Leaderboard

On our way, we kinda got lost and took the advanced route right at the power line road… Nothing we couldn’t handle! Photo by Pete As we’re riding, there’s a KTM 990 rider who joined us. Apparently, his group was stopping every 10 minutes and they were too slow for him. I didn't really feel comfortable, especially when I realized he was riding too close to me. Several times, I had to let him pass through. This is NOT how you’re riding in a group sir. Eventually he got separated and took off ahead of us. But only for a while. A few miles down the road, we found out that he hit a rock and bent his rim because he was running very low pressure. I looked at Jeremy and we pretty much had a secret grin on our faces, not because of the misfortune of our fellow rider but because we knew we made the right choice. 110 miles later, we arrived at the famous (?) Pioneer Saloon for lunch! Photo by Pete Photo by Pete After lunch, Jeremy decided he had to ride the highway back to the campground as it appeared he was more injured than he thought. At this time, we still don’t know if it’s a broken rib. I hope not! So the 5 of us now, we’re ready to continue but from the scenic route since we wanted to take it easy. Then our group, was approached by a young gentleman riding a rental GSW. He asked if we were riding the easier route and if he could tag along. I noticed he had street tires, he was wearing tennis shoes, jeans and a hoodie. At first I agreed and started riding but for the next mile, all I could think was him riding a challenging terrain with street tires and not the appropriate gear. As the group leader, I took the hard decision and asked him to leave our group. At first I felt terrible for leaving a fellow biker behind but my thought process was that I will not risk myself and/or my group members. I explained to him that we feel his luck of appropriate gear and tires, will compromise our safety and cannot be held reliable if something happens to him. I still feel I did the right thing. The rest of the ride was phenomenal! Easy to intermediate paths, fantastic views and so much fun! Photo by Pete Photo by Pete Photo by Pete Back at the campground, some person thought that riding bikes in the desert is not crazy enough and started demonstrating his flying skills! As we’re getting ready for the dinner, I had the pleasure of meeting two great people! Let’s start with GS Giant #1, Joshua Farnsworth, the man responsible for our “little” Giant group And then, I met with Erez Avramov. Erez, is trying to be the first amputee who will ride the Dakar Rally. Need I say more? Check his progress here. What an inspiration and honor meeting him! I also need to mention that Jimmy Lewis will be personally training Erez for the Dakar. This is crazy! Jimmy would never do a 1:1 unless he really saw something in him. I am so jealous!! Dinner time with award presentations! Apparently, I won the award for best attitude together with the slow ride… My price was a 3-day bike rental from MotoQuest. The night ended with beer and live music! The new day came with nothing but amazing experiences! And I'm ready to leave. The next Taste of Dakar is less than a year away! Bottom line, what I posted a few days ago on Facebook… As I'm finishing this trip report, all I can think is the fact I met people I'll ride to hell and back with. Derek, Kevin, Curt, Jeremy and Pete, it’s you I’m talking about! I’m looking forward our new I-6 adventure! Ride on brothers! Once again, I want to quote Ted Simon: "Motorcycles have put me in touch with wonderful people, as a result of that I have an elevated idea about how good everybody in the world is." Thank you Altrider and Jimmy Lewis! See you next year!

Great RR Eric/Dimitri wish I could have been there. Wondering if Jimmy included that crazy deep wash up to the tunnel we did in our October class? Thanks for the photos. Five days in Death Valley next week

Jesse Kiser of Ride Apart rode a KLR with us. That bike is quite impressive! He had no issue keeping up or managing in a variety of conditions. I was blasting my way back from Pahrump down to Baker and I see this bike hugging behind me the whole way. I stop in Baker and it's Jesse on that KLR Here's a great story on it he just published. Favorite parts: I was to leave in the morning with photographer Alfonse Palaima, better known as Fonzie from MotoInsider, Andy Davidson, the British journalist from UK’s Motorcycle News, and Eric Hall, Senior Editor of XLADV—the big bike version to Thumper Talk an ADV Forum—and his friend Rich DeWolfe. and All tours were self guided and everyone there was under the same like-minded attitude towards riding: just ride. No drama, no BS, no wining and no waiting—we just rode until we couldn't ride anymore. It was motorcycling in it’s purest form.

Great report, Dimitrios! Not surprised they gave you an award for best attitude. I am surprised I never saw that parafoil dude flying around. Must have been busy

I'd be more interested if they revamped the XR650 into a rally option like this 250.