Riding experience how much do I need?

[MountaineerWV]

Originally Posted by albany-dave

Yes, I too have wanted for many years to ride to and experience Alaska. Now as I read the forms I am becoming very aware to the serious of the trek. Some ride reports make it sound fairly easy and some make it sound like deep slimy mud for 000's of miles. Maybe the truth is in the middle, or just dependent on weather and luck.

The main question is at this point how much off road experience will I need. The facts of the trip would be limited to roads and not single tracks out there. I would plan on swapping out my K1200GT for a GS. My traveler / trip experience to date would include two cross country, lots of BC, as well as long distances on the east coast.

Looking forward to your thoughts and any saged advice.

How uncoordinated and fat are ya?

With damn near zero riding experience I bought a DR650 and rode the TAT summer of 2011, and the followed that with another 35,000 miles through Mexico, Central, and South America into 2012. I was always on the slow side when it came to riding in groups, but there was rarely a trail, hill, mud pit, or river I couldn't get through.

It pretty much rained every day from the moment I entered Guatemala to the day after I crossed into the Chilean Atacama Desert (yes - it rained on me in one of the driest places on Earth). We purposely set out on the shittiest, most remote trails we could find - with the hopes of good scenery.