JMZ
0
Nothing wrong with Steve's head other than he has to pay his barber by the acre . LMAO.
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Uncle and Nephew Ride the Cousins on NMBDR
- Thread starter KsTeveM
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2014
- Messages
- 1,099
- Reaction score
- 3,746
- Location
- San Marcos, Texas
- First Name
- Steve
- Last Name
- Pylant
We made it, back at the Albuquerque KOA, eventful day. Several times I had to put the massive cranium acreage to use. We had a good night visiting with our friends in Angel Fire and enjoyed their hospitality with beds, showers, cold beer and a heater…..this morning it was 30F. We immediately headed right in to the woods of the Carson NF, riding the high ridge lines flirting with 11K feet on good forest trails. I tried to do a more obscure route that did not work out. The water puddles were frozen, I did a wheelie on one and when the rear tire hit the hole, chunks of ice and mud hit KTMCarhat, my bad, sort of. Tough riding on the trail less traveled, and it did not make all the difference. Downed trees, log hopping, dead ends but we survived, some bikes may have gone down, it happens. Had to get back on a major forest road. Lost some time but it was still cool. The aspens this far north were turning more colors.
So we survived the morning and grabbed some slab around Sipapu, it was scenic and a welcoming break from the morning’s ongoings, which I thought was going to be the tough stuff of the day. Had lunch in Hernandez, then gassed up and headed for some forest trails I thought would be cool vs. slab all the way back to the truck. Right off the rip, crazy deep sand, for miles. Had to have your feces collected to traverse it. Loaded bikes and the Sahara don’t mix well. Seemed to go on a long time, tree colors were popping though and the little stream crossings were cool. Daddy likes sand, just saying.
I was feeling bad, KTMCarhart sounded like he was at Lamaze classes and taking intermittent dirt naps in the sand. He can get it done but there is sound effects and commentary. Then the terrain changed, what I call rocky top, not my favorite. I think he likes it though, he crushes rock terrain and knows I am not a fan when it drones for too long.
We kept going, sort of bewildered, excited and worried. Terrain kept leaning towards pines, rocks, roots, oh my. It flowed some and was cool, but the anticipation was building, then we came to the crux of the day. I was looking for Ned Beatty, rocks, creek and looked impassable. We have gone over 1300 miles in 6 days, first time I had to scout the trail on foot. I had serious doubts, then started picking my lines theoretically, kicked a few rocks I didn’t like and decided to shed my top bag and KTMCarhart’s spare tire that somehow was my appendage all day. Wasn’t sure I could get it. Some made it clean, some didn’t, but all got out alive. We were pretty happy with ourselves.
Now that is some uncle love right there.....
It was one of those trails that you were pretty sure the nasty crossing wasn’t the end, there would be residual effects, in the form of more nasty crossings. Luckily the subsequent crossings weren’t as bad, but you weren’t doing them one handed that’s for sure.
We got out of there feeling like we robbed a bank and got away with it. I kept waiting for the ol dead end and double back trick, would have cost us hours and killed our morale. Went through several more semi nasty crossings but easy by comparison. I was worried as I looked at the sun, but then I popped out of a crossing and saw a legit fire ring and then saw truck tire tracks. We had a celebration in our coms in the helmets, couldn't stop and have a group hug, no time, we still had like 150 miles to go. We hit some legit major forest roads, but they still had their challenges, especially at the pace we were hitting them. I caught a glance of the GPS elevation, flirting with 10 and 11K, then saw a glimpse of a view through the trees and snagged these pics, epic.
We had planned on some more eye candy stuff, but were a bit tired and worried about the miles we still had to cover to get back to the truck, load up etc. We grabbed some slab and enjoyed Hwy 4 through Jemez area, then on to Albq KOA.
So we survived the morning and grabbed some slab around Sipapu, it was scenic and a welcoming break from the morning’s ongoings, which I thought was going to be the tough stuff of the day. Had lunch in Hernandez, then gassed up and headed for some forest trails I thought would be cool vs. slab all the way back to the truck. Right off the rip, crazy deep sand, for miles. Had to have your feces collected to traverse it. Loaded bikes and the Sahara don’t mix well. Seemed to go on a long time, tree colors were popping though and the little stream crossings were cool. Daddy likes sand, just saying.
I was feeling bad, KTMCarhart sounded like he was at Lamaze classes and taking intermittent dirt naps in the sand. He can get it done but there is sound effects and commentary. Then the terrain changed, what I call rocky top, not my favorite. I think he likes it though, he crushes rock terrain and knows I am not a fan when it drones for too long.
We kept going, sort of bewildered, excited and worried. Terrain kept leaning towards pines, rocks, roots, oh my. It flowed some and was cool, but the anticipation was building, then we came to the crux of the day. I was looking for Ned Beatty, rocks, creek and looked impassable. We have gone over 1300 miles in 6 days, first time I had to scout the trail on foot. I had serious doubts, then started picking my lines theoretically, kicked a few rocks I didn’t like and decided to shed my top bag and KTMCarhart’s spare tire that somehow was my appendage all day. Wasn’t sure I could get it. Some made it clean, some didn’t, but all got out alive. We were pretty happy with ourselves.
Now that is some uncle love right there.....
It was one of those trails that you were pretty sure the nasty crossing wasn’t the end, there would be residual effects, in the form of more nasty crossings. Luckily the subsequent crossings weren’t as bad, but you weren’t doing them one handed that’s for sure.
We got out of there feeling like we robbed a bank and got away with it. I kept waiting for the ol dead end and double back trick, would have cost us hours and killed our morale. Went through several more semi nasty crossings but easy by comparison. I was worried as I looked at the sun, but then I popped out of a crossing and saw a legit fire ring and then saw truck tire tracks. We had a celebration in our coms in the helmets, couldn't stop and have a group hug, no time, we still had like 150 miles to go. We hit some legit major forest roads, but they still had their challenges, especially at the pace we were hitting them. I caught a glance of the GPS elevation, flirting with 10 and 11K, then saw a glimpse of a view through the trees and snagged these pics, epic.
We had planned on some more eye candy stuff, but were a bit tired and worried about the miles we still had to cover to get back to the truck, load up etc. We grabbed some slab and enjoyed Hwy 4 through Jemez area, then on to Albq KOA.
Last edited:
StromXTc
0
The Valley of the shadow of death kind of stuff, I know that feeling. Glad there was no broken things.
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2014
- Messages
- 1,099
- Reaction score
- 3,746
- Location
- San Marcos, Texas
- First Name
- Steve
- Last Name
- Pylant
I’m tired, think I’ll go home now.
We are about half way home. We did 1562 miles on the bikes since last Friday. They are a little worn for wear, and so are we. Good Times!!!
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2014
- Messages
- 1,099
- Reaction score
- 3,746
- Location
- San Marcos, Texas
- First Name
- Steve
- Last Name
- Pylant
We are back home and settled in. KTMCarhart will be post processing his little heart out on the video stuff, looking forward to those, going to take a while I am sure. I also said I would give a report on some of our gear.
Tire Report—reminder, KTM 690 had MT21/D606, Husky 701 had the new Tusk Adventure tires front and rear. All were brand new and traveled 1562 miles in 7 days. We have run several sets of the MT21/D606 in years past and have come to expect good performance all the way around on a dual sport leaning towards the dirt. My first impressions of the Tusk on my bike, front had a little head shake over 70mph. Could be my fault, I didn’t balance anything, not something I have ever bothered with on my dual sports in the past. That said, I ride this bike faster on the top end for longer periods of time than any bike I have had in the past. At any rate, the head shake went away after a couple hundred miles of hauling the mail in the desert. Took me a while to build up confidence in both front and rear on both pavement and the dirt, especially with all the weight on the bike, the most weight I have ever ridden hard and aggressive with. I got there and really started railing on these tires. Hopping around the trail, jumping, sliding, side hilling etc. I really like them and as long as they are almost half price from the other tires on the market, it is a no brainer for me and I will continue to buy them for BDRish stuff. For more of the Texas pavement and gravel type rides, will probably go milder.
I took measurements on the rear tires before we left and I have post measurements:
Bottom line, DAdv tires had a little more to start with and a little more after it was over. The side knobs are longer and more aggressive, Daddy like. And I may have been harder on the DAdv with my desert sliding, acceleration and wheelie hopping antics vs. KTMCarhart on the 606. Here are After Pics of both tires, D606, then DAdv. The 606 had multiple flats, one pinch flat and then a nail that caused us problems. The Dadv tires had no flats and I ran no rim locks….i was worried about this but came out okay. Our pressures were higher than our normal due to the loads.
Other gear worth mentioning:
My sleeping bag did not cut it, Teton Trailhead Sports. I believe it is good to 30 degrees. Well, it got a little colder than that and I am not a little guy at 6’1” 230, the bag didn’t “mummy” me very well. In Texas, I was more worried about compact than cold temps or zipping it over my head. I need a better bag for the mountains/cold. This was the first trip I had a cot, Hitorhike Compact Cot. It was great, won’t do this without it. I won’t bother with a sleeping pad anymore…and the cot folds up smaller than the pad anyhow. This was the longest trip I have done “living” out of my Wolfman Bags. I was pleased and got a system down of what went where and I really liked how compact they hugged the bike and they took abrasions well when I squeezed between boulders or pine trees. I think I would like Mosko Moto ones even more, but my bike came with the Wolfmans. However, if Mosko Moto sent me some in the mail, off with the Wolf!! I bought a couple sets of Rok straps, these were awesome for the various add-ons that would come and go each day needing to be tied down, food, beverages, trash, jacket when shed and the rear tire I lugged around the last day. The Giant Loop handguard shield things, great for blocking the cold wind in the mornings. I can still stay with my plan of no heated grips, less is more. Riding gear was all good: ZacSpeed Recon Backpack (minus a zipper that flaked my first ride a couple years ago), EVS body suite, EVS shin/knee guards, Klim Dakar Pants, MSR basic Jacket, Forma Adv Boots, Bell MX9 Helmet, Oakley Goggles, MSR gloves. I would like a slick Adventure jacket that combines some of what I have, but I ran out of money. Same with my helmet, would like something nicer, but ran out of money. Bike parts come before comfort upgrades. Only issues with my bike/gear—lost a couple screws on my throttle control and my skidplate split. I took my time researching that plate, went with an AXP extreme skid plate from Slavens. I know I glanced off some stuff here and there but no real hard hits or full on “casing” it and no hits higher up on that vertical side seam. I don’t think the plastic welder penetrated enough, one hit down low just made it split all the way up. Called Slavens and talked with Alec, he immediately went in help mode and is going to get it warrantied with AXP. Gotta love Slavens. I hope this was just a one off deal on AXP production.
KTMCarhart and I have our next big adventure in the planning stages…..our in-house developed tracks for our Backcountry Nomad ride in Wyoming, coming August 2020. Anybody wants to support us with some gear, hit me up and we will test it, rate it and sticker our bikes up. We said if the NMBDR didn’t challenge us, we were going to step it up a notch or two. Done, conceptually anyway. Our Wyoming route is a more ambitious ride with more technical terrain mixed in and really remote.
Till then, thanks for following along and encouraging us. Stevo
Tire Report—reminder, KTM 690 had MT21/D606, Husky 701 had the new Tusk Adventure tires front and rear. All were brand new and traveled 1562 miles in 7 days. We have run several sets of the MT21/D606 in years past and have come to expect good performance all the way around on a dual sport leaning towards the dirt. My first impressions of the Tusk on my bike, front had a little head shake over 70mph. Could be my fault, I didn’t balance anything, not something I have ever bothered with on my dual sports in the past. That said, I ride this bike faster on the top end for longer periods of time than any bike I have had in the past. At any rate, the head shake went away after a couple hundred miles of hauling the mail in the desert. Took me a while to build up confidence in both front and rear on both pavement and the dirt, especially with all the weight on the bike, the most weight I have ever ridden hard and aggressive with. I got there and really started railing on these tires. Hopping around the trail, jumping, sliding, side hilling etc. I really like them and as long as they are almost half price from the other tires on the market, it is a no brainer for me and I will continue to buy them for BDRish stuff. For more of the Texas pavement and gravel type rides, will probably go milder.
I took measurements on the rear tires before we left and I have post measurements:
| Tire | Center Before | Center After | Side Lug Before | Side Lug After |
| D606 | 19/32 | 8/32 | 19/32 | 17/32 |
| DAdv | 20/32 | 11/32 | 23/32 | 20/32 |
Bottom line, DAdv tires had a little more to start with and a little more after it was over. The side knobs are longer and more aggressive, Daddy like. And I may have been harder on the DAdv with my desert sliding, acceleration and wheelie hopping antics vs. KTMCarhart on the 606. Here are After Pics of both tires, D606, then DAdv. The 606 had multiple flats, one pinch flat and then a nail that caused us problems. The Dadv tires had no flats and I ran no rim locks….i was worried about this but came out okay. Our pressures were higher than our normal due to the loads.
Other gear worth mentioning:
My sleeping bag did not cut it, Teton Trailhead Sports. I believe it is good to 30 degrees. Well, it got a little colder than that and I am not a little guy at 6’1” 230, the bag didn’t “mummy” me very well. In Texas, I was more worried about compact than cold temps or zipping it over my head. I need a better bag for the mountains/cold. This was the first trip I had a cot, Hitorhike Compact Cot. It was great, won’t do this without it. I won’t bother with a sleeping pad anymore…and the cot folds up smaller than the pad anyhow. This was the longest trip I have done “living” out of my Wolfman Bags. I was pleased and got a system down of what went where and I really liked how compact they hugged the bike and they took abrasions well when I squeezed between boulders or pine trees. I think I would like Mosko Moto ones even more, but my bike came with the Wolfmans. However, if Mosko Moto sent me some in the mail, off with the Wolf!! I bought a couple sets of Rok straps, these were awesome for the various add-ons that would come and go each day needing to be tied down, food, beverages, trash, jacket when shed and the rear tire I lugged around the last day. The Giant Loop handguard shield things, great for blocking the cold wind in the mornings. I can still stay with my plan of no heated grips, less is more. Riding gear was all good: ZacSpeed Recon Backpack (minus a zipper that flaked my first ride a couple years ago), EVS body suite, EVS shin/knee guards, Klim Dakar Pants, MSR basic Jacket, Forma Adv Boots, Bell MX9 Helmet, Oakley Goggles, MSR gloves. I would like a slick Adventure jacket that combines some of what I have, but I ran out of money. Same with my helmet, would like something nicer, but ran out of money. Bike parts come before comfort upgrades. Only issues with my bike/gear—lost a couple screws on my throttle control and my skidplate split. I took my time researching that plate, went with an AXP extreme skid plate from Slavens. I know I glanced off some stuff here and there but no real hard hits or full on “casing” it and no hits higher up on that vertical side seam. I don’t think the plastic welder penetrated enough, one hit down low just made it split all the way up. Called Slavens and talked with Alec, he immediately went in help mode and is going to get it warrantied with AXP. Gotta love Slavens. I hope this was just a one off deal on AXP production.
KTMCarhart and I have our next big adventure in the planning stages…..our in-house developed tracks for our Backcountry Nomad ride in Wyoming, coming August 2020. Anybody wants to support us with some gear, hit me up and we will test it, rate it and sticker our bikes up. We said if the NMBDR didn’t challenge us, we were going to step it up a notch or two. Done, conceptually anyway. Our Wyoming route is a more ambitious ride with more technical terrain mixed in and really remote.
Till then, thanks for following along and encouraging us. Stevo
Last edited:
_RG_
Forum Supporter
Great ride, commentary and pix. Thanks for taking us along. There are still so many bdr trails I'd like to ride but so far they've all pretty much followed what you experienced. They seem to have a rhythm between smooth scenic with intermittent patches of the gnar. Jolly good adventure... congrats!
Thank you for the ride. Awesome report.
planing on doing this next year - anybody interested ?
planing on doing this next year - anybody interested ?