Half CDR + COBDR 2020

[randypower]

A couple of work buddies and I chatted over lunch about traveling on the CDT/CDR. Two out of three agreed we'd do it but it would have to be after things like kids' graduations and other commitments, so we targeted 2020 which would be over 4 years away. Daniel and I began our planning in earnest last year, and we just returned from 3 weeks on the road. Here are some highlights.

Daniel lives in Idaho Falls, ID, so I would somehow get to his place then we'd ride north to the Canadian border and ride the CDR southbound. Then COVID happened with NM asking visitors to quarantine for 14 days. We ultimately decided to ride the top half of the CDR through Montana and Wyoming (it touches Idaho too, but not by much), leaving Colorado and New Mexico for another time. Then we'd pick up the Colorado BDR southbound, and the Utah BDR northbound. It's a bit ambitious, but I had a very rare month off work. Our riding friend @F-Ride who moved to Colorado a couple of years ago would also joining us for some of his new home state.

Daniel picked up a 2019 Husqvarna FE 350 and added a rally-style tower and Mosko Moto bags. I would take either my Wee Strom or XT250, and based on your advice here, I chose the XT. Also, that thread connected me with the legendary @humanrace, aka Denny, with whom I would truck to Idaho Falls along with my son @RoverT, who then drove the cage back to Texas. @humanrace then began his own months-long ride while Daniel and I began our ride.

We left Texas on July 17, 2020 and I return to work on August 17.

FIRST, en route to Idaho Falls, @humanrace, @RoverT and I stopped to enjoy Shafer Trail next to Moab. A short'ish ride in the early morning, but so worth it.

One of the few shots we got of @humanrace. The man is too fast on his DRZ400SM!

 

[randypower]

CDR days 1-3 - Idaho Falls, Dillon, Twin Bridges, Eureka (by Canadian border)

We brought camping gear just in case, but we would motel/hotel because... bears. We had some pavement, but lots of dirt through the mountains over the 3 days to Eureka, the small Montana town just south of the the line on the map separating Canada from the U.S.

Daniel spotted long horn sheep nicely camouflaged against a rock outcrop.

After climbing this curvy gravel road, we stopped for pictures then my bike wouldn't start. Really? We hadn't seen anyone for hours at this point. It just wouldn't turn over. Luckily, there was a nice hill to try push starting it on. Fired right up, and it never happened again. My high capacity Shorai was depleted somehow (accessory lights? double USB outlet powering phone and GoPro? Trail Tech Voyager Pro?) ... I'll never know because I ran all these later with no issues. I kept a close eye on the voltage monitor in the Trail Tech after this.

Real cowboys

Pretty Pavement:

This sign confirms the choice for motels:

We rarely ran into traffic on this ride.

 

[randypower]

CDR day 4 - Eureka MT - Seeley Lake MT

That's Canada behind us.

The grass really is greener on the other side (left = USA; right = Canada). I seriously don't understand how this happens. Same hill, same rainfall, two colors divided by the country line and a fence.

Montana has plenty of gravel.

 

[Jarrett]

The grass really is greener on the other side (left = USA; right = Canada). I seriously don't understand how this happens. Same hill, same rainfall, two colors divided by the country line and a fence.

More grazing the US side, I'd guess.

Awesome pics and trip.

 

[randypower]

CDR day 5 - Seeley Lake MT - Butte MT

I suppose you'd get tired of any view after some time, but this didn't get old for us.

My son Seth made this ExciteBike perler for me years ago. ExciteBike guy and I traveled together.

What would be more fun to travel in/on? A little motorcycle or this super cool steampunk schoolie?

This is the place Daniel calls, "Where Randy tried to kill us." I thought it would be a good idea to explore up a double track road, which quickly turned to single track on the side of the steep mountain with no easy way to turn around. I leaned my bike against the uphill side of the mountain (didn't lean far... that's how steep it is) and took this shot before risking life, limb, and bike turning around, turning backwards downhill into a tree then powering up. Daniel did the same a few yards behind me. It was a struggle and I heard some cracks but the brake light was intact.

Back on the CDR trail, we took a steep rocky path up to Granite Butte Lookout, and oh was that worthwhile!

 

[randypower]

More grazing the US side, I'd guess.

Awesome pics and trip.

Aha! That makes so much sense now. We ran across our fair share of cows. Thanks for reading along.

 

[randypower]

CDR days 6-7 - Butte MT - West Yellowstone

We chased all the dirt we could, but sometimes opted for pavement because we were a little optimistic on the daily miles. The variety was enjoyable, and the pace worked out pretty well with weather. We only got really rained on a couple of times, and not for too long. Only one really soaked us.

Here we are chasing a storm.

Sand below and rain above.

The roads and paths were often lined with beautiful flowers, but this raised another mystery to me: Why are there purple bluebonnets?

We enjoyed a lovely ride to this point, then ... bridge out. There was a diagonal (lower right to upper left) path to cross if needed, but it was deep in a couple of spots and super muddy on the opposite shore. Daniel spotted moose tracks on our shoreline. We opted to backtrack a few miles.

This was my first visit to Yellowstone National Park. It was my first time to Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, for that matter.

I saw a couple of bison. This one was about 100 yards away.

... and this one was a few feet away. He was lumbering down the road in the oncoming lane. I cunningly dodged him, securing the truck as a shield. That's me in the red/gray jacket.

 

[Jarrett]

Did you say that was a Husky 350 with all that stuff on it?

If so, is he doing oil changes every 600 miles?

 

[randypower]

Did you say that was a Husky 350 with all that stuff on it?

View attachment 270573

If so, is he doing oil changes every 600 miles?

Yeah, Husky FE 350. But don't worry... it's not back-heavy. He also had tank panniers to keep the front equally heavy.

He did several oil changes along the way. In that right lower-rear bag is a collection of four 1-liter oil canisters (actually gas canisters with oil) for a total of just over one gallon. He got slightly lighter with every oil change. He kinda bought the bike on an impulse and after purchase, I was the one who told him about the requirement. It was a face-palm moment, but too late. Anyway, he loves the bike otherwise and it performed great. We joked that he could always outrun me but I would be the tortoise with a 6,000-mile interval passing the hare on the side of the road changing its oil.

 

[randypower]

CDR day 8 - West Yellowstone - Pinedale WY

A little muddy and a little cow.

... and a little pavement:

The Tetons:

We had secured our motel in Boulder, WY, and it was our longest day of riding. We arrived after 9pm in the dark -- the only day with nighttime riding -- to find the nice lady at the bar had no record of our stay and that the rooms were all sold out. We trekked the 12 miles back north to Pinedale and spent too much money on another option. We were happy to get to sleep.

 

[randypower]

CDR day 9 - Pinedale WY - Baggs WY

This was our last day on the CDR. If you're looking for technical riding, the CDR will leave you wanting. If you're looking for small town and rural beauty away from the big city, this route might be for you.

BEGIN EDIT -- SHIFT LEVER MECHANICAL
At a point along today's dirt path, I attempted to shift gears and my foot found only air where my shift lever should have been. I discovered the bolt had come loose and fortunately the level itself was still attached, dangling by the linkage to the shift shaft.

I was stuck in 3rd gear, so ran a couple of stop signs and stopped at the next convenient point, a gas station with a concrete pad that would be perfect for roadside work.

I patched it by stealing -- ahem, borrowing -- the bolt from a rear passenger peg. It was wonky but worked well enough. And I ordered the correct OEM bolt to be overnighted to our hotel in Steamboat Springs.

END EDIT -- SHIFT LEVER MECHANICAL


We would ride straight through this storm and get drenched, south of Rock Springs, WY.

Wyoming showed its love for Magnesium Chloride to control dust on this very long stretch -- Co Rd 25 / Hiawatha Road -- we took eastward into Baggs WY. We made a beeline for the car wash that evening to spray off all we could from the bikes. For those of us who like desolate, it was a pretty, remote ride.

 

[randypower]

COBDR day 1 - Baggs WY - Steamboat Springs CO

We would ride the Colorado BDR southbound, one of the 6 sections per day, so if you follow the BDR map, we started with section 6 and worked our way to section 1.

We met the inimitable @F-Ride this morning, about an hour into the day, just outside of Three Forks Ranch. Fred mentioned this is a destination for those with strong wallets. It looked pretty from the outside. Little Snake River runs along the entrance.

Gotta stop at Clark Store. That was a local guy's DR650 in the background.

My new shifter bolt and wave washer had arrived at the hotel, so I happily installed that evening. I thought it was all good.

 

[randypower]

COBDR day 2 - Steamboat Springs CO - Meredith CO

The day started off smoothly enough, but my shifter began failing to shift reliably. It degraded to where I could only switch between two gears, usually 3rd and 4th. I thought I might have bent the shift shaft or maybe one of the gears broke a tooth inside the transmission. I almost couldn't cross a water crossing because I couldn't get down from 3rd gear and I didn't want to burn the clutch through it. Fortune favored me and I somehow got it into first gear and cross without incident.

We met up with Fred who had ridden ahead and camped.

 

[randypower]

COBDR day 3 - Meredith CO - Leadville CO

Shifter update: Consulting the book of knowledge (in this case, the Service Manual for my bike), I realized the foolish mistake I made on my shifter. I failed to grease it to enable smooth lever rotation on the bolt. Gah! Fred's father-in-law kindly provided a grease gun and in 15 minutes, I was shifting like butter.


Fun start up to Hagerman Pass

Then, like raindrops that fall side by side, we went our separate ways at the Continental Divide: Daniel and I toward the Pacific, and Fred toward the Atlantic.

 

[randypower]

COBDR day 4 - Leadville CO - Lake City CO (the hard/expert day)

If we had been bored with the riding till now, this day would change that. We opted for the difficult route across Hancock Pass. The first few miles on this (southbound) are pavement and we wondered if it had been paved since the last BDR update. Nope. The baby heads turned to serious rocks and before even getting to the start of the trail, my XT took a nap for the first time. I have no photos of the tipovers because both our bikes donate gasoline to the ground when napping. With 2.6 gallons (plus 1-gallon Rotopax), I had none to spare.

A little water crossing prior to the pass:

So it begins.

Nothing I had ridden compares to the challenge of this ascent. It claimed me one more time on the way up and once on the descent. But the truth is I got lucky just standing up, leaning forward, and powering through with all the loaded but Mighty XT250 had to give. No photos or video ever do justice to understand the incline grade.

3 1/2-minute video of some of the ascent. (Daniel wouldn't be convinced to stand up. )

Near the summit, we saw a real wild moose... finally. That was a first for me, despite numerous visits to Maine which has roads lined with promises to see moose.

Made it.

More beauty rewards survivors.

BEGIN EDIT - Lost plate and dog bite

In the morning on a dirt road leading to Hancock Pass, I noticed Daniel had lost his license plate.... turns out it had broken off. And that explained the rubbing sound he had been hearing that morning. We had both rear tires replaced the day before and his now-fatter/taller tire reached just far enough up to back end of the fender that supported his plate. I turned around to look for it and came back to a guy on a walk with his dog NOT on a leash. I rolled up slowly and the dog was calm on the right. Turning my look to the left where the guy was, the dog (perhaps an Aussie) took the opportunity to have a chunk of breakfast supplied by the meat of my right calf. My textil riding pants were not pierced but it didn't feel one bit of good. The walker came over and informed me that "it was nothing." "Yeah, no. Your dog bit me hard." But without piercing the pants, I calculated he wouldn't have pierced my skin so the risk of Dog Transmitted Disease was low.

Then I noticed Daniel's license plate laying in the gutter upside down (black plastic on dark brown dirt in the shade). So was it good or bad luck that the dog bit me? I may never know.

Here's the bite the next morning.

 

[Jeff S]

.....

 

[randypower]

COBDR day 5 - Lake City CO - Telluride CO

This day was back to easy riding and maybe the most picturesque day from the heights. We crossed multiple passes including California, Cinnamon, and Ophir.

The view from California Pass. Note the motorcycle down in the lower left corner on the road. It was crowded. I met a rider on a Yamaha TW200 and another on an XT250.

 

[randypower]

COBDR day 6 - Telluride CO - Four Corners CO/NM/AZ/UT

We had a pretty ride most of the day to end the COBDR.

But the afternoon was very hot. And as notified by Google Maps, the Four Corners monument is very much closed. We were very happy to have made it but very tired.

 

[randypower]

GOING HOME

Somewhere days before, we had agreed that we would skip the Utah BDR. 15 days of riding half of the CDR and the COBDR would give us our fill of riding for now. We had a lot of fun, enjoying every day. The pattern was starting the day feeling great, looking forward to that day's ride, having great conversations on the intercoms, meeting a few people along the way (despite being an introvert, I do enjoy this in small doses), and ending the day with a good meal and usually wiped out.

So back in Cortez, CO, we said our goodbyes on the early morning of Tuesday, August 4, 2020. Daniel headed north to Idaho Falls and I took off east across Colorado.

This was my view leaving town.

Climbing mountains, the temp dropped to 47, but it was comfortable all day. I planned to ride until I was tired, and ended up with 483 miles on the Mighty XT, my longest ride on any day on any bike. Far from an IronButter, but good for me.

I took 3 days to get home (Spring Branch, TX), spending the night at Boise City, OK and Childress, TX. The Texas panhandle is a pretty place to ride.

One final stop en route to casa was the Conoco Tower / U Drop Inn in Shamrock, TX.

 

[Silver bike]

Terrific Dventure!

 

[randypower]

Final random thoughts:

• 3,952 miles total on two wheels in 18 days
• 1,118 miles home in 3 days (subset of the above)
• States covered: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas (Bonus of Arizona if I want to cheat... err, i mean, be technical)
• I love riding motorcycles. I determined that I really do enjoy longer trips on a bike, including the minimalism it forces. I am glad to be home, but would happily go on another ride tomorrow on a bigger bike on pavement. (My V-Strom just perked up.) I'll look forward to more dirt another time. I've had enough for a while.
• The XT250 was as reliable as expected. It was great for me in dirt, and was less than stellar on the highway. I probably let 15 cars/day pass me during the 3 days home.
• On packing: When I got home, I unpacked and realized pretty much all the material things I need were with me, or could be with me. I feel I did a pretty good job of packing, with some a couple of exceptions. I used most things and am very glad I didn't use the others (first aid / emergencies, tire changing, most tools).
• The dual USB outlet failed my last day, but I nursed my phone's 70% battery all day.
• The Trail Tech Voyager Pro is a great device for sensors and subpar for mapping. You can see where you are, kind of, though the content on the map displayed is mediocre at best. I am glad I had it, and it would have been better than nothing if I had to figure out a route home by it.
• My dashboard setup worked out very well. Despite being very cramped on the small bike which has handlebars with a cross bar, I mounted the GoPro, Voyager Pro, dual USB outlet, SAE outlet, and phone mount.

Thanks for reading through this. And thank you, Scott, TWTex, and all the crew here for the info, advice, camaraderie.

 

[Rydah]

Excellent write up! Felt like I was along for the ride as I read it. Great pics by the way; what were you taking them with? I'll have to locate some routes and try this sometime. Give thanks too for fuel injection as a carb'ed 250 would never handle those elevations. Thanks again for sharing the adventure.

 

[randypower]

Excellent write up! Felt like I was along for the ride as I read it. Great pics by the way; what were you taking them with? I'll have to locate some routes and try this sometime. Give thanks too for fuel injection as a carb'ed 250 would never handle those elevations. Thanks again for sharing the adventure.

Thanks Rydah. My rule for cameras was to keep it easy. If it was going to be a big operation (DSLR, drone), it was ruled out. I wanted to enjoy the ride, not make it a job to shoot. And I generally shot less every day. I didn't even mount the GoPro on the last 3 days home, and that little change was mentally liberating during the ride. It's a balance.

The pics and video taken while riding were from a GoPro 8 mounted to the bars with a RAM ball mounted to the left mirror mount, and powered by USB-C. I had a helmet mount but the GoPro batteries would have to be changed frequently so I never used the helmet mount. Most stopped stills were taken with my cheap Moto X4 phone. I also had a 7-year-old Panasonic Lumix ZS-25 point-and-shoot in the tank bag for times when I wanted an optical zoom. I used that on the moose, for example. Wide shots are pale but the tighter shots look better.

I had a daily ritual to collect all the new media into a folder on a 5TB USB hard drive designed for rough handling, and I'd VPN to home and upload overnight for backup.

Until two years ago, my XT250 was a carb'd 2009 version which I sold in favor of my current 2013 to prepare for this trip. (Taking the Wee was a thought that came later.) The motor performed flawlessly at all altitudes.

In 2016, I took the 09 to Mexico up to 12,000 feet. It never gave out but it wouldn't idle without some throttle.

 

[randypower]

I have the daily GPX tracks I'm happy to share if interested. But you wouldn't necessarily want to follow our CDR days because of some highway bypasses. And you wouldn't need our COBDR tracks, as the official BDR tracks are available.

 

[_RG_]

Very nice! Thanks for letting us tag along. XT... amazing.