My ride report of my solo COBDR adventure motorcycle ride on my Tenere 700 (T7).
DATE: Sept 26-29, 2024
RECAP/SUMMARY/Ride Reflections:
Wow, I was so impressed with the riding, views and majestic fall colors of Colorado that I have fallen in love with Colorado. I hope to be able to ride this ride each fall for many years to come. I want to go back and do Black Bear Pass too!
METRICS:
MILES round trip from my house, CO BDR, and the trip home 1416 miles. 580 was the BDR (most of section1, all of section 2, 3,4, & 5…NOT section 6).
BIKE Drops: Zero!
Deer: close to 100
Elk: about a dozen
Wild turkeys: dozen ish
Blue jays: dozen ish
Squirrels: hundreds
cost/expense: avg about $30 per day including food/fuel. Housing was free.
Wed evening: 230 miles from my house to Area BFE.
Thursday day1: 170 miles of BDR, including Section 1 & 2 (Actually more than 170 miles. Area BFE to Dolores is 104 miles. So Thursday I went 274 miles!
Friday Day2: 203 miles, Section 3 and over to Tom’s place.
Saturday Day3: 199 miles, Section 4 and a bit of section 5
Sunday Day4: Finished Section 5 and got home to Northern Utah. 420 miles
Tenere 700 with over 35,000 miles on it! In fact, I hit 35,000 miles on THIS trip! I’d say a lot of these miles if OFF ROAD/Dirt.
I did most of Section 1(100 miles of 130 miles), all of the following sections 2, 3, 4 & 5 AND made it home to Northern Utah in 4.5 days (full days Thur-Sunday)! Which took about 12 hours all days, basically close to sun-up to sun-down (7am-7pm ISH, some nights I road in the dark for an hour).
Wednesday after work I headed south to get as far as I could before dark. I traveled in the dark for about an hour before getting to my free camp spot south of Moab near ‘Area BFE Utah’ (it is a place, search in google maps!). Now that willow springs it a gov state park 🙁
I thought I had a nice quiet place, but after I had fallen asleep in my tent behind a tree, a van came and they had to open and close their van about 50 times. That is ok, I returned the favor and got up early and was packing up at 5am and riding by 6am Thursday am.
I got a breakfast burrito in Monticello utah from maverick as I watched the sun come up. A few miles before Montecello it was STILL DARK and I saw a very large bull elk cross the road in front of me…with a few cows. I’m glad it was not too close of a call.
I headed to Dolores and then started 100 miles of Section 1 north. I did not go the 30 miles south to 4 corners to waste time.
I may have misrouted, but there was one section through the woods that would be very difficult for most riders…especially with larger bikes than the T7. In fact, I almost dropped my bike several times, but my super power is super long legs 😉
I got to Telluride and if I recall I was leaving Telluride about 1pm headed up to Ophir Pass, I was into the rock slide very quickly. Felt like 10-15 minutes from town. There were some tight switchbacks but I have good balance and banking skills so it was fun and pretty easy IMO.
I would hit the Telluride gas station furthest from town and would not go into town again. It was packed with yuppieville and I didn’t like the crowds and all the fancy shops. I just wanted to ride!
There was about 100 yards of rock slides on Ophir Pass where I wished I was on a smaller bike than the T7. All the rest of the time, I was glad I had the T7! I wanted to power through it and just stay on my pegs and go fast but I got bounced off my line a couple of times and then finally stopped and caught my breath for a bit. Then stomped the rest of Ophir pass and got to the sign and took some pictures and rested for a few minutes.
Reflecting back, Ophir Pass was the most challenging pass I did solo on my COBDR trip.
The only thing more challenging than Ophir pass, was the water crossing in Section3. I did not put a foot down once in the water and my boots were soaking wet and I dried them at my friend Tom’s house with a box fan. Just in time to get them wet again on Section 4. I think my inside the boots pants allow the water to go over the tops of my water proof Tech7 boots.
I got a hamburger just before dark at Lake City (Sportsmans BBQ or similar?) I like the types of people in Lake City much better than Telluride. I headed North onto section 4 to find a remote wild/free camp spot. On the blacktop I just about hit the biggest Buck I’ve ever seen outside of a park. Around the corner from him was 3 bucks and 3 does (normal sized). I told the big buck, I saw 100 hunters that would love to see him 🙂
I found a 50” only trail along the BDR on section 3 just as it was getting dark and I zip’d up the hill to find a very remote place to put up my tent. It became bouldering pretty quickly and 3x harder than anything on the BDR. Just inside the treeline I found some large logs I could sit on and take off my boots and let them dry.
I was pretty sore from 100 miles of Section 1 and all of Section 2 70 miles (my fav cuz of all the mountain passes…I will always want to do section 2 whenever I do the COBDR!).
So, I went for a walk on the 50” trail and tried to loosen my muscles a bit before getting in the tent. I had one hunter about 500 yards away just before too dark…glass me (I was wearing grey). At least he stopped for 2-3 minutes on the super highway dirtroad and then took off after I went back into the tree line.
I parked my bike so I would be headed back to the BDR in the morning. I didn’t think anyone would be coming up that way, but if they did, they could go around my bike. I kept it on the compacted trail so if it rained the kickstand would not sink down and tip over my bike!
About 5:30 am two ATVs (hunters I presume) didn’t even slow down and went right around my bike. I got up and started packing up. My camp spot was about 10,000 feet elevation and my bike said it was 34 degrees F, so I was pretty cold from 4am-5:30 until I started moving around.
Each night I take a tylenol PM.
It was an epic sunrise and sunset in this remote camp spot with a view of a large valley.
Friday morning was very cold on my feet and I cranked up my grip heaters to MAX! As I followed the river down a beautiful valley. A few miles further I found a gov camp spot and smiled, no fees and no noise I would rather poop in the woods than deal with all the noise.
I recall enjoying lots of farm lands in Section 3 and lots of ranchers. There was a little offshoot of BDR I took up into the woods and some little pass where I had to open a gate and close it behind me. It was kind of fun, and beat the super highway dirt road I was traveling on at about 60 mph.
As I approached Cottonwood pass, that is where the deep water crossing was. I estimate it was over my front tire(21”) and there was TWO long water crossings. I had my drone follow behind me on the first and in front of me on the 2nd water crossing. I’ve watched videos of guys on 1200 flintstoning all the way through these water crossings. NOT me, I was standing and de-weighting the front tire and slipping the clutch with high revs so my bike would not stall. I got some rolly rocks underneath, but made it through all water crossings w/o putting a foot down.
Being solo I was pretty nervous about dropping my bike in the water and if that happened pulling water in through the air filter and not being able to pull the bike to the dry land to remove gas tank and spark plugs.
If I could go back, I would NOT do the Sec 3 water crossings solo! Especially if I didn’t have a way to dry my boots. I have the portable DRYGUY, but with a battery bank there is no heat and even removing the soles of the boots, I doubt it has enough fan to dry wet boots.
I had thought about putting rain pants on to ensure water doesn’t go down my Inside-the-boot pants boots, but I was lazy and didn’t do it.
I did zip into Gunnison for food and water about 10:30 am.
I got a picture on the top of Cottonwood and then headed for Benua Vista (BV). I texted my buddy Tom I was 35 minutes away in BV.
I believe I got to his house about 3pm and it was HOT…like 80 degrees 😉 and I had all my gear on and showered and then visited and they made an awesome home made dinner and we had a great visit and walked around Salida. I’m so grateful Tom was able to allow me to shower and sleep in a bed and RIDE with me Section4!
Saturday we decided to leave about 8am for Section 4. We talk a lot so it was closer to 8:30am and we didn’t want to hit the highway so we took a back route to Section 4, it was about 30 miles of dirt before we got to section4.
We enjoyed talking on the packtalks and talking about old times and bikes and scenery.
I launched the drone for a water crossing in Sec4 and it was super easy to cross. After reviewing the epic views and pictures I took from the drone video, I wish I had launched the drone MORE on this trip.
We talked to a klr650 owner and he took our picture and asked if he could ride with use to leadville. We invited him to lunch too. After lunch we all went our separate ways. Tom had a long ride back to his house over the same section4 we had traveled from 8:30am-1pm. I know he got home after dark. I was determined to finish section4 and get to Gypsum Co.
I got fuel in Gypsum and started on the sec5 thinking I would find a wild/free camp spot. I went through the desert in the late evening and it got darker and darker. I pop’d out and then road along a large river and it started not being a desert and I enjoyed the twilight ride along the river.
I saw a off shoot road coming up and saw a RV/camp spot, but travled up some switch backs and then through some ranchers on both sides of the super highway dirt road and finally found a rough road about 7 miles from the BDR in complete darkness. Went 500-700 yards up there and found a flat spot between the trees and parked it and started setting up my tent. About the time I was going to get in the tent, I heard a dog bark and I thought…I hope I don’t have to shoot some ranchers dog attacking me. Then I saw a light and heard a vehicle and then I ducked behind my tent because I know how quickly I can spot a human in the woods, but a OD tent…not so much. It was an SUV with a fly pole rack on it.
I settled in and checked my maps and tried to dry my boots…not so much. I finally charged my techair bag for the first time on my trip. It was 6% about lunch time. I had to turn it off removing the cover and then charge it with a battery bank. I wanted the techair for the highway ride home! Don’t really need it on the BDR unless a blind corner brings a vehicle to hit me!
Much warmer here at 8,000 feet. I enjoyed the morning sunrise as I packed up and headed the 7 miles back to the BDR. Along the river I found many spots I could have camped, but likely noisy. It was a beautiful morning along the river and I really loved it.
Section 5 had many Elk Ranches and beef ranches and amazing trees(fall colors…like 1,000 miles of fall colors!). I got to Steamboat about 11am and went to Big Agnes to look over their camping gear.
I called my wife and said I’m headed home. I routed to Heber UT because I didn’t want to get on HWY 80. I took 40 most of the way and it was close to 90 degrees. After several days of 12 hours a day, I was in no condition to hammer the pavement so far and so fast. I enjoyed my new water pump with 1 gallon giant loop when it got hot. I stopped at most mavericks trying to go from 25 PSI backup to highway 30 PSI, but none of the air pumps worked and I was too lazy to get my air pump out of my saddle bags.
I went 80-90 mph and burned lots of fuel, but I didn’t care. I was trying to get to Heber UT and get a shake. I finally got there and it was so so busy Sunday evening, I just used the bathroom and headed home. I think I got home about 6:30pm. Very tired, hungry and worn out. I ate and drank a ton and visited with my family and went to bed. I tried sleeping in a bit and sitting in my chair for work was making me stiffer and stiffer on Monday.
Reflecting back, the T7 was awesome and I didn’t always fill up the 6 gallon tank. I usually ran about 4 gallons unless I was going to do a lot of blacktop.
GEAR REVIEW:
I really loved the mosko moto armorless jacket for the cold mornings. I would wear the mosko moto workhorse jersey and jacket in the early mornings when it was cold. And when it heated up I would just do the jersey. It was nice to be able to add/remove as needed.
On the pavement on the way home, I wore my airbag and mosko dragon skin jacket and sprayed water into the vents whenever it got too hot.
The klim dakar pro gloves were awesome! LOVE them. I got close a couple of times to swapping gloves for my winter gloves with a gauntlet to stop the cold air from going into my jacket, but never did swap gloves.
I think my fav gear was the Giant Loop 1 gallon bag with hand pump. I used it to wash my hands a lot and cool me off. I used it to have spare water too. I had a lot of peace of mind knowing once my 3 liter klim pack water was gone…I had the 1 gallon.
Another fav piece of gear was the oatmeal P&J and dried fruit. I love how fast and portable they are and don’t worry about smashing them too much. I ate 2-3 of these a day. Only getting real food/meal once a day when I passed through a town. I had 3 pure protein drinks in my little cooler near the rear tire and drank one of those each morning.
I loved having the iphone satellite msg, I could walk around and get connected and send my wife I’m in camp and love/miss her. As soon as I’d walk a few feet, it would disconnect from the satellite. I could have used my inreach, but I was saving that for emergency comms(powered off, but not a bad idea to drop a pin every hour).
Oh, the earinc hearing protection that 3.5mm plugs into my cardo packtalk was SO NICE on the blacktop highway. I could listen to my audio and not blast out my ears and the wind noise didn’t wear me out as much! $180 well spent to save my hearing!
ROUTES:
LINK TO ROUTE:
Section 1 & 2:
Section 3:
Section 4:
Section 5:
PHOTOS:
Fav pics:
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/NvRodQXaTc2YJ85BJIRJHw.14DPIXGUmFRRVH2e0PFJIk
ALL pics:
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/CyW9MSAuS4WOJKVIhXRpvw.G13kf7FHt3l8CpZ97iNSPv
