Jump to content

IDBDR July/Aug 2015


Recommended Posts

  • Administrators

Just got done with the IDBDR the other day and making my way back home. I will be posting a ride report shortly.

Overall, it was a great trip. It is long, dusty and not as difficult as other BDR's like CO or AZ.

The project 990 bike did very well. I did have three flats but had I been running heavy duty tubes, that most likely would not have happened.

It was great to finally meet Nate in person as well as ride with Mats again (we did COBDR together two years ago).

image.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Administrators

Day -2 had me riding straight from our Sequoia ride (Fish Creek) where we raised $1,170 for Lost for a Reason. I ride from camp there up through Nevada and ended up camping at Spencer Hot Spring near Austin. I met a family there who were very nice to me and gave me two of their beers and let me sit by their fire.

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Day -1 had me riding from Spencer Hot Spring to Jarbidge. Mats got there the night before and I was supposed to meet Nate in Charleston but we met in Elko as chance would have it.

I think it was 40-something miles of dirt into Jarbidge. Nate and I stayed at the campground north of town and Mats stayed at a motel in town. This would become a pattern :)

This first photo is a lookout south of Jarbidge and the next is Mats at breakfast the next morning.

image.jpg

image.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Day 1 had us waking to temps of 29 degrees! I was not prepared for that but luckily it warmed up fast.

We made our way north on some very fast and easy roads all day to Pine.

We got to Glenn's Ferry and it was hot! Mats said he wanted ice cream and a Red Bull so we found this place called the Fudge Factory. Whatever you do, do NOT give this place your business! We pulled into an empty parking lot and parked in some shade next to the place. The owner came out and very rudely said "I guess you guys can't read the no parking signs I put up!"

&%$#@!? A simple "could you please move your bikes" would have sufficed and won him our business. Nate apologized and said we'd move and I said that's okay, let's just go somewhere else and the guy says "good!" He came out later and said our license plates (CA and UT) explain why we can't read! I was ready to pound this guy but we just left. I left him negative reviews on Facebook and then he continues his psycho rant there! So I gave him a review on Yelp and Google+ too.

Seriously, don't go there. Ever.

We managed to put that drama behind us and made our way into Pine where we found the most killer campground ever next to the river with a hot spring right next to it!

Not sure why I don't have any pics but stay tuned for Nate's

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Day 2 was our first 200+ mile day from Pine to Yellow Pine.

Did I mention IDBDR is long? Seriously, we are not slow riders at all it you really need to tackle these stages early in the morning and hope for good weather and no trouble...

And then there was my first flat.

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Day 3: Yellow Pine to Elk City.

 

Did I mention IDBDR is LONG?  I thought I did...

 

We started out the day knowing it would be a long section but thought we might stop at Burgdorf Hot Springs and just stay put there.  But when we got there, we just didn't get a super good vibe from the place.  Might have been because they had no beer or wifi  :lol:   So we continued on but chose to do a 20 mile detour into Riggins to get gas and something to eat.  I had also gotten my first pinch flat!  I really think it was the thin stock tubes.  Big mistake not switching those out before the trip.

image

 

At Riggins we decided to keep going and to try and make Elk City.

 

image

image

 
Stopped at the bus too!

image

 

After this I ended up with my first fall of the trip.  I picked a bad line coming down a steep hill and my front tire caught a rut.  Instead of gassing out of it, I grabbed too much front brake and we all know what comes next... 

 

We did make it into Elk City but it was just after 8 pm.  The local restaurant had closed at 7 and was already full of firefighters anyways, so we went to the saloon nearby and had a great dinner (even if it did take a while).  I think we got to be (hotel) at nearly 11 pm!  Very long day!

 

My recommendations to folks doing this IDBDR is not to take each day as a stage you MUST complete at all costs.  Stop and smell the roses and if you find a place you like, spend a bit more time.  Otherwise, it becomes a race and that's not really a good time.

 

It's also a good idea on stages 2 and 3 to try and get an early start, eat on the trail, and hopefully have no mechanical snafus.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Day 4: Elk City to Darby

 

The track this day was actually quite nice and scenic.  The area we went through is called the Magruder Corridor.

 

Everything was going great... until my second flat!  That's when the abuse started...

 

 

We got to Darby at a reasonable time and it was good to have time to find a campground, eat and get settled in for the night.

 

Mats stayed at a hotel ("Starbucks" we kept calling him) in town and lucky for him, he found a cool brew pub that we missed.  Have to check that one out next time.

 

Nate and I got a pretty decent campsite at Lake Como.  I think they were $8 each.

 

Day 4 video update

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Day 5: Darby to Pierce

 

Make that Darby to Kamiah...  This day would prove to be our biggest adventure.  We left Darby and opted out of the first optional dirt extra segment.  We figured we'd done a lot of dirt miles already in the past two days and kind of just wanted a break.  That turned out to be a good idea because we encountered a forest fire and had to turn back!

 

We did see a sign that said "fire activity ahead" so I thought it was some kind of control burn situation.  We had also seen a fire crew drive past us earlier in the day.  We finally came up to the flames and it looked like it was burning out in just that section.  We turned around a got to a clearly close by and decided to wait.  We heard this odd noise and couldn't tell if it was a freight train or heavy equipment... It turned out to be a raging fire coming up the hill!  Holy crap!  We got out of there and went about a half mile down the road and waited for about 30 minutes before coming back to check on the progress.  Unfortunately the whole trail was ablaze!  I have video I'll post shortly of that.

 

So we realized this was no control burn and there was no fire crew present.  We turned back and had to backtrack about 20 miles and then down a road to the highway.  I used part of my RotoPax I got from AltRider and even split that w/Nate but I ended up running out of gas on the highway.  

 

After I put the last few drops we'd saved in my tank, I pack up and notice my rear tire is FLAT!  Seriously? !!!  So we spent another 45 min or so changing that and then got under way.

 

Then I run out of gas AGAIN!  Just 6 miles shy of a gas station.  Mats took my RotoPax into town and filled it and brought it back for me.  :)  We ended up eating dinner in Kooskia but couldn't get a room, so we went to Kamiah and got a hotel late.

 

Here's my video update.  Can you spot the fatigue?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Day 6: Kamiah to Wallace

We had about an hour of slab to make up because of our fire detour the day before, but made it into Pierce at a decent time, gassed up and hit the trail.

Here's an update about halfway through

We did run into JD and Maria along with Mike and Laura and some four wheelers following them at the Blue Heaven cabin. I've ridden w/ JD and Maria quite a few times in Baja, so it was great to see them. They were headed south.

We got to Avery and had some great ice cream at this place. I had a sandwich. We saw a moose walk right by the porch! Really cool.

We got just a bit north of town and found a nice campground, so we ended up staying there.

Here's my video update. I sound drunk but it's mostly fatigue. I had only two beers in me at this point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

I've done CO, AZ and ID now.  CO is my favorite for most scenic.  AZ was toughest.  ID is longest and dustiest but also the easiest.  I hear WA is very similar to ID but haven't done it yet.  I'd like to do UT but I hear you have to time it right or else it's either too hot in the south or too cold/snowy in the northern parts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

I'm sure Nate will do this more justice than me, but I did put together this short video to give you an idea of this forest fire drama we encountered on our way from Darby to Pierce.  At first it was like no big deal, it's a control burn, firefighters are on scene... and then became obvious it was just a regular out of control forest fire; the kind you do NOT want to be anywhere around!

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Reply with:

XL Adventure Motorcycle Community

Register a new account Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...