"A" is for "Agony" - 2007 Dirty Face Dual Sport Ride

[John E Davies]

2007 Dirty Face Dual Sport Ride - June 16, Lake Wenatchee, WA.

Lake Wenatchee Recreation Club: http://www.lakewenatcheerecclub.com/

This year's ride was less than 100 miles long (compared to nearly 150 miles in 2006, depending on which sections you chose to ride then), and only the first and last part of it were asphalt. The rest were twisty, steep, rocky, rutted, cobby, under-maintained National Forest roads and overgrown double track, with a significant amount of optional, much tougher single track for the A riders.

Because of a large number of blow-downs along the final descent back to the start, the club offered an easier detour for the C riders and two Ural sidecar rigs - otherwise they would have faced an impassible roadblock. Last year there was no C course, but the forest roads were in much better condition then. Government funding cuts are bad for roads but can be good news for motorcyclists.

Friday's incessant drizzle was great for the swarming mosquitoes at the lakeside campgrounds, but it had NOT looked promising for the next day's ride. However, all that blew through overnight. Saturday's weather was great – crisp air with good visibility from the ridges. It was just barely warm enough for my preferred Klim MX gear with a forecast high temperature expected to be in the low 70s F and a "chance" of thunderstorms late in the afternoon. I brought my raingear and cold weather emergency stuff, just in case. Around 175 riders left the starting area beside the Lake Wenatchee emergency airstrip starting a little before 8:00 am, with a tentative deadline of 5:00 pm.


The Wenatchee National Forest is located a couple of hours east of the Seattle Sprawl across 4000 foot Steven's Pass in the Cascades. It's a scenic, easy drive for Puget Sound riders, but a long one for me from Spokane, clear across the state near the Idaho border - I was hoping for the "Longest Drive" Trophy this year. The area marks the transition from wet maritime to dry interior semi-desert, so the vegetation varies from lush evergreen forests in the valleys to scattered alpine trees at higher altitudes, with the trees thinning away and mixing with desert scrub and sage as you near the eastern gas/ lunch stop at Ardenvoir. There isn't a lot of standing water - due to the steep terrain it generally runs off very quickly.


I initially planned to ride just the B route, but after an hour or so I was feeling chilled and decided to try one short section of A to warm up. The profile shows my mixed B/ A ride.


My gear awaits Saturday at 6:00 am. I was tent camping alone, slept poorly, was very tired of the bugs and the campground racket, and very eager to get onto the mountain.


The club was nice enough to post a map showing the B route (green) and A route (red) at the clubhouse bulletin board. This is a GREAT idea, since strangers to the area generally have no clue about the local geography. I think it would be excellent for all clubs to print 8x10 copies of the tracks and hand them out with the ride paperwork so everyone will have a "just in case I'm lost" reference.

I had hoped to get the gps track data early, so I could load it into my Quest the night before - this gps is "track challenged" and I have to massage the data to get it to work. Unfortunately I never received the gps notice emailed to riders a few weeks ago, and the data I got in the campground was damaged and I couldn't get it to work in my Quest. So I had to ride blind this year. Just like most of the other riders. At least I had my "just in case i need to find a bakery" tool.


I arrived at the clubhouse early, and since I had filled out the required liability release and other paperwork the previous afternoon, all I had to do was say hello and pick up my route sheet. By 7:00 am it was much more hectic.


The staging area a little before the rider's meeting. For a full sized panorama go here:
http://www.spokanister.net/images_we...ty_Face_04.jpg


This R1200 had already seen some action. I'm glad I wasn't going to be wrestling that much weight today. I'm a wuss.


Nice trailer! There were lots of orange bikes today.



Trials tires were even more common than last year. However, I did notice that they seemed to be limited to the smaller bikes. I imagine my 525EXC would spit the knobs off without much difficulty.



A TE510 with aftermarket 5 gallon tank - just the ticket for extended mountain exploring.


This rider has balls! It's a 1939 Indian. Note the shifter and rear "suspension".


Another view. Is that the original front end? It looks 1960s to me.... I had a '71 Commando with similar brake.


One of the two Ural riders and his dog. He is sponsored by the Ural distributor in Seattle and gets free maintenance in exchange for promoting the brand and providing promotional material for their ads. He told me if he breaks the bike, the Russian Ural mechanic fixes it free. That's a nice perk.


His passenger.


The passenger of the other Ural.

Loading the route sheet. If you had a gps, you "might" get by without one of these, but a route sheet holder is an important piece of equipment! This is assuming the turn info is correct, which is a debatable point.


The Lake Wenatchee Airstrip and windsock. The riders camped along the tree line had the right idea - the trees offered a windbreak of sorts. The open area was very dusty by afternoon.

Special test 1: ride with a golf ball perched on your helmet and drop it into the bucket. Most riders missed, as I did....

The special tests are important because your score determines in what order you can select a prize. A high score is highly desirable, because the best prizes go early and what is left is mainly dross like water bottles, pink jerseys size XXS, and chain lube.

Another rider tries.

The ball is close but another miss.


The lone 950 Adventure in the ride. I passed him in the first section of overgrown double track. He was not making fast progress. These bikes are happiest in open terrain like the Desert 100.

Everyone faces the flag for the National Anthem outside the clubhouse front door.


The rider's meeting started at 7:30 am, with strong warnings to keep the speed DOWN ("This is a ride, not a race!") and to ride quietly and responsibly around the residents of the valley. He also requested that folks be aware of passing riders and stay right, and to toot your horn before banziaing by in the weeds. That piece of advice was quickly forgotten by most riders, as was the part about racing. The Sheriff spoke briefly and commented that he would have a unit with radar and a sound meter somewhere on the course.

First riders left hurriedly about 7:45 am. They were the "Type A"s, eager to Not Race the A sections. I motored off at 7:49 in a leisurely manner. Let the hot rodders get ahead and let the dust (if any) settle, but clear the area before the C riders (C for "Clueless"?) and sidecars lumber away, that's my philosophy.





MORE TO COME

[Gadget Boy]

Let's see some agony and dirt faces!!

[Geek]

[John E Davies]

Sorry - I had to take my son to a doctor's appointment. How's the popcorn holding out?


The first photo opportunity was this cool old bridge near the start, just upriver from the lake.




One of the orange riders gives me a thumbs up.


He's not orange, but he's happy.


He's every color of the rainbow and I'm not sure what his hand is signifying....




Lots of riders slowed or stopped to check out the river below, take pics or chat.


Looking back at the far end of the bridge. Maybe they should take off that Load Limit sign....

The B route followed a scenic twisty paved county road up out of the valley floor, with steep 180 degree switchbacks. Great fun! The A riders continued south and took a rougher route.


First real viewpoint, looking west toward the Cascades. The weather was fine and gradually warming. For a large panorama go here:
http://www.spokanister.net/images_we...ty_Face_30.jpg


My 525EXC parked "just right".


Yes it is kind of a big tank for this sort of riding. My normal backyard is North Idaho and western Montana, where gas is hard to find and often low octane. I filled it to 4 gallons and had lots of air space left over. The bike handles well on gravel and forest roads - the weight is carried low and forward and the front end sticks nicely. It doesn't wheelie so well though ;( Last year I rode with the stock 2.3 gallon EXC tank and a Baja Designs 1.2 gallon rear tank, which gave me lots of problems. I'm unhappy if I don't have a healthy fuel reserve... I hate to walk in MX boots, and I'll sell you a gallon for a $20 bill ;)

Since I was feeling a little chilled from the picture stop and open forest roads, I decided to try the second A section to get my blood circulating. I guess I was used to the higher speeds, because when I encountered the deep dried-up mud holes and ditches I was going far too fast, and I had a religious moment when I was waaay airborne and wondering how I was going to survive the landing. My KTM suspension soaked it up tolerably well, but bottomed hard in the back and my right foot hyper-extended upward. I thought for a moment I had broken the ankle, but the sharp pain subsided to a manageable level and never got worse. I blessed the day I bought those pricey articulated Sidi boots. I suspect they had just saved me a trip to the emergency room. "A" means "Agonizing"....

I slowed waaay down, swearing audibly, and then encountered The Hill. It was a narrow heavily wooded spine that climbed and climbed and climbed. There was one NARROW track to follow, with trees and logs to get around but mercifully none to climb over, because the slope was about 30 degrees and the trail was deep, loose sand - power robbing, traction poor stuff that I have trouble with even on the level. In retrospect I should have aired my DOT knobbies down to 10 psi - they were set at 16 and 18 for pinch-flat protection. I attacked anyway - because there was no one else on the hill, I was able to get up while stalling only once due to a hand eye co-ordination failure.

My Monster Tank was a handicap in that situation, but the low end grunt and low gearing of the 525 helped me up. I simply can't understand how riders of 250cc four strokes get up this kind of terrain. At the top, the trail intersected an old forest road, and there were gathered a gaggle of A riders waving their arms excitedly. I have often wondered why A riders would roost past me (as if I were stuck in second gear) standing on the pegs, using lots of Body English and power-drifting the rear tire around blind left turns, then stop to talk about the experience a mile or two down the trail. Maybe "A Rider" refers to "Type A" personality. I'm definitely a B rider, in type and riding ability ;)

With my recently injured ankle, I was just glad I didn't have to push to the top...., and I didn't relish the idea of coasting the wrong way down against traffic.


The A section I sampled - once was enough, thank you! 700 feet climb in deep dry sand, in less than a mile.

Next came Checkpoint 2, with a special test that required you to draw a card from a sack. I somehow found a Jack. Woohoo! 11 points, which helped counter the big zero I got at the Ball Drop.

From here I rode along twisty Moe Ridge (bypassing the next A section!) and then descended a rough overgrown double track toward the gas stop at Ardenvoir. At times the thick green grass all but obscured the trail - the later riders would have had a big advantage as it flattened out and falling riders marked the obstacles with divots... the grass hid helmet sized jagged boulders which had fallen from the higher slopes, waiting to bend a rim. Discretion was the better part of valor. I'm not at all sure what the sidecar rigs do in a situation like this - bull through, I guess. I kept thinking "This is the B ROUTE???!!!!)


Checkpoint 3 at Ardenvoir. The special test required you to bounce a badminton shuttlecock on a racket, one point per bounce. It's harder than it sounds. I scored a 2 and felt lucky to get it.


He scored 2 and nearly nailed his 400 LC4. I like these bikes a lot, but the bigger engines really buzz. Wish my EXC had a center stand....


Cooper's Store. Time for lunch and gas, if you have a teeny tank.


The procedure is to gas up and the attendant (last year it was a little old lady, this year a big stud) hands you a slip of paper with the amount written on it. You can pay in US dollars or gold bars. Choice of fuel was regular or diesel. If you require Premium, you had better have a small flask of octane booster handy. Next stop: the porta-potty.


My KTM parked near the shade. It was starting to warm up some, maybe 72 degrees F, but my concern was burning my scalp - I am folically impaired. I was stunned to hear that I was one of the very first riders to arrive. Maybe I'm not such a slug after all, or just not chatty. My bike's slim girlish figure is obvious from this angle. My radiators are amply protected. I don't worry about my bike tipping over any more as it shears the wimpy KTM kickstand bolt, since I installed a Trailtech stand over the winter. The stand makes a great prop for my backpack.

Time for some hydration, a handful of cashews, and a Cliff Bar. After a while the riders started pouring in and lining up to buy sour gas and empty their bladders. I left at 11:06, after half an hour, eager to get along home before the thunderstorms arrived. I should have waited an hour or two....

Departing Ardenvoir the route retraced itself for a couple of miles. I waved to the two county Sheriffs as I motored by. Trying to keep us hooligans on our toes, they had shifted west a little from their previous 2006 position beside the bridge.


My bike parked beside the next B/ A split half way up Medicine ridge. Hmmm... should I or shouldn't I? I went left. I was kinda thinking that next year I should bring a can of orange paint and re-mark those turns, then take pics of the carnage to the right....


Picture stop - the steep down grade and wet water bar looked promising. Maybe I could get some guys to jump for the camera.... For a large panorama go here: http://www.spokanister.net/images_we...ty_Face_39.jpg


The first guy to pass was practically coasting on a KTM 2 stroke. I took a pic anyway, hoping he would at least wave, fall or something. He shook his head at me instead ;) These three guys were motoring along nicely.


The trailing rider saw me lift my hand and obliged me with a wheelie off the downhill lip of the water bar. I waited close to 10 minutes and after no one else came along, I decided to get along home.

The temperature started falling and an ominous grey cloud peeked over the ridge top to the west. As I climbed toward the top I was thinking Bad Thoughts. At about 5000 feet it started to sprinkle and the wind started gusting cold. I shucked my pack, dug out my rain shell and put it on. I decided to leave off the pants unless it got worse. Next stop: Sugerloaf Lookout, 6000 feet and about 6 miles along Entiat Ridge.

After a few minutes the drizzle thickened and turned to intermittent hail. Delightful.... I debated whether to take to turnoff to the summit, but the Lookout was also an odometer reset point, and I like to know where I am on the course. I made it to the top and it didn't look a lot like my last visit. The cloud was blanketing the top 500 feet of mountain and visibly was perhaps 500 feet. The wind was coooold and whipping across the summit at maybe 30 mph. I didn't feel like lingering. I did, however, put on my rain pants and a pair of surgical gloves under my riding gloves for warmth and dryness. I also put on my Aerostitch Wind Triangle to prevent my Adam's apple from turning to a raw lump. I removed my Canon from the tank bag and buried it deep in the backpack for safety. I made haste off the mountain. Since I got no new shots of this great area this year, I've added some from 2006, a much better year, weather wise.


The view is breathtaking for 360 degrees, when you can actually see. For a large panorama go here: http://www.spokanister.net/images_we..._Loaf_Peak.JPG


The old lookout tower. It must have been miserable when the clouds descended.


Looking north over my bike. The old burn is ugly, but the lack of green makes for a good distance view.


Looking past my bike toward the Columbia River and my home in Spokane. That's the BD side panel tank I used to ride with.


A rider blasts along the ridge toward the finish. There are pretty views everywhere, and the one of Lake Wenatchee with the Cascades in the background is a winner, if the sun is right.

After descending a while, the cloud thinned and the rain stopped, but not before my nose started streaming. Thank goodness for that WInd Triangle. (I washed it after.) The descent off the ridge started at a detour for the C riders - it bypassed a section of bad blow downs that would have been impossible for them to get through. I proceeded straight and worked my way through a dozen or more fallen trees lying drunkenly across the rough double track. A microburst must have come through during the winter, laying down large numbers of trees. The club had trimmed the branches enough at the uphill side to allow riders to duck and squirm under, but some were pretty tight. I bashed my helmet on one and said some bad words. The worst required you to lay the bike at a 45 degree angle and drag the right bar end across the dirt embankment. I nearly got wedged in place by my large backpack, but managed to motor the bike through under power and a prayer. A KLR would require some real muscle work to get it under.

Several of the blow downs were downright dangerous because you would come around a tight blind turn and come suddenly to a spiky obstacle and little place to go. I think the club would have been wise to mark the more dangerous trees with some flags 50 feet up the trail.

Last year a couple of local ambulances attempted the climb up to the ridge in response to a fallen rider with back pain. They gave up after a couple of hours and flew in a chopper. This year there would have been not a prayer of a chance - the "road" was in really bad shape and was barely negotiable on two wheels. Again, I kept thinking "This is a B route??!"

At the bottom of the descent I came across the final checkpoint and test. Here you had to throw a pair of darts and a board covered with playing cards. I scored a 3 or some similar miserable number. My hopes were not high for a decent prize. I shed my Wind Triangle and motored down the main forest road to pavement. On the way, a couple of dimwit A riders ripped past, drifting the very inside apex of blind left hand turns under full power. One day they will encounter a lumbering ATV departing the campground for the ORV trails nearby, and become embedded in the winch bar. I hope they survive and learn from the experience. Rant over....

The ride to the finish covered a few miles of 35 mph pavement along pretty Fish Lake, which indeed has fish, I am told. I half expected another radar trap, but saw no cop cars.

HANG ON - I'M WORKING ON THE REST....

[Geek]

Quote: Maybe they should take off that Load Limit sign....

7 tons? They have to leave it for Kawasaki Heavy Industry riders

[John E Davies]

Checkpoint 5 and the finish of the "Ride, not Race". The nice man explains "Ride through the cones, standing or sitting, feet on the pegs. Knock a cone over and it's 0 points. Clean the course and it's 100 points." Kinda like the MSR course to get your motorcycle endorsement. I presented my card, pristine from its place in the map pocket of my tank bag, and stood up and cleaned the course. Yahoo! 100 points, I'm in the running!

I asked the other nice man how many riders cleaned the cones and he told me "About 60%." That was a little depressing, but I figured the percentage was bound to drop precipitously as less skilled riders started finishing. All the riders standing around stretching in the parking area were competent looking and riding lightweight dirt bikes. I wonder what the test guys will do when the Urals go through the cones....


Nice form, but he hit a cone right at the start.


Maybe he didn't see it fall - he's still trying really hard.


An orange bike cleans the course. Stay off the front brake, a little throttle, an inch of clutch and feather it to control the power, a little trail braking on the rear brake to control the speed, weight the outside peg, look up and around toward the exit of the turn.... Wait, he did most of it right. I think he cleaned it anyway.


This guy did everything wrong.


He got the bike up fast with no apparent damage except to his ego.


Most guys sat down and some did pretty well. I personally prefer a trials approach.




This DRZ rider knocked over a cone, goosed the throttle hard for some reason.....


... and nailed the wind sock pole dead center. The guys running the test had been debating whether they should move the test away from the pole for liability reasons. Later they did, but it may have been because the wind came up and started blowing over the cones. They set the new course up RIGHT next to my truck - I moved it ASAP so I would not come back to find a DRZ or Ural embedded in the driver's side door.


Another cone down...


His sit down style worked, I think.


This XT rider blasted his cone to oblivion. Head up, head up.....


Too much air pressure or a touch of front brake.

After wandering around for a few minutes I rode back to my campsite. The howling wind had driven the skeeters into Montana, so it wasn't too bad by the lake. I changed, loaded and strapped down my bike, visited the Gent's Room, and headed back to the clubhouse to have a burger, and await developments and juicy prizes.

The entry fee gets you a great ride, a baby blue tee shirt that is embarrassing, and a very good dinner of hamburger, tater tots, pork and beans and a desert. Well, maybe it wasn't that great, but the servings were ample and I was hungry.

After dinner I collected my Costco card and checked in. Each rider supplies an ID of some sort, so that they will return and check in. Some riders have departed for home as soon as they finish, without telling anyone in authority, and the club has to assume they are lost or lying injured on the trail. The ID card technique works, sorta - there were still a few unclaimed cards by 6:00 pm. A Costco card is a good choice to leave - a credit card or health insurance card is NOT.

At about 4:45 they started presenting the awards and prizes. I was nowhere near the top in score, but I knew I had beaten all those guys who flubbed the cones. My name was called in a 7 way tie for 20 something place, and I drew an Ace in the tie breaker, so I went ahead of the others. I picked a nice Tekonsha P3 brake controller that sported a $189 price tag on the box. Yahoo - I needed a controller for my wife's RAV4!

I was still hoping for another shot at a prize for "Longest Distance Driven" but some young blond Swede got it instead and he snatched the cavernous Fox MX gear bag I had been eyeing. I was miffed - I'm sure he didn't DRIVE from Sweden just to ride the Dirty Face. It was really just a coincidence that he was here visiting friends or family....

The "Oldest Rider" award went to a very fit and weathered 75 year old. I hope I can keep up with him when I am 60.

The two dogs didn't get awards.

The next morning I headed home, hoping for breakfast at my favorite Leavenworth bakery, a small home operation a couple of miles out Icicle Creek Road. Unfortunately the sign was down, so I have to assume they closed down or moved into town somewhere.

Trivia:

Elapsed time: 4 hrs 50 minutes, not including my 34 minute lunch break.
Average speed: 17 mph.
Miles ridden: 84.6.
Pictures taken: 127

Next year....

**************************************************

Following is MY track from the ride (combined B and A sections)

http://www.spokanister.net/GPS_Data/...Track_JOHN.gdb

http://www.spokanister.net/GPS_Data/...Track_JOHN.gpx

NOTE: If you will take the trouble to email me your "B track only" or "A track only" data, I will host it and post a link below. Also, I would appreciate some descriptive comments from the A riders about the sections I wisely chose to bypass.

[JAFO]

hey damnit, I'm not THAT fat! ;)

Originally Posted by Geek

Quote: Maybe they should take off that Load Limit sign....

7 tons? They have to leave it for Kawasaki Heavy Industry riders

[tomasinator]

That was a really interesting and comprehensive report.

I took a few pictures along the way. I rode the A course and it was a lot of fun. There was little level riding. For the most part we were either climbing up mountains or riding back down. The views throughout the ride were fantastic:




Several hours and 50 miles into the ride, we descended the mountains to the town of Ardenvoir on the banks of the Entiat River:


Most of the riders topped up their tanks at the general store. This store serves as the town's gas station, the restaurant, the hardware store, and the post office. The Entiat River is right behind the store. I stood on the river bank eating a Clif bar for lunch and then got back on my bike and headed off.



For the whole next section of the ride I never saw another motorcyclist. I wondered if I was on the correct route, but my roll chart instructions exactly matched the terrain. Most of the roads had been blocked by tree falls, but when they made this route over the past couple of weeks, motorcyclists carried chainsaws in their backpacks and cut out sections of trees just wide enough (most of the time) for a motorcycle to squeeze by. In the map two pictures below, I took the this photo from "Tillicum16" looking at "TillicumC9". The area with the blacken trees can be seen on the map just below the "TillicumC9" label.



The week before the ride, I was emailed a GPS route of the event. I imported the route into Google Earth to see where we'd ride. This is only about 1/20th of the complete map of the route.



This photo is also from "Tillicum16". I noticed a dark storm blowing in over the mountains. While the temperature had been a comfortable 70 degrees, all of a sudden the temperature dropped dramatically. I did not know this at the time I took the picture, but the sharp peak on the ridge in the middle of the picture is Sugarloaf Lookout ("Nf-715" on the map above) and would be an eventual stop on the route.



The route took us up to Sugarloaf Lookout. My family and I drove up here a couple of weeks ago. I arrived just as clouds blew in.



I ran up to the lookout hoping to talk to the ranger, but like last time, the ranger wasn't there. He or she must be a neat ranger because the bed was all made and the place looked tidy. The fire spotting protractor is sitting on the platform on the right.




A few minutes later the clouds blew over and it was sunny and warm again. Notice my left mirror is gone. It snapped off going under a tree across the trail.



From the lookout, we gradually descended the mountains and various roads and headed back to the starting point at Lake Wenatchee. Even though there were at least 150 riders, I saw relatively few on the trail. I saw around twenty riders at the gas stop in Arvendoir, and about that many at the finish, but hardly any in-between. I rode relatively quickly with few stops. I finished around 1 pm. In the future, I will definitely be participating in this annual event. The scenery was unbelievable and the adrenaline and fear of the ride was thrilling.

[Bozola]

One of the two Ural riders and his dog.

Actually, you got both Ural maniacs in that shot.

[CascadeThumper]

Nice report...
Spot, Mr. COB's navigator, looks rather comfy.
I wonder what he's thinkin'..........faster COB, faster.....BIG air!!!

[oldx]

Great report and pictures, thanks.

[Humunn]

GREAT report! Thanks for taking the time to share!

Greg

[KingO]

Originally Posted by John E Davies

Also, I would appreciate some descriptive comments from the A riders about the sections I wisely chose to bypass.

John; If you completed the second "A" section up that steep soft stretch, you did the hardest part, of all the "A" sections.

The last ,4th? "A" section was fun, just a bunch of water bars really, not hard on a small bike. Now that you know, you will do all the "A" sections next year and be a hero!

BK

[Ginsu4u]

Great report John. I really hated to miss it.

[Salt Lick]

looks great guys!