Seems like I have taken my sweet time in getting the TOI shots up on the blog. I think I am still trying to digest what almost certainly was one of the more amazing 8 days of my life. The TOI as we learned is "the read deal" and an undertaking not to be taken lightly!
Shot riding out to the Utah border from where we car camped with our shuttle on the way down. Jenkins Hollow, UT/ID border.
Start of the ride, UT/ID border, if only we knew what kind of punishment and abuse we were about to endure the next 8 days the smile wouldn't have been so big!
Oxford Ridge, Day #1. It took us a while to settle into the moto groove and we moved too slowly the first day not really realizing the depth and magnitude of each day and the necessity of keeping moving to cover the insane mileage demands.
Day #2, sunrise, Pocatello city limits! We watched the sunrise and sunset for 8 days straight on our moto's! We quickly figured out that we would need to be up early enough to get moving to see the sunrise each morning and we rode until sunset or after every night despite out best efforts to get into our desired towns with time to spare. So much of the trip was an absolute effort. It was super hot, super dusty, the bikes required ongoing maintenance, eating, drinking, route finding even with the GPS was difficult at best. There just were not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that we felt like was necessary!
Steve-O, our fearless navigator! Steve was usually out front, with the GPS trying to figure out our desired route. All the kudos in the world to Steve, he is the man! 55 years old and charging what was easily the most demanding physical grind I have ever done, day after day after day. Those that have ridden moto understand, those that haven't, trust me, take whatever sport or activity you think is hard on the body and physically demanding, times it by 10 and then do it for 8 days straight. Ugh....., I am sore just thinking about it!
Day #3, pictures are a bit out of order. Oops. Anyhow, high point of the ride, at almost 11,000ft with all the high peaks of Idaho behind us, including Mt. Borah, the highest in Idaho. This was in the middle of no where between Arco and Challis. Day #3 was my favorite. It was long. We left Arco at 6:30 and pulled into our B and B in Challis at 9pm to a waiting home cooked meal, cold beers, laundry, shower, and a friendly B and B host.
Day #2 between the Arbon Valley and American Falls, ID. Boonies. We didn't see much of anyone the first 6 days of the trip.
Day #1. Sedgwich Peak, near Lava Hot Springs. Still pretty green at this point!
Ahh yes, the sand day! This was on Day #3 where we rode from Pocatello to Arco. Now, something to remember, if you were to drive this in a car, I think its under 100 miles. But, when you take the TOI route, its all on dirt, or sand, and it traverses multiple mountain ranges, deserts, etc. So, as an example, this was a 250 mile day instead of 100 if you were riding on the blacktop. Anyhow, it was 103 degrees when we pulled into American Falls and headed out to the desert between there and Craters of the Moon National Monument. Was probably close to 110 out on the sand. We had a blast riding the fresh sand and ripping fatties. Riding sand on a moto is really similar to riding pow on skis or on a sled. It's amazing and you get a floating sensation.
Done with the sand after a few hours of brutal heat and northbound, almost to Arco, having braved the volcanic rocks of the Craters of the Moon.
Drew, with an amazing haircut that went well with the gas situation. Gas was an issue. SOme of the days it was over 250 miles between towns and gas fill ups. My bike was ok as I added a big tank just for the ride, but Steveo and Drew had to go to other means to make sure they didnt run out of gas. Drew used coffee bladders that he pirated from Starbucks and then triple wrapped them and threw them in his pack. As soon as we burned enough fuel from our main tanks the guys would dump fuel in. We actually never ran out the whole trip...........until..............., Steve-o ran out literally 4 miles from out shuttle pick up after we had made it to Canada!
Middle of no where, Idaho, just us, the bikes, and about a million important decisions to make!
Another desolate valley all to ourselves. At this point we were over 60 miles to the nearest paved road.
Drew also had a fuel container up front that held 1.5 gallons. Getting ready for the Massacre Mountain singletrack loop. It was too gnarly of a trail to get my camera out much of anywhere. Sorry!
"The STD" crew, Day #3, again, middle of no where!
Picture 3 up- Steve-O, manually crossing a super sketchy section of the Little Boulder Creek between the East Salmon River and Salmon, ID. You really had to be pretty conservative with your riding knowing how far from any sort of medical help you were pretty much the entirety of the trip.
Picture 2 up- Never have I spent so much time in and around gas stations. Gas stations were our friends. They had water, they had gas, they had toilets, they had food. It was amazing how our crew gathered a crowd when we pulled in. Nobody wanted to talk to the Harley riders, but everyone was curious where we had been, where we were going, and if we were "crazy?" We also ate a lot of gas station food because often times we would leave too early in the morning and not have enough time for a sit down breakfast and then get into town too late for a sit down dinner. It was tough. And, your body was being taxed like no other, burning probably close to 10,000 calories a day.
Picture 1 up. Railroad Ridge, high above the old mining ghost town of Livingston, ID.
1 comment:
Whats the address for the Gas station that had the price of 4.479
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