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Wyoming BDR

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Couple more...
Pronghorn are abundant. Think of hill country deer that simply disappear when still. Those guys are masters of camouflage. Had one close encounter that could have been really unpleasant.

Water... had a couple of days when we just couldn't drink enough. Dry...dry air and sunshine sux it out like never before. Bizarre experience. Our Texas bodies aren't accustomed to that air and altitude.

Water crossings are no big deal. If you've done hill country crossings then even the expert bdr creeks are vaguely amusing. The one with wanky bricks drops off as you approach going north but so what... ride the dang motorcycle.
 
_RG_ said:
Couple more...
Pronghorn are abundant. Think of hill country deer that simply disappear when still. Those guys are masters of camouflage. Had one close encounter that could have been really unpleasant.

Water... had a couple of days when we just couldn't drink enough. Dry...dry air and sunshine sux it out like never before. Bizarre experience. Our Texas bodies aren't accustomed to that air and altitude.

Water crossings are no big deal. If you've done hill country crossings then even the expert bdr creeks are vaguely amusing. The one with wanky bricks drops off as you approach going north but so what... ride the dang motorcycle.
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How much water were guys carrying for each day?
 
_RG_ said:
We topped off our backpacks each morning. That was enough except for those couple of days. I went dry way early once. Campgrounds usually have a hand water pump that you can use. Wonderfully cold water.
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Thanks! Would you guess a couple liters in the back pack?
 
I was carrying a 3 liter CamelBak and was running on empty a couple of days. On those hot dry sections, I should have added a an extra water bottle, but there isn't always an open store when you need one up there. Also think about some type of electrolytes to supplement when drinking that much water. I would drink several cups of water before each mornings ride and often never need to "take a break" if you know what I mean.

Once we traveled more North, the heat and dehydration issues subsided.
 
Thanks guys. How many days did you take to do the BDR portion of the ride?
 
We decided to ride it as posted, so it was 8 days from start to finish. We were riding fully loaded big bikes and are decent riders and it was plenty of effort each day. I had created some alternate tracks to add extra miles, but after getting lost in a wind farm trying to follow old wagon tracks, we stuck to the script. I am sure it is much easier on smaller bikes, but we were thankful for the one short day. The heat in the first couple of days really changes the dynamics.

Here is a gopro of me wicking it up a bit on Day 5 I believe

 
kubotamiketx said:
We decided to ride it as posted, so it was 8 days from start to finish. We were riding fully loaded big bikes and are decent riders and it was plenty of effort each day. I had created some alternate tracks to add extra miles, but after getting lost in a wind farm trying to follow old wagon tracks, we stuck to the script. I am sure it is much easier on smaller bikes, but we were thankful for the one short day. The heat in the first couple of days really changes the dynamics.

Here is a gopro of me wicking it up a bit on Day 5 I believe

Click to expand...
Thanks again for all the info. I am really looking forward to doing this ride in a couple weeks.
 
kubotamiketx said:
We decided to ride it as posted, so it was 8 days from start to finish. We were riding fully loaded big bikes and are decent riders and it was plenty of effort each day. I had created some alternate tracks to add extra miles, but after getting lost in a wind farm trying to follow old wagon tracks, we stuck to the script. I am sure it is much easier on smaller bikes, but we were thankful for the one short day. The heat in the first couple of days really changes the dynamics.

Here is a gopro of me wicking it up a bit on Day 5 I believe

Click to expand...
Mr Just came off ankle fracture , slow down !
 
kubotamiketx said:
We decided to ride it as posted, so it was 8 days from start to finish. We were riding fully loaded big bikes and are decent riders and it was plenty of effort each day. I had created some alternate tracks to add extra miles, but after getting lost in a wind farm trying to follow old wagon tracks, we stuck to the script. I am sure it is much easier on smaller bikes, but we were thankful for the one short day. The heat in the first couple of days really changes the dynamics.

Here is a gopro of me wicking it up a bit on Day 5 I believe

Click to expand...
Ya there were some stretches where we really gassed it. Couple of my group are old supercross and desert racers and hard to keep up with. One of the guys finished 2nd overall and 1st in class out of over 1200 entrants in the ‘84 Barstow to Vegas race. Probably would have finished first if he had been riding for a different team (he wasn’t with Honda). Love to watch the old guys rip! Now me, not so much.
 
Hump said:
Ya there were some stretches where we really gassed it. Couple of my group are old supercross and desert racers and hard to keep up with. One of the guys finished 2nd overall and 1st in class out of over 1200 entrants in the ‘84 Barstow to Vegas race. Probably would have finished first if he had been riding for a different team (he wasn’t with Honda). Love to watch the old guys rip! Now me, not so much.
Click to expand...

Having a rip is fine, just don't RIP!
 
A few other helpful hints. Food is a bit of a problem. Depending on the day of the week a location may have zero restaurants open so be sure you have something to get the day started. I think RG and I only had one "official" lunch on the trail, it was typically a cliff bar or some such thing on the side of the road. When we did get breakfast it was typically pretty good and large helpings. You will have to defend yourself and your food from the well coordinated attacks from persistent fly's. They seem to be everywhere and in greatest numbers when located inside a food establishment.

Gas wasn't to much of a problem for our big bikes we had a solid 200 to 240 mile range which worked out.

A lot of places close early including the ability to check into accommodations, so be aware and contact them if possible.

One huge mistake I made was to not add waypoints to my GPS for the hotels/rooms I was staying in. I assumed I could use my cell phone to find the hotel/room for that night, but soon discovered cell service is non-existent in many places. I wasted a lot of time and miles trying to find my room for the night only to find it was in another direction. Super simple to fix, add it to the GPS.

Weather is a huge variable. RG and I got luckier than we deserved with fantastic weather. If it rained in the night, we just delayed our start an extra hour and the trail was dry enough to make that section virtually dust free. Since we stuck to the published schedule we never felt rushed or short of time.

What ever you do, if your ability lets you, do all of the expert sections, especially the one on day 7. That was some of the most fun ridding we have done in years, it would have been a crime to have bypassed it.

In fact there was on section that was on a long wide gravel road in a VERY affluent area with fancy ranches that someone was actually watering the road with a massive water truck to keep the dust down for the fancy people. Very nice of them to do that just for us.

Heat was an issue, so I very glad I did not wear my big adventure jacket, I went with a mesh and carried a waterproof outer shell I could toss on. Temps did vary wildly, mostly tied to elevation. We saw 30 to 40 degree swings each day, so layers seemed to work well. Also for some reason temperatures in WY mean nothing. Somehow morning temps of 56 degrees felt perfectly comfortable but 88 degrees seemed to affect us the same as 100 degrees do here in Texas. Sunscreen is not an option...

hth
 
It takes at least a month for me to acclimate each year when I get here , that first month I’m blowing Texas crap out of my head day and night and I’ll go through two bottles of hand lotion and it still cold in may but I’ve only felt sweat a few times and that’s when I’m really doing the type work that I never do at home . Rode down to a nasty dry gulch crossing to see about building a bridge , it’s maybe 8 or ten miles out in the red basin and I’ve tried several times to ride through it , crashed several times made it twice without my butt hitting the ground but my feet did a lot . I want to ride it clean . One side 45% 20 feet deep with a turn up stream at the bottom to dodge a Boulder then you have to make a 130 degree turn back to the right to ride up the south bank , much less steep but big boulders sticking out of the dirt in several places to dodge around . I have ridden down , then rode upstream several feet till there’s room to turn around then ridden out flowing the cow trail . It’s just a 4 point turn bouncing up on the bank to get reversed . The fun part is the two 50 foot gulches on the trail to get there . a local told me I could use his mule but I’m not really sure I want to try that dragging 12 foot timbers through those deep gully’s and all the ruts to get them where I want them . My bikes fine riding the trails , I’m not sure about setting on a bench seat and pushing a gas pedal .
 
kubotamiketx said:
Heat was an issue, so I very glad I did not wear my big adventure jacket, I went with a mesh and carried a waterproof outer shell I could toss on. Temps did vary wildly, mostly tied to elevation. We saw 30 to 40 degree swings each day, so layers seemed to work well. Also for some reason temperatures in WY mean nothing. Somehow morning temps of 56 degrees felt perfectly comfortable but 88 degrees seemed to affect us the same as 100 degrees do here in Texas. Sunscreen is not an option...

hth
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This is an awesome piece of information. We won't be riding until 9/1 and are riding North to South. I have been having a hard time deciding what jacket and pants to bring. Looks like I am wearing mesh and bringing water proof shells.
 
Simmons1 said:
This is an awesome piece of information. We won't be riding until 9/1 and are riding North to South. I have been having a hard time deciding what jacket and pants to bring. Looks like I am wearing mesh and bringing water proof shells.
Click to expand...
I assume you are taking the T7?
 
I have seen a foot of snow on top in august here on the north end . been lots of rain building during the day and running the mountians north to south the last couple weeks , today it’s dry and I don’t remember seeing anything yesterday , you can bet if a norther comes through there will be white stuff in the high country in September .
 
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