Day 3, Stage 4--TwentyNine Palms to San Bernadino, CA.

Well, no trip is complete without a flat tire :) A thorn punctured Aradio's front tire. Aradio and I woke up early to fix the bike, so that we could get on the road around 10am. We had all the tools and all the parts, what we lacked was patience (we would soon learn this the hard way). It took me about an 1 hour to remove the tire and replace the front tube. As soon as we inflated the tire, we realized that we had punctured the brand new tube!!! That sucks! We had to replace the tire tube again! Changing the  tube is not rocket science, but it's sure rough on the fingers and hands (ouch!). We finally finished around 12:30pm and got on the road. We headed towards the San Bernadino Mountains (Big Bear Lake).  

I took this picture riding Burns Canyon Rd. heading to Big Bear Lake. This scenic dry desert road, with all its Joshua trees, is just beautiful (this is adventure motorcycling at its best). All four of us were in a bad mood from the delay of the punctured front tire, but this incredible road got everyone in a good mood quickly. Every motorcycle enthusiasts is in search for the "perfect road." It's one of the reasons we ride so much. Well, this might not be the perfect road, but it's darn close.

 I love this road sign. The back road to Big Bear Lake.

We really did ride far up into the mountains. Look at the snow, the temperature was dropping quickly as we continued climbing up the mountains. Fernando's bike is on the ground because as he attempted to pass me his left side case hit my right side case which projected him and his bike towards the mountain road's cliff. It was a scary moment. He's lucky he didn't get hurt.

 This picture shows the road going down to Big Bear Lake (road 2N02). The view from this angle was incredible! Up here in the high part of the mountain there were no Joshua trees, like at the bottom part of the mountain.

After a long ride, we had a picnic at Big Bear Lake. We were so hungry, thank goodness Jorge packed all that food in his bike. 

 There I am possing for the camera.

 Jorge posing for the cameara.

In the background you can see all the waterfront cabins and homes. Big Bear Lake is something else. It's amazing how close this place is to the LA area. 

Day 2, Stage 4

We woke up early packed our gear and headed to the Grand Canyon's West Rim main entrance. You can see Fernando on his KLR 650 leaving our camping site.

We initially planned to go on the Skywalk, witch is this horse shoe type of bridge that extends above the Grand Canyon. But Jorge, Aradio, and Fernando thought it would be best if we go on a helicopter ride. It was a great idea! We rented a chopper and took a tour of the Grand Canyon. The helicopter then landed on a site next to the Colorado River, down in the Canyon (you can see me next to the helicopter down by the river).

The weather was excellent! Not a cloud in sight. It was about 68 degrees, so it was nice and cool (I'd hate to go to the Canyon in the summer, it must be an oven). There's Jorge in the picture above.

 We took this picture with the helicopter and the helicopter pilot. Awesome pilot!

Here's another shot. That's me next to the Colorado river. The views were spectacular!