I’ve been working closely with a team of individuals to create a new adventure motorcycling/4×4 route in Washington State: the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route or WBCDR. The concept is similar to the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route (OBDR). We rode the OBDR last year, and produced a video about that trip.
The new route in Washington State will be a scenic, off-road tour of the backcountry between Oregon and British Columbia. The route winds it way north from Stevenson in the Columbia River Gorge through the western slope of the Cascade Mountains, crosses over to the east side and continues north to the border at Nighthawk. The total mileage is about 650 miles although that will be confirmed when we do a test ride of the entire route next week.
So far, we have been on several scouting trips on both adventure bikes and 4×4 vehicles. I’ve been documenting the trip with my new Sony EX3 XDCAM and will be producing a feature length documentary about the route later this year.
Our goal is to create a route that will allow adventure riders and 4×4 enthusiasts to explore the scenic beauty of our state and encourage them to do so in an environmentally friendly way.
I recently returned from filming the Rally in the Gorge for SoundRIDER! Below are a couple of videos that I made about the riders on the historic Mary Hill Loops Road.
The Maryhill Loops Road was the first paved road in the Northwest! It’s loaded with plenty of tight corners and no longer open to the public.
So I’m getting ready to do a little Memorial Day ride this weekend to the Olympic Penninsula. It’s really the first multi-day ride of the season and probably the last ride I will take on the 650 since I’m getting a new bike very soon.
Anyways, I bought a new rear tire last fall and have not had the chance to change it yet, so I decided to do that today. I was able to get the job done by myself in my back yard. It took me two hours to complete the job. It wasn’t pretty and I absolutely hate changing motorcycle tires but it’s good practice none the less.
The biggest surprise was the condition of my old rear tire. I knew it was at the end of its life but not this bad! Its a good thing I changed it before heading out this weekend.
My friend and adventure riding partner Helge Pedersen of GlobeRiders recently returned from a three month odyssey to South America. He was riding a brand new BMW R1200 GS Adventure, donated by BMW and Ride West Motorcycles of Seattle, WA. As is the custom with tech-savvy adventure riders, Helge Pedersen and his cohorts (four in total) documented the journey with pictures and stories. You can read more about their trip by looking at the Live Journal section of the GlobeRiders website.
GlobeRiders began creating “Live Journals” of all of their motorcycle rides around the planet in 2005. A Live Journal is a repository of stories and pictures contributed by riders in the field, while they are on a tour. I participated in two of them myself, including the Silk Road Adventure (2005) and the Indochina Expedition (2007). All of the participants on GlobeRiders tours are encouraged to write about their experiences on the road, and the Live Journal is the place where those stories and pictures live on the internet.
Now, five years after the first Live Journal was published, the GlobeRiders website is fast becoming a veritable warehouse of adventure motorcycling stories and photos. Have a look but be warned: if you like reading about motorcycle adventure touring and seeing good photos, you might not stop reading for a very long time because there is a lot of content.
Got my hands on the latest issue of Road Runner Magazine. The February 2010 issue has an eight page spread on our Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route expedition that we did this last July. Paul Guillian from Touratech-USA wrote the article, with pics from Helge Pedersen.
Man, that was a fun ride, right here in our own back yard.
Here’s a link to the Road Runner website with the OBDR video I produced:
Got my hands on the latest issue of Road Runner Magazine. The February 2010 issue has an eight page spread on our Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route expedition that we did this last July. Paul Guillian from Touratech-USA wrote the article, with pics from Helge Pedersen.
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