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BDR'17

_RG_

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Yes, the portion of COBDR running from Lake City up to Buena Vista is greatly effected by the closure of Cottonwood Pass road. According to a guy at the Crested Butte visitor center, it'll remain closed for the rest of this summer and possibly next. Complete rebuild.

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I made the mistake of going around via Tincup Pass. This eventually took me into St. Elmo and Buena Vista. Tincup pass is harsh going up on the west side (from Tincup - Taylor Park). Coming down the east side is pretty smooth. I suggest we find another way around since the pass route is a class A beating. :giveup:
 
Me and Montejay will have to keep up with this. We're planing on doing the COBDR just not sure exactly when. yet.


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They don't call them the Rocky Mountains for no reason.


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We do the Tincup pass on our annual Run To The Rockies charity ride on 1150GS's. Yeah, it's tough. Especially with 100 lbs of gear!


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Oy! Mijo…

Huh?

I’ve heard of a ride called the BDR.

Where does it go?

Far as you want.

How long does it take?

Does it really matter?...


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Utah is one crazy kind of place. Geographically, it’s like all the left-over parts from creation were thrown into a big box and scattered around at random. From its border with Colorado the land changes as alpine meadows morph toward Moab desert in the span of only 150 miles. The desert experience continued as we left civilization behind and headed northwest from Moab toward Huntington. Slickrock traction and fascinating geology gave way to deep sand and dry washes in abundance. Loaded with gear, the TKC80 on front and Motoz Tractionator on the rear performed well. Both provided a narrow range of speeds when the bikes essentially “floated” along on the sand. Steerage was mostly a function of weighting foot pegs more so than involving the front tire. Heat and physical extremes added to an already demanding process of making it safely from endless silt to sand… to silt… to sand.

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The desert held on and was hard to shake loose.

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After Wellington Utah, we left the desert and quickly began climbing into the Wasatch range passing through the Uintah and Ouray reservations on our way to Heber, Utah.

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Temperatures dropped and the mountains became cool and beautiful. Utah is a crazy kind of place.

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I'm glad we rode the COBDR last year before all the problems!! My wife and I have ridden several of the BDR's and always had a great time, but CO is one of my favorite!!

We have ridden the WABDR, COBDR, NMBDR and UTBDR!! Hope to ride the others over the next few years!!

Glad to see you had a great time.. We cheat and ride them on CRF450X's, much lighter than your bikes and far easier to ride!!

Gary
 
I'm glad we rode the COBDR last year before all the problems!! My wife and I have ridden several of the BDR's and always had a great time, but CO is one of my favorite!!

We have ridden the WABDR, COBDR, NMBDR and UTBDR!! Hope to ride the others over the next few years!!

Glad to see you had a great time.. We cheat and ride them on CRF450X's, much lighter than your bikes and far easier to ride!!

Gary

There were a few times that I'd have liked to be on a smaller bike. WABDR sounds like a great ride. I had a chance to visit with the guy who runs the BDR website before we left. He was one of the speakers/sponsors at the GEICO rally in Gunnison. After visiting with him I could appreciate how well the BDR's are put together. He's an off-road motorcyclist just like the rest of us and looks for the same kinds of country we like to play in.
 
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If you are in Heber, the Swiss Alps Inn is a nice place to stay. The staff was very friendly and helpful. They also own a restaurant right next door that has great food and desserts. Sarah lost a charm off a bracelet in the hot tub and did not realize it until we had left town. I emailed them about it and they found it and mailed it back to us. Rooms were really clean and nice. The hot tub was great! Did I mention the desserts at the places next door? :drool:
 
Believe it! We stayed there and went next door for their burgers - and to watch the train go around the room. :lol2:
 
Believe it! We stayed there and went next door for their burgers - and to watch the train go around the room. :lol2:

Yeah, Sarah got a real kick out of the trains. I got a "kick" out of the giant malt/shake after the burger...:drool:
 
When you point to Heber City, Utah on a map – seems to look like the outer outskirts of Provo and Salt Lake City. What you don’t see are about the “whitest” white folks that I’ve ever been around. Not their complexion but their mannerisms. They reminded me of Richard Pryor’s old imitations of his white friend Richard. I’m from south Texas – those folks are not. Friendly as any people you’d ever want to meet but it’d be nearly impossible to hide a Texan in amongst them for any length of time.

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From Heber City the BDR took us into the high country once again. Making our way through the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache national forest, most of the day was spent well above ten thousand feet. The forests became tall and dense. I could see the lowbeam headlight from my motorcycle at 2PM on a clear day – that dense.


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That particular BDR section takes a northeasterly track and sees some dramatic changes in topography. Evanston, Wyoming would be our destination for the evening.


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Did you guys run Skyline Drive up the East side of the interstate? I starts down NE of Cedar City and ends at US 6 SE of Provo. It is an awesome ride.
 
Did you guys run Skyline Drive up the East side of the interstate? I starts down NE of Cedar City and ends at US 6 SE of Provo. It is an awesome ride.

That wasn't part of our track. We eventually had to deal with the interstate but more as an obstacle in connecting up the UTBDR with the IDBDR.
 
My day began well before daylight in a typical motel room to the sounds of a blow dryer screaming at full speed only steps away in the bathroom.

Since riding partner doesn’t have near enough hair left on his head to worry with such things, I was genuinely intrigued. Then the smell hit. Something between a mix of outdoor privy and picked over road-kill... with habenero sauce.

Seems when one’s wet riding boots fail to dry overnight, stuffing a motel hair drier into them and cranking away on it becomes perfectly reasonable. Sadly, the funky fumes coming from his boots or possibly overheating had an unfortunate effect on the dryer which caused the standard issue motel smoke alarm to get excited.

Despite unkind rumors to the contrary, we left well before management had us escorted from the property. :eek2:

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The forests of western Wyoming, along its border with northern Utah, would carry most of this next leg of the BDR.

My GPS track showed exactly 100 miles from Heber City to Evanston. Now, 100 miles may seem little more than a really good start. However, the BDR is not like the CDT in places I’ve been. BDR routes seem to swing from gentle scenic roads to more challenging off-road adventures. This also makes it quite a puzzle to predict with any accuracy just how long that 100 miles will take to complete.

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By now we were riding in some very remote parts of the world and failing to make it to the next gas or motel for the evening meant life would become way more exciting than I had appetite for.

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Leaving Evanston, the BDR track follows closely along the Bear River. Yes, it is a beautiful ride all the way up to Woodruff, Utah where the trail turns due west into the heart of the national forest. We again found ourselves among Aspens and amazing scenery as the track heads due north toward Bear Lake.

That initial awkwardness of riding loaded motorcycles had finally passed and we were throwing them around without much thought to picking them up off the ground. This made for a pretty quick trip and we found ourselves gassing up in Evanston, Wyoming by early afternoon. So, onward we went to our next stop in Preston, Idaho.

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Glad I am reading your post, as I am planning a short section of the COBDR in mid Sep. You mentioned the closure / detour that is NOT marked on the CODBR site! Thanks and happy travels.
 
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