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Oracle

Team 5150 does AZBDR in 3 1/2 days...

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10 hours ago, Oracle said:

Oh, and to step back a few posts, if you ever do this trip and find yourself needing fuel in Winkleman, fuel up and get the hell out of there. We had to take turns watching our bikes while others went in to the store to get water. The clerk recommended Maria's for lunch, which as it turns out is the only restaurant in this ---- hole town...and the food was pretty nasty. I mean they fucked up a carne asada buritto and I felt sick for hours after only consuming 1/2 of it. Take my word on this.

 

 

Well LB...looks like you are crossing Winkleman off your retirement destination list...;)

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12 hours ago, Dress4Less said:

Well LB...looks like you are crossing Winkleman off your retirement destination list...;)

Yeah, but I could live like a king there for sure. Take over the whole town.

 

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It's crazy how doing this trip a month later makes for such a different adventure. I almost decided to do under-armor and a jersey like you guys did... However, that would have been a mistake since we dealt with 75 and below temps for all but three days of the 10.

You covered A LOT of ground in short order. I'm trying to determine why we were so much slower... It could be that we are fairly new riders so the confidence of riding fast isn't there. I also think we spent more time documenting the trip which is something I enjoy almost as much as the riding. 

It sounds like you have a great group of riders who made great company. Well done!

Looking forward to the Navajo Nation...

 

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Travis there is nothing wrong with taking your time on a ride like this. We were under time constraints and we are all experienced riders. There were lots of areas that we could have/should have spent more time on, but either way it's a fun ride.

 

CiD

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3 hours ago, Covered in Dust said:

Travis there is nothing wrong with taking your time on a ride like this. We were under time constraints and we are all experienced riders. There were lots of areas that we could have/should have spent more time on, but either way it's a fun ride.

 

ciD

All good. It's interesting how the same mileage and trails can be so different. Definitely worth experiencing for yourself!

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Funny how when your pressed for time and riding fast that cameras only come out when theres a crash, break down or when booze comes out at camp

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...at the end of day three on the trail, we rolled into Cameron about 3:30...or was it 4:30...hum??? Our watches all said 3:30, but when I walked into the Navajo Nation info center, I noticed the wall clock said 4:30. I asked the lady about the time and she explained some of them go by a certain time and some in the area go by another time...It made no sense to me what she was saying. She wasn't talking about day light savings times as far as I could figure out.

Regardless, the clock there said 4:30, which means we only made it in there with 30 minutes to spare. Again, remember this if you are planing this trip. Give yourself more time to get to Cameron, that is my advise. And it's probably my one regret as well. We did end up cutting out the last section of dirt before Cameron so we could get over to the highway in time to get into Cameron...and we made it with 30 minutes to spare.
 

The original plan was to get our permit, then head out to the overlook to camp for the night. But we were just wiped out. A/C and a shower sounded good to all of us. So we pussed out and got a motel...no regret on this one though. We ended up at the Cameron Trading post for dinner and I ordered the Beef Dip on Indian Fry bread as recommended by Afry:

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At dinner, we discussed our plan for the next day and agreed to be on the trail by 6:30. Jeff and I were going get up (we shared a room) at 5 and start getting ready. The alarm on his phone went off at "4 am" and I was like "dude, WTF"? He said he set his phone for 5am, which he later confirmed. But because the weird time thingy in the area, his phone thought it was 5 when to everyone else's phone, it was only 4 am. He showed me his phone, it said 5 and mine said it was 4. Whatever, we were up now, might as well start getting ready...

We started packing up our bikes and I knocked on Mikey and Chris' door to let them know it was time to tackle the last leg of the AZBDR. Seemly, they didn't mind getting woken up early, and quickly jumped into our daily routine of packing up. By 5:30, we were pulling out of the motel parking lot enroute to the Navajo Nation.

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And so day five (4th day on the trail) began. We headed north on 89 and found the dirt road leading onto the Nation. We stopped for one last trail pep talk. I can't get it across strong enough how much stress the heat adds to the ride. You know any break down of medical emergency is going to be exasperated tremendously by the heat. We wanted to make it through this section without problems...that was our plan. As we started down the first section of dirt and got up to speed, no less than 1 mile down the road, my bike pulled fairly hard to the right and I heard a skipping sound behind me. I realized pretty quickly that my left side case had fallen off and was sliding down the gravel road. I thought, Fawk, not again....

As it turns out, the latch had literally broken and was now unusable. Time for another solution to a problem. Jeff quickly said "i got this one" and pulled a ratchet tie down out of his saddle bag. 5 minutes later, we would be on our way. Would there be more problems for team 5150??? Only time would tell...

This entire trip, Chris was know as our designated photographer. I know he has a few nice shots of Navajo Nation, which I'm hoping he'll share. I took only one. I'm not sure why, just too busy riding I guessC. The time of day (early) really made the entire 90 miles across the Nation special. The area is really amazing and we would all talk later about how beautiful it was. Every time I'm in an area like that, I actually feel sorry for the people who think the desert is "just dirt".

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We soon found ourselves back on the 89 heading north towards the Vermillion cliffs. We passed a gas station, just west of the bridge that goes over the Colorado river and I did a quick mileage calculation in my mind. We wouldn't have enough to go up to the end of the ride at Utah and make it back to this gas station, which was the closest one. I pulled over and we discussed it quickly and Chris suggested once we get to Utah, we continue north and get gas in a small town west of Lake Powell. We decided to go for it, adding more to think about for the next 60 miles. To me, it was just another sustained adrenaline rush...something I think the group really thrived on.

About an hour later, at 9:30 am on day four on the trail, we finished the AZBDR:

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It was a great feeling. We were all very happy to finish this ride and proud of the fact that we overcame all the challenges along the way. Our celebration last about 10 minutes, we jumped back on our bikes, and headed out...after all, we had 10 hours of riding ahead of us....LOL

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Would we make to gas without running out? What would the rest of the day bring? Where would we go? Stand by for more...

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Whew! That's one way to rip through a BDR ride.  Well done, boys.

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   Was CID the Go To for extra gas??  Tough to have the schedule so set, you had to deal with the heat.  So Now you ride back to  the coast?

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The last leg of the AZBDR, the Navajo Nation, is really the jewel.  We were debating how early we should get up to avoid the heat out on the desert plains.  Chris and I were actually happy to hear LB's bang on the wall and knock on the door to get up at 4:00 am and get rolling.  It guaranteed us cooler temperatures. 

Also, we got to experience the Navajo Nation just as the sun was cresting over the mountains to the East.  The rays of sunlight at low level cast a golden hue on everything in front of us.  We also got to experience wild horses running in the rising sun. Epic!  

Not too long after LB's side box fell off, one of my saddle bags also disappeared from the left side of my bike.  I didn't feel it come off and LB and I kept riding on until Jeff called out that there was a bag in the road. So back we went and fortunately it had just shaken loose from three hard days of riding and nothing was broken or lost.

Travis, if we didn't have the time constraints, we all would have liked to have spent more time on the route, although our riding probably would have been still fairly fast paced. Jeff and I just couldn't swing an additional day or two from families and work.  We were talking about doing the AZBDR again, maybe top to bottom, or on different bikes, etc., so maybe next time we will have more time to smell the roses and explore some of the sights along the way.  

Regardless, it was a hell of a good time and it is always good getting to know your SDAR riding buddies better.  We are very fortunate to have a website like this that connects people with a passion for riding and exploration.

 

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Chris, did you need all the fuel range provided by the BigTank?

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16 minutes ago, paulmbowers said:

Chris, did you need all the fuel range provided by the BigTank?

No, I could have used my 3.2 gal on this ride, but I liked having the big cushion and I really don't mind the big tank on a ride like this.

 

CiD

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Well, like all trips, they must come to an end...

Our original plan was to camp in Utah at the end of the BDR. But we found ourselves there at 9:30 in the morning. Besides, it was still too hot to camp. We decided the best plan was to split up the ride home into two days, instead of slabbing it home the entire way on Sunday. We decided to head toward home, staying as high in the mountains as we could. We pinned it for Flagstaff.

We went east from our last gas stop in Utah and crossed through the Lake Powell rec area. It was a beautiful day...and still early, so it hadn't even hit triple digits yet. We went through Page, Arizona, and started south toward Flagstaff. The pace was being set by CID, and I can tell you, the guy aint shy, even on a 525 amongst V-twins. We hauled the mail for several hours. It was fun, and exhilarating at times. CID led all the way into Flagstaff, where we had lunch at Cracker Barrel (my 1st time ever). This is where our team would part ways.

CID decided to rent a one way Uhaul and truck his bike the rest of the way back to Havasu, where his personal truck was. Mikey, Jeff, and I decided to ride to Prescott Arizona, where we would find a campground for the night. Jeff had a "good idea" to take 89A through Sedona, because it really is a beautiful route along the river and red rock formations. What we didn't calculate in, was that it was Saturday, it was hot as hell, and every flat lander in Arizona was going be heading to the mountains too.

As we dropped down toward Sedona, the traffic became a tangled mess. Completely stopped at times, where my bike promptly started over heating again. But luckily the road is downhill, and I was able to shut my bike down, and coast for a while, as traffic was literally stop and go. We made it through Sedona without further incident, and quite frankly, that was it for our challenges. We made it to Prescot, through some really cool small towns, by 5 pm. Found a nice campground via google, pulled in, paid our $10, and set up for the night. As a celebration, we had empty out one of my side cases and filled it up with beer, whiskey, and ice. This would be my first COLD trail side beer of the trip.

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Like every night so far, we were exhausted, and racked out by 9pm or so. Up with the sun, packed up, and on the road by 7 am Sunday. It was a slab fest, and what would turn out to be our hottest day yet at 113 across the desert. We had three gas stops on the way home but no food breaks. We were all ready to be home. I pulled into my garage at about 1pm and immediately jumped into my pool, full gear and all. It felt amazing!

This was an awesome trip. I know some will think we rode it too fast and that we should have taken more time. That may or may not be true. What I do know is we had a BLAST in spite of our challenges and the only thing I regret is not having enough time on day 3 to get to Cameron. But it is what it is. We conquered the AZBDR in 3.5 days and we are all proud of that!!

Final tally...I'm certain the top speed was when I was trying to keep up with CID on the way to Flagstaff:20160605_132807.jpg

NMBDR, here I come!

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"Top speed was when I was trying to keep up with CID "   He probably had much less wind resistance        

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Great outing fellas, good action, good exploring, and hopefully some good lounging when you had the time, I am sure many of us hope to replicate pieces and parts of your adventure soon.  Congrats. 

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On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 10:15 PM, Mikey777 said:

Also, we got to experience the Navajo Nation just as the sun was cresting over the mountains to the East.  The rays of sunlight at low level cast a golden hue on everything in front of us.  We also got to experience wild horses running in the rising sun. Epic!  

Awesome...

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I went back and forth between my 950 se and my 2006 525 EXC and my 2016 500 XC-W. In the end I was happy with my choice. I was going to trailer to Havasu no matter which bike I rode because I just didn't want to slab on Interstate 8 for hours. If I had to do it again I'd make the same choice.

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Day one heading out of Sierra Vista to the start of the AZBDR.

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Heading up into the Coronado National Memorial.

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Riding along the border fence.

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One of the many tire cactus on the route.

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Our fearless leader.

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Kind of a bummer.

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I wonder how much time people spend trying to get a ringer?

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The cactus were all in bloom.

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Loren says, You're not afraid of a little fire are you?

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Camp night 2 on the trail.

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My home for the night. This was the only night it got even a little cold.

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I guess some people hike Arizona.

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Morning day 3, Navajo Nation.

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Lots of horses running free, seeing this never gets old.

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I rode with this guy most of the time.

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It must be our lucky day, we keep finding these bags full of goodies in the middle of the road.

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The Navajo Nation is pretty remote and wide open, but the roads are all pretty good and the temps were mild in the early morning.

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But it was a little dusty if you weren't out in front.

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Jeff was my riding partner for most of this leg. Couldn't ask for a better more easy going guy than Jeff.

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This batch of horses ran along with Jeff and I for about a mile. 

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I really love the RFS KTM's for this kind of ride. I bought this one new in 06 and have about 16K miles on it and it's never let me down. 

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Making our way to the finish.

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Very nice road to finish on and beautiful country.

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Bikes were all great with no major issues and only 2 flats. Oracle showed that he is the fastest flat fixer around. He fixed his flat in under 20 minutes which is pretty fast for a big bike with dual disc brakes on the front.

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It seems no matter where I ride in the western USA this guy has already been there.

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Great ride and I'm already starting to plan for the next one.

 

Covered in Dust

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Awesome report guys!  Thanks for sharing!

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Just read your ride report and it was outstanding. I did this same route the month before except we jumped on the TAT at the end of the AZBDR and took that into Vegas. I also would love to do this ride again taking a little more time. We did the AZBDR and the TAT into Vegas in seven days. I did not see it mentioned but how did you guys like that first sand section or did you take the bypass? Great write up we have many of the same pictures! 

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Crash_Man:  

We bypassed the sand section.  We are all decent riders and could have easily done it, but we had some pretty severe heat issues and decided to pass on it for that reason.  We also had to bypass the expert rocky section.  It was officially closed (barricaded off) due to bear activity.  We also had to skip the section just before Cameron also due to heat.  It was unbearable that day and we ended up hiding in hotel rooms. 

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