I had in mind to write an extensive ride report about our round trip from Las Vegas to Coeur D'Alene, the great roads / ADV way. I drafted it out in Word and it was 49 pages and 7600 words, with pictures. May have gotten carried away. It goes like this.
Idaho Backcountry Ride Report
Utah / Idaho / Nevada Backcountry Discovery & Great Roads Ride. 2-up, fully loaded
Contents
Just the facts m’am – Trip Statistics
Color Commentary - Words and Pictures
Introduction
General Observations
Gear Overview
Riding Payloaded - the up-side-down pendulum effect
Just the facts m’am – Trip Statistics
Bike: 2012 Yamaha Super Ténéré
Front seat: Boondocker
Rear seat: Super10Babe
Dates: July 31 – August 13 2015
Days: 14
Fuel Cost: $309.90
Fuel stops: 28
Gallons: 89.5
Miles: 3593, about 375 on the dirt
MPG average: 40.1
Route: Las Vegas, NV to Coeur d’Alene, ID and back, indirectly
Tip-overs: 1
Color Commentary - Words and Pictures
Introduction
The main objectives of this trip were to see the heart of Idaho, ride the best roads, and do some exploring off the paved path.
The key difference between this trip and every other we’ve ever taken was the absence of lodging reservations. This open-endedness is a new concept for us and somewhat difficult to embrace. This is how we decided to leverage flexibility and spontaneity into the “plan”. Since we planned on camping, we figured that we always had that option if a room was not available. We had a list of places we wanted to see and roads/routes we wanted to ride. The adventure part was stringing those together between our departure and return endpoints.
As for the riding objectives, we studied the Butler Motorcycle Maps for advice to the best roads to ride and researched the Utah (UTBDR) and Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route (IDBR) maps and videos, as presented by Touratech/Butler, for guidance in the dirt road sections. To do a BDR verbatim seemed too much like executing a ride project plan. We wanted to do a little discovering on our own, not just following someone else’s tracks. Besides, some of Cheryl’s itinerary items were not on their prescribed route. Our plan was to sample some of the Idaho and Utah BDR, do some of our own routing, and decide on the next route/destination once or twice per day.
For reference the Butler maps rate roads on their Ride Classification scale. Here are their descriptions from the Idaho map.
G1 – These are the best motorcycle rides in Idaho. Always very dramatic and a thrilling experience. Expect high mountain passes, deep canyons, sweepers, switchbacks, and twisties.
G2 – Only a notch below G1, these are great motorcycle rides. Expect dramatic scenery, road action, and lots of elevation changes.
G3 – A bit less dramatic than G1 and G2, but still among the best motorcycle miles in Idaho. Expect wooded canyons, narrow winding roadways and great scenery.
General Observations
Water, Ice and Cooling Vests
You know you need it but it’s too heavy and bulky to pack much water on bike. Our on-bike water supply was Camelbaks (3-liter Unbottle in tank bag and 2-liter backpack) and maybe a couple of 20-oz. bottles in the luggage. We have 2 MSR Dromedary water bags, the 4-liter models that seem to hold about 3 liters in real life. They’re very compact to store when empty. Fill them when you get to camp and hang from the picnic table or somewhere, and you have water on tap. We also have a couple of 1-liter, fold flat, plastic canteens. Like the Dromedaries, easy to pack and handy to drink from at night. Last but not least were a couple of 20-oz. bottles, like Gatorade. These were surprisingly useful. Good for storing fresh picked berries, mixing powdered drinks, measuring 2 cups of morning beverage, and just plain easy to use. They’re disposable and easily replaceable.
It became kind of a ritual that every time we stopped for gas, we would also top up our Camelbaks with ice. Most places were cool about letting us have some as we usually preceded the request with gas and food purchases. Sometimes we had to buy a fountain cup.
It was August and we had lots of hot weather. The cooling vests are lifesavers. We store them in a dry bag, wet them when the temperature is on the rise, and put them on when the temp gets close to 90°F. They get to smelling pretty funky after a while, so hanging them to dry overnight and laundering occasionally helps to keep the funk at bay.
Wildlife
We always hope to see interesting wildlife (deer don’t count). In Idaho, we especially wanted to see Elk and maybe a Moose. No such luck with the big game. We came to learn from signs, bumper stickers, and conversation, that the Grey Wolf, re-introduced in Yellowstone NP, is a much hated predator and poacher of game and livestock in rural Idaho. We saw a lot of big birds, squirrels running rampant, and one skunk – of all places in our campsite in Nevada.
Cattle
The dairy and beef industries must be huge. There are cattle and/or alfalfa fields everywhere we went except southern-most Nevada. Even out in the boonies and up in the mountains, cows were there. I like the smell of alfalfa fields and the greenery is pleasant. When the fields are being irrigated by sprayers, it’s like a giant cooling mist system. You get an immediate 2-3 degree cooling effect for a few seconds.
Fear the deer
I’ve come to regard deer as overgrown, kamikaze vermin. An unkind portrayal perhaps, but don’t be fooled by the big brown eyes. They’re insane, unpredictable, and suicidal. We saw many – in the fields, in the forests, near the road, crossing the road, and dead on the road. Many of the dead ones we didn’t see, but we came to recognize the smell of road kill carcass. I was paranoid about them, especially early and late in the day, at the sight of Game Crossing signs, or wherever they could hide near the roadway, and those places are many. I slowed my speed in those areas and jammed my brakes more than once at the site of the brown devils. I’ve come to expect the thwack of the front of Cheryl’s helmet against the back of mine when I hit the brakes without warning. That just comes with the 2-up territory.
Day by Day
Day 1 – 31 July
Departing Las Vegas at 04:30 in an attempt to beat the heat. As the sun begins to illuminate the sky, it’s as if we’re heading towards Mount Doom, Mordor. Our actual destination for the day is Mount Pleasant, Utah.
We motored about 200 miles to Cedar City, UT for breakfast at the delightful Pastry Pub.
This was our biggest mileage day, wanting to get as far north as quickly as possible. Turns out, after checking a couple of B&Bs and hotels, the little berg of Mt. Pleasant was full up due to a couple of festivals, so we headed towards Ogden, UT and ended up at the Quality Inn in Payson. Our no-lodging-reservations plan was working perfectly so far…not!
Today we saw cattle.
472 miles
Idaho Backcountry Ride Report
Utah / Idaho / Nevada Backcountry Discovery & Great Roads Ride. 2-up, fully loaded
Contents
Just the facts m’am – Trip Statistics
Color Commentary - Words and Pictures
Introduction
General Observations
- Water, Ice and Cooling Vests
Wildlife
Cattle
Fear the deer
- Day 1 – 31 July
Day 2 – 01 August
Day 3 – 02 August
Day 4 – 03 August
Day 5 – 04 August
Day 6 – 05 August
Day 7 – 06 August
Day 8 - 07 August
Day 9 – 08 August
Day 10 - 09 August
Day 11 – 10 August
Day 12 – 11 August
Day 13 - 12 August
Day 14 – 13 August
Finish
Gear Overview
- The Bike
Luggage
Tires
Seats
Riding Apparel
His
Hers
Riding Payloaded - the up-side-down pendulum effect
Just the facts m’am – Trip Statistics
Bike: 2012 Yamaha Super Ténéré
Front seat: Boondocker
Rear seat: Super10Babe
Dates: July 31 – August 13 2015
Days: 14
Fuel Cost: $309.90
Fuel stops: 28
Gallons: 89.5
Miles: 3593, about 375 on the dirt
MPG average: 40.1
Route: Las Vegas, NV to Coeur d’Alene, ID and back, indirectly
Tip-overs: 1
Color Commentary - Words and Pictures
Introduction
The main objectives of this trip were to see the heart of Idaho, ride the best roads, and do some exploring off the paved path.
The key difference between this trip and every other we’ve ever taken was the absence of lodging reservations. This open-endedness is a new concept for us and somewhat difficult to embrace. This is how we decided to leverage flexibility and spontaneity into the “plan”. Since we planned on camping, we figured that we always had that option if a room was not available. We had a list of places we wanted to see and roads/routes we wanted to ride. The adventure part was stringing those together between our departure and return endpoints.
As for the riding objectives, we studied the Butler Motorcycle Maps for advice to the best roads to ride and researched the Utah (UTBDR) and Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route (IDBR) maps and videos, as presented by Touratech/Butler, for guidance in the dirt road sections. To do a BDR verbatim seemed too much like executing a ride project plan. We wanted to do a little discovering on our own, not just following someone else’s tracks. Besides, some of Cheryl’s itinerary items were not on their prescribed route. Our plan was to sample some of the Idaho and Utah BDR, do some of our own routing, and decide on the next route/destination once or twice per day.
For reference the Butler maps rate roads on their Ride Classification scale. Here are their descriptions from the Idaho map.
G1 – These are the best motorcycle rides in Idaho. Always very dramatic and a thrilling experience. Expect high mountain passes, deep canyons, sweepers, switchbacks, and twisties.
G2 – Only a notch below G1, these are great motorcycle rides. Expect dramatic scenery, road action, and lots of elevation changes.
G3 – A bit less dramatic than G1 and G2, but still among the best motorcycle miles in Idaho. Expect wooded canyons, narrow winding roadways and great scenery.
General Observations
Water, Ice and Cooling Vests
You know you need it but it’s too heavy and bulky to pack much water on bike. Our on-bike water supply was Camelbaks (3-liter Unbottle in tank bag and 2-liter backpack) and maybe a couple of 20-oz. bottles in the luggage. We have 2 MSR Dromedary water bags, the 4-liter models that seem to hold about 3 liters in real life. They’re very compact to store when empty. Fill them when you get to camp and hang from the picnic table or somewhere, and you have water on tap. We also have a couple of 1-liter, fold flat, plastic canteens. Like the Dromedaries, easy to pack and handy to drink from at night. Last but not least were a couple of 20-oz. bottles, like Gatorade. These were surprisingly useful. Good for storing fresh picked berries, mixing powdered drinks, measuring 2 cups of morning beverage, and just plain easy to use. They’re disposable and easily replaceable.
It became kind of a ritual that every time we stopped for gas, we would also top up our Camelbaks with ice. Most places were cool about letting us have some as we usually preceded the request with gas and food purchases. Sometimes we had to buy a fountain cup.
It was August and we had lots of hot weather. The cooling vests are lifesavers. We store them in a dry bag, wet them when the temperature is on the rise, and put them on when the temp gets close to 90°F. They get to smelling pretty funky after a while, so hanging them to dry overnight and laundering occasionally helps to keep the funk at bay.
Wildlife
We always hope to see interesting wildlife (deer don’t count). In Idaho, we especially wanted to see Elk and maybe a Moose. No such luck with the big game. We came to learn from signs, bumper stickers, and conversation, that the Grey Wolf, re-introduced in Yellowstone NP, is a much hated predator and poacher of game and livestock in rural Idaho. We saw a lot of big birds, squirrels running rampant, and one skunk – of all places in our campsite in Nevada.
Cattle
The dairy and beef industries must be huge. There are cattle and/or alfalfa fields everywhere we went except southern-most Nevada. Even out in the boonies and up in the mountains, cows were there. I like the smell of alfalfa fields and the greenery is pleasant. When the fields are being irrigated by sprayers, it’s like a giant cooling mist system. You get an immediate 2-3 degree cooling effect for a few seconds.
Fear the deer
I’ve come to regard deer as overgrown, kamikaze vermin. An unkind portrayal perhaps, but don’t be fooled by the big brown eyes. They’re insane, unpredictable, and suicidal. We saw many – in the fields, in the forests, near the road, crossing the road, and dead on the road. Many of the dead ones we didn’t see, but we came to recognize the smell of road kill carcass. I was paranoid about them, especially early and late in the day, at the sight of Game Crossing signs, or wherever they could hide near the roadway, and those places are many. I slowed my speed in those areas and jammed my brakes more than once at the site of the brown devils. I’ve come to expect the thwack of the front of Cheryl’s helmet against the back of mine when I hit the brakes without warning. That just comes with the 2-up territory.
Day by Day
Day 1 – 31 July
Departing Las Vegas at 04:30 in an attempt to beat the heat. As the sun begins to illuminate the sky, it’s as if we’re heading towards Mount Doom, Mordor. Our actual destination for the day is Mount Pleasant, Utah.
We motored about 200 miles to Cedar City, UT for breakfast at the delightful Pastry Pub.
This was our biggest mileage day, wanting to get as far north as quickly as possible. Turns out, after checking a couple of B&Bs and hotels, the little berg of Mt. Pleasant was full up due to a couple of festivals, so we headed towards Ogden, UT and ended up at the Quality Inn in Payson. Our no-lodging-reservations plan was working perfectly so far…not!
Today we saw cattle.
472 miles