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Out here in Pahrump scouting trails with Curtis and Sky for AltRider's Taste of Dakar in March Yesterday's route across the dry lake bed. I was cold riding up and stopped at Tecopa hot springs to warm up. This is a pic I found on the Interwebs. I thought this lady looked funny Cold this morning Lunch at Pioneer Saloon

(I cheated and copied this from my profile page) Hello! My name is David, and I'm originally a Michigan resident (if my user name didn't give it away). About 10 years ago though I joined the Air Force and that has moved me all over the place. I'm 33 years old and I've been riding since the age of 6 or 7. I started out on ATVs, then when I started working at a dealership my friends told me that the cool kids can't ride those, and they got me on a dirt bike. I was hooked. I worked at the dealer for about 7-8 years before joining the military, and even since joining I've worked part time at a few shops, and most recently became a MSF Ridercoach and I instruct at a local college. As much as I love motorcycles, I love the motorcycling community and pretty much all aspects of the sport. I've owned (way too many) about 25 different motorcycles ranging from CRF50's, to 250 & 450cc motocross bikes, a KTM 560SMR, Ducati Monster and Hyperstrada, a beautiful Aprilia RSV1000 Mille, BMW R1200GSA, and the most current rides....my KTM 1190 Adventure R and my wives and mine matching Honda Grom MSX125s. I currently live in Maryland, and as many motorcyclist as there are around here, I've had a hard time finding folks near my age group who ride in the Adventure genre. Although there seems to be some folks that have this style of bike, not many are keen on off-roading, and being an old dirt biker, the off-pavement stuff feels most at home. I'm sure many can relate to this feeling. So I normally find myself riding solo and I have built my current bike and camping setup accordingly. As far as actual "Adventure riding" trips, since getting into it last year with the GSA, I took two weeks to ride some of the COBDR and out in Moab. Most of my riding is weekend trips out to the George Washington National Forest to enjoy nature and the forest roads/trails out there. Phew...that was long winded. Thanks for reading and ride safe! Dave

Can you get knobbies for your Groms?

Thanks for sharing Eric! The inspiration behind our mug design was those mornings at an ADV Rally or group ride, when someone usually says, "Kickstands up at 8:00AM!" or something like that. That's your cue to be fueled up (literally), geared up, and ready to ride at 8am. So we imagined enjoying a cup of coffee at camp, and once you got to the bottom there's a little reminder for you that you're about to start another adventure on your bike - nothin' better than that! These enamel campmugs are made with old-school techniques in Europe, and have a heavy gauge, steel chassis, so you can use them over a campfire or Jetboil if needed. Thanks for checking these out! More details at: http://www.advaddicts.com/products/adv-addicts-enamel-camp-mug

Check this out... cool new coffee mugs from ADVAddicts!

Nope They belong to AltRider. This was sure a good time, though. The challenge is that this is the event's fifth year in essentially the same area; third year with the same lunch stop. So coming up with new ways to get from A to B and back again is interesting. Some sections may inevitably be the same as in last years but we found some new stuff that will keep it novel and fun. I see the courses as basically one for the adventure novice that is scenic, fast and fun; one for the more experienced big bike rider and then one for the small bike rider who likes a good challenge. Nothing's finalized but I have in mind a return liaison section for the intermediate course that takes the rider through some of the most beautiful Joshua Tree forests you've ever seen with some really fast dirt sections back to Pahrump. There's a HUGE amount of history in the area from the pre-Columbian days of native tribes to the Spanish colonies to the Mexican land owners to the mining of the 1800's and the Wild West. The Old Spanish trail winds through the area and was a trade route between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. It started with mule trains bringing woven blankets out to what would become Los Angeles and then returning with horses and mules. Many native tribes were picked over by Spanish and Mexican slave traders. The Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings is one of the oldest saloons in Nevada and has a few bullet holes with descriptions of the victims by the local coroner and is said to be haunted by those killed. In many ways Nevada is still the Old West and there's a lot to see there you won't see in your own hometowns like gambling, fireworks and prostitution. I was pre-running a route two years ago and the Pioneer Saloon was mostly empty except for the bartender and a woman who we figured was a prostitute after she showed us her "goods." That's Nevada for you. I grew up in Arizona and cannot stand to be around the desert in the heat of summer but in the winter and early spring it's one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Isaac acting like a goat again testing out his new 3.0 version of TFX suspension!

Curtiss got food poisoning from the beef tongue burrito he ate at El Jefe's so I'm coming back a day early. Stopped at China Ranch

first half of today And second half

We had a great ride! Here's video of Slab City to Cibola.....less rapping and more riding https://vimeo.com/151237520

Did a funny video too

Today's ride back was so amazing. We did the rest of the western end of the Bradshaw trail. It was easier that the trail out on Thursday but still challenging enough to be fun. This will be a new event for sure! Eric L got a flat and it took us 90 min to fix only because we didn't get the rear brake assembly on correct the first time. Lots of sand

Last night's menu was: Marinated pork loin with pasta fagioli. Dessert was apple pie. Drink: Prosecco then a dessert wine. Breakfast this morning: grilled potatoes with egg, cheese, oinions and leftover diced pork loin. Coffee

This trip is the result of a few guys with some vacation time to use and a desire to get out and play in the great outdoors. Our plan was to ride through the majority of the Utah and Colorado BDR(Back Country Discovery Routes) over a week or so at the end of September. As with all things the best laid plans never stay that way, and our plans were a bit more a of a loose idea of a trip. However with all the unplanned events and some flexibility we all had a great time, even if we missed out on some of the stuff we planned to see. The cast Orbel Dusty Roland Ken So we started off with 4, at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday September 27th. The changes start now, as the Starbucks we had intended to meet at was closed for remodeling resulting in horror, shock, and a lack of caffeine for this early on a Sunday. We overcame and made it to the Grand Canyon for lunch time. While the McDonalds left something to be desired in quality it did fill our bellies so we could bypass the actual park via Forest Service road 302. This dumped us out on Hwy 64 heading East from the park. By now the temperature is climbing and we make our way towards Monument Valley in the Navajo Nation. The campground in the Navajo Monument is where we setup camp, although a bit unusual for campground setups it worked out fine. As a plus the nice soft sand was great for sleeping, although it is a dry campground and restraint, so if you go ensure you plan accordingly!!

From here it was supergraded dirt road into Silverton, we passed this old mining bucket system Followed by some good heavy rain, and I was about to stop and pull on the rain suit but it kept looking lighter in front of us and by the time we could see Silverton in the distance the rain had stopped and the sun was coming back out. Fortunately no sleet at the lower elevations. Silverton had a great selection of restaurants and café’s to choose from for lunch, we ended up at one of them with some great hot food to warm us back up and kind servers that went out of their way to ensure we enjoyed our stay. As we left town we tried to find a cut back up to Ophir through country road 7, but everything had been closed off or changed and we couldn’t quite get through, although we did find some amazing waterfalls and meadows during our exploration After backtracking to Hwy 550 we just zipped up the nice graded side of Ophir. We passed two nice older ladies in a Hyundai sedan at the pass, they were taking pictures and such. We headed down the switch backs and I see them come around the corner and head down after us as I round the first switchback. After signaling to Dusty I rip back up and stop them just shy of the first two foot drop off. At this point they can’t turn around and the lady driving is afraid to get out, so I walk with them and talk them through backing up all the way to the pass(almost an 1/8th mile). This process takes quite a bit of time as every 10 or 15 feet she stops and then has to get started again, but I couldn’t leave them stranded out there for the night. So after escorting them back, getting them turned around and sending them down the hill I finally get ready to head out myself. I walk back to the bike just as Dusty arrives at my stopping spot. Apparently he had some troubles of his own but he doesn’t really want to go into it when I ask. This is where I stopped just in front of their car, and backed them up around the corner and then a bit further than that up to the pass where they could safely turn around More photo’s coming down By now the end of the day is coming rapidly, so we hurry down and back into Telluride. Catching pavement after the sun sets as the last of the light leaves for the day. Of course our day was ended by some good eats, including some KungPaoMeowMeow and such at the Chinese place in Telluride. We all called it a day anxiously waiting on the tracking number showing delivery of a shiny new driveshaft the next day so we could all continue our adventure.