Ride Report = Continental Divide Ride

[bodhizafa]

So me and a bud took off and rode the continental divide. Can't remember exactly how it came together but Sean was originally in on the plan, probably made the plan, (usually the route guru for the wolpack). Plan was to ride up to Banff and then take the Conti Divide back but he couldn't do it leaving only 2 of the 3 members of the wolfpack to accomplish the feat. Tracks were taken off of Cannonshots ride on ADVrider (great ride report read).

So we left around noon, little later than expected because I was nervous about the GS wheel bearings falling apart. Called around to a bunch of places looking for back up bearings (issue with some of the early model 800GS's, no probs on the ride though, thankfully).



We took off as fast as we could heading for Banff. First night was spent in some half ass camping area where the only place to sleep was in the parking area (Somewhere near Themopolis Wyoming).



Rob almost got attacked by the local wildlife....aaahhhh Bobcat!

[bodhizafa]

Next day was off towards Beartooth Highway and Chief Joseph Highway ..... huge thanks to Ghost for pointing us in that direction. Epic twisties and views

[bodhizafa]

After a beer in Red Lodge Montana to celebrate some great riding





it was on to Day 3 ...... a mad rush for the border.....forgetting all about filling the bikes with fuel...ooops. So with the KTM well into reserve we had to do some NASCAR style drafting until we found a gas station (which is funny since we brought 2 1-gallon rotopax in case this happend and never filled them )

[bodhizafa]

We finally made it to Calgary and found a campsite. Headed out to Boston Pizza for a bite and met an interesting waitress who tried to tell us the beer up there was only .5% alchohol, thank god she was attractive cause she was pretty clueless The next day was off to Banff

On a side note .... damn its expensive up there, about 5 bucks a gallon gas and beer was about $12 a six pack !!!!!







After hanging out there a bit and checking the sites (had one of the best burgers I've ever had at a place called Eddie's) we were off to the dirt roads and trails ..... finally.

[bodhizafa]

This is when the days all started to blend together, so who knows if my timeline is correct. I do remember checking out the worlds biggest truck and breaking my headlight protector on the way out of Canada.





We ended up crashing at some RV place in Eureka Mt. Ate breakfast at a place called Cafe Jax. Great food, best muffins I've ever had! Talked with some Canadian ladies about our trip for an hour, gave us a pretty late start to the day. I think the plan was to get to Helena, we pushed pretty hard, fast big dirt roads, the GS and the KTM were loving it. Then we came across some fellow ADVriders at some radom lake in the middle of Montana





Sort of like a mini ADV rally. 3 different groups. Couple of chaps heading north (Gary and Gary) on little Yami 225's were great, fully of energy. Gave us a great moral boost. Push was on to get to Helena ..... until Rob hit a truck! Guy pulled out in front of him on a dirt road in a pickup. I was up ahead about a mile or 2 because Rob had stopped to take some photos. Sounds worse than it was though, guy pulled out, Rob locked them up then swerved to avoid the truck but ended up hitting the bumper with his racks and rotopax. Dented the truck, no bike damage (KTM 990's are damn tough). No harm no foul ..... so onward. Ended up sleeping in the middle of some forest south of Helena.

This is were we got freaked out stared hearing noises outside the tents. Covert operation time .... we went out to find out what the noise was (scared to death) out in the darkness was a few black blobs, couldn't make them out but the eyes were looking at us! Then we noticed about six of them and Rob says "I don't think bears hang out in packs". Damn cows scared the shit out of us!

[bodhizafa]

The next day was the best riding of ever done. Started with single track trails, pretty tough with the big bikes, then on to fast dirt roads (we're talking 80+mph dirt roads with sharp turns!) then onto the best twisty road I had ever seen. Picture about 20 or so Pueblo turn #1's in a row, just non-stop with no cars.....it was crazy Can't remember what the name of the road was but I could probably find it with the spot tracker or GPS tracks.

[bodhizafa]

Still in Montana we found some national forest camping. Real nice site.







Next day we hit Butte, Rob got a new front tire. His old one had been washing out bad, actually contributed to a nice crash and front flip on a downhill we did.

At some point in the day we ended up taking a detour to Morrell Lookout. Met the people who work for the forestry to spot fires and such. Great people, Jeff and Kathy. They had a cool gig...staying up there a couple of days per week charting the area. This ended up being one of the highlights of the trip

[bodhizafa]

Onward we went to get to Idaho. This ended up being Rob's favorite day of riding (not so much for me). We finally got into Idaho and hit some cool trails filled with sand....not regular sand but this rocky gray sand. Went though some four wheeler playground where Rob was at home. As for me .... not good in the sand. Ended up crashing and twisting my knee good (the final crash in the vid I'll post). Oh well .... shit happens. Gotta keep going.









Of course after I tweak my knee we hit about 30 miles of whoops. Some old railroad bed. My knee was screamin.

[bodhizafa]

So onward towards Wyoming and Yellowstone. After about 7 days of riding we were getting pretty fatigued and my tires were starting to wear, especially the front one. This ended up being a long day, towards the end we were pushing hard for the next campsite. Fatigue + arrogance + worn tire = crash! Down I go in a turn. No clue how fast. Front washed out, down I go shoulder first and do a summersault. Ouch that sucked....after a couple minutes of checking me and the bike ..... all good just bruised (darn no pics of it .

[bodhizafa]

Wyoming.....Yellowstone was still full of tourists so we just rode through. Great dirt roads around there. When we got to the highway it was buses and slow cars Stopped for lunch at Jackson lake, great view.



Rest of Wyoming was never ending straight dirt roads. They friggin went on forever.





At one point the mighty KTM ran out of fuel, thankfully we had finally filled the rotopax containers. We did about a 150 miles straight on dirt roads and only saw 1 or 2 other cars the whole time.

[bodhizafa]

That night we made a push for Aspen Alley. Made it just before sundown.



That night the clouds finally rolled in. We had perfect weather up until then (just cold mornings). Rained a bit that night. Stopped enough for us to pack up the bikes, then it really came down. We had to ride some pretty slick tough trails to get to Steamboat, REALLY slick trails. I ended up going down on an uphill section, no big deal, its in the vid . Wet, tired and sore we called it. Let's head home a bit early. It was Saturday, we were gonna head for Breck on Sunday, but the rain just sucked We decided to shut off the Spot tracker and try to surprise the girlfriends a day early

Here are some random pics:

[bodhizafa]

[bodhizafa]

And Rob's video compilation he put together.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfDecqu3dx0


Pretty good job with the vid. I really need to get myself a gopro the vid from my Cannon p&s was not so good.




Final stats from the GPS over 9 days (mostly dirt roads)

[fasterlaster]

I am so jealous, thanks for sharing. Great photos and RR. I'm hoping some riding next weekend will help quench my wanderlust for the end of the season, but these pics sure don't help

[salsashark]

Big

Looks like a great ride!

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Hmmmm, I don't see any pics, not even the red "X".....

[Sean]

What an awesome ride! You guys are a bunch of bastards!

That vid kicks ass!

[dirkterrell]

^10

[bodhizafa]

What an awesome ride! You guys are a bunch of bastards!

That vid kicks ass!

Next year, if snow allows in late June ..... Mexico to Colorado ???

[Sean]

Next year, if snow allows in late June ..... Mexico to Colorado ???

500lb bikes, 96 hp, 70 ft lbs of torque and miles of sand? Roost city!

[JohnEffinK]

Looks like it was a great trip!

As for bearings, I know you have read in Parallel Universe and likely Woodys postings. I, and my buddy, just went the Woodys Wheelworks route to eliminate any possible issues before AK. And he is in Denver. Was well worth the 125 bucks for a check, machine to spec and new bearings as I believe he is onto the problem. Also let him turn the rear into a tubeless.

John

[TinkerinWstuff]

makes me want a GS800 even more

[asp_125]

Awesome ride. Kinda makes me wish I still had my GS.

[Devaclis]

Very sweet