Ridin'Ard

Hours in the saddle: 0:21 (24:59 so far)

Theme music: Thunderstorms

We slept in a little later today and got to the rally venue just before they stopped serving breakfast, which is also known as “on time”. I looked at the event schedule while sipping coffee through my sip hole (see picture). 

We thought today would be the main day to hang out at the rally, but I don’t know where everyone is! We did the rounds on the vendors and had a very productive morning. Julie made a new friend who lives in Ontario. She’s camping at the rally. Here is a picture of one of the two camping areas. 

Today I’m wearing my properly fitting event tshirt. When I picked it up, I was asked my size and I said “so I emailed someone” and the woman handing shirts out goes “are you Julie?” and gives me my women’s shirt. She said not to tell anyone, because the event has to decide if this is something they are going to offer in the future, because it’s an additional expense. So I’m telling anyone who asks and telling them to request a women’s shirt if they come next year. 😈 Just doin’ my part to spread the Good News of the Women Riders’ World Relay. 

There were scattered thunderstorms all day and a serious one during dinner. Apparently we got 2.3” of rain theoughout the day. So we feel like we picked our riding days right to avoid most of the rain. 

Jaron did a demo ride, and talked to someone about suspension work that might make a KTM 790 Adventure work for Julie. It’s a really light bike with all the safety features. 

We also spent quite a bit of time talking to Triumph about the Tigress. The NE regional manager and two dealership owners came over to look at the damage to the fender and made some suggestions. Apparently I can get some higher foot pegs which would be helpful for not scraping in turns. I got an email address of the mid-Atlantic regional manager to help me find a factory lowered Tiger that I couldn’t find last year. 

There was also a tent for an ADV tour company run by a couple that gives tours in the Yucutan that sound pretty awesome. https://kooxmoto.com/ It’s a small group (5 tourists, 2 guides, and a support vehicle driver) and they do cultural tours and the riding sounds pretty spectacular. Her dad does archaeological tours so she grew up helping him with that and knows the area really well. And the bikes they provide can be lowered to a Julie-friendly height. Perhaps this will be our next trip this winter. 

Julie also grilled a guy at a tent selling tool rolls. I need a waterproof tool roll! After talking with him I think I just need a good drybag for mine and to ditch the cumbersome waterproof sleeve that came with it. The one they were selling was a pretty basic tool roll, we have a lot more stuff in ours, but they were pretty good quality and it would have been nice for someone to have figured out all of the irrelevant socket and wrench sizes for us. They have several combo tools in the right sizes for different brands of motorcycles. When space-constrained, you don’t want to carry around sizes that don’t go to anything on your bike. 

We also spent quite a while at the BDR (Backcountry Discovery Route) tent. https://ridebdr.com/ They are a nonprofit that comes up with these great ADV routes, all public roads and trails, and you can download the gps route data for free. We knew about the mid-Atlantic BDR but apparently there is one in New Mexico! We’ll have to do it next time we go. That sure would have made planning that trip easier last year! They are working on a northeast BDR and will release it next year. They’ve found that the best way to keep the trails open to motorcycles is with marketing material on the economic benefit of having ADV riders come through the small towns along them. They are a 501(c)(4) and are working on their 501(c)(3) status so that donations can be tax deductible. Jaron talked to them about getting in to the Combined Federal Campaign and Julie got some of the literature aimed at businesses and state governments because I’m nerdy and nosy. There’s not really an organization for the Adventure riding community so they are working on being that. They also went over the guidelines for riding respectfully so that these small towns don’t close the roads off to motorcycles. Wave, make your bike quiet, be discreet when nature calls, leave no trace when camping, etc. 

After some overpriced but convenient lunch, we hung out in the ski lodge in the shade with some fans on to send emails about all of these things. 

After that we went to watch the obstacle course and talked to some people. We learned about Bunk A Biker, which is like couch surfing for motorcyclists. https://www.facebook.com/bunkabiker/

It was a pretty serious obstacle course and I was impressed with how people were handling it. There was supposed to be a pro rider demo on the obstacle course. We heard that the stunt rider for John Wick bit it on the ski slope and cracked some ribs. Makes sense why there was no pro rider demo. People were literally doing the slalom…on motorcycles. Literally. Pretty crazy if even the stunt rider went down. 

There are 3 motorcycles coming down the ski slope on the right in this picture. 

And you can see people heading up the ski slope on the left in this picture. 

There were four (4) lady riders all in one place by the obstacle course. I think there are 7-10 at this event of 300 people. I really thought there would be more, but I’ll take it. 

We sat with a couple who rides at dinner and had a good time talking with them. But, everyone lives up here…imagine that. 

Back to the motel where we caught up with one of our neighbors. I forgot to mention last night (or I’d already posted before it) about a nice convo we had with a different neighbor. This motel has tables and chairs in front of each room and since everyone’s bikes are parked in front of their rooms it made a nice environment for socializing. There were 12 rooms and probably half were occupied by rally participants. 

Tomorrow we’ll pack up and go to Mount Washington in New Hampshire. And if the weather cooperates and the spirit moves us, we’ll camp. We will have stayed 4 nights in one place, which will likely be the longest stint of our trip.