Buck Nasty's desert adventure 1-14-09

It all started with this BADASS January weather we've been having. As always, I have Wednesdays off so, it was go time!

From my NE Bend abode, I headed south down 27th st to Rickard, Arnold Mkt to the much anticipated Ford Road. The soil was in pretty good shape. Plenty of chocolate underneath! The Ford Rd experience went smooth...A great way to warm up!




Onto Horse Ridge...



Horse Ridge soil sample...


As the road forked (left to the pad, right to the snowy hillclimb), I busted right to take the "Flyin' Brian" hillclimb challenge...


From what I can tell, Brian made it just to the snow, maybe a tad beyond. Halfway into the snow patch, I was confident I was gonna make it. WRONG. Just after that feeling, I lost momentum and began to spin out. Weak! Oh well, I am the current record holder! Brian was right...slippery stuff. Even the exposed dirt was hard and icy.



A view from the top (kinda)...


Even the massive knobs of the Dirt Shark couldn't tackle the ice and snow...


After my hillclimb attempt, I dropped into the Millican Valley. I bombed east across the valley...



More...

As I move east, I continue to hit private property and/or fences/gates. At times it was fun...sometimes just sucked! Oh well. Take the bad with the good right?

Pine Mountain at 50mph...


Rather than take our classic route through the ravine, I chose to head dead east into a couple of farm houses. After a few minutes of bushwacking, I eye a cow trail. Ya know, cows make some killer singletrack!

I rocked this to the observatory road...


I headed south toward the observatory and veered left to continue SE over a portion of Pine Mt. I see snow ahead of me on the road but assume I can work my way through it...WRONG! Solid ice! A hundred feet into it, BLAM! My ass end slips out from under me and I low side it onto the Rink o' Death.


Okay, this ain't gonna work. Back down the road toward highway 20...


Once I pass through a couple hard to open gates (sometimes f'ed up double gates), I hit Moffitt road. Like the adventurer I am, I jump off Moffitt to find a cooler route. As usual, it bites me in the ass and I have to fight my way out .

Pre Moffitt pic...


Moffitt. Free of lakes Kurt! Jeep ahead of me...


In the background is Pine Ridge. I'll end up busting around that to get to Brothers...


Mas...

My favorite part of the ride was the 5th gear, wide-open pumice two-track. Good god, AWESOME!


It starts getting quite "desert-y" out there. Not a lot of anything.



Pine Ridge and Pine Mt behind me...


Salute!


As I begin my turn to the north into Bros, I first run into a young couple (from Brothers) shooting along side an old XR600. Shortly thereafter, I meet some more friends...


Time for a cookie, water and a piss at the Brothers Oasis...


I found a perfect, in-tact Sausage McMuffin...


I left my offering to the gods...


Brothers...


Okay, here's where it gets boring. I have 1 hour to get home, I'm 43 miles from Bend (47 to my house) and I'm on a DRZ. Time to slab it! Slabbing can be weak but, I had a test to perform: See how long I could slab without getting off the seat! I'm now training for my 1200 mile Montana/Idaho/Washington adventure with Casey this June.







Out of Brothers I rock HWY20, Geo Millican Highway and Alfalfa Mkt home.

SHOE TREE!


Mission accomplished! 47 miles of straight seat time on slab! My ass really started to hurt around mile 40. I had a great ride today. Great weather. Great scenery and a great bike!

Stats and maps:

117 miles
Max speed: 61.8mph
Moving Avg: 38.7mph
Overall Avg: 28.2
Max Elevation: 5013ft
3 hours moving time...1 hour stopped.

Good report, looks like you had a good day.

Thanks for posting.








Well, most of the day.

Buck Nasty wrote:

Hey, I know that trick.

Thanks for sharing Buck.

Nice! Man, you have some sweet riding in your back yard. Can't wait to get back down that direction this summer.

Thanks for the ride report.

Hodakaguy

Nice Solo Ride Dan.....

Good job and thanks for sharing.

Great report and pictures, thanks for posting them.

Nice Job

Been awhile since I've seen the shoe tree.
What kind of camera do you use?

Thanks for the fix! Great report.

griz

OMR wrote:

Nice Job

Been awhile since I've seen the shoe tree.
What kind of camera do you use?

I use a Cannon A540 6mp. It's quite beat up. As long as you don't zoom, it takes great pics still!

Griz...Glad I could help the cabin fever! Mid-50's and sunny in Jan...Mid 30's and cloudy/snowy in March...WTF?!

Mid-50's and sunny in Jan...Mid 30's and cloudy/snowy in March...WTF?! (quote)




Big X2! What up with that!

XCR500Rider wrote:

Mid-50's and sunny in Jan...Mid 30's and cloudy/snowy in March...WTF?! (quote)




Big X2! What up with that!

Gotta love the PNW! I know it's not super accurate but, the long-term trend is looking decent. May get back into the 50's late next week. Until then, put up with the crap!