Giant Loop - Oregon, Nevada 08

[N2moto]

I was invited to ride with the Giant Loop Group. I am N2moto. Pics of the group arriving.

Dusty and Hot, Everyone heads to the Iced Beer Coolers.

We all know that a bike runs off of gas. I now know that Idaho Joe runs off of Beer and Jose Cuervo.

[N2moto]

We broke out the iced beer and Idaho joe brought out the tamales.

[N2moto]

After hours of drinking and story telling, we went to soak. Look someone left the light on for us.


This trip was a dream come true.

[wachs]

DAY THREE:

Yikes I’m sure uh, dehydrated this morning. Yeah that’s it, blame the headache on the desert!

Today we are doing the ‘Master Loop’ which is truly a full-spectrum ride. If all goes right we should see everything and use the entire throttle on every machine several times over.

Right out of camp is a super fast 2-track road that I have memorized, there’s only a couple actual corners and you can just pound the crap out of it to the first feature of the day. A water crossing.

I’m all paranoid about water and secretly hope somebody else volunteers to ‘test the water’. Stihlrigg just wades right in and goes in over the boots. He’ll be regretting that later but I for one felt a lot better knowing it was no big deal, that there was no hidden drop-off or anything like that in there.

N2Moto (Pat) goes first:



Then Pegz gets all sassy.



We get this awesome little valley circumnavigational warm up that takes us up off the desert floor and into our first mountain range of the day. It’s almost chilly the air is so cool - or maybe it’s just excitment giving me the jitters.







Sure it’s a little dusty but who’s complaining? No one in this group.



Doing the leapfrog method, we’re in no hurry.
Stihlrigg brought his TE 450 and looks like he’s having fun.



There’s an alpine connector between these 2 mountain ranges and it’s easy to miss, You can burn a ton of fuel looking around up here but we know the route. Next stop, a little homestead up a deadend. We’ll be on the horizon after that.



You never know if guys like the ride, N2Moto is smiling inside that helmet.



No camping gear on the bikes - yeah, we’re free!



That 450 is making Stihlrigg happy. look for the other guy way back there.







Don’t know exactly how long these little flowers will live but they’re at their peak right now.



Successfully transfered to the next mountain range now, we’re heading to the homestead.



Didn't take a photo of this but we had to pass by a very large, black bull. He let me go then SpongeBrad, Pegz and Stihlrigg but by the time N2Moto goes to pass the bull had had enough and he charged him! Quick on the throttle though and out of danger.

Tiny water to park at the homestead.



Came through here once during hunting season and guys were actually using the barn for their horses. not a good idea to cruise this country during ‘season’ though and I don’t now.



Back to the good stuff.







I’ve been through here in rain, lightning, thunder, fog and even snow. It’s always fun but I think this was the best day yet.







The shade of these mahogany trees is a great place to take a break. We’ll be dropping down off the mountain and into the furnace of the desert floor.







Blooming lupine.



Stihlrigg is coasting by at about 45 mph to save fuel.



SpongeBrad



N2Moto is a great rider, he has a righteous 650R that’s all pimpin’ (among several other MX bikes) and I had told him that he could really let’er rip on this section. It’s about 15 miles of perfect desert gravel that transitions into this baked, white playa bottom. He’s doing probably 50 or 60 mph around this corner and by now I know he’s enjoying the ride for sure!



Some other hooligan:



Pegz cuttin’ a corner.



SpongeBrad.



I didn’t take any shots of the last 30 miles or so but we landed on this little pass before dropping down onto our second playa of the day. This road had been bladed sometime in the last 6 months or so. It had these absolutely perfectly formed berms on the edges of the road. We roosted teh crap out of that sucker. Sorry, no photos of that.



Rolled down to Fields for lunch and fuel. A comfortable 85 degrees.



N2Moto has sampled every kind of dirt surface except for playa until now.



I ran out of image space and didn’t take anymore photos but I’m sure the other guys did. We got back to camp and I spooned on a brand new set of Maxxis Desert IT, front and rear. And I reset my sag to save what’s left of my plate.

[N2moto]

I will add pics as Wachs and Bacon tell the story. This is the start of day (2) for Stihlrig and Me. First water crossing.


This is truly were the magic happens.

[N2moto]

We came across these lush, green homesteads.

This is dave talking to us about the high speeds on the Plia. He talked about people crashing into each other.

This is Bacon and I taking pictures at 60 + miles an hour. We started to go upwards of 90 + miles an hour. Wachs didn't realize that Bacon was behind him and turned towards me to race and he almost clipped Bacon's front tire. It was so close.




Bacon " Damn that was close"

[N2moto]

As Wachs had stated it was 85 degress. We decided we needed ice for the coolers. It was a 30+ mile ride back to the camp. I made it with the ice strapped down to the BRP.

[brad21]

I'm not sure how many beers we drank that night, but one cooler was depleted by the time IdahoJoe left! And yes, I knew that it was a 950SE. What else could make that beautiful noise??

The water crossing:







Man, what a ride this was. But any time Wox says this is just gonna be a cruise thru the mountains DON'T BELIEVE HIM.

Oh yeah, one other thing that must be mentioned. There was a big announcement the night before that Wox' son had picked up a new skiing sponsorship, which basically means less money out of Dave's pocket. It was a two part announcement and I quickly slipped in "oh yeah and your wife is pregnant" and this is what ensued...



more...

[brad21]

Full spectrum ride.





























Right below where this picture was taken I had a little high-side get off when I used a little too much rear brake thru a left-hander. There was no photographic evidence and nobody saw it, so I guess it didn't really happen.

We never did figure out what this was, but it looks like something blew up. Not a dust devil.



N2 and the Steens in the background:





more...

[dwrads]

Very nice, thats the kind of ride I love.

Do you have GPS tracks?

DW

[brad21]

We got to the other side of the Playa and Stihl was gonna be needing some fuel to get back to Fields. Little Husky doesn't carry quite as much as the Supertankers:



Looking towards the Alvord Playa, it's hot and some of us are out of water:



We get into Fields finally and Stihl immediately takes off his boots. Remember when he was doing the depth test for us?



Reminded me of a fetal pig I dissected in Advanced Biology...

This little girl was showing off for us by ghostriding her bike into the side of the building. She's some relation to Sandy at the store, not sure what...



Elvis Pastrana (that's what my boys call me when my hair looks like this)



We chow, ice up and head back the easy way from Fields.

more...

[RMac]

Thanks guys, absolutely stunning.

[StihlRigg]

Howdy all, Now that we hit day 2 of the ride I finally have a contribution to make.

The original plan was to ride my 950 s with the boys out to the Alvord but, my rear shock had other plans and started to leak a week before we were supposed to start. I couldn't get the seal in time so I was not going to make it. Then N2moto calls up and offers me a ride out in his camper. So, I spend a few days prepping the 450 and off we go.

So, day 2
We Made base camp in the valley below


checking out the sights


crossing the top of the first mt. range



Down the hill and up the other side, it was a little dusty out there.


Wox


Spongebrad on his BRP fueltanker,



N2moto is definately enjoying the ride,



Pegs before he got his nickname,



Springtime in the mtns. makes for some sensitive moments,




I love spring!

Homestead stop,


more...

[wachs]

Beauty shots J!

Keep it going!

[StihlRigg]

Ok, I only have these two shots left for day 2.

This is the Giant Loop pit stop for a tire & oil change.
N2moto and Wox gettin it done,



The 525 awaiting new shoes,



Alrighty, next---day3-- who's up?