roading. I’m starting to not utterly suck at it, too!

bad.

  • The perfect storm combination of my socks, my pants, and my boots left nasty ass chafes and scrapes all around my calves. Must solve this.
  • My gear, while very comfortable in warm weather, wasn’t so much in the damp fog on Highway 1. By Watsonville, I was utterly miserable, despite wearing a tank top, T-shirt, long sleeved T-shirt, another T-shirt, and the jacket with liner. The pants are mesh-only, so in Watsonville, I stopped to put my cargo pants on over the mesh pants. Looked dorky but at least it cut the wind a little bit.
  • No surprise here, but lots of freeway on the XT makes for a very sad Carolyn.
  • Must remember to put sunscreen lotion in my XT tankbag. The stick kind works great for my face, but not as well for the back of my neck.
  • I never remember to hang back far enough when I’m the last rider in the parade on the dirt. Cough cough, eyes tearing up, cough, dust everywhere. I think my contacts are still dusty.

Pictures are uploading. πŸ™‚ A write-up will be forthcoming….

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