Tour of Idaho Report

7/30/2019 Tour of Idaho Report

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This crazy dream of riding my dirtcycle to Canada, all started when Dave Jones told me of the Tour of

Idaho."Its a ride from here to Canada. At that moment I knew it was for me. One year to get ready. The

first thing I did was joint the Tour of Idaho face book page. I got so excited when Blake and others

reported their trip last year.

I started looking for a different ride. (The KX 450 just will not cut it) In the dead of the winter I ran into asweet ride. It was a 09 KLX 450 with 506 miles. Totally stock. I bought it and started the modification. I

put on a full exhaust, removed the smog pump and jetted it, opened up the air box. Go team GREEN!

Much time (to much) time was spent on prep. I knew it was going to be hard and tough and I wanted to

be ready. The plan was to ride with my boy JT and Corey. As the winter turned to spring Corey landed a

new job that bombed his chance at the tour. This left all the prep to me. My biggest stress was the GPS.

I had a Garmnin Orgeon 350 and I spent endless hours trying to load the route. I would think I had it and

not, or only the first part of the day. Much time and stress was spent on the gps. In the end, it ended up

2 problems, first I was told that I need to load tracks and not route and second I bought a Garmin

Orgeon 650t. Once I got the new GPS it loaded in 30 minutes with ease. The Orgeon 650t was the best

money spent on the Tour. The topo maps that were preloaded were so nice.

As we got just a month away my boy JT told me he did not want to do it... I was in shock, Ok, i can do

this Solo. After some time thinking, I talked to JT I told him that the Tour of Idaho is my dream, not

yours, but a big part of my dream is to share it with you. I ask him if I bought a bike for him to ride and

got everything ready to go, paid for everything, would he just show up and ride. "I guess" was his

answer. As he rode he really got into it and loved the ride. I know he was happy he went after all. He will

be a better man having done it.

I was working out of town this summer in Vernal. It was a hardship on me and my relationship with Kara.I would work all week then would come home and work on bikes all weekend. Not good. I am so

thankful for Kara's patience. I know this would not have been possible to do without her support. Thank

you Kara!

Do to work I could not leave as early as I had hoped. The only week it looked like we could pull it off, I

had a Ragnar trial race (running). The plan was to Come home from Vernal on Thursday late and get to

the race Friday morning run all night and finish Saturday. Come home pack for the tour and leave

Sunday morning.

Bad things happen to good people! Saturday before we was to leave JT and I went on a ride. We rode

the High line trail above Preston. We were really running hard. Pushing it to race pace. We got on sometrail that I had not ridden before and it was just straight boulders. I was in 3rd pounding through the

boulders and found myself face down on the ground. It had been a long time since I had gone down and

more than anything it was a total surprise. As I got up I knew it was not good. I had a hard time lifting my

bike.


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Busted, Broken, or Bruised ribs with only a week tell the ride and a run before. They were way bad and I

was even wearing a chest protector.

I talked to Tyler D on the Tuesday before we was to leave,(he was running on my relay team) and I said

why dont you take next week off and come with me and JT. OK he said. I had a year to get ready he

had less than a week. He had a nice low mile 09 WR450 that was a suppermotoed. I gave him a list ofthings to order, for his bike. He got it ready to go Thursday night and I changed tires for him Friday

morning. The Ragnar race went good for my team and very painful for me with my bad ribs. I ended up

with just less than 15 miles on the run. The problem was I could not take a full breath. It was a

disappointment to me not to be able to perform at my best.

With the race done it was Tour time and I was so stoked!!!! Tyler D got done running with me and

headed to the Preston Bull Banazna. Where he won the wild cow milking and took some good hits in the

process. Tyler was so tired that when he got home from the rodeo that when he started packing he fell

asleep on the floor. I woke him up with my "Lets ride" call.


3/19

Packed and loaded JT and I left right from our house! We rode to Franklin and picked up Tyler, fueled

and we were off. As we headed across the valley to pick up the start I was filled with emotions. What a

great day, what a great memory. A dream come true!

Day 1... Tyler wrecked 5 time and busted his brake line near Oxford Peak. We had Jace run us areplacement off his yz 450 (no riding for him) Jt had the best 2 lines of the trip. The first is "at this rate,

we will be pushing the bikes over the border" the second was "do you want me to shoot you now, or in

3 hours". We did good all day until we caught our friends (they were excited about the Tour but could

not committed to go the distance) in Lava and the ride slowed down. It was good to see them, and fun

to ride with them. We had a goal of making it each night before dark and that was not possible with a


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large group.

I can see why Martin said there are only 2 riders in the word ones that are faster than me and ones that

are slower. Having a matched riding partner is one of the keys to success.

Day one was the shortest day 162 miles but with our late start and the problems of riding with 7 we

ended up coming into Poky late but before dark. The high light for me on day 1 was meeting Martin at

the flag pole. What great advice from the Father of the Tour of Idaho. Our ride time was 7 hours 15

minutes with a 22mph average.


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Day 2... 5am came way early. We loaded, gassed and took off in the dark only to sit and wait 20 minutes

that seemed like a hour for a train.

I went down on the gravel road after the elk loop just out of Poky. I was standing and went around a

corner a bit hot and hit my rear brake. I totally lost the back end and started into some sick power slide,

drift motion, tire caught and pitched me. The tour of Idaho jersey saved my arm, that thing is bulletproof. We made amazing time to AF. It was one of the only times that I let JT lead. It is just to hard for a


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old man to keep up with him.

We sat down and ate an amazing Mexican meal and filled our batters with ice and water (amesome tip

from Martin). Off we went for the desert. The radios we rode with were the best. It was so good to chat

wail we rode and keep us moving fast. I would come to a gate, dump it and call Tyler. He would put it up.

We had a good system that allowed us to move fast. The sand was Awesome. Jt and I have spend a lot of

time in the sand.

I will admit I murmured a few time with the back and forth trail. I also said if I never see lava rock again I

will be happy. As we rode I could see a mountain way out in the distance. A few times I thought is that


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the South Butte? No way, it is just too far away. O yes it was. Tired and worn from the desert we

stopped half way up the butte and dumped our backpacks.

It was so nice to ride without the weight. The South Butte was amazing and the highlight of our day.

We got into Arco about 7 and changed air filters and did laundry. I loved the sand and enjoyed the

riding out there. We rode 262 miles in 9 hours in the saddle with a 30mph average for the day.

Day 3.... Up at 5am and on the bikes by 6:30 Gassed at Chevron and got some bad fuel. My bike will not

run 100% the rest of the trip. It was so cold we were freezing and stopped to warm up a few times but

the ride was Awesome!!! This was the day I looked forward to most and it did not let me down. What

amazing country. What amazing riding!


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JT and I had rode the frog lake loop years ago and as we rode up Little boulder trail he told me "no

wonder I done like single track, this was the first one you took me on." As bad as it was going up it was

so awesome going down.


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We kicked it in neutral and coasted down the roller coaster. I had to put my bike on reserve heading up

to the rail road bridge and china wall. What a view.

The ride down to the saw mill was a classic Tour of Idaho trail. We stopped at the saw mill, fueled our

empty tanks and ate a burger (heaven on a bun). Had it to do again I would have stayed there.

It was way long day and the ride into Chalis did JT in. The track said to head up a road that had a, road

closed ahead sign. Jt straight up said he was done! I cant blame him it was a long day and I did not want

to push it. I think this was our first challenge point we missed. We got to Chalis, and found out that the

lolo pass was closed. We started scrambling to figure out what to do.

262 mile and about 11 hours 30 minutes in the saddle. 23 mph average on the day. The shower and bed

in chalis never felt so good.

Day 4.... Up at 4:45 am. Gassed and packed and on the bikes by 6:15. Twin peaks were closed and eddycreek and darling creek was closed so we decided to ride up Morgan creek. We had a plan, we was going

to put on the racing gloves and push it to Darby, have my parents pick us up and shuttle around to Elk

City.


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I canceled my room in Shoup and we made some sweet time. 226 mile in 8 hours 10 minutes. It was a

blast! My rear tire paid the price we pushed it hard and fast. We bypassed Salomon and ate at Shoup

store (great lunch). Filled the bikes with the gravity flow gas pump and we were off.

We followed the track into coal creek just up river from the painted rocks reservoir. We ran into a forest

lady that had the road closed.


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I scared that poor lady to death. We had just been running down the oil and through some houses so we

were riding slow. I hit the dirt, told the boys to tighten their seat belts and hit the gas. We made it about

a 1/4 mile up the road and came around the corner at about 38mph to find a road closed sign in the

road. It was a skid that would make Bridgestone happy. They had expanded the fire line and would notlet us up the canyon.

We rode to Darby and call my parents. The loaded us up and as we were driving to their hotel I said lets

shower and check out. "What?" my dad said "we just checked in" I know but we have a long drive

because the lolo pass is closed. We can drive as far as we can make it tonight. "That is wasting money"

my dad said. I said "THE TOUR OF IDAHO IS A WAST MONEY" so we checked out and drove to Kellogg forthe night.

Day 5.... LONG ride in the truck. Coeur d' Alene, Moscow, Lewiston, Elk City. 463 miles in the truck we

was like caged chickens when we unloaded in Elk City... Nice ride to Lowell except for a few issues. First

of all there are 3 Kelly bumps in a row on the 4 wheeler trail and I do not care how fast you are going it is

not possible to double them up (both jt and I tried) It should have been a show stopper. I have never

cased a bike that hard and stayed on. Both Jt and I rode it out. I called Tyler on the radio and told him to

stop. Jt said he could not call because the wind was knocked out of him. Not much after that Jt got out

off the track and hit the end of a log at about 25mph.


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Good thing he is young. He ended up in a pile of logs with a smashed hydraulic clutch line. As we rode

we thought how to fix it. At Selway falls we wrapped it with rubber and 2 hose clamps did the trick..

Clutch good for a bit. I boiled my rear brake coming down into Selway Falls and I will pay for it on day 6.

Awesome river!!


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We were in before dark again. 99 miles from Elk City to Lowell in 4 hours 30 minutes. 22 mph average.

Day 6..... Nothing can prepare you for day 6. We fueled up at Lowell the night before and woke up at 5

am to rain. Put on the rain gear and pushed our bikes out to the hwy. When I went to start mine it

would not fire.... I got some bad fuel at Arco at the chevron and the valves fell out on my bike.

We pull started it and we were off. Wet and soggy was the morning...

Jt loved roasted his tire on the wet wood. HEY WHO PAYED FOR THAT TIRE?


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Crazy single tracks all day... We ran into a downed tree on the single track that runs up the hwy and we

worked on it for a half hour. We used rocks, tree limbs, and dirt to ramp up and over it.. It was in a bad

spot and a solo rider would have no chance.

We stayed and got it fixed. Jt lost his clutch and I lost my rear brake at the start of windy ridge trial....

Going up I was so glad to have a clutch and coming down I was wishing I could trade my no rear brake

for his no clutch..... It just sucked without a rear brake. When we got to the 4th of July Bridge I started

stopping at camps and looking for brake fluid.


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Finally after 100 mile with no rear brake we found a camp that had transmission fluid.. Close enough...

Had a hard time getting it to bleed and gave up. Got the clutch working with the fluid. I did have some


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brake for the state line trail. Close to Wallace Jt said his bike was not running good. O well, get it to the

barn.

When we got to Wallace we changed air filters and went to bed. In before dark. 250 miles 12 hours 45

minutes in the saddle. It was the hardest day of the Tour for me mostly because of the stress and extra

effort to ride with no rear brake. Amazing day, amazing trails. Day 6 and day 3 were on the top of the

list. Just Awesome, long as a nightmare but just awesome.

Day 7.... Up at 5:30 am our time. Had to pull start my bike again and the air filter did not help Jts bike.

We left town at 6:30 am and headed out to finish this trip! We rode about 20 mile and had stopped at a

challenge point Jt was complaining about how his bike was running and looked at the oil window. NO

OIL!!!! Suck!


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He had not been checking it after day 3 and it was out... I wanted to kill him but let him off knowing his

brain had been beat for the last 6 days. I dropped down into Kellogg and got oil. Came up and poured it

in. The bike only made it another 5 miles. We towed it to the pavement at the Couer D' Alene River and

there I gave up my ride to let JT finish.

I was heart broke. One year prep and my dream shot! But the tour had grown on Jt and this will be hisonly time to finish for years. Jt is heading out on a LDS mission Sept. 18 2013. I was happy for him and

Tyler as they left me standing there on the side of the road. I put on the gym shoes strapped everything

on the bike and started pushing....

After a couple miles I had a guy stop and see if I needed a ride. Yep, we loaded it up on his flat bed and

started down the road. He was going about 50 smoking a cig and drinking a beer and told me he would

take me as far as the truck would make it. The left front is F#####. Smoke was rolling out and I was like,

should we stop and throw some water on the brakes so they dont get to hot? "What brakes? I have not

had F###ing brakes for 20 miles" How did I get myself into this? No seat belt, drinking a beer and no

brakes. I was in a death trap. About 5 miles down the road the wheel fell off. We unloaded my bike and I

was pushing again. I had a nice fellow dirtcycle rider give me a ride to town.

I called my parents and we loaded up the dead bike. I was so sad but was happy to have JT finish....

When we was heading to the finish sign my mom said "why dont you get on the bike and ride back to

where you dropped out "Mom your amazing.


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We meet JT and Tyler at the end of the trial. There were so happy. Hugs and cheers (NO BUTT SLAPS). It

was sweet to have them make it. As we were waiting we could hear the bikes coming and my mom said

that is music to my ears. Tyler and I rode back to Priest River. It was our first time riding in the dark

and I was beat. When we stopped at Priest Lake I told Tyler that I did not think it was possible to fall

asleep on a bike tell tonight and I was trying hard to stay awake. Shower and bed... Tyler logged 320

miles, Jt had around 240 and I logged in 100 on the day.

Day 8.... Got up at 5 am and had my dad pull start my bike. Fuel and I was off Solo. Good ride, slow and

steady. My bike was about used up. Just before the independence trail I through a chain.... No damage

but my chain guide was shot. Got the chain on and when to tighten it, Tyler had the 12mm wrench in his

bike. Dang all I had was a 13mm, to big. I ended up using the 13mm and my blade on my Leatherman to

tighten the nuts. I was off.

Smoked throw the rest of the ride and got down to the pavement where I had dropped out. It was very

hard to not shed a tear. Ok I will admit I was crying like a baby. What a Dream, What a trail, What a

tour.... Awesome! 180 miles 7 hours in the saddle. It was done!!!!


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Having done many adventurous and hard things in my life, I can say this was the hardest thing I have

ever done. I think we had fewer problems then some and for that I am thankful. The Tour of Idaho is

amazing. I am so proud to be a member of a small crowd of finishers. It is a honor!

Tour of Idaho Report

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