Bagstr 287 Posted November 5, 2017 Thank You Crawdaddy! Every Year Crawdaddy invites the Dualsport Community to ride the Nevada and Arizona backcountry as a thank you for the support he gets for his charity and other rides. I believe he sees this as a Give Back to the Community. He has spent endless days of " sacrifice " scouting routes and editing GPS tracks in the two states that Bullhead City and the Colorado River Straddle. So, he has put together these tracks.... Gosh, these tracks are quite special. Bring your A Game, or stick to the Easy Ways. As a guy that has some rudimentary intermediate skill, these rides are a significant challenge. And that is exactly what Chris wants them to be. Two days of relentless challenge. I only rode Friday this year as I had a family event to attend Saturday. Given my declining physical capacity ( 66 ), it probably was a good idea to skip the second day anyway. As we finished leg 6 of 7 Friday, I joked that if I rode any more Hard Ways, I wouldn't be able to hold my beer after the ride. Luckily I had ridden the 7th leg with Amgens, Crawdaddy and Lendon +1 last year, so didn't totally miss out. When we reached the Christmas Tree Pass road, I announced my route change back to the river and recovery. Didn't want to break the good karma the group had going, but the right decision for me. That last leg was going to be a workout but darned exciting! Sorry to be the one to break the spell. The celebration down on the river overlook was confirmation of our group solidarity. These tracks are serious Fun and serious Work! Back to the Point!! This is a tremendous weekend and I am grateful to Crawdaddy for his gift to the Dualsport Community. Additionally I would express appreciation to my Riding Pals, none of this would be possible without the support and encouragement of these gentlemen. Skill, responsible decision making and a big dose of Team Spirit enable me to go places never to be done alone. Long Live Dualsport, Bagstr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Riggerdan 147 Posted November 6, 2017 Babstr could not have said it any better..... Really appreciative of all the work Crawdaddy puts into this, its not easy.. Great weather, great tracks, few naps.....no bruises or major mechanicals to speak of Very talented group of riders working their way through the vast terrain of the Daddyville, BHC Not a lot of photographic opportunities as the tires were rolling right along. Here's a few shots from the phone.. Thanks again Crawdaddy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted November 6, 2017 Glad you could make it out Bags. We had bout ~30 riders in all this weekend. A few left Saturday and few rolled in on Sat. I already have a some thoughts on changes/wrinkles for next year....... Lisa and I spent most of our time waiting on riders with cold beverages in the RZR Look forward to seeing many of you again next year - Nov. 1-4, 2018 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dstss 26 Posted November 6, 2017 We had an awesome time. Thanks for putting this together. Some of the best single track I've been on in a long time. I tweaked my back on Friday and was in a bit of pain on Saturday. Made it to Oatman but had to street it back. We plan on doing it again next year and be able to stretch it out more. Great ride and great people. Thanks again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amgems 79 Posted November 6, 2017 Super ride !! Super group of riders !! I had SO MUCH FUN !!!! Bags and Rigga' described it perfectly. Great photos too. Thanks Crawdaddy, and to all my riding partners, especially the ones who helped lift up that damned KTM once or twice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danrider 5 Posted November 6, 2017 Sounds like a dirt packed weekend, sounds like Crawdaddy has is own Six day event in a three day! Bags I know you are a good rider and so are you DSTSS, when you guys say it is challenging it must be. Crawdaddy you are a good man for the dual sport community! Make sure you take your MOTRIN this week, it will help with the recovery process. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted November 6, 2017 Yup. Rides like this are why we have motorcycles. Thanks to my group especially- lots of twists and challenges. And whoops. Lots of whoops. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted November 6, 2017 SDAR group pics (Thanks Paul) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wierdrider 187 Posted November 7, 2017 Great job Crawdaddy!? Nice post bags, and the rest of you all. Great photos, the weather looked perfect, and those clouds are just gorgeous. Very inspirational ?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted November 7, 2017 On 11/6/2017 at 6:25 AM, Riggerdan said: Babstr could not have said it any better..... Really appreciative of all the work Crawdaddy puts into this, its not easy.. Great weather, great tracks, few naps.....no bruises or major mechanicals to speak of Very talented group of riders working their way through the vast terrain of the Daddyville, BHC Not a lot of photographic opportunities as the tires were rolling right along. Here's a few shots from the phone.. Thanks again Crawdaddy You're not fooling anyone Dave......they know you have a beer behind your back Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagstr 287 Posted November 7, 2017 And on my head. With Such Friends,,,, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mikey777 44 Posted November 7, 2017 Some nice pics... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jbenduro 0 Posted November 8, 2017 Great tracks and a cool group of riders always makes for a great time! I only wish had taken more pics. Thanks for taking the time to pull this all together Crawdaddy! Extra thanks to Lisa and you for making sure the beer snob had access to some cold IPAs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted November 8, 2017 11 hours ago, jbenduro said: Vaudois has onboard video going down the hill pictured above "2up" with his wife, Angelica, on his KTM 500....crazy ?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Covered in Dust 162 Posted November 9, 2017 Great weekend with great guys. Big shout out to Crawdaddy for hosting the event. He puts a lot of work into making it a great weekend. Thanks to our riding group for all the fun and to Rigger for getting me out there and allowing me to stretch my legs a little and to Curtis for breakfast and Paul for giving my son a ride home. There were uphills There was single track There were even balancing rocks. Crawdaddy always puts on the best rides. Don't miss the next one. CiD Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagstr 287 Posted November 9, 2017 So,,, There was this Droooop. Crawdaddy throws a bunch a stuff at you,,,One after Another. Friday morning, one after another and you top another ridge, but Wait There is More, a Drop as big as the climb you are soo proud of. One by one we Hero down without mishap. But Then we are sitting on the bikes admiring how brave we are and RiggerDan lines up and someone says,," You are not thinking of climbing That Thing?" You know that is all he needed sitting on his 300 Maximum Moto. Off he goes, and we are All Thinking, No Way!! He clears the bottom third, we are amazed. He traverses the top two thirds. We are Shocked, Did he really just do that? Yes He Did - Amazing Just one of many happenings in the middle of nowhere. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oracle 195 Posted November 10, 2017 Note to self: retire before 11/1/18 so I don't have an excuse to miss this ride AGAIN next year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fabless 0 Posted November 26, 2017 I am slow in many ways, including as a rider and in responding to this thread. Chris Crawford had long been encouraging me to join this ride and with some nudging from Paul, 2017 was the year to do it. Riding in a group with skills and experience substantially in excess of mine is intimidating and challenging but this particular group is familiar with my limitations (probably more than they'd like), uses radios, and values safety. Departure: Palm Springs Wind Farm: The General Patton Memorial Museum: Fort Mojave Reservation, not far from Bullhead City. Arrival: Genius route crafter on the left, ride "entertainment" on the right: Friday's ride began with not much warm-up at all. Steep descent, with Ryan in foreground. The single-track was ridable but challenging and tiring for someone of my skill level. Here, we regroup prior to a steep climb. I fell a couple times close to the top of this climb. Another steep climb that I looped my bike on near the top. The route had numerous steep dips and climbs featuring fun winding track through undulating desert terrain. The dips involved sandy wash riding (which I steadily improved on over the course of the weekend), climbing up onto mildly rocky, firmer terrain which was easy to enjoy. I was worn out upon reaching the 164 near Searchlight, and took the bail-out back to Bullhead with Ryan. Felt pretty beat-up when done. Where we stayed: Day 2 was considerably easier (or maybe I was just warmed up). Waiting for Rigger, who'd gotten ahead on account of a broken radio: Gorgeous terrain: A mining operation interrupted our route and we spent some time looking for work-arounds with a couple dead-ends that brought us to a stop while better riders scouted ahead. See the peak in the upper right corner? That's part of our work-around route. Views from the peak: Oatman for lunch. Had to ride with with a bunch of asses. And burros as well. We had greens with our lunch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Oatman Lots of fun 2-track after lunch: Break for tea: Done with Day 2: Dusk at Bullhead: The drive home: It was an excellent weekend (even the difficult parts) and I hope to do it again next year (with more riding practice beforehand). -Fabless Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dress4Less 162 Posted November 26, 2017 Fabless - those photos are Fab-U-less! Nicely done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted November 27, 2017 Thanks for posting the trail tales/pics Curtis.....I'm already working on a few wrinkles for next year..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagstr 287 Posted November 28, 2017 I saw That... The daybreak commute is a Pitch! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites