DSM8 451 Posted October 9 (edited) This year I was able to go along with Matt (Rider914) and some others on his Wander West the fall addition ride. This LINK is to the ride report it was too picture-heavy to post up here so I am trying a new format for a long report like this to make it easier for people to see/read it etc. There is a video for each day of the ride, accompanied by the relevant pictures and narrative for that day. Please give feedback on this format. Warning: the first video (the start) sucks, so feel free to skip that and go straight to day 1 for the interesting stuff Edited October 9 by DSM8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTMrad 595 Posted October 10 (edited) The links don't work for each day. I myself prefer not having to follow links to ride reports. It's a lot of work to post the pix and report here, but it's probably just as much work the way you're doing it. Look at some of my old ride reports that have hundreds of photos posted and pages of the report. Edited October 10 by KTMrad Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSM8 451 Posted October 10 This year I was able to go along with Matt (Rider914) and some others on his Wander West the fall addition ride. The Start – trucking from San Diego to Walker (468 miles), then riding to Topaz Lake Day 1: https://www.relive.com/view/v1Owkgrg3XO We rode from Topaz Lake in NV up to Truckee in Ca. We went North in NV before turning west into Ca to meet up with John on a T7 for an overnight campout at Donner Lake. Most of the ride was on nice pavement with a dirt section thrown in for good measure at the 150-mile mark, we rode through some of the hardest hit burn areas, which were depressing to know what has been lost and will takea decade to restore (if ever). Day 2: https://www.relive.com/view/vdvmkxM88N6 Starting out from Donner Lake, we headed north deciding to change the direction of the trip due to the incoming weather that was hitting the original route but ended up sticking with the original plan that just got modified along the way due to the weather. Day 3: https://www.relive.com/view/vDqgz83zkG6 Started in Gelach, this is the home of Burning man, we saw the cleanup crews on the Playa as we went past, proceeded the skirt around the edge of the Sheldon Wildlife refuge passing over the mountain into Oregon where we ended the day in Fields, OR. It was decided that the weather was just too crappy for camping so we pulled the motel card for that night. Mileage for this day was touch over 166 Day 4: https://www.relive.com/view/vevWzoKz2yq Fields to Fish lake in the Steens mountains. This was another night of camping and boy was I NOT prepared for this night. It got below freezing (I heard 26deg) overnight, the rainfly on my tent was covered in ice both inside and out. Made for a rough night but the expected payoƯ the next day was the Steens loop, which did not disappoint. Was a good days ride to Fish lake with enough dirt to make it worthwhile. Day 5: https://www.relive.com/view/vXOdAD1A546 The Steens mountains loop to Alturas,Ca, taking the loop we got to the top of the east rim for some fantastic views. Then continued from there thru Fort Bidwell enroute to our days destination. We had perfect weather which made up for the very cold night I had to suƯer through at Fish lake. 212 miles today Day 6: https://www.relive.com/view/vE6JAPr2gxO Alturas Ca to Sparks NV – This was a really wet day for us we did not get on the road till well into the morning and pretty much dodged rain till at least noon before it got nice enough to even take pictures. Even then we managed to find some really good dirt on the way into Sparks. This is where we had to part ways with John, he had hit his limit of the cold and rain in part due to gear issues *(not enough warm stuƯ) and rain kinda takes the fun out of it. So Matt and I continue on retracing our steps past Pyramid lake which we did on the first part of the trip. TraƯic in Sparks SUCKED ASS, some of the worse I have seen and that is coming from a former LA resident. Got an overnight accommodation that left much to be desired with very few food options, Del Taco was dinner choice for that night (sic). 186 Miles today Day 7: https://www.relive.com/view/vr63W4NJ786 Sparks, NV to Walker, CA This was one of the longer days because we had to get back to the truck to load up and get down to Lone Pine to meet up with Mike. Along the way we stopped oƯ at Ft Churchill. Was a neat place to take a break and got to ride through the restored ruins of the adobe fort. After loading up the bikes I hauled them to Lone Pine where Matt spent another couple of days camping with Mike. I continued home at that point, no video of that part of the last day since I was just in the truck slabbing it home. Total trip stats - excluding the Drive to and from Walker to San Diego 1255 Miles 54 hours of total ride time 84,579 vertical footage gain/loss 38MPH moving average 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkug 161 Posted October 16 (edited) Good job Dave ! Did Matt stop where his bike broke down a few years back ? Edited October 16 by kkug Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zubb 1192 Posted October 16 Nice TR Dave. Good to see you wringing the cobwebs out of the big dog. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSM8 451 Posted October 17 On 10/15/2025 at 10:58 PM, kkug said: Good job Dave ! Did Matt stop where his bike broke down a few years back ? No but he did bring up the trip you two took quite a a bit on this ride reminiscing about passing thru same areas more than once Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
