tsr 0 Posted April 22, 2010 "This year's Bar 10 ride was my first, and might be my last - on four wheels, that is. I was dubbed "Quadtard Dave" amid a field of two-wheeled dual-sport machines since I rode a Suzuki LTZ-400. No matter; I had a great time ... until Monday's "adventure." After putting in 110 miles on day 1, Sean and I headed out from Bar 10 on Monday for our return trip. The first few miles passed quickly as we hit high speeds motoring on to the schoolhouse. Requisite pictures snapped, we headed on through last year's mud field, bordered cattle fences, slowed some for the surprise ditches and opened/closed cattle fences for quite a few miles. The temps got steadily colder as we rode on, and at one stop I added a baseball warm-up jacket to the riding jersey and sweatshirt I was wearing. We turned right and off of the smoothly graded road and headed up a hill. Just a bit up this rocky fence line path the wind drove falling sleet into our faces like little darts and we thus began the "adventure" portion of our ride. The stinging of the wind-driven sleet waned to driving snow which began to seep into our riding gear. At a cattle fence, I donned my last available layer (a cheap rain suit) in hopes of keeping from getting soaked. The jacket fit okay, but the pants tore as I tried to pull them on over my boots. Quickly stuffing my now-wet and frozen hands as best I could into my ski gloves we soldiered on, goggles clogging up with snow. With both of us knowing we had not enough gas to return, we pressed on faithfully following nothing more than a little wiggly line on a GPS through terrain we neither of us recognized. The road meandered along the sides of the hills coaxing us ever higher as we rode. Snow capped mountains once looming in the distance became our neighbor as we climbed even higher, the snow still falling and the wind still blowing. Nearing one snow-covered mountain it appeared the road would sneak us down to a lower elevation, but instead switch-backed up the side and over the top putting us on the leeward side and away from the wind. This blessing was short-lived as the road became blocked with snow drifts. Now, Chris had mentioned following some quads last year to ride in their tracks, so I dutifully offered to lead. For some drifts this seemed to help, but in more than one drift I also came to a complete stop, my quad stuffed into 2- and 3-foot drifts of snow. We tried many methods to overcome this predicament, riding in the bushes bordering the road, "snow-planing," swearing, etc., but the best method involved one of us getting as far as possible through the drift and running back to the rear to help push through the deep snow either the bike and/or quad. Eying with building frustration a particularly long snow drift, I walked ahead to find ... a clear road! Ten minutes of pushing later, we reveled in our apparent shift in luck as the road ahead seemed to be quite clear of snow drifts. This part of the track, however, offered a different challenge; deeeeep ruts in slushy mud and deep mud puddles. We slogged through all of this content that we were slowly dropping in elevation and away from the snow. Goggles now splattered with mud, and our wheels clear of packed snow, we eventually made it to the rock fall, a cascade down a water spillway labeled as a road. The warning sign at the top told of pending excitement ("Warning. This road is not maintained. Use at your own risk."). The road didn't disappoint and we fell thousands of feet in a few short miles while being beaten relentlessly with literally tons of loose rocks covering the virtual goat trail. We didn't care, giddy actually we were, because the sun was out, the snow had been beaten/melted off of our bikes and we were slowly warming up. Sean even happily announced that he could again feel his fingers, having last felt them as the stinging pain of blood's flow announced the return to life of his nearing-to-being frostbitten digits. A few stream crossing later we came to pavement, and a reverse of the plan we had orchestrated some 225 miles and 2 days before. With me waiting at pavement's edge, Sean rode off to retrieve the trailer and come back to pack up, thus ending the saga of our Bar 10 adventure. Was it fun? Well, at times Monday that would've been a debatable adjective, but in hind sight, once again warm and safe, I'd say YES !!! Some pix... The Quad-tard.. stomp996 stuck in the snow .. Look closely for the KTM .. Progress in the snow .. our tracks after pushing the bike/quad.. Day 1 fun .. More pix at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tsrdemp/sets/72157623875423792/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hoss314 0 Posted April 22, 2010 couldn't get the photo link to work Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted April 22, 2010 "This year's Bar 10 ride was my first, and might be my last - on four wheels, that is. Typo......I dont think you meant to use the word "might".......pretty sure that slot was meant for "will" Glad you were able to make it......now go buy a F'n bike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Audible 0 Posted April 22, 2010 Nice ride report. You may have been on 4 wheels, but you were there!!! I was in WA riding 28 - 32 degree rainy weather on a Harley/BMW. Point is to ride and have fun...could not get wife to understand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeslut 1 Posted April 22, 2010 welcome to the club tard I can see a quad being a great addition to an adventure... you hardly ever tip over (unless alcohol is involved) and you cut a wide swath... good report... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tsr 0 Posted April 22, 2010 couldn't get the photo link to work I'll check the settings...may be set wrong (will update if I can fix it) Thanks for the heads up Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
