Welcome to my report (after action report) of BlackBear Pass!
I was able to do this SOLO on my Tenere 700. During the biggest challenges, I never put a foot down (Dab’d) nor dropped my bike!
My Tenere 700 loaded was about 550 lbs! My backpack was close to 20-25 lbs. Plus all my riding gear at least another 30 lbs. Close to 600 lbs total! Plus my 220-225 ish LBS 6’5″.
For those with shorter inseams, I hear all the time, but you have long legs. My balance didn’t require long legs. I stood up and used my pegs and my knee suspension to control/balance the bike with minimal effort!
If you would like me to train you to ride like me, hit the contact page and we can arrange a range class and follow up rides.
DAY1: White Rim Trail with John, Bob, Jason and me. About 70 miles in, Jason crashed and hurt his ribs and bike. The bike leaked a ton of oil through the side case with about 1/2″ hole. I took the side case off with the bike on its side and used Epoxy Putty to weld it closed again. After 45 minutes I put the bike back together and added 1 quart of normal motor oil.
DAY2: Onion Creek to Gateway Colorado and then onto Telluride.
Onion Creek is always amazing! It was nice to have the whole crew before John and I split from the “newer” riders and continued onto the Colorado BDR. Between Onion Creek and Gateway, we found a couple of big challenges on the T7s! So much so I would say intermediate riders required! Steep, 90 degree angle near the top and big 1-1.5′ steps with lots of loose sand on the short climbs.
DAY3: Telluride > Opher > California > Cinnamon (etc) to Lake City and then Tent Camped near “Hot Springs Creek Dam” (Almost to Pitkin
John declared about 7am that he could not continue the BDR…before we even started. He hands were locking up and wouldn’t work properly. I tried to offer to ride his bike over challenges, but he insisted on riding the highway home. I was considering escorting him home on the blacktop, but I knew he’d be fine following his google maps. He was concerned about me going on Solo, which I did most of the COBDR last year Solo.
DAY4: Pitkin > Cumberland > Cottonwood > Beuna Vista > Tom’s house to visit for a couple of hours (Shower) > Highway to Hagerman > rerouted to Carbondale because of rainstorms on the Gia weather maps.
DAY5: Camped at Avalanche Campground at the end of Day4, started riding about 5:30am in the dark. High hwy 70 and went to Moab again, this time to do Long Canyon solo.
I really loved Long Canyon and I would recommend it for newer riders. One or two spots will challenge newer riders. A bit sandy hill climb. I would start at the bottom on Pot Ash Road and go to the top of “long canyon” and then go back down, continue onto Shafer
RECAP OF BLACK BEAR PASS.
SHORT VIDEO:
FULL video of black Bear Pass including Drone, gopro and commentary!
Friday morning I started riding about 7:30 am and went up and over Opher pass. Blacktop to blacktop took about 1 hour to do Opher.
I did not see ONE person in any kind of vehicle on Opher that early in the morning. It was fun and beautiful. I think most people that would do a BDR could do Opher w/o too much trouble. The rock slide area is likely the biggest challenge for newer riders between Foundational Students and Intermediate riders.
I got to the trailhead of Blackbear pass about 8:40 am. I started to climb and climb and climb. Realizing I was solo was very sobering! I stopped at a view point and had a snack, as I didn’t do breakfast (jerky and bobo PB&J oatmeal sandwich- on the move food).
The whole time I thought, I’ll turn around if it gets to be too much. Near the steps that look like you go off a cliff, I realized that I could not turn around such a heavy bike by myself, nor be able to go back up the steps, so I did a full commit and went down even though I was in over my head.
I road a wr450f for about 6 years on single track, pretty hard single track. Before that I road a klr650 and honda 650 for a few years in more of a dual sport niche. The last few years, I’ve been doing harder and harder trails with my Husky te300i two stroke. This has prepared me to take on really hard challenges on a large motorcycle. I would say if you don’t have 500 hours of single track or very challenging trails, do NOT attempt Black Bear Pass on a large motorcycle!
Once I was past the big challenges and almost to the big switchbacks, I bumped into 4 riders from Alabama on their little 250cc bikes. They couldn’t believe I took such a big bike over what they just finished doing. I did not see anyone until AFTER the big challenges! I talked with them for 10-15 mintues and tried to get my nerves back so I could take on the switchbacks, which looked terrifying from where I stood.
I wish I had droned all of the switchbacks instead of waiting 2-3 switchbacks. They are TIGHT and if you overshoot the turn or don’t make the turn, you go off a very very large cliff! I did dab/put my foot down on several of the switchbacks. I would much rather go up the switchbacks than down them!
Being sick and on my 3rd day of 10 hours a day riding the T7, I was pretty worn out doing Opher and Blackbear back to back without a break.
FAQ
Q: What is your GPS?
A: DMD2 and its built for adventure motorcycling. I used the unsupported phone for a while, but I really love the DMD T665 https://adv-tim.com/products/dmd-t665-nav-phone
If I’m following a GPX track, its my fav. If I’m nav by the seat of my pants, I still prefer Gaia GPS.
The DMD has google maps, gaia gps, google drive where I store all my GPX files. Many renters have said they love it too and request it on their 2nd trip.
Q: What drone are you using?
A: Skydio 2+ with GPS beacon. the drone follows the GPS beacon, but also has some visual lockon options.
Q: How good a rider are you?
A: I’d say I’m close to expert on a 2stroke and T7. On the 2stroke I’ve done 5 miles of hell, Pritchett & Cliff Hanger. On a T7 I’ve done the deep sands of Baja, the rocky climbs of Death Valley, Many BDRs and double tracks around Northern Utah, Moab and southern Utah. I’d say Black Bear pass is the hardest riding I’ve done on a T7. If I add up all riding and all research, I bet I have close to 10,000 hours doing motorcycle things. I had a xt250 from 16-19 years old and road it as much as I could. But that was dirt roads and pretty tame riding compared to what I’m doing the last few years. I didn’t get back into motorcycles until I was 46years old!
Last year I did most of the COBDR solo and didn’t drop my bike and got it done in 4.5 days. The stupid thing I did last COBDR was the deep water crossings. This time I went and looked at them and didn’t want wet boots for days, so I skipped it and went up cottonwood pass.
https://foxymcrider.com/colorado-backcountry-discovery-route-bdr/
Q: What kind of Business are you running?
A: I rent Motorcycles on Riders-share.com and KSL.com Classifieds. I also do 2-4 day classes, guided and unguided tours (I build customized GPX tracks for dozens of people each year based on their experience, fitness and interest.
I have 5 dual sport motorcycles for Rent. Tenere 1200, two tenere 700s. KTM 500 and a GPX 300R (Which I hope to replace with a klx 300 soon).
Q: How did you learn to ride so well?
A: I grew up with dirt bikes on the farm to water the crops and played around them from 10 years old. I’ve always loved motorcycles (I have a cruiser on my 5th birthday cake my mom made for me).
2016 I got a klr650 and did many adventures on that. Then I got the wr450f and road enduro with that for 6 years. Then I got an africa twin and put about 14,000 miles on it. Then a Tenere 700 and I personally put on about 20,000 miles and renters did about 20k miles (40k miles combined in 4 years).
When I got my Africa Twin, I hired Fran of dualsportschool.com and 1st day he thought I was in the 90% of ADV riders based on my dirt experience (That means only 10% of all riders are better than me). I would say I’m close to 95-97% now.
PHOTOS:
ROUTES/GPX FILES
Friday: OpherBlackBearLastDollar_CaliforniaetcTOhotspringscreekdam
https://www.gaiagps.com/public/w1oFAbPULJ87KilXGfTDiYEj
