This Wednesday, May 20, me (790), @Arrivo (701), @anichols (GS) , and @Colin_Fitzpatrick (GS) are meeting in ABQ to ride Sections 4-8 of the New Mexico BDR. We’ll stage at a BMW dealership and then ride 2-3hrs to a hotel in Truth or Consequences, and will start Section 4 on Thursday.
Steve has been doing all of the planning, and we have a spreadsheet with the miles for each riding day, distances between gas stops, etc. We even have a tab where we’ve identified who’s bringing what, in an attempt to minimize duplication.
For me, it’s been a fun exercise in dorking out on my BDR load out, laying everything out and weighing it with a food scale. I’ve already got a pretty lean setup but I found it valuable to put a no-shit weight to a thing. For example, my Yeti mug is 1lb and kinda big…but it’s fun (tagged with a shit ton of stickers), keeps beer cold, and coffee hot. Likewise, I usually steal Kandi’s Big Agnes bag when she’s not looking, but I found that my bag is 8oz lighter than hers…so I’m bringing mine. Complete details here in the The Moto Camping Thread - #44 by Rich_Strauss
I’ve spent time getting the bike ready after the BoCOBDR last August. Rottweiler PC ECU, shorter kickstand, Cyclops headlight bulb, etc.
This year I have my Wolfman B-base back and my luggage consists of two large Wolfman Rollie bags, and a double ended duffel ( there’s a joke there somewhere!), topped off with a Mosko Nomax tank bag. I have a Big Agnes Cooper Spur UL (12" poles - again, insert joke here), two inflatable pillows, thermostat inflatable sleeping pad, Nemo side sleeper -15 bag with liner, camp chair, toiletries, one pair of shorts, three UV long sleeve shirts, UV neck gator, three pairs of socks, alpaca socks and Mosko will zip up top for sleeping. Snacks and dry meals as per usual. All told the back has 36 lbs, base and bags included.
Highly recommend this process: week(s) out lay out everything you have. Then make three sections: 1) the absolute must haves, 2) the nice to haves, 3) I own it but won’t use it in this trip pile.
Let it sit overnight or more. Go back and start moving things out of your “I’m bringing” items. You’ll be surprised what you’ll be able to not bring…
Day 1 in the books. No dumps. No yard sales. No injuries. 221 miles. Lots of rocks, some nice flowy bits and some windy pavement. Wrangled hotel rooms in Alpine, AZ and an extra hour crossing the border. Dinner now. Then on to karaoke night at Ye Olde Tavern to burn it to the ground.
Then there were two… @Rich_Strauss and I finished the ride on Sunday. Total was just under 1000 miles. Cuba to Abiquiu and Abiquiu to where turned East then South (US285) were very nice high altitude tree lined logging roads. We cut off the last 20 miles or so, saving some time and the distance between Abiquiu and the end are not joke no gas, no nothing. Be prepared. The Alt-Hard on section 8 was the hardest BDR segment we’ve ever seen as well. Round rocks smaller than a baseball and as large as basketballs littered the climbs. Not for solo traversing!! It’s a once and done BDR. We skipped sections 1-3 as well.
Yep, that Alt-hard section out of Abiquiu is stout for sure!!! Wrestled my 990 through there a few years ago and no need to return!
Hope you all had a blast!!
The pic makes it look worse than it was, which is usually the opposite. At least it wasn’t steep. Just a point, shoot, and don’t stop kinda situation.
The earlier stuff was smaller, baby head rocky climbs on very loose soil. I got bounced of the trial, stalled the bike, and dug it in trying to get rolling again. Another use case for radios
