- What have I learned? – That the Oregon BDR has sand… I hate riding in sand…
- Listening to – This Years Model – Elvis Costello
- Reading – In the Cold dark Ground – Stuart MacBride
For those who missed Long Way Down, or saw it and did not think “riding big motorbikes to dumb places looks fun” you can probably skip most of this.
There is an organization called Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR), every year they define a route, publish maps and GPS tracks, and then release a movie about the new route. This year the new route is the Oregon BDR.
That’s how I found out about them. A friend, LE, invited me go watch the film in Shoreline at a theater on winter evening a few years ago. It was either New Mexico or Idaho, I don’t recall. It was a fun film, dozens of big BMW and KTM adventure bikes parked outside, and the people who made the film were there to answer questions afterwards. A fun evening out.
A short primer, a BDR is a mostly off-road track through a state. Anywhere up to 6 or 7 days long. They have found the scenic route, and include the logistics of places to camp (organized or wild), get petrol, and food. They are well thought out and created by people who love doing this.
Now, most of a decade later, I have one of those big BMW bikes, and it’s not my first adventure bike. I’ve done most of Seattle showings of the film when a new route is released since then. The Oregon release will be the 12th BDR published. With the current routes you can travel from the Mexican border to Canada better than 90% on dirt roads.
As these things often do, it started off with a simple text a friend sent to a group of us “let’s go do something fun this summer, who’s in?” And the ideas have flown thick and fast since then, but doing a BDR from end to end keeps coming up. Utah, Colorado, Oregon and Idaho have all been thrown out
I don’t particularly enjoy camping, but I do it, mostly because it’s a practical and relatively cheap way to spend time exploring. And some of my friends really love it, and I like hanging out with them and going to the places they go.
I’ve not done a whole BDR in one shot, I’ve done parts of 5. For Washington I’m missing the short section between Rimrock and Ellensburg to fully tick that one off. Maybe I’ll take care of that over a weekend this summer.
Back to the “lets go do…” text, the soon to be published Oregon BDR is one option. It’s relatively close, snow tends to disappear earlier in the year than other routes, and it’s a beautiful state. This week the trailer for the route was published, and it’s got sand. Quite a bit of sand.
My BMW weighs a little over 600 pounds with a tank of gas. By the time it’s loaded up with all my stuff probably closer to 700. That is a lot of bike in the sand, even with the correct tires. Last year riding parts of a BDR through Death Valley and into Nevada I got better at sand, but also better at tucking and rolling as I came off when the bike digs down into the soft stuff.
So maybe the Oregon BDR is on the cards, but Utah looks fun, and I’d love to see more of Idaho and Northern Nevada. Who know what shape the trip takes, I’m excited to go out and play, enjoy the challenge and have fun with friends, even if it is camping…
