Interlude: Dual sporting north of Squamish

I'll get back to the ride report soon, but we went and had a great day of riding today.

I posted a ride on dualsportbc I had 2 responses, both from guys who I'd ridden with before and wanted to ride with again (Bill and Simon). Both are great riders and we have the same attitude toward what a good ride (and good riders) look like.

Unfortunately there was a crash on the Sea to Sky and traffic was back up a ways. But we managed to 'scoot around' some cars and not get tickets :)

By 10.30 we made Squamish and were gassed and ready to go.

First up to Brohm ridge. The trail was rough and there were tons of rock gardens. Tough going as much of the rock was loose.

But there were some nice views along the way




Simon says "Hondas work great"


Bill busy fixing a shifter that stopped working (loose screw :) )


We got to the Chalet with no other problems (except for the damn loose rock, lots of 'tense' moments for me). I wasn't really in the grove yet.


Great setting






We left the lodge to go explore and see if we could make it all the way up to the actual ridge. The rocks got nasty and ugly. Bill stalled and I didn't see a safe way past. Neither of us managed to get the bikes going while on them. So we tried to push and then jump back on.

This is what my attempt looked like:


I guess the KLR got sleepy.

Also, this is where I need to insert the obligatory "it was much steeper than it looks".

I got some help from Simon to pick the KLR up and went back down. Bill and Simon went back after though and did a bunch of exploring.


I went back to the lodge and enjoyed the views




When the guys came back it was obvious that they had lots of fun


On the way down we stopped at this structure, I'd love to know what it used to be


At the bottom we actually rode some single track (no photos, I was busy keeping the KLR upright). Bills KTM decided to blow a gasket.


We went back to Squamish after a failed attempt to get through to some gravel at Alice Lake (damn wardens :) ).

After a quick snack we managed to find some more gravel and were in amongst a bunch mountain bikers. People were friendly and didn't seem to mind us riding there. After some more single track we found the trail we were looking for. It lead to this eventually:


Another different look at the mountains we saw from the skilodge, now further away of course.


A different view into Squamish


They are building some kind of tower


This was the best trail of the day. We reversed our route and went back into Squamish for some refreshments. Then back to Vancouver.

Except that Bill disappeared and when I went back to look for him, his bike had gotten sick and puked all over the pavement.


Back into Squamish I went to get some extra oil and then we nursed it home.

Made it home by 7 pm, dirty, tired and happy :)


A good day.

Bjorn

Photos from Lori & Jerry's wedding

It was a great night, one of the most relaxing and fun weddings I've been too :)

On the way there


Jerry before the ceremony


Waiting for the bride


She actually showed up!


Jerry already trying to get with women who are _not_ his wife!


Tony blowing bubbles in Matt's ear?!?


Photo op


Jerry and I post ceremony, doesn't he look more relaxed? :)


Jerry adjusting to his new role


Skull cufflink


"Photo of the photo"


There was some kissing (too dark I know, I didn't bring a big camera & flash :) )


Jerry Sr. playing & singing. Very talented!


Lori made her own wedding cake


... and hated cutting into it!


Jerry had no such concerns ;)


On his knees ...


Great time, good people :)

Bjorn

The Drunk-horse tour of Idaho, Oregon and Washington - Day 3

The real riding begins.

After some tasty waffles for breakfast I set out at about 8.30. I'd been in touch with Phil (HeadingNorth) and he'd made a number of suggestions about places to ride. In addition I'd seen other reports of the Lolo in a number of ride reports and was looking forward to it.

After Kamiah I started down NF 100 and the road is a ton of fun!


It twisted and turned like that for a while. I had a bit less weight on the bike as I left all the camping gear behind so the bike was more fun to ride as well.

Finally I thought I had a gravel road that would cut over to the 500.



But after about 5 minutes I found this blocking my path


And I only had a small hatchet with me. So back I went.

Just a few seconds up the road:


I swung down the road right in front of the sign and booted it ... only to realize I was on a road into a camp ground. Whoops.

Finally


The 500 is wide open and fast and after adjust to riding quick in the soft gravel I started having fun steering with the throttle.

Then onto the Lolo


Things got tighter and a bit more technical in a hurry.


I was having a blast. The weather was slightly overcast, not too hot, no rain, just a good day to be out riding.



At this point I was only stopping occasionally to take a photo, until I got to this spot. Time to get off the bike, have a powerbar and enjoy the quiet solitude.







Not too may places higher than were I stopped


After my snack it was back to riding. Every now and then I slowed a bit to take in some sights, but mostly I was focused on not running the bike off the path :) I haven't done that much solo offroad riding, especially when no one knew where I was, so I made sure to ride inside my comfort zone.

Two hours into the trip, I was about half way.


Note: If you click on the images you can see the details and should be able to read the text :)







This was one of the only places where you can cut out to Hwy 12.

Back on the trail though and the amazing scenery kept coming (I think this is just past the 'Indian Post Office')


The path runs across the top of the ridge


The road below


I was starting to get a bit tired, especially when I ended up on a freshly graded section. The loose rock and sand did not make for a very good ride. After about 30 minutes I finally reached the grader and was able to make it past.

At around 2.30pm I saw the sign advising of the Hwy 12 ahead.

One final look back


By now I was starved and turned into Powell Junction.


At the lodge I enjoyed an excellent Elk burger. YUM! If you're out that way I recommend you stop by. They have gas too, though I didn't think I'd need any and decided against filling up.

The rest of the trip back along Hwy 12 was pretty uneventful except for a number of construction sites which caused traffic to back up.

I had to switch to reserve just outside of Kamiah, but at least now I new the range when I ran a bunch of off road with load at elevation :)

A great day of riding followed by some beer and steak!

The Drunk-horse tour of Idaho, Oregon and Washington - Day 2

I slept quite well, which doesn't normally happen in hotels. So I was quite happy. My back had been sore as hell last night, mostly because I carried too much stuff in my back pack, which didn't fit between me and all the stuff on the bike. I'd repacked a few things and was hoping for a better day.

I'm must be a masochist because after breakfast at the Best Western I got all my stuff packed and headed back out on the interstate.

In case you haven't been Yakima and Kennewick are not exactly the 'jewels of Washington state'. More like the armpit. Or the as...... never mind, you get the idea.

So off I went. The wind was blowing, the bike was loaded and I just kept my head down for a few hour. There was dual sporting ahead after all, and I couldn't wait to get at it.

Once the interstate split from Hwy 12 things eventually got a bit smaller and I was enjoying the riding more.

And I like the emptiness:




I did make sure I rode the spiral highway north of Lewiston, and I rode the P1 going into Orofino, so there was a bit of fun to be had toward the end of the day. The temps were not to bad (mid 80's) and the KLR was running well.

I once again stayed at the Konkolville motel. Clean rooms and affordable. I wanted to make Orofino a bit of a base of operations for a couple of days.

After a dip in the pool I went out for good Mexican food and supplies (gator aid and powerbars for the riding and a six pack of Henry Weinhard's for the post ride enjoyment).

The real riding starts tomorrow and the good bits contain many more photos :)

Ride report: The Drunk-horse tour of Idaho, Oregon and Washington - Prep & Day 1

The Prep:

For a while this year it looked like I wouldn't be able to go on a trip.

First, the whole 'buying a place' thing got in the way (one of the reasons why there have been no blog updates).

Then, some other stuff happened that no-one really cares about, so I'll try not to bore you with it.

Finally, Jerry's getting married and can't get away, Tony's too busy selling real estate to ride and my Dad is coming to town when I was going to ride at the end of August.

So on Tuesday, Aug 4th, I booked two weeks off starting the next Monday and decided I better go on a bit of a trip. I had no idea where and started looking at ride reports on adventure rider to see what looked appealing. Finally I settled on Idaho. And ordered a GPS with express shipping to get it to me by Friday afternoon

One of the reasons was pretty simple, Tony and I had a good time there last year when we went and rode from Idaho into Montana via forest service (i.e. gravel) roads.

The bike was pretty much ready to go, all it needed was a new chain which wasn't a big deal. I'd had the sub-frame bolts upgraded, the rear tire was new, valves had been checked, oil changed... well you get the idea.

Packing proved a bit challenging as it I packed the day after Jerry's stag and wasn't at my best. I decided to pack a tent as I thought camping would be fun while out on the bike. Of course, I was too hung over to actually load the bike to see how things fit and I was in way too much of a rush to leave to actually take the stuff for a ride. After all, how hard could it be? Right?!

Day 1:

After the dry spell and heat wave of late July I woke up on Aug 10th to rain. Yup. In August.

So after having a coffee and some breakfast I headed down with all my gear. And there was lots of it.

The saddle bags were packed with camera gear, rain gear & first aid. One dry bag contained my cloths. Another 53 litre dry bag contained tools, shop manual, tent, thermal rest, a book, spare tubes, hatchet & shovel, sandals, sneakers ... well it was quite full. And then there were two XXL zip lock bags, each large enough to fit a decent sized ... well I'm not sure what, but they were damn big. 2 feet by 2 feet or something. One held my sleeping bag, the other another themarest for camping (I like to be comfortable, K?!)

And there was no way all that would fit on the bike. So I'm out in the rain, swearing, still sweating because I was getting a bit stressed and not able to take everything. I finally run back up and toss the 2nd XXL ziplock with the extra thermarest back into my condo and get on the bike.

A smart man would have taken a few photos knowing he was going to write a ride report. I took no photos.

As I was about to get going the rain stopped, though the clouds were still very dark (you need to take my word for it, after all I just explained that I took no photos). A smart man would have still put on the rain gear. I made sure it was nicely packed in the right saddle bag.

No problems at the border due to Nexus allowing me to bypass the 30 - 60 minute lineup.

And off I went.

Normally I like to go across the Cascades highway, but with the weather I decided a straight shot south followed by a crossing at Stevens Pass then onto Yakima for the night.

Well sure enough it rained on I-5. And by the time I pulled over I was damn cold and wet. Even the extra hot latte at Starbucks (support corporate America!) I wasn't feeling that great. But I got the rain gear on and was a bit more comfortable after.

Finally, after crossing over the pass I stopped and got out of my rain gear (now only wet on the inside as it turns into a bit of a sauna). And I even managed to remember to take a photo.

This is what the bike looks like loaded:



There will be more photos (many, many more) later showing the bike and it's load ;)

After this a pretty uneventful day. The Yakima Canyon was beautiful as always.





Although there's no dual sporting to be had anywhere:


I got into Yakima and finally found a room at the Best Western, had dinner at a truck stop and wondered how some people stay employed.

End of Day 1.