The Orange County Dualies club has been the number one fundraiser for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation for at least the past five years. During that time, the club had been holding a parking-lot sale at the Adelanto Grand Prix to raise donations. This year, we decided to try something different and our new club president, Dave Harlan, suggested a Dual Sport ride. Thus the idea was born and the Dualies opted to hold our first club organized Dual Sport Ride in the San Jacinto arm of the San Bernardino National Forest.

Dave and a few other Dualies started scouting out the area were very successful in locating some great trails and weaving them together into a long and fun ride. We also contacted a local motorcycle dealership, Beaumont Cycles who kindly allowed us to hold the signup and stage from their store. Sales Manager, Norm Francis graciously opened their shop at 6:00 AM on a Saturday, making available tables, chairs and power for the laptops so that we could register the participants and get the ride underway. The Dualies also arranged for riders to use a local school parking lot behind the dealership and once we received the OK from D-37, the event was set.

Finally the day of the ride came and we had almost 120 riders pre registered with another 30 riders sign up that morning. There was a steady stream of people coming through the dealership from 6:00 AM until about 10:00 AM. As a long time Dualie member, I helped register riders along with the other Dualies and my riding partner, Treasurer, Dennis Towgood. Finally, we turned over the registration process to the remaining Dualies who were not riding and donned our gear. After unloading our bikes and mounting our GPS receivers, we started the ride at about 10:30 AM.

One of the first sights that greeted us was a breathtaking view of the snowcaps of Mount San Gregornio (Old Greyback) standing out in stark relief against the cobalt blue skies. Thanks to the light rain we had the night before, the air was cold, crisp and clear, and the trails had just enough moisture to ensure that dust would not be a problem on this ride. The trail lead East out of town paralleling the I-10 freeway, then ducked under the freeway and headed south towards the national forest.

At the sign up, we were warned of extensive washouts along the roads and trails and discovered quite a few waiting to gobble up the unwary rider. Most washouts were quite deep, but narrow, so when running perpendicular to the trail, the best approach was to attack them and let the bikes suspension gobble up the jolt. For the ones running along the trail, we had the choice of paralleling the rut, or running on the crown in between. Needless to say, this was a challenge to the rider's balance and riding ability. In most cases, dropping into the rut was the last choice because it often resulted in trapping the wheels and dumping the bike. One rider had to be airlifted out with a broken arm and dislocated shoulder after finding this out the hard way only 20 miles from the start. A number of riders reported going down numerous times in these ruts, but this is par for the course after the wet winter we just experienced.

Dave and the other Dualies did an excellent job of GPS'ing the course but several times we found that the GPS was in conflict with the roll chart. Inevitably, it was the GPS track that was correct, and saved us from looking for the trail. As we neared the National Forest, the trails began to look familiar to me, as I periodically patrol the San Jacinto region of the San Bernardino Forest as an OHV Volunteer. Mount San Jacinto began to loom over the scenery as we headed towards Idyllwild. While it was cold in Beaumont, we were soon shedding our jackets and cold weather gloves as the mid-morning sun warmed the valleys that we were passing through.

The easy way had been all fire roads up until now, but we finally reached the first turnoff that took us up a firebreak and south toward SR-74. The trail took us across the stream and then up a nice single track weaving back and forth along a firebreak. After this delightful little climb, we found ourselves on a fire road that took us through a fairly dense part of the forest. We soon came to a major washout that crossed a stream and knew this was the major washout we had been warned of. The path into the stream was straight forward, but by the time Dennis and I came to this obstacle, other riders had burned a deep track up the bank on the other side of the stream. Dennis led the way and wound up hanging the case of his bike on the sides of the groove. It looked fairly easy to make my way around him and get back on the road so I could help him un-stick his bike. Wrong! There was deep mud couple with a six-inch high ledge, which grabbed my rear wheel and tossed the bike on the side. After about 10 minutes of heavy lifting, we were able to get the bikes out of the streambed and get on our way.

After leaving the denser forest, we climbed a ridge, which gave us a view of Hemet and the Soboba Reservation in the distance. Because of the extraordinarily wet winter, we were also treated to numerous picturesque streams in what would normally dry streambeds. Finally we made it to the lunch stop, a restaurant called JoAn's that was an excellent choice, with a large outdoor dining area and special barbecue provisions to handle the demands of the riders for a quick meal. An added treat was the live entertainment provided for the guests and the quick and pleasant service provided by the extra staff she had added just for this occasion. Since we were running late, Dennis and I grabbed a soda and munched a couple of power bars before getting on our way.

After lunch, we soon found ourselves dropping down along the San Jacinto River drainage and we encountered quite a bit of water on the paved water crossing below Pine Cove. We had made up a considerable amount of time so I suggested to Dennis that we try the afternoon hard-way section, which was aptly named Dave's Hill Climb. This trail took us up a steep and twisty trail with numerous washouts crossing and running down the trail. The climb was an enjoyable slalom up the hill, twisting through the turns and dodging rocks that also studded the trail. It climbed all the way up to SR-243. After a short blast down the highway, we found another dirt road that dropped back down the mountain and brought us back to the road leading to Beaumont. However, our route home was to have one more challenge, we would have to traverse the washout that blocked our path on the way up. As it turned out, the infamous washout was much easier for us to traverse in the opposite direction. The groove seemed to have been filled in (or at least it wasn't being burned deeper since riders were going down the bank instead of up it), and the track up the opposite bank was more gradual and easier to climb. A little further down the road, we came across three riders changing a flat and noted they had the situation well in hand so we continued on. Shortly hereafter, we decided to diverge from the original trail and we found our way back to Beaumont a different way.

We arrived back in Beaumont and checked back it at Beaumont Cycles and I found that I had won one of the entry prizes. I soon selected a pair of goggles with a blue frame to match my motorcycle and the rest of my riding gear. After chatting with the shop owner for a bit, we loaded up the motorcycles and changed out of our riding gear for the drive home. Since it was getting to be well into the dinner hour, we decided to hook up with some of the other Dualies and stop for a nice Mexican food dinner at one of the restaurants in the San Bernardino area. After enjoying an excellent burrito, beans and rice, washed down with our favorite beverage, we were ready to hit the road for home. It was truly a great way to end the day, a day that will long be remembered for the scenery, the riding and the camaraderie.

If you have a hankering for some excellent scenery, challenging hard ways, and the desire to donate some money to a great cause, then the second annual Dualies' Charity ride might just be for you.