Eastern Idaho Riders?

Welcome to Macadamia. We need more nuts here...

Anyone up for a trip to the mountains this coming week? Weather is looking really good.

I'm in Boise at the BMW dealer getting new tires installed... Heidenau K-60 Scout fron & rear... Woot!

Got any time before you're chained to your desk?

I don't begin my new job until next month... so, I guess I've got some time...

I'm back at my hotel room (my temporary home...) in Idaho Falls. I'll post a ride report when I get back from picking my dog up from puppy jail... (the kennel...)

I just rolled in from Ashton-Flagg Ranch-Reclamation-Grassy Lake etc etc road to Grand Teton.

Where was everybody?

Hey! This is Idaho!
(we're stealth riders)

Short, short version...
Flew to Vegas, got my bike, rode back, it was great... I had a blast...

Short version...
I went to Vegas on Thursday to get my bike and ride it back... I rode it back, it was great! I had a blast. I stopped for the night in Ely, NV and again in Boise, ID. I even rode over 40 miles off road on badly worn 90/10 dual sport tires. I bought new tires in Boise, Heidenau K-60 Scouts, before completing the trip Saturday afternoon in IF.

Long winded version...
In August, I accepted a job offer at INL. Part of my deal was a relocation package that included shipping all of my household goods (including both of my motorcycles) from Bakersfield, CA to Idaho Falls, with storage of said goods in Las Vegas until I obtain residence in IF. So, with the help of the moving company, I packed up my stuff, loaded my car with my dog and the items I REALLY needed for survival, and drove to IF. I became bored pretty fast, living in a hotel room, waiting for the job to begin (in October, BTW).

Here is a photo of my motorcycles being loaded into the semi trailer for shipment to the storage area in Las Vegas.


I skulked around IF for a couple of weeks, doing what needed to be done to find an apartment (which I did within a couple of days), walking my dog, swimming in the pool, etc... I must say, I was really bored... I really need my motorcycle for my sanity...

Then, after searching for flights to Las Vegas, I found Allegiant Air, and they have 2 direct flights each week to Las Vegas, starting at $39, one way. The cheapest the other airlines could offer was $533 with one stop over. Suffice it to say, I bought a ticket and flew to Las Vegas on Thursday to get my motorcycle and riding gear out of storage and ride it back.

I arrive at the airport and get into a ridiculously long queue for the taxi cabs. The length was longer than any amusement park ride queue, but much much faster. I had to talk back and forth in the queue for almost 15 minutes, non-stop, finally getting to the cab. I gave the destination to the driver, and we set out. $63.12 later, we arrived at the storage place for the moving company. Yes, the cab ride from the Las Vegas airport to the storage place cost more than the flight from IF to LV. What a country we live in!

I had made arrangements with the moving company's parent company to obtain my things from storage, but when I arrived, of course, the storage place did not know I was coming. After a few phone calls and an hour of waiting, I was led back to the warehouse where my things were crated. I had a very short list of items to find: riding gear, helmet, boots, panniers, foul weather gear, tank bag, bike, cover, and battery charger. The mistake I made prior to the move was putting all of these items in one place so they could be boxed in a single box and easily retrieved. It took just over an hour, with 3 warehouse workers assistance, to find everything. I then set up the bike for the journey, reinstalling the GPS, the XM radio, the radar receiver, reconnect the battery, pack everything into the panniers (it all just fit, luckily), got dressed into my riding gear, and set out. It was about 3:30pm when I left.

I rode from the storage place to the junction of I-15 and US-93. North of this junction on I-15, the road had been washed out in a couple of places due to the flash flooding the previous week. All but the local traffic was being diverted to US-93. This was the way I really wanted to go anyway, but with the detour, it made for much more traffic. I got gas and some gatorade for the trip at a truck stop at this junction, then proceeded north on US-93. Many of the detoured trucks then turned east on NV-168, at Coyote Springs, NV, so the traffic thinned out. I continued north on US-93 and stopped in Hiko, NV to get gas (I no where needed it, but was unsure of the mileage I would get overall and also unsure of how many stations would be available during the trip... It turned out, I was just being paranoid... ), and to eat. I got tuna on a croissant, a sugar-free Red Bull, and a Strawberry-Watermellon Gatorade (my new favorite flavor). I ate, then headed continued north (physically, east) on US-93.

About an hour later, with it beginning to get dark, I stopped in Panaca, NV, for another sugar-free Red Bull, and an orange Gatorade. The gas station/c-store where I stopped was exactly at the T-intersection of US-93 and NV-319. NV-319 was also part of the detour route for trucks going from Saint George, UT to Las Vegas, due to the flooding damage to I-15. As I sat there on a bench, I watched an almost continuous line of trucks heading west (toward the station) on NV-319, then south on US-93 for about 20 minutes. I also saw 2 Japanese couples riding 2-up, one on a BMW R1100GS (vintage adventure! ) and the other on some Harley-Davidson (Hardly-Ableson ) full bagger (an Electra-Glide, I think). The pillion on the HD took a couple of photos (no stereotype here, it actually happened...) of my bike just before they set off. They were heading to Las Vegas. Also, as I sat there, a bunch of high school kids came in, some were in football uniforms, so I assumed there either was a game getting ready to begin or one had just ended at the local high school. By now, it almost dark, so I set out again north on US-93, hoping to get as far as Ely for the night.



It was almost 9pm when I arrived in Ely, NV. I was beat, ready for a nap, but also needed to get gas and was feeling hungry. I stopped at a Shell station that also had a Subway sandwich shop within. I filled up, went in, and ordered my favorite sandwich (Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki, on 9-grain oat bread, toasted, with pepper jack cheese, onions, green peppers, pickles, jalapeño peppers, and the sweet onion sauce). I then realized I had forgotten to bring the charger for my Cardo Scala Rider G9 headset. I purchased a cord from the gas station, then headed to find a motel room for the night. I found one that had a vacancy, the Great Basin Inn, a real flea-bag, roach-motel, type motel. I was tired and all of the other motels I had passed had no-vacancy signs illuminated so I said WTF and checked in. It stunk of cigarette smoke as I opened the door, and I cursed to myself that I should have looked further for a better room. Once I unloaded, I got out of my riding gear, stripped down to my skivvies, sat down on the bedspread (rookie mistake!), and proceeded to eat. By the time I had finished eating, the back of my right leg itched so bad, I had to go and shower to get the itching to stop. I have no idea what was on the bedspread, but it ended up on the floor next to the bed after I got out of the shower. The bed was old, creaky, and sagged a bit when I got into it. Again, I cursed myself for not going elsewhere, but I was now so very tired, so I laid down, and woke up when my alarm went off in the morning. I showered again to wake up, packed up my stuff, loaded the bike, and rode back to the same Subway for breakfast.

After breakfast consisting of a 6” whole egg, bacon (yum), pepper jack cheese, toasted, with onions, green peppers, jalapeño peppers, salt & pepper and a strawberry-watermelon Gatorade, I decided to get the Oregon sticker on my box and ride longer, instead of heading directly back to IF. I headed west on US-50 and then turned north on NV-278 at Eureka, NV. It was a bit chilly (high 50’s) when I left Ely, but it slowly warmed up as I rode through the mountains. This part of the trip was very pretty. I was in a groove riding, though, so I did not stop for any photos.





I turned west at I-80 for the long super-slab slog to Winnemucca, NV. There was a bunch of construction zones in this stretch of road, dropping the speed limit from 75mph to 55mph and lane closures in the zones. This stretch was otherwise, uneventful. I stopped in Winnemucca for gas and lunch, again at Subway. Here I again bought my favorite sandwich (see above…), had it wrapped as two 6” sandwiches, baked BBQ chips, and a coke. While I was eating, 3 dudes walked in wearing off-road riding gear, so we struck up a conversation. I mentioned a road to the north of Winnemucca that I wanted to try out, but wasn’t sure if it was paved or not. It turns out they were riding that stretch of road, heading up to a campsite near the peak of mountain pass there. They said it was not paved, but was a relatively easy gravel road, with some twisties, and that I would love it. So, reluctantly, I set out with them to ride the off-road part of my trip. (As I have said in other posts, I have experience riding the big GSA off-road in Death Valley, Mendocino National Forest, and even at the Jimmy Lewis Off-Road Riding School. However, I was alone, on a fully loaded bike, with 90/10 Continental Trail Attacks, that were very worn, and I had been riding for over 300 miles already.) Looking back, I can say I was very nervous while riding, although after a couple of miles, I settled my nerves, and began to have fun. I stopped about 2/3rds of the way to the summit for a photo. It was a very pretty scene…



Then, a couple of photos at Hinkey summit with the other riders. I’m sorry, but I cannot remember any of their names, but I gave them my info, so after they contact me, I’ll add their names… They were riding a Suzuki 1000 V-Strom, a Kawasaki KLR-650, and a KTM 950 Adventure. They were all very skilled riders.





After a short break and the photos at the summit, we set off down the other side. We went a few miles and they turned off at the trail to the campground. We said our goodbyes and I continued down the north side of the summit. There were many more switchbacks on the north side and was more rutty as well, with some completely bare spots (no gravel) that were a bit greasy. I had a couple of clenching moments, braking in these bare spots – starting to dance out a couple of times as I locked up the rear under braking (ABS and ASC were switched both off for the off-road part of the ride). I modulated the rear brake to regain control and as I continued down the road, I thanked my lucky stars I did not high side. The rest of the off-road experience was more smooth and a bit easier. I was able to speed up to about 45 mph for the last few miles, and finally made it back to US-95. No crashes, no naps, a couple of places where I thought for sure I had bought it, but all in all, about 40 miles of off-road goodness. I took a much needed rest, rehydrated, cleaned the dust off all of my lights and turn signals, cleaned my helmet shield, and turned north on US-95.







I passed McDermitt, NV and crossed over into Oregon as it was starting to get dark. I was beginning to get tired, but was determined to get to Boise for the night. I said to myself that if I was too tired, I’d stop in Jordan Valley, OR. Oh, I forgot to mention, so far on the trip all of the 2-lane highways I’ve been traveling on in Nevada had a max speed limit of 70mph. Now, in Oregon, the speed limit was 55mph. So, I’m bumbling along at 55ish mph, and this truck comes up on me very fast, on US-95. He passed me as if I was stopped. I thought to myself – I guess the speed limit is just a suggestion… I caught up to the truck and stayed in his draft for many miles. By Jordan Valley, OR, I felt good, so I pushed on to Boise. Once in Idaho, the speed limit increased to 70mph again, but I was already going faster than that anyway. Thank you Mister Trucker, in the empty livestock hauler semi! I turned east on ID-55 and headed into the metro Boise area, then to I-84. Off in the distance, I could see fireworks being set off. As I continued east on I-84, the fireworks became huge, as if it were a Fourth of July celebration. My guess was that there was a college football game that had just ended, but I never found out why. I chose to stay at the Hilton Gardens Inn, Boise Spectrum. This was a very nice place! It exceeded all expectations and was a very comfortable room. I realized I still had not eaten the other half of my lunch sandwich from Subway, so I grabbed a couple of New Belgian Fat Tire Ales, a bag of chex mix, a couple of waters, and headed to my room. I ate my dinner at about 10pm, while I caught up with my brother via text message. The beers went straight to my head and I feel asleep soon after finishing my food.

I woke up in the morning when the alarm went off, showered, packed up my things, and headed to breakfast. I had a chorizo scramble with bacon and jalapeños, a Belgian waffle with strawberries, and orange juice. After finishing breakfast, I grabbed a couple of waters and packed my bike. It was now about 9:15am, so I headed over to Big Twin Cycles in Boise to see if I could get a set of new tires. I got there about 9:30am, and asked about buying tires and having them mounted. They, at first, said no, to come back during the week. They had a full shop schedule for the day and were short a mechanic. I said I was riding to IF and would not be able to come back during the week. He asked, “Are you traveling?”; I answered, “Yes, from Las Vegas to Idaho Falls.” He said they would squeeze me in, but it may take until about noon to be finished. I agreed and stripped the bags off the bike and rolled it back to their shop. I chose the Heidenau K-60 Scout tires(a true 60/40 tire) to replace my worn Continental Trail Attacks (a true 90/10 (possibly an 85/15) tire, awesome on the road, greasy to OK off-road). I sat up stairs and met a dude there named Sheldon, a young guy who had recently gotten out of the Navy. I mentioned I had also been in the Navy, to which he mentioned he had spent the past few years on USS Nimitz, CVN-68 – to which I mentioned I had also been stationed on USS Nimitz from 1987 thru 1990. I exclaimed it was a small world. He was having his BMW K1200S serviced (a new fuel pump and the fuel strip replaced). I talked about my trip and quipped about my other BMW motorcycle that unfortunately was still in storage in Las Vegas. My other bike is an 2002 R1100S Boxer Cup Prep. Sheldon then told me his girlfriend has a 1999 R1100S – again, a small world. Well, after all this talking, about an hour and a half had transpired. This is when I saw my bike being ridden out of the shop garage for the test ride. It was now, about 11am and the bike had new shoes. I paid and reloaded the bike for the final leg of my trip. By the way, I highly recommend this shop for work in the Boise area. I know there are not any other BMW dealerships in the area, but that usually makes the dealership complacent, since they know you cannot go to another dealership. I definitely did not get this impression from this shop.





I rode south east on I-84 to Mountain Home, ID. I stopped for gas there, after having traveled 319 miles on that tank of gas, averaging 39.16mpg! GAWD, I love my GSA!!! (I know, I know, many of you have experienced much higher gas mileage than that. I may not have mentioned I’m a stout gentleman, 6’2”, tipping the scales at over 350lbs, and my panniers and trunk were full.) I hydrated with my usual strawberry-watermelon Gatorade and a sugar-free Red Bull. From Mountain Home, I headed east on US-20. During this section of the ride, I was enjoying the scenery, but my Saddlemen’s seat was so uncomfortable. I was almost miserable and needed to stop much more often than usual because my legs and ass were falling asleep. At first, I thought that I was dehydrated, but it turns out that was not the case. I’ve had it for about 25K miles now and I guess the gel foam is worn out, because it’s like sitting on a 2X4! I’m in the market now for a replacement seat… But, I digress…

After having stopped two to three times to stretch my legs and to get some feeling back into them, I stopped for an extended break in Picabo, ID, at a Rancher’s Supply store, of all places. I rehydrated with a couple of Fierce Grape Gatorade drinks, walked around the store (they have 10,000 part numbers, I was told a couple of times by the manager), I looked at their winter Carhartt coats. None of them were big enough, so I ordered one from them. I had a nice break there, recovering from my leg numbness from my seat! Grrrr… While I was putting my riding gear back on, I surprisingly received a phone call (I had no idea I even had a signal there…) from the place where I had boarded my dog (in IF), wondering if I would make it before they closed at 6pm. I checked my GPS and assured her I would make it. I got on the bike and headed east again on US-20, past the Craters of the Moon National Monument (I felt so bad I did not stop for photos), through Arco, through the INL (Idaho National Laboratory, for those who did not know…) (the location of my new job… woot!), and back to my hotel in Idaho Falls, ID. I brought my tank bag and gear to the room, stripped out of my riding gear, changed into other clothing, grabbed my car key, and headed to release my dog from puppy jail. He was very happy to see me, as was I to see him!



So, all total, over 1000 miles traveled, over 40 miles off-road, $105.74 on gas, 27 gallons of gas purchased, averaged $3.861/gallon, averaged 38.25 mpg, with a max 40.14mpg for a 273 mile tank. It was overall a very good trip, I’m very glad I made it.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading my ride report. I had fun reliving it in my mind and hope you enjoyed reading it.

Howdy macadamia,

For a different motorcycle related reason, I had the opportunity to drive on U.S. 95 from the Boise area to Reno and back. I too am not impressed with the speed limits in Oregon. Needless to say, I passed the semi-trucks after realizing there may not be any LEO present (other cars were going faster than me). However, if we get caught speeding, it's my understanding the price for a ticket is quite high. Luckily we both made it without said ticket!

Thanks for sharing

I'm wanting to ride the Beartooth Highway up to the summit and back later this week. It snowed up there already once and they've reopened the road again. I want to complete this ride this year before the pass is closed for the season.

Anyone want to go too?

That ought to be a magnificent ride. However, I'm planning on heading west on Saturday. Going to make it a multiple day ride through the Sawtooth Bisect as immortalized by Obrienmcc and Idaho Sam. (Figure we ought to name these routes before the BDR bunch claims to have invented Idaho). But the first part of my journey will go to Arco, Mackay and then up the Burma Road to Copper Basin, down to Trail Creek and over to Sun Valley. All good heavy bike roads and would make a good 1 day trip. I'll proceed on over Dollarhide pass and points beyond. Maybe as far as Magruder and back down to Dalonehga to redeem myself. Anybody is welcome. Maybe rendezvous at the INL rest area before Arco?

Update:
Was planning to go but it seems something crawled down my throat and died. i'm going to put off a trip until the weather's good and lousy. Maybe next week?

Finally felt good enough to split. Only 2 days before icky weather so went over McDougal Gap camped at Green River Lakes. Then over Union Pass, slabbed it to Flagg Ranch and the Grassy Lake road to Ashton. Pics here.

Macadamia, welcome to east Idaho. I have admired your avatar before over on the "What have you done to your GS or GSA......." thread. I haven't been active here at all on advrider lately (had an encounter with the dirt and broke two ribs and separated left shoulder which laid me up for a while - it kind of screwed up my riding plans this summer!). I was just surprised to see your avatar floating and bouncing from east Idaho now! So, ..... welcome to I.F.!!!

Did you make your Beartooth run? I have made that run in mid October during "Indian Summer" weather. Right now it looks bleak for riding this fall (raining torrents right this minute with lightning and very dark skies). But, be advised and be ready that we can get windows of really optimal riding conditions conditions in October. But, also be advised that October conditions can switch to "winter-like" really, really fast! A nice loop to do with Beartooth is to drop down (north) from the pass to Red Lodge, then turn east on 308 to Belfry. South on 72 / 120 will then lead to the junction with Chief Joseph Highway which heads back west over Dead Indian Pass and back to Cooke City. Silver Gate is a great place to overnight if you want a truly mountain environment. Grizzly Bear roam the outskirts of Silver Gate and sometimes visit the lodging areas). Two years ago I did Beartooth around mid October. It was cold in the morning but beautiful and pleasant bordering on warm the rest of the days and without tourist traffic. Wonderful riding conditions sometimes in October but you need to be prepared for fast changes in weather!

Hope to hear more about your intro to this area!
Safe travels!
Hope you are finding your way around,
Scott

Thanks for the kind words! I appreciate the welcoming, too!

Yes, I made it to Beartooth Pass and back a week ago Sunday. It was a beautiful day with just over 500 miles of slab and about 5 miles off road. I was having trouble with the photos - getting them to upload to smugmug was a pain this time... I'll post a ride report after I write it...

Went on a little trip down to the south end of the Caribou Mountains last Thursday before the weather came in. HERE

Thinking about going for a little day trip tomorrow ( Wednesday.) If anybody else has a random Wednesday off and want to for a rip before it snows let me know. Sorry for the short notice I just found out this afternoon my day off was approved.

Rats. I took off on Tuesday for a ride and She-who-must-be-obeyed is in charge of today. Was thinking we're about due for a hamburger run before termination dust settles things for a while.

I've been on gravel roads in six different states this season and by far, the absolutely worst gravel I have experienced is the stretch of the Kepp's Crossing road on the bench to Horse Butte wind farm. I think they have little trolls working for Bonneville county who spend their time polishing and stacking them and giggling and snorting whenever a motorcycle goes by. They even drive hot rod 4x4's to make sure you have to take to the deep stuff on the sides. Just sayin'.

Gotta get out Saturday. Anyone?

Me & Macadamia, are going to ride to Pokey, meet up with Guitartramp and go Scout Mountain to Malad (I think). slabbish. Not leaving IF until 10am. Anyone PM me for directions to my house.