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I'll ride with you too; I'll be able to brag about riding with evil (--sorry, --sick humor!) I'm in Lutz also (east of Dale Mabry) off US41 and Florida Ave; I solo ride those same areas on Sunday mornings before it gets really hot. Brian, probably we can coordinate a ride soon, I also would like to get off road, right now I have street tires on the bike, but my TKC80's should arrive by mid next week . Evil, Welcome to this awesome forum!

I completed this ride/event in 2013 and 2014. Both times were great and I would recommend for those in the general PNW. It isn’t nearly the event the Taste of Dakar is down in Pahrump NV, but still a good event. Unfortunately, it looks like AltRider will not be doing in 2015 (typically held in August.) However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see in again in the future or potentially complete your own ride in the area. if you get the chance there are a lot of great options on the Olympic Peninsula/Olympic mountains. I do have some GPS tracks and maps I could share for those that are interested/PM me. 2013 was held at Satstop Center which is roughly straight north of Montesano WA off of HWY 12. There are a lot of riding options in the area and it is a bit remote. The facilities were decent but not the fanciest. Below is a screenshot of the event. Red was route in, yellow was morning, blue afternoon and purple out. 2014 was held at Skokomish Park on Lake Cushman. The facilities were top notch but the campground/area is pretty busy. AltRider setup a good sized event area and kept our group together. Red was route. You can see the silverware mid-point which was the lunch stop. The blue is the pavement back to camp. It is good ride for pavement and included on many of the day rides from Seattle (Hood Canal Loop) but you did end the day with 70 miles of slab back to camp. Here is a slimmed down event summary: (Food was catered by Mary from the Skokomish Indian tribe both years and was great.) Friday – Everyone arrives and sets up camp in the evening. Signing up for groups begins and typically ends at breakfast Saturday. Dinner, event introduction, campfire, a few drinks, and then early to bed for the ride. 2013 event had a large grassy area were everyone setup camp with a few who went into the woods. 2014 had RV type campsites shared by tents and then areas between the campsites where the rest of us squeezed in. Saturday - Eat a hearty breakfast and break into groups based on skill level for a staggered GPS-led ride. This event typically has everyone on the same tracks regardless of skill. The higher skill riders typically just go faster and have more side adventures. 2013 tracks include quite a few switch backs which allow advanced/faster riders more mileage while allowing slower/less advanced/casual riders short cuts. 2014 routes were a bit of a disappointment for me as I had the same route from a book/GPS tracks already. It wasn’t nearly as challenging/enjoyable as the 2013 routes. After a riders meeting and brief training seminar, head out onto your adventure ride through diverse terrain amongst the stunning forests, bridges across vista’s and lakes, twisty dirt road and gravel roads. Halfway through the Saturday ride, we’ll stop for a scrumptious lunch at a scenic picnic point. Come back from your epic day of riding to a big dinner back at the campsite. There is typically some sort of speaker/videos/awards event after dinner. Fire and drinks continue through the evening. Sunday – Typically includes a good breakfast and then everyone breaks camp. 2013 include good a GPS track back through the mountains from camp to 101. 2014 was choose your own adventure (left on your own to map it out.) The ride includes: 2 nights of camping under the stars at a campground than years past GPS self-led routes in the Olympic National Forest (near the Hoh Rainforest.) 5 delicious meals prepared by the Skokomish tribe – fresh oysters from the local bay, elk stew, seafood chowder is on the menu Locally crafted beer to be enjoyed nightly by a crackling fire Awesome prizes and giveaways from event sponsors Off-road teaching seminars from informative instructors. Optional/additional fee off-road training on Friday before event. I personally didn't take too many pictures of the event but here are a few. Great views from all the peaks. Our group found a side excursion near Lake Quinault where we able to get on the river rock. We had a small group of about 4 bikes heading back to Seattle. Apparently there was a 'Scooter Club' ride that jumped on behind us. I have never seen a full lane of the ferry taken up by 2 wheelers.

You sound Evil , but I'll ride with ya! I'm over on the E. side of Wesley Chapel, so not terribly far away. Added you to my buds list. I'll ping you next time I have a family hall pass.

Time for a blood transfusion, upgraded grips, and a spit shine...

Hey XLADV folks, I've got some more quality content on what we do to our farkles in the great white north. Our motto is simply just: "Till the wheels fall off"

Absolutely EPIC photo's!!!!

Fixed the links, end of Day 3 here because forum limits the number of photo's in one post. Then we went down to Cedar break and took a couple photo’s So we decided to stay at Zion Ponderosa Ranch for the night, the tempting shower/hot tub and laundry facilities were calling our name. So was the BEER, but we forgot it was Utah Grade beer!!  After washing clothes and a nice shower and beer we decided to stay at the resort for a second night, so the next day we headed out to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon traveling light, leaving our camping gear etc at the resort.

Yeah the crash bars were a big pain, the original owner laid it down and grinded the bars a little i think it tweaked them a little. Is there a washer on the right side along with the left side? i couldnt't get the tank all the way off either so i could disconnect the wires easy. the lower ESA wire ended up getting cut in half so i could remove from the bike. i got it disconnected but couldn't get it fed thru the bike. That was after a few minutes of trying to disconnect the wires on the shock side. didnt realize they disconnected up under the tank. The one mistake i almost pulled was removing the whole front cover. got two bolts loose then looked a little closer and realized i just needed to remove the plastic cover. wish i had new belt while i had it apart but oh well. Stopping the shock from turning ended up being pretty easy. I have these cool wrenches that hook up to a ratchet. So i just put it on the end of a long extension with a rachet. But what a difference new shocks make Did a few little things to the bike. Wasn't a big fan of drilling the holes thru the plastic and the powder coated panniers.