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1000 km two day n00b ride

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I've been wanting to scout out tracks for a two day 1000km (621 miles) ride. The idea is one that would appeal to someone who has an adventure bike but doesn't necessarily do adventure riding like we do. The terrain would be easy but each day's distance (310 miles) makes it more of a challenge. The moving time would be 8 hours or less for most. I'm thinking half pavement then 40% easy dirt and 10% moderate (two track rolling but no sand or rocks). We'd get to a bivouac campground with water and maybe showers but no hotel or restaurant. This is meant to be an intro to adventure riding. They will have to bring a small tent, sleeping bag, pad, jetboil and a little food. If we get 15-20 riders to do it at first, I'd consider it a success.

An analogy might be that this is more of a 5k fun walk than an Ironman or even a marathon.

Big bikes would be most typical: Triumph Tiger, Yamaha Super Tenere, V Strom, Versys, BMW f800 gs, GS/GSA, Multistrada. Basically 650 cc and up. NOT geared towards scooters, touring bikes, street bikes, harleys.

I'd prefer to make it an out and back; something that could be started on a Saturday morning and finished on a Sunday evening. Out by 7 am, done by 4 or 5 pm for most each day. This would probably be a fall or spring ride. I have no dates in mind yet.

I started putting together a possible route just to see if it could be done and came up with this for just one day but not two:

http://goo.gl/maps/lztm

This starts up at the 15/138 and ends in Shoshone. The "easy" dirt is essentially in three sections: easy dirt roads up and around Edwards AFB, a dirt highway from Cal City to Johannesburg, then West Side Rd in Death Valley. I have no idea really how to get back from there the second day in a similar manner. I know some easy dirt east to Pahrump and a cool dry lake bed but getting back to SoCal I don't know a lot of easy dirt options. I'll be looking around the 127 and 15 fwy.

Others told me "do the Sierras" but I have no idea what the easy dirt is there. Plus, that's kind of far to get to on a Friday then back from late on a Sunday or even Monday morning. San Diego sounds much better.

So right now I'm trying to scout out "green" or easy dirt roads in SD county I could string together for a possible route. I'm not wedded to the sample route I did above; we could do the whole thing in and around SD county if need be.

I've been looking at dualsportmaps quite a bit but would appreciate help from anyone and everyone.

thanks,

Eric

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Careful what you ask for, the last one of these had 50+ riders......

Depending on timing, I'd like to start doing these types of rides so I'll be watching the progress.

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There's an event in Portugal called Les a Les. I saw a video about it:

I saw that the dirt was super easy, there were scooters, harleys, catered food, etc.. and I was like "WTF?"

Then it dawned on me, this is perfect as an intro to adventure minus the catering and bikes we don't care for :lol:

I dunno about the Dakar-like starting platform but that's a nice touch.

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Update: So our little meeting we had Saturday at Pizza Port in San Clemente was fun but was more social than productive .

I've been looking quite a bit at various routes and have spoken to quite a few more people via email and got a lot more great ideas.

A loop that takes us out and back over the course of two days without repeating any one portion would be great, but that seems like a pretty difficult task so far.

I'd also prefer an LA/OC/SD start and finish to make it as easy as possible for people to participate. It also provides an opportunity for some fun social interaction on Friday night before the start. I'd love to set up one of those Dakar-like starting platforms with it plastered with the ride name (not "Beyond Starbucks 1000") and maybe some sponsor logos. It would be a great photo op and we'd have a professional photographer who could snap pictures and then sell them, kind of like they do at LAB2V.

I took a stab at simply planning one myself; just to see what I'd learn and I've learned quite a bit. The main thing being that a goal of 50% dirt may be optimistic given we need to cover 310 miles each day. Another thing is the availability of "easy" dirt. There may be more "moderate" dirt courses which I don't think will cause any major pile-ups but will bring the average speed down a bit for some. Think about Maple Springs up to Main Divide; it's not that hard but will take a beginner more time.

I have a preliminary route now that's not a loop so that means a third day to travel back home for most. It starts in the Gas Lamp District (Friday night will be an AWESOME time!) early on a Saturday morning (probably 6:30-7:00) and goes up through Ramona then through some of the SDBDR up through Idyllwild then over to the Big Bear/Cajon Pass area to end Day 1. Day 2 goes west on 138 then north through dirt roads around Edwards AFB up to Cal City then over on dirt to Johannesburg, over Trona Rd through Trona, up through Panamint Valley, over and down through Death Valley, onto West Side Rd then over to Shoshone to finish. Again, that was just an idea and a way to start planning to get a feel for what's to be learned doing something like that. It's not at all a final route by any means.

I said I'd prefer a loop out and back but this Shoshone idea, or any campground that requires a third day for a trip back home, appeals more and more to me. I think it would be nice to have a more intimate closure to the event that involves a lot of stories, campfire discussions, etc... that will cement peoples' experiences rather than a finish line back home where everyone then goes on their merry way without that kind of closure.

Chris has some ideas for a Sierra loop that I'm interested in seeing more of.

So come on already, let's hear some ideas!

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It's too much to type, I would rather meet with you in person to go over maps and my book about the Sierra.

Let me know if you're interested.

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It's too much to type, I would rather meet with you in person to go over maps and my book about the Sierra.

Let me know if you're interested.

thanks, I'll take you up on that. Let's do via private message to set something up. Maybe I could come down there Aug 4th...

:)

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