Last week I did the Montana BDR with @Arrivo @ChrisMunro @MoJoe @Mark @Matt_Sullivan and @Jason_Pennington
We met at the park and ride in Firestone to consolidate the bikes and bodies into two trucks, then drove to the ABnB in Ashton, ID. Next day we drove to the route start at Island Park, ID to stage the trucks at a KOA.
We rode:
- Day 1: Sect 1, with a out and back on the Alt Hard option
- Day 2: Sect 2, with both hard sections.
- Day 3: Sect 3, with hard section. This was the Day of T7 Catastrophes that ended in the dark.
- Day 4: Sect 4 and 5
- Day 5: Sect 6 and 7
- Day 6: Sect 8 then about 300mi of pavement to Butte
- Day 7: 200mi back to the trucks then 9hr drive back to BoCO.
About 1600 miles
I don’t have time to do a stage by stage recap, but hopefully the others can add their reports and pics.
Overview and Notes:
- Hands down the best and most scenic BDR I’ve done. I’ve done CO, NM, WY, much of UT, did the CDT from MX to CA and have ridden a ton in CA, AZ, NV, and UT.
- What made the route exceptional was (1) the quality of the dirt roads and trails and (2) the density of the forests, which as a desert and CO guy was very different from the terrain I’m used to.
- There were only 3 (I think) Alt Hard sections, one in Sect 1 (we did it twice, as an out and back) and 2 on Section 2. None of these were “hard,” and if you’re comfortable doing the stuff we do all the time (WestMag, JP, even 68J) you’ll be more than fine.
- The roads: we continually remarked “how can this road, in the middle of nowhere, be so well maintained while we’re riding through this forest?” Many times it was truly like riding through a park.
- Scenery: there were no throw-away sections. Meaning, wide open dirt roads that tempt you to dial it up to 60-70mph. I typically like the hard stuff and get bored with long stretches of “easy” riding. But not this BDR. I thoroughly enjoyed the easy, scenic sections because it was so different from what I’m used to.
- We did hotel and ABnB’s, allowing us to travel very lightly, which was a great change. The only kinda downside, but not really, was that with reservations made and cancellation policies in place, we were locked into our itinerary. But we finished one day in the dark and it was VERY convenient to just roll up to the hotel, knowing that we had rooms reserved.
- Comms: again, radios proved their worth many, many times and with a mix of RTs and BFs in the group, it really highlight the quality transmission and reception of the Rocky Talkies. Hopefully RT will offer a helmet speaker and mic kit, with PTT on the bars, which will be a game changer.
- DMD navigation software: I believe 5 of us were running DMD. I’ll do a more detailed post on it separately but it’s a game changer also.
- Quality riding partners: we had crew of great riders, great guys, and competent problem solvers. Everyone was on the same page, knew how to navigate and ride together well as a group. Much trash talking and ball busting of course.
In short, an excellent all-abilities BDR you should consider, even with the considerable drive to get there and back. For extra credit you could slide west at the end of Sect 8, pick up the top and the IDBDR and ride that south.
