Ride Report – ADV NCBDR | 3-Day | July 10

[Jose Hanagan]

NorCal BDR Ride report

Three groups of riders set out Friday morning July 10th with the goal of meeting up at the intersection of Foresthill and Soda Springs Rd. Jubal and his friend Aaron left Carson City; Mike, Steve and Eduardo of the Moto Katz M/C Nor-Cal located in Lincoln left Steve’s place in Cool; and the main Dust Devils group consisting of Kurt, Wayne, Glenn, Greg, Paula, Eric, Blake and myself departed from the Boomtown Chevron in Verdi. Almost immediately, the Boomtown group ran into a small issue when Wayne’s tent became entangled in his rear wheel. Thankfully, he and Kurt were able to clear this and meet back up with the group at the top of Henness Pass Rd. The main group continued with Kurt dropping back after taking a video of the group riding by to go scout trail for the RR 200. With the main group already now behind, due to my severely underestimating our pace we arrived at Foresthill Rd. and Soda Springs Rd. way behind schedule. By now, Jubal and Aaron had met up with Mike, Steve, and Eduardo and via text informed us they had already departed and ultimately, were waiting for us at Ahart campground. Our group decided to take a lunch break and would finally connect with the rest of the group at Ahart. This section of Soda Springs Rd. from just south of Serene Lakes had just enough technical challenges to keep us on our toes but nothing too challenging to question our decision to ride the BDR. Once we caught up with the rest of the group, Mike suggested we stay on French Meadows Rd. and detour around the BDR section the follows the ridge that overlooks Hell Hole reservoir as it was getting late in the afternoon, it was hot and the road reports about this section was that it was dusty and rocky. It was a group consensus and after reading other reports after the ride from other riders we all agreed that this turned out to be a good decision. The next stop turned out to be Uncle Tom’s cabin which offered us all a good break with cold beers and snacks. If you ever ride this way, it’s worth making a stop at Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The next scheduled stop after Uncle Tom’s cabin was supposed to be Robb’s lookout which was originally scheduled to be our lunch stop. Almost immediately after leaving Uncle Tom’s cabin and getting back onto Wentworth Springs Road with myself riding as the sweep and with Wayne immediately in front of me, Wayne pulled over and we noticed that his rear tire was going flat. Thankfully, I had just purchased an electronic mini-air compressor which we used to reinflate the tire and we were hoping we could make it to the Ice House Resort but after another mile or so it went flat again. Wayne and I assumed the main group continued to Robb’s Lookout while he and I spent the next 45 minutes on the side of the road fixing his flat. We’re not sure where the main group went or if they made it to Robb’s lookout but by now Wayne and I were hot, tired, sweaty, dirty, and looking forward to the Ice House Resort, so we continued straight there. By the time Wayne and I got there the main group had already settled in and had tents pitched. At the Ice House Resort the group was joined by Glenn’s friend Kenny who rode up from Benicia on his T7 and would join us for the rest of the ride. Jubal and Aaron add previous plans to depart from the group at this point and spend the night at a hotel in Pollock Pines and make their way back home to Carson City on Saturday. The Ice House Resort is a nice destination with a café, a bar, a store, a campground and 87 octane gas. Justine, who runs the place, was a pleasure to work with when setting up the logistics for this first night’s overnight. Some in the group elected to take baths in the South Fork of Silver Creek and it was the consensus of those that Silver Creek was very cold. Paula and I elected to ride the 5 minutes back to the Ice House reservoir boat launch for warm showers. I think we made the better decision. Once we were all cleaned up, we all made our way back to the bar and restaurant for beers and food. Later, after sitting around the campfire for a while, a good night’s rest was had by all.

Day 2 began with a hot breakfast in the Ice House cafe for most of us as others waited until we got to the Union 76 station on Hiway 50 at Kyburz, which was our designated gas stop at the beginning of day 2. Immediately leaving the 76 gas station the BDR route took us through Sand Flat campground and south on Forest Service Road 11N46, then on to 11N47 and then onto 10N39 . As with Soda Springs Rd. on day 1, these roads all provided just enough technical challenges to keep us on our toes and keep the riding fun. The group took a quick lunch break at the intersection of 11N40 and Mormon Emigrant Trail. Continuing on Mormon Emigrant Trail the group turned off onto 9N14 with the goal of getting to Leek Springs Lookout. Due to my novice route planning and navigation skills we all missed the turn off and the group ended up regrouping at the intersection 9N14 and Hwy. 88. From here Blake decided he was going to return home to Alameda and the rest of the group proceeded down 88 to the Bear River Reservoir turn off where we now began our descent down into the Mokelumne River canyon, riding past the lower Bear River Reservoir group campground and down the winding steep 16E41 to the bottom of the canyon. Once at the bottom we made our way to Moore Creek campground where we set up camp, pitch tents and began relaxing after a day’s ride. Some of us elected to take a dip in the Mokelumne river, which those that had experienced the South Fork of silver Creek the day before said it wasn’t as cold as Silver Creek, but it was cold. Randy made the drive up to Salt Springs Reservoir, which is a beautiful reservoir and in hindsight I should have gone there for a swim instead of the cold bath in the Mokelumne. Moore Creek campground is a nice, quiet, heavily forested campground on the south bank of the Mokelumne river and the only detriments to this campground would be the mosquitoes (they were out in force!) and the short fifty foot section of road leading into the campground which we all jokingly agreed was possibly the worst fifty feet of the entire ride. After discussing the day’s ride, debating as to whether anyone was going to ride 7N08 out of the canyon and up to Winton Rd. and everybody comparing their various camp meals, both dehydrated and canned, everybody settled in for a night’s rest.

Day 3 began with the consensus that everybody was going to take the alternate route and avoid 7N08. With this decision, the next meet up once departing Moore Creek was going to be the Union 76 station just prior to Buckhorn on Hwy. 88. After everyone gassed up and snacked up at the Union 76 station, the main group said goodbye to Eduardo, Mike and Steve who decided they were going to start making their way back to Steve’s place in Cool. The rest of the group continued down 88 to Defender Grade Rd. and made our way through West Point and onto Winton Rd. We continued on Winton Rd. passing the intersection of where 7N08 came up out of the canyon until coming to the intersection of Forest Route 7N09 where again, due to my novice navigating and route planning skills we ended up deciding to take this route to Hwy. 4 versus continuing on the true BDR route and ultimately connecting back with 7N09 many more miles up Winton Rd. This ultimately ended up being another good audible call as continuing the original route would have taken an additional 45 minutes to get to Bear Valley and this route took us out at Hwy. 4 at the turn off for Black Springs OHV Park. The ride up Hwy. 4 to Bear Valley Resort started showing potential signs of rain which thankfully never came. Once at Bear Valley Resort Glenn and Kenny decided they were going to continue over to Bridgeport and spend another night riding and camping at Buckeye Springs campground near Bridgeport. We wished them good luck, safe riding and the remaining six of us went to Lake Alpine Resort for a much-needed lunch. The recently remodeled lake Alpine Resort’s burgers were fantastic and came just at the right time. After a great lunch, a few of us decided to don our jackets as it started to cloud up again and the ride over Ebbett’s pass had the potential for rain, which again never came. For those of you that have never ridden Ebbett’s past it’s a beautiful high alpine pass, single lane highway. Our next stop was the Genoa Saloon for our celebratory beer. At the saloon we said our goodbyes to Greg as he decided to continue to Dayton, his origin point. Randy, Paula, Eric, Wayne, and myself enjoyed a nice rest at the Genoa Saloon, also known as Nevada’s oldest thirst parlor, before we all ended up saying goodbye and heading back to our respective homes. Except for a few of my navigation and route planning errors, all-in-all it was a great weekend. Being my first time route planning a large group like this, I now have a better idea as to what to do and what not to do next time. So, here’s to looking forward to the next multi-day, camping-off-the-bike Dust Devil’s trip.

Lots of photos to follow.

 

KLR 650

• This topic was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by Jose Hanagan.
• This topic was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by Jose Hanagan.
• This topic was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by Jose Hanagan.
• This topic was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by Jose Hanagan.

[Jose Hanagan]

more photos

KLR 650

[Jose Hanagan]

and more photos

KLR 650

[Jose Hanagan]

more fotos to come

KLR 650

[Jose Hanagan]

the flat

KLR 650

• This reply was modified 2 months, 2 weeks ago by Jose Hanagan.

[Dennis Larry]

Great report Jose, looks like everyone enjoyed themselves. Navigation on your computer and a actual trail is difficult. The trails and junctions never look as you imagine!
Dennis

[Jose Hanagan]

Dennis, that is for sure. I’m adjusting my process accordingly. 😉

KLR 650

[Dave G]

Looks like it was a great event!

[Jose Hanagan]

Dave, everyone said they had a great time and are looking forward to the next multi-day Dust Devils ride.

KLR 650

[Eric Larsen]

Great ride! Thanks to everyone who participated. Thanks Jose and Randy for planning this.

By the numbers: 42,652 mosquito bites, 393 miles, 14(?) riders, 3 days, 1 flat, 1 mangled tent, 1 broken ankle.

P.S. Now, thanks to Paula, it is now a compliment to say, “You ride like a girl.”

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PkgRqc9oGfExCmTN9

Eric
DR-Z4s, KLX 300, Monkey 125
InReach Add. larseneric27@inreach.garmin.com

[paula walkins]

Haha. Thanks Eric. It was a great trip Jose. You did an awesome job organizing and leading. Its an Aventure ride. I had a great time. Thanks for letting me participate.

[Author]

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