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Oracle

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Posts posted by Oracle

  2. Posted

    Mileage, time, the difficulty of terrain, and distance vary by how hard you want to work. There are teams that want to win, so they might spend 13 hours on the bike each day, hitting as many checkpoints as fast as possible. Some of the fastest teams will bring two bikes for each person, an adventure bike and a small bike. They'll hit the technical stuff one day on small bikes and the long road section on their adventure bikes the next.

    But of course most teams just want to cruise, hit as much as possible, and enjoy the weekend. 

    There will be section where only advanced ADV bike riders should be doing on ADV bikes.

    If you just want to have fun, do some riding, not take things too seriously, and not worry about getting in a jam, I'd go with the 500.

     

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    The biggest rule of Oriflame is the ride DOWN it before you try to ride UP it...especially on an adventure bike. I've been riding it for 13 years and I can tell you it is getting worse and worse. I think mostly because the "overlanders" have exploded and their rigs cause havoc to the trails.

    • Like 1
    • Agree 1

  10. Posted

    Yes, if you go right at the Y, you'll be on Rodriguez. It is quite a bit easier than going up Oriflame. It connects with the main dirt road coming off Banner. There is two gates on Rodriguez, and just like the road off of Banner, they are always chained but never locked. These are all public roads. The locals like to wrap the chains around the gate to make it look locked, hoping that some people turn around....and they do. I've talk to a couple of the locals in that area who own ranches (primarily off of Rodriguez) and they were all nice, they just get sick of the traffic. But again, they are public roads and the locals are not allowed to lock them. You can make a fun loop out of the two trails, albeit short. 

    • Like 1

  13. Posted

    I led a club overnight ride for noobs a few years ago to Santa Rosa (Tom, weren't you on it?). Everyone had a blast. And quite a few learned some valuable lessons on setup, gear, luggage, etc. One guy had a yard sale of gear, sorry can't remember who it was, for about a mile down a trail because he tied everything down with bungee cords. Bungee cords don't work for what we do. We fixed him up and got back on the road and everyone had a laugh over it. God, who was it??? Anyway, these types of rides are an excellent resource for noobs to learn. I've ridden thousand and thousand of miles off road in remote areas camping off my bike and am constantly learning and changing things up. I think I have three full sets of bags, tents, gear, etc, that I went through before I got a pretty good grasp on the way I wanted to do it.

    Here's a pic from the top of Santa Rosa

    fullsizeoutput_1d7e.jpeg.f7db44930a3b783cfa66301326afe8c5.jpeg

    • Like 2

  15. Posted

    On 9/10/2022 at 9:43 AM, Goofy Footer said:

    @tntmo we need pics of the ice cream!  Which BDR are you interested in?

     

    @Covered in Dust has to be the SDAR leader of BDRs he has done NMBDR, AZBDR, IDBDR, COBDR and the UTBDR.

     

    @paulmbowers, @kkug , @Oracle, @Riggerdan, @Dan Diego what BDR was your favorite and what do you recommend?

     

     

    image.thumb.png.68f92ccde2bacf11e874c7478bb3ff5d.png

    I've done CABDR X2, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and will be setting out with the BDR crew to take on 1000 miles of dirt on the NVBDR in a couple weeks. Each has been a lot of fun, each had some challenges (usually weather related), and each is well worth doing. As far as my favorites, I'd probably go with CO at this point. But Utah was awesome....oh heck, they were all awesome in their own way.

    Zubb, hit me up if you want to do CABDR. I'd might be game depending on what life is throwing at me.

    • Like 3

  17. Posted

    Member Kato originally built this route many years ago. He shared it with me, I made a couple of minor improvements to it, and believe I shared it with Pokey a couple of years ago. I've ridden it quite a few times now, both as a 2 dayer to BB and back and as the first leg of several longer multi-day trips to places like the Sierras or DV. It's a fun route and I consider it easy. If anyone has questions about it, I'd be happy to answer if I can. It's a 6-hour ride at a fast pace. 8 hours+ with a group.

    • Like 3

  18. Posted

    I had similar parameters when I bought my truck three years ago. I purchased a used 2012 Ford F150 (previously owned only GM trucks my entire life) with the 3.5 EcoBoost twin turbo. The reason I went this route was for better gas mileage around town than the v8, the high tow rating for a 1/2 ton truck (something like 11,000 pounds), and more HP and torque than the V8. Plus it's a twin turbo and fun as heck to drive. The torque is impressive. I tow a 20' box trailer loaded with bikes. I need a crew cab for my family of 5 so ended up with the 6.5' bed. I've gotten four bikes in it, granted two of them were kids bikes. The F150 was updated in 2015 with some nice upgrades, mechanically and cosmetically, so I'd start there.

     

  21. Posted

    Chris (DFL), Delorme is now owned by Gramin. That article is old and obsolete. If you are interested in purchasing one, I recommend Garmin Mini. It's small, cheap(er), easy to use, and can be blue toothed to your phone for easy of use. $300 range but can find them for less if you wait for a deal.

  22. Posted

    2 hours ago, shutterrev said:

    Great question, I am also curious or if just cell service was avail so called. I will also say though, literally five minutes after reading this post I thought about this, and ordered a Garmin InReach Mini... It's on the way. 

    I was the first person to CID after he crashed. Since we were only about 3 miles outside of Christmas Tree circle in Borrego I was pretty sure I'd have decent coverage. I checked my phone and had 4 bars so called 911 instead of using my Garmin Mini. It's always better to call 911 if you can versus using the Garmin. The Garmin would just add another party, and slow response times down, since they would have to contact the same dispatch center I got by calling 911 directly. So always try 911 first and then Garmin as a backup. I'm pretty sure everyone in our regular group has one. 

     

    • Like 1

  25. Posted

    On 12/11/2021 at 8:00 AM, Bagstr said:

    Interesting Camp Gear review. Da, Rigger definitely gets the minimalist award. Are you warm blooded? 
    A Range of saddle bags has evolved. Once the Giant Loop horse shoe design was the way to go. Now we see racks and hanging bags. The racks I have seen weigh 12lbs. Do you two agree on the weight?

    In my opinion, a tent can be a life saver if it rains overnight.

    Also, the team is sporting some nice travel jackets. That is another tough packing choice. You pretty much need to wear it the whole time. What do you think guys?
     

        Thanks for the Fashion and Equipment show.  👀

     

    The rack is fairly heavy. But that is a worthy trade-off for a sturdy rack; a necessity for these types of conditions. When I got home, I did find a broken weld on a support beam. The rack was still very solid. I've seen other racks fail in one spot and be totally worthless, in fact, less than worthless. The key to the extra weight is adjusting sag appropriately prior to leaving. The guys will tell you I'm always reminding them to adjust their sag. Mikey777 will tell you the consequences if you don't.

    Rigga carried a tent and was fully prepared. For some reason he loves sleeping out in the open...even in sub 30 degree weather. 

    As far as jackets, yes, having a water proof jacket is a must. And coming up with a layering system that works for you is a must. I've tried many different options and have a closet full of riding gear to prove it. I have it figured out for me now. If I need to shed the jacket, I have an extra set of rok straps that are set up on my rear bag to strap the jacket down. Works well for me. 

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