I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake: Big Bikes on the Vegas to Reno

Vegas to Reno. V2R. The longest off road race in the US.
KTMs. Big ones.



During our recent trip to Baja, a plan was hatched.
Scott and his fiancee had raced the 2012 V2R in their jeep -
they had the tracks and the maps.
Scott thought it would be awesome on a bike.

And, even better, they live close to Reno and would serve as home base.


The only problem was gas. These are thirsty machines.
The 535 mile course is remote and none of the bikes could carry enough fuel.
We needed a chase vehicle.
Now, who could we get to drive it?




photo: rburkat




Long story short, Scott ended up being our guy.
Thank you, Goggles!
This ride couldn’'t have happened without you and your gracious support.
We owe you, buddy!



As the weekend approached, I started getting nervous.
These were big heavy bikes. That looked like a pretty rough course.
Sand, rocks, silt. Nothing around for miles and miles...
Here’s some of the V2R porn that Scott sent us: HiRev photo V2R.



Gulp. I'’ve made a huge tiny mistake...







They don’'t call Reno “the biggest little city in the world” for nothing!







The riders:
Bartek. Formerly Bartek990, he should probably upgrade to Smartek1000.


photo: rburkat




Ceasar. KTMADV. If you need anything - he knows a guy.


photo: rburkat




Radek. rburkat. The Canadian Animal, or “Canimal”



Training!





Rick. BigWan'’s brother. I christen thee, MediumWan.
He rides an XR650L, but for this ride, he was an honorary KTM.







Us Wans.
Matt and Kelly (BigWan and LittleWan).
I was only riding parts of the course, so Matt could have some playtime with the boys.
The rest of the time I could hang out with Goggles in the truck.


photo: KTMADV




and, last but not least, our fearless driver.
Scott. Goggles Pizano. Actively replenishing his karma bank.








Let’'s do this.

Wow. Epic before y'all even left the gate. Godspeed and good luck. May karma smile on you and bean burritos be plentiful...

In. Imagining Team America, World Police-type shenanigans will follow.

Are we gonna see some of the GoPro videos?

OK, i think my karma bank is full , now what?

This was a great weekend , doable anytime , thanks for you all coming out , it was great to have a full house. I gained a lot of weight in 3 days

Woo-hoo!!



JM.

Best Video Trailer EVAR!



Q~

I likes me some AWESOMENESS!!!!

You guys are nuts!!!

ADHD films...Halarious

LOVEd the intro! In as always, keep it comin!

Haha this is great!

Awesome!

Another awesome story!! Looking forward to it. Stoked to be in early...

JG

Ready! ADHD Films!!!

Wow, barely finished Baja and now this.
Thanks.

and

Thanks again for having me tag along on this ride. I had a blast and enjoyed hanging out with all of you. Thanks again to Scott for his great hospitality.

Matt- I went with the name you gave me, hope you are happy!

Hey guys!

Thanks for joining us!
I don't know about "epic" - it's only 2 days of riding
But I appreciate all the enthusiasm!




OMG! MediumWan!!
Thanks, Rick!








Friday 3/22/13


The ride up...


Our trip was almost over before it started.
Matt was going over the bike to check for damage (we had just ridden 2500 miles in Baja),
when he discovered that our front rim was cracked.
There were 2 spots actually, but this one is the worst.

Excel A60 1.6"





Son of a biscuit!
Matt called around and tried to get a new rim overnighted...
but no luck.


Crap.


He spoke to Radek and luckily, Radek had an extra rim that he was willing to let us borrow for the ride. Thanks, Radek!
Whew. That was close.




Ceasar had just gone to Canada to pick up a bike.
While he was there, he got some Mitas tires (including a couple for us).
Matt had never tried a Mitas, but they sounded promising.
Thanks, Ceasar!


Mitas E-09 Dakar.








With limited time for riding, we were trucking up to Reno with Bartek and Rick.
While waiting for El Smartek, Matt got bored and took my wife bike for a spin.







It was a long drive.
I think Smartek is working too hard...








Thank goodness for bananas! And real bananas, none of that pig food.
Matt had stopped and picked some up at Mi Tierra as a surprise.







We got to Scott's place around 5:30pm.
Smartek is such a fine guest.
As a hostess gift, he brought Scott a new front tire, to replace the evil MT21.








The guys were going to be sleeping in the man cave upstairs.
While we were up there, I spied Scott's Baja 1000 trophy!
Shhhhh - don't let him know I took some pics...








Pretty awesome, huh?





The jeep that Scott and his fiancee raced in V2R.
Very cool.







Scott has a great shop and lots of nice toys.
He showed us all his fun stuff and gave us a tour of his beautiful home.
Meanwhile, Radek and Ceasar were on their way.
Radek was driving down from BC, swinging by Northern Cali to pick up KTMADV.


photo: rburkat






They arrived shortly after we did and the guys started loading the bikes.


photo: rburkat






Radek was kind enough to let us use his awesome truck.
Without it and Scott's trailer, this wouldn't have been possible.


photo: rburkat


















After all the manly truck stuff, it was time for dinner.
Matt and I wanted to make dinner for the guys that night.
But, what to cook...
Hmmm...

Nope! It's always a good time for tacos!




Someone else would agree...
Say it with me....
"He was on that like Bartek on a taco!"







This guy, too.








Scott graciously provided real china plates for us.
But I can't be trusted. I used a paper plate.








Rick, Ceasar and Scott's lovely fiancee Joanne.
Poor Joanne, we didn't know she was a vegetarian. Sorry, Jo!









Then, it was time for beer and lies.








"Are you sure Radek is taller than me?"








We had a brief discussion about safety.
Scott had been wanting to talk about an extraction plan.
This was going to be some seriously remote riding and any injury was going to be a big deal.
There had recently been a tragic accident in Hawthorne, NV.
Several Marines had been killed and several others were gravely injured (the story is here.)



The survivors had been airlifted out but it still took over 40 minutes in a helicopter
to get to the nearest hospital.





And these people were Marines.
At a military training facility, prepared for an emergency.


It had highlighted just how isolated and far out we would be.
(the first day's riding would go right through Hawthorne)




I think we decided that the plan was "don't get hurt."
If someone did get hurt, the most important thing was to get out.
Get to the highway as quickly as possible.
Because who knew how long it would take to get help...

And, with that, Scott replenished our first aid kit with vicodin.



I've made a huge tiny mistake...










No one wanted to go to bed, but we had to force ourselves to turn in fairly early.
The next day was going to be a long one...

Saturday 3/23/13







The next morning, we got up around 4:45am.
Scott helped rouse everyone by blasting some old school funk.





He and Joanne had thoughtfully provided a yummy breakfast.
Ham and feta croissants, muffins, yogurt, etc...
Thanks guys, it was fantastic!


photo: rburkat






When we got out to the garage, it was a balmy 15°F.



Holy crap!

I’'ve made a huge tiny mistake...






No one had prepared for cold weather. After all, this was desert riding...
I guess it was a good thing that we had 6 hrs in the truck before getting to the start.








Blurry map. The race starts in Beatty.





Wait, does anyone else see that on the map - Magruder Mountain!!
Magruder! The guy's a frickin' genius! Magruder!






Enjoying some gas station coffee.







Our fearless leader, Goggles Pizano.








Eventually, we got to Beatty. Now it was time to unload the bikes...








And put the Ridgeline on the trailer.







I was super happy.
If the Ridgeline hadn'’t fit, I would have had to drive instead of ride...








Check out Radek'’s cool new seat...






How awesome is that??








Fueling up.








Every rider filled his bike and an extra gas can.







MediumWan was a little nervous about keeping up with the big bikes.
He didn'’t need to worry - he did great!




It was a special treat to hang out with Rick.
Usually he's too busy being a grown up to do stupid shit with us.
But, this weekend...













The Canimal was stoked (as always)!








Testing out the GoPro...








This first section was supposed to be pretty, so I was going to ride with Matt a little.
At the first pit, I would get off and keep Scott company in the truck.
Here we go! The starting line...








Thanks, Scott! (although, Matt noticed that you were waving your bad arm )















The road started off pretty fast.







Over the shoulder Radek...







Kinda like Baja...






Lookin’' good!








































How about some video?
Radek was so cool about filming us.
It was a blast!

HD if you want it...







Whee!
That Mitas tire felt great here, in the beginning.
It was a little skatey, but Matt really liked the way it felt in the sand.





Hmm. I'’m not sure what these guys are looking at...
Matt and Radek were the only ones with GPS units.
















This was a bigger group than I was used to.
Great guys, though. A really fun bunch.







But we did have to stop frequently to gather the herd.
The trails out here criss-cross and it'’s easy to get lost.




























Smartek and Radek







I think this is the moment when I snapped that photo...







They were chomping at the bit...







Go get ‘em, boys!!!

Thanks Scott for letting us stay at your place and for chasing us in the desert with the cold silver bullets. Also thanks everyone for the help of my first flat repair on the trail. Its nice having a couple of tire machines with you on the trail.

Thank you for going with the teaser trailer idea! Now I feel special to be in on the first day!!!!