Almost the Usual Suspects Ride - (Denver) June 20th

[Bushyar15]

Its been a while, but the Denver "Usual Suspects" (minus one or two) are going for a ride on Saturday 20 June. Sidestands up at 7:30 Meeting at the Morrison Conoco.

We were thinking of MAYBE trying to go to Weston Pass. Or maybe something closer like Goose Creek Road. Open to suggestions as well. Wherever we go its gonna have dirt

 

[low drag]

I'm in.
Of course!...... Don't forget I want to pause the hair on fire moving down the trail to practice some of the skills/drills that I learned at Off Route Adventures.

http://www.offrouteadv.com/

I'm putting together my outline and size it to go in the map pocket on my tank bag for reference. I'll make some extra copies if you guys want one. I know you guys will like the drill to get over logs and similar obstacles.

7:30 zoom zoom time...

 

[Bushyar15]

Did we scare everyone off?

I know it takes all kinds and the S10 appeals to a WIDE range of riders. But living here in Colorado especially the front-range there would be more interest in riding as a group. The PNW group seems to have huge turn outs for their rides. I would have thought we'd have the same response. It seems only the usual suspects posts up rides.

I'm new to the ADV scene. Maybe ADV riding is more of a solitary endeavor?

 

[DLivingston]

I will be "IN" on at least some of these as soon as a) I no longer have to work Saturdays (mid-July-ish), and b) I have at least some crash bars on the bike (just got it first of May at the beginning of our month long rain)

 

[14kmtnman]

Did you get Carl back home last night? How's he doing? How did the bike retrieval go? Can't wait to see the write up on this trip. Any pictures? GPS map track? I'm still just sitting on the bike going thru the motions ::001:: & making funny sounds ::26::. Hopefully I'll be able to ride the weekend of the 4th, I'll be in the boot until then

 

[Bushyar15]

Hey 14kmtnman…

Mark and I got Carl back to his place about 12:30-1:00 a.m. I expected him to sleep on the ride home with all the pain meds, but he was awake and coherent the whole time. I texted with him today. Says the pain isn't to bad. He's just taking it easy, reading a book. Of course the topic of conversation was why is this happening with the OEM cases.

Bike retrieval was a breeze. Although when we were driving to the spot where we left the bike, both Mark and I silently had our fingers crossed that the bike was still there when we turned the corner. It was. I think Mark and I had it loaded up in about 15ish minutes. Tied down and GTG. My one-bike trailer is designed so that one person can unload and load the bike easily. But we were both tired so we both loaded it.

It was interesting the comment made by the guys in the "Razor". They said they saw us go by and head down what they called, "That sandy washed out road" rather than continue through an easier route.

The route itself while we ran into closed sections of the COBDR, was really nice. Some sections were amazingly dry. So much so we were all strung out very far apart. The scenes from the top of 315 were stunning! The Sand area we crossed while not "THE" sand section on the COBDR was still a good exercise in riding in sand. Although I dumped it hard once. I made the mistake about 3/4s through of using bar pressure to try to get the bike to change its line in a shorter distance than one should have… I can't say I'd do it again until I gain more experience, but Mark enjoyed it and wanted to find the "Real" sand section.

What amazed us was the amount of water up there. That high plain area off of Hwy 9 towards Hwy 24 was just swamped. Water running over peoples driveways and yards… meandering through it.

Stupid me did have my GoPro with me and on… BUT I didn't have the dang SD card in it. So nothing recorded. I'm so pissed...


It was a long day… total mileage covered combined was over 700 miles. I don't know what time Mark's head hit the pillow, but mine didn't till 2:30 a.m. and my stupid internal clock had me up at 5 a.m.

I hear ya about sitting on the bike! When I tweaked my ankle I did the same thing! lol!

I think Mark said he's not available the July 4th weekend. I need to check with the boss as we typically spend the weekend at her bro's house in Red Feather Lakes...

Did you get Carl back home last night? How's he doing? How did the bike retrieval go? Can't wait to see the write up on this trip. Any pictures? GPS map track? I'm still just sitting on the bike going thru the motions ::001:: & making funny sounds ::26::. Hopefully I'll be able to ride the weekend of the 4th, I'll be in the boot until then

 

[low drag]

I got home a couple of minutes before 2. I had the bike in the garage and showered up and in bed by 2:30.

I woke up early just before 5:00 as usual but was able to get back to sleep and got another hour or two. I planned on cleaning up the bike but it's just too darn hot out now. I'll get it later tonight or tomorrow.

The COBDR section was big fun, challenging. There's one spot where we did a stream crossing and then bam, short steep climbs that the bike had to tractor up in 1st gear (going south), going north you'll be doing down this steep stuff. You had to pick a good line to say out of the lose stuff. Then a switch back and repeat, it was pretty narrow as well. I still want to hit the 'sand section' of the COBDR.

I too could not get over how powder dry parts of the trail were. There's clearly a ton of water up in that area, we could see it everywhere in the low spots but the high ground was powder dry, so we spaced out A LOT to avoid the dust.

The day was really hot too. I'm finally triangulating in on riding gear. Given the heat we get in summer the idea of a 4 season jacket is nutty. I think the single layer water proof type of unit that you add your own layers to or heated gear is the way to go in fall/winter/spring. For summer duel sport riding mesh with the water resistant layer in the bag as well as maybe a Frog - Tog.

 

[Bushyar15]

Regarding riding gear…

The LD Comfort top I was wearing worked okay based on my riding gear. LD says not to use it with a Mesh jacket. I imagine if I used my Klim Badlands Pro as opposed to my Adventure Rally air, it would have kept me cooler longer.. BUT using it with a Mesh jacket, it worked no better than than any other moisture wicking athletic top…

I was wondering based on the logic of how sweat works. Maybe it is better to wear a cotton type shirt…It would soak up the "moisture", hold it, and as the air passes through the jacket it would help cool you… I get that in the winter or cold temps you don't want to be wet as it makes you colder… So wouldn't it stand to reason, in the summer you'd want it to stay wet?

I got home a couple of minutes before 2. I had the bike in the garage and showered up and in bed by 2:30.

I woke up early just before 5:00 as usual but was able to get back to sleep and got another hour or two. I planned on cleaning up the bike but it's just too darn hot out now. I'll get it later tonight or tomorrow.

The COBDR section was big fun, challenging. There's one spot where we did a stream crossing and then bam, short steep climbs that the bike had to tractor up in 1st gear (going south), going north you'll be doing down this steep stuff. You had to pick a good line to say out of the lose stuff. Then a switch back and repeat, it was pretty narrow as well. I still want to hit the 'sand section' of the COBDR.

I too could not get over how powder dry parts of the trail were. There's clearly a ton of water up in that area, we could see it everywhere in the low spots but the high ground was powder dry, so we spaced out A LOT to avoid the dust.

The day was really hot too. I'm finally triangulating in on riding gear. Given the heat we get in summer the idea of a 4 season jacket is nutty. I think the single layer water proof type of unit that you add your own layers to or heated gear is the way to go in fall/winter/spring. For summer duel sport riding mesh with the water resistant layer in the bag as well as maybe a Frog - Tog.

 

[low drag]

Regarding riding gear…

The LD Comfort top I was wearing worked okay based on my riding gear. LD says not to use it with a Mesh jacket. I imagine if I used my Klim Badlands Pro as opposed to my Adventure Rally air, it would have kept me cooler longer.. BUT using it with a Mesh jacket, it worked no better than than any other moisture wicking athletic top…

I was wondering based on the logic of how sweat works. Maybe it is better to wear a cotton type shirt…It would soak up the "moisture", hold it, and as the air passes through the jacket it would help cool you… I get that in the winter or cold temps you don't want to be wet as it makes you colder… So wouldn't it stand to reason, in the summer you'd want it to stay wet?

I've been thinking how sweat works as well. Most motorcycle gear is designed with speed in mind and vents to capture the air moving over you as you motor down the road at speed. Riding trails we rarely generate enough speed to make the typical vents work. That's why I think mesh is the way to go, you simply have more square inches of skin/base layer that is directly allowed to evaporate sweat without needing speed to work. Much of the riding gear I've had on reminds me of body armor/flak jackets.

For me hot days on the trails means mesh to get as many square inches of skin directly exposed to vents. I suppose that if all we did was road type touring a '4 season' jacket would work just fine. It's the slower speeds of trail riding that seals the deal. Heck how often do we stop and wait for someone to catch up or wait your turn to get over / through a tricky portion of a trail? The vents only work when you're moving along at speed not sitting still. If I'm going to ride the same mesh jacket on the road to the trails it'll still need to have all the same armor etc.

 

[14kmtnman]

I agree with low drag. If you are just crusing down the road, a 4 season jacket would be fine with something like the LD shirt underneath. As long as you had at least the sleeves soaked down & then played with the vents for the cooling flow in the heat. As soon as you start working, and slowing down, as in off road trails, your body will over heat quickly in the 4 season jacket because of no air flow & lack of vents. Moisture wicking materials work in the heat too. Some better than others. I have a couple of shirts that make you feel cold just standing around. I don't like drowning in my own sweat, so I gave up wearing cotton many summers ago riding the KLR. I would rather feel dry than be wrapped in a clammy wet cotton shirt. If it gets really hot, as in over 95 nothing is going to cool you while on the trail. I have tried a cooling vest, where you soak it in water & let the evaporation work its magic. With a mesh jacket on they last an hour or more. In a 4 season jacket they could last for hours. But they collect dirt & dust like gang busters off road while under a mesh. But then again you could always recharge it in the nearest stream. It all boils down to layers. Add & subtract as needed.