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JMBray

Utah BDR (Back Country Discovery Route) July 2018

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14 minutes ago, Covered in Dust said:

So I have a question. Like I said i’ve Done the lower part of Utah twice but only made it as far north as about Soldier Summit. My question is do you think the route north of there is as good or better than the bottom half? The reason I’m asking is because I’m either going to do the top half or go to Colorado and do the COBDR. 

 

CiD

We had to bypass soldier summit because of the dollar fire that was burning there and the mudslides that happened during the monsoon rains. Strawberry creek road and area will be closed for at least a year they said on the news.

The northern part of the Utah BDR is very Alpine, flowing trails and if you take the expert sections there’s a little bit of loose Rocky stuff but nothing overly taxing. The gentleman I was with has ridden the Colorado BDR but I have not. He told me that the Colorado BDR was similar to the northern part of the Utah BDR but much prettier. In my opinion, the vistas that you get in the southern part of the state were prettier than the Alpine setting in the northern part. Much of the northern part of the state reminded me of the San Bernardino Mountains or the high Sierras. Pretty, but nothing that was stunning like it was in the southern part. 

 

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16 hours ago, JMBray said:

We had to bypass soldier summit because of the dollar fire that was burning there and the mudslides that happened during the monsoon rains. Strawberry creek road and area will be closed for at least a year they said on the news.

The northern part of the Utah BDR is very Alpine, flowing trails and if you take the expert sections there’s a little bit of loose Rocky stuff but nothing overly taxing. The gentleman I was with has ridden the Colorado BDR but I have not. He told me that the Colorado BDR was similar to the northern part of the Utah BDR but much prettier. In my opinion, the vistas that you get in the southern part of the state were prettier than the Alpine setting in the northern part. Much of the northern part of the state reminded me of the San Bernardino Mountains or the high Sierras. Pretty, but nothing that was stunning like it was in the southern part. 

 

Thanks, I’ve finished AZ, NM, ID BDR’s and tried UT twice. I may just go and do Colorado.

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I enjoyed the Strawberry Creek area near Duck Creek.

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Just now, SoCalMule said:

I enjoyed the Strawberry Creek area near Duck Creek.

The area was devastated by the fire, and then the monsoon rains caused massive amounts of mudslides. So much so that rescue and police of said if someone gets in there and get stuck they will not come get them because it’s too dangerous.

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Just now, JMBray said:

The area was devastated by the fire, and then the monsoon rains caused massive amounts of mudslides. So much so that rescue and police of said if someone gets in there and get stuck they will not come get them because it’s too dangerous.

Oh my...Well I'm pretty sure that Mother Nature will bring herself back to her original glory in short order.

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Great ride report and pix. That's the kind of trip write-up I like to see !

Thanks for taking the time to share.

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:thumbsup_anim:

I was with CID last year when we got turned back at Soldier Summit because of an early season storm. This year it's fires. 

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Nice write up.. Brings back memories with LB and CiD.  Lockhart was an a$$ kicker, but well worth it.

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32 minutes ago, Mikey777 said:

Nice write up.. Brings back memories with LB and CiD.  Lockhart was an a$$ kicker, but well worth it.

Yeah, we did Lockhart Basin on Adventure Bikes...was tough, but worth it !

 

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6 hours ago, Oracle said:

:thumbsup_anim:

I was with CID last year when we got turned back at Soldier Summit because of an early season storm. This year it's fires. 

Yep. We took the first part of that segment until it crossed the 191 to Duchesne, then the 40 to pick up a dirt segment to Heber City. Stayed there, then carried on.

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Incredible! Thanks for sharing...I did Lockhart Basin and Moab w/ my son and his group 2 years ago...great stuff...

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Hey @JMBray I have some bike and gear questions for you. I'm a new dual sport rider and got a lovely DRZ just a couple weeks ago. Very interested in many facets of your ride but I wanted to ask firstly about fuel range. I see the big safari tank on the black bike (yours i think?) but Deuce's seems to have a stock tank? How do you manage fuel on a ride like this? Do you each pack extra bottles/cans? Is it frustrating to ride with somebody with much shorter range than you have with that big ol cell?

Secondly: those rally screens are kickass. How and where?!

What tires did you each choose for an adventure like this one and what were the reasons/strategies for making the choices you did?

Being in Utah heat like that, what can you recommend to the rest of us in terms of staying cool and calm etc? Water is great but is there any kit or any techniques that you feel helped you guys cope with the conditions? I rode to the office today and barely tolerated having a jacket on this morning I couldn't bear to think what another 30 degrees of beating sun would do...

 

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2 hours ago, Rexx Riot said:

Hola Rex, welcome to the DRZ family! 

Great questions! I figure it’s easier to answer your questions in line. So that’s what I’m going to do...

*************

Hey @JMBray Deuce's seems to have a stock tank? How do you manage fuel on a ride like this? Do you each pack extra bottles/cans? 

*************

Deuce actually had a tank that was as large as mine is. I have the IMS tank and he uses the Clarke. He has had upgrades to his engine so his mileage isn’t quite as good as mine, he’s able to get about 170 miles out of the 4 gallon tank while I can get a bit over 200 miles. No extra fuel containers were needed for this trip.
**************
Secondly: those rally screens are kickass. How and where?!

**************

I’m pretty sure Deuce made his from a trash can. Mine is actually off a Harley Davidson! I got it off craigslist for $15.  I super glued  A couple of poly propylene spacers from the local hardware store  to my crossbar and bolted it right on. I did find that I had a little bit of a wobble if I got above 60 miles an hour but when I zip tied the bottom to my front plastic that completely disappeared. We traded bikes for a short segment on some long roads And I much prefer my windscreen to his. Mine didn’t give any chest wind at all and no head buffeting whatsoever. His deflected a little bit of wind but it really hits you about the level of your sternum so you were pretty much in full wind.

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What tires did you each choose for an adventure like this one and what were the reasons/strategies for making the choices you did?

*******************

Deuce Has done four BDR’s and ridden across the Arctic desert in Alaska so I took his advice on tires. In the past he would use a matching set of Kenda 270. This trip, he suggested a Kenda in the rear and the Tractionator desert HT upfront. He suggested the oversized tires and we also ran 4 mm thick tubes. That let us breeze over whatever rocks we faced… And there were a lot of them… Without fear of a pinch flat. It worked well as neither one of us had a flat the entire trip.

******************

Being in Utah heat like that, what can you recommend to the rest of us in terms of staying cool and calm etc? Water is great but is there any kit or any techniques that you feel helped you guys cope with the conditions?

******************

First, be sure to have at least 140 ounces of water with you. Two Camelback pouches will do that for you. If you use an electrolyte replacement, make sure it doesn’t have caffeine. Deuce chose to use all mesh gear and a neck buff. I went to a slightly different direction. My jacket is a BMW airflow, which has metal mash all down the front and back so let’s a lot of air through. My pants are no fear ATV pants that I had a friend install some zippers in the front of the legs and back of the legs so I could open it up and let the airflow through. 

 I also wore a sub layer of very soft longjohns and teeshirt called heatout. You can get them at cycle gear. The material is designed so that when moisture hits it it spreads it out and retains it. Then when the air moves over you had anything over 10 miles an hour it’s like standing in front of a swamp cooler.  It was amazing how well it worked! I wore a Columbia Sportswear liquid retaining neck buff. There’s a reason all those Dakar racers wear buffs...They retain the sweat, and keep your neck from getting sunburnt and wind worn. We both wore very thin motocross gloves.

We ate large breakfasts, very light lunches i.e. nuts and dried fruit and a little beef jerky or a Cliff bar, and large dinners. With all that heat, we figured that eating in the middle of the day really wouldn’t work… And it wouldn’t have.

Lastly, other than the first night, we were able to stay at a hotel each evening. Being able to get a respite from the extreme heat and have a good shower was really a benefit!

 I think I’ve covered all your questions, but if I missed something or if you think of anything else please feel free to ask. There are certain modifications you can do to the DRZ to make it an even better bike. The 3 x 3 mod for the airbox, rejetting the carburetor, and running new wire from the state or to the battery are all goid items to do. There is plenty of information on those things out there on the Internet.

Cheers,

JMBray

 

 

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Great info @JMBray, thanks for the response. Eager to get more reps in on the DRZ, moreso after reading reports like this

 

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On 8/4/2018 at 11:25 AM, JMBray said:

The area was devastated by the fire, and then the monsoon rains caused massive amounts of mudslides. So much so that rescue and police of said if someone gets in there and get stuck they will not come get them because it’s too dangerous.

Are we talking about the Duck Creek\Strawberry Ridge area (The Markagunt Plateau) east of Cedar City? I didn't think the UTBDR went anywhere near that.

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On 8/6/2018 at 11:46 AM, Mikey777 said:

Nice write up.. Brings back memories with LB and CiD.  Lockhart was an a$$ kicker, but well worth it.

When Bags and I were at the 3 Step there was a group of guys that did it on big bikes. They were very good riders and it was a struggle for them but they got it done.

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19 hours ago, PbdBlue said:

Are we talking about the Duck Creek\Strawberry Ridge area (The Markagunt Plateau) east of Cedar City? I didn't think the UTBDR went anywhere near that.

The area containing the section of the UTBDR that goes north from soldier summit was completely closed down. We bypassed it by going north east to Duchenne and then coming back west.

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2 hours ago, JMBray said:

The area containing the section of the UTBDR that goes north from soldier summit was completely closed down. We bypassed it by going north east to Duchenne and then coming back west. We bypassed it by going north east to Duchenne and then coming back west.

Ok. Different place. Whew!!! I'm planning on going to Duck Creek the end of September:)

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