Day One of the Dirt 501

Three days of Montana Dirt

The Plan: L-Train, Rebelpacket, an XR600R, a KTM 625 SXC and 500 miles of unexplored dirt roads. Leave Friday evening, come home Sunday evening. A trip inspired by a certain ride report on ADVrider.com: 10 Days of Utah Desert Madness.

The Prep:
Ultra-Minimalist Camping protocol. We packed only what we'd absolutely need. Some instant food, aluminum foil to cook in, metal cups to drink/cook in, sporks, big knifes for cutting things, trowels and metal files to dig shit-holes in, tarps in case it rains, tools and tubes. Our only luxury item was flip-flops, because after a day in moto-boots, sometimes you need to let the feet air out.







Lincoln had scored some Voile straps, but every shop in town didn't have any when Alex went to buy some. These are ski straps recommended by our idol in ultralightness, Joe Motocross. Alex ended up having to use nylon cam-buckle straps, which proved to be a big-pain in the ass every time he needed to unload anything.

We did a basic check to make sure we had remembered everything, and took off into windy, cloud-filled skies.



Our route took us back behind Logan, which we refer to as "The Baja Training Route". Its a seldom-used road that has huge ruts, and generally nasty road changes. The Gallatin valley has had an unseasonable amount of rain, and the road was completely in shambles. This made things pretty interesting. After we got back there was a newspaper article about "the worst hailstorm ever" in Manhattan Montana....which damaged many county roads. Golf Ball Size Hailstones. Ouch. Last time we did this route flat-out at close to 70mph. With many miles, and two days ahead of us, and 3 ft deep crevasses and many big rocks in the road, we tamed it down to around 50mph.



We stopped just outside Logan to check everything over after the high-speed roost, and make sure nothing was loosening up... and... disaster! Our nights dinner; two steaks that had been dirtbike marinating in southwest sauce, had been forcibly ejected from Alex's wet bag, and were now lying on a trail somewhere, giving immense joy to some hungry coyotes...



No worries, we stopped at a store in three forks, and picked up some replacement steak. This time, we secured it in Lincoln's backpack, to be sure we wouldn't loose it. Some water and a few phone calls to family letting everyone know we'd be off in the wild for a few days, and we took off again. A few miles of pavement, and then we hit more ranch access roads.



The roads here, normally quite pleasant, were also completely wrecked. The previous night, golfball hail and torrental rains had washed away more of the road, and left a nice slick layer of silt and rock over everything.

On a lame, flat part that was covered with slick mud, Alex took a dirt-nap in the 625. This wouldn't be a big deal, except it bent the shifter up at a un-natural angle. We viewed this as a Good Thing, considering the last time he took a spill on the left side, the shifter snapped off cleanly. A couple minutes with a 8mm wrench, and some cleaning of the splines on the gearshift, and we were rolling again.

Packing sucks....

its 1130 and i haven't finished packing....ugh....
...should have started prepping like Monday.....dammit.
swapped out my rear tube at least, but my floor pump wont acutate the valve, too short or some shit so I will bring wheel to work and air it up there....
got my voile strap setup rocking on the sleeping bag, pad, and front fender bag....looks like the rest goes in the pack....
oh, i bought a steri-pen.....so we will have no worries on water....
dad learned about it on the AT, and everyone used them....sweet rig.

Pic of the Day

taken by RTWDoug on ADVrider.....

Buying my first house!

Montanadualsport.com headquarters are relocating! I am moving to Livingston, Montana, over the hill from Bozeman to the East 22 miles. Much smaller town, more laid back, no college kids like Bozeman, Yellowstone River goes through about 6 blocks away from the house. Yellowstone National Park is about an hour to the south, Bridger Bowl ski area is still only about 25 minutes away. Downsides are limited to a reputation for being ridiculously windy.

Found a good place for a good price with a good garage that I am buying with my girlfriend. We are going to do major renovation over the next few years as I work as contractor and she is an architect.




Nice newer two car garage to hold my ever growing collection of two-wheelers! Alley access too which is super nice.

Weekend Dirt Tour Planned

Alex and I are planning to do a riding/camping trip this weekend involving riding from Bozeman to Alder, then through Butte, around Helena, and over to White Sulphur Springs and then back to Bozeman. We are trying to do it as much on dirt as possible. He will be riding the KTM 625SXC and I will be riding my XR600R. Hopefully we can find some good routes as most of our planned route has not been travelled by either of us.....

Strategy is to go ultralite in the packing dept....no tent, no stove, minimal clothing besides riding gear, mostly just tools and a sleeping bag and pad, and food. This will allow us to rally at a good speed through rough terrain. Should be at least 400 miles total, and I am betting we can do it with less than 50 or so on pavement.