START MILES: 23,000
Really. I just happened to look before I started and it was on the dot 23,000 miles! I had changed the oil with the clutch at 22,972 and had given it a short test just to make sure everything worked.
Just to recap: 3 of us started at Mammoth. Another 1 joined the next day and yet another joined the following day. The next day, 2 of us dropped out. Kyle wasn’t going to go all the way anyways and I had had burned up my clutch with Tomm’s BDR Rescue Service coming in uber handy!
I had ridden 5 days total with 3.5 days on the BDR Trail so far.
I had now ordered and installed a new stock clutch, replacing my Rekluse Manual after 8,586 hard miles. I did all new plates, discs, springs, keepers and even bolts – just in case.
I had also helicoiled the bolt holes in my 2nd oil filter (right side of the bike). They were always going to go. I could tell that someone before me had nearly stripped them and I was always worried each time I changed the oil. Charles had warned me to be careful to not drill to deep or I would be buying a new side cover.
With the bike nice and clean I checked all the fluids and it was ready to go again. I teasingly put it out there that I was thinking about going up to Soda Springs and starting right where I had abandoned.
That was on Wednesday. On Thursday Tomm asked if I was really going to go. He said he would come hang out in the Sprinter and tool around the area if I was. I suggested he put his 450 on the back and ride a bit with us when he could. Honestly, I was maybe 50% a go at that point but his question pushed me over the edge. I was packed in an hour! I had a very limited time as I had to be back in town for a meeting on Tuesday so this would be a Saturday, Sunday and then come home Monday kind of thing.
The plan was to leave home at 5:30 in the morning. Soda Springs is around 3 hours away so I would be rejoining the trail at a good time in the morning. Tomm texted in the morning that he was heading out and to meet him in Cordelia. Charles surprised me as well and decided to ride his other bike for a day and come with. He showed up for a quick breakfast in Cordelia too!
We all made it up to Soda Springs without incident. It was cold at elevation but the sun was just starting to warm everything up.
It was Saturday, October 19th at 9:06 AM and I was back on the BDR!
DAY 5 – SODA SPRINGS TO GRAEAGLE
I’m going to get all confused with these days and sections. For the sake of clarity I’m going to count just the days I’m actually riding BDR trails and exclude the days getting to and from.
- DAY 0: Was just getting from home to the start.
- DAY 1: Was from Mammoth to Bridgeport.
- DAY 2: Was from Bridgeport to Bear Valley.
- DAY 3: Was from Bear Valley to French Meadows.
- DAY 4: Was from French Meadows to Soda Springs and then home.
This would be day 6 of riding and Day 5 on the BDR and coincidentally also all of Section 5 which goes from Truckee to Graeagle.
Tomm had tracking on me and said he would meet up with us along the way. We made it up and over Donner Pass, along Donner Lake and into Truckee. Tracking suggests it was 9:27 AM when we left the downtown area of Truckee. Pretty quickly out of town we were on dirt and heading towards Verdi Peak. We came across a large group of overland styled Sprinters just before Boca Reservoir.
VERDI PEAK LOOKOUT (8,844)
Charles thought the ride up to Verdi Peak Lookout was harder than Sierra Buttes. He had done it with Mike and Seth the week before. The BDR lists it as an Alternate HARD section. It’s an out and back of around 6 miles.
I probably have video. It certainly wasn’t easy. There was a lot of baby heads, sunken rocks and things that would love to give you a pinch flat. We were at the top at 10:30 AM and it was becoming a warm and a beautiful day!
The lookout was just a short walk up once we were at the base.
Charles pointed out Reno was just off in the distance.
Had to take the obligatory Selfie.
We were back on the bikes and rolling down the trail as we had a lot more miles to cover. From here the trail goes up and around Stampede Reservoir, and then down into Sierraville.
We pulled into Sierraville just before noon and there was Tomm and his van! We stopped and talked for a few and then it was time to keep moving. Tomm went back to his van, Charles started his bike and I went to hit my starter and NOTHING! No Click, No Lights – absolutely NOTHING. Tomm was already back in his van and getting ready to drive away. I texted as fast as I could…
Luckily he saw it, got out, and we all got to work diagnosing the issue. We quickly found something wrong in the battery area. Both of the nuts and all the connections were tight.
But we could jiggle it and get it to start, but if we jiggled the wrong way – there was nothing. It turned out that it was the negative terminal INSIDE the battery that had broken lose from the plates. I needed a whole new battery.
Tomm went into a shop and asked about a possible battery. Behind the cafe / barbershop is a country feed store. As it turned out they had quite a few batteries for tractors and lawn mowers but nothing we could possibly make work. I called Truckee Powersports Supply and in searching for their number I saw that they were closed at 1 PM. I talked to Greg there and over the phone we confirmed that he had a regular lead acid one that would work. It was now 12:30 and if I sent Tomm he would get to Truckee just after they closed. I offered to pay for it over the phone if Greg would leave it outside the shop. He was game and put it behind his trailer just outside the door.
Charles and I decided to go into the Cafe and have lunch. I would strongly suggest eating there but we learned that this was their last weekend and are now permanently closed. Sorry but my Blue Cheese Burger was fabulous and there were way too many fries for us to eat!
After lunch, we came out and talked to a couple of guys who had also stopped. They were not doing the BDR but knew about it. One guy had a new 1290 Super Adventure. They were packing up and leaving just as Tomm pulled back in with the new battery!
The three of us worked together and got the new battery back in and hooked up it was perfect! As I was buttoning up the rest of the bike another rider stopped by. He was on a DR650 and asked if we were doing the BDR. I said yes, and asked if he was riding solo. He was and I invited him to ride with us. I told him we were doing all the hard sections but he could do anything he wanted. He said sure.
We got back on the bikes with Charles in the lead, Rob (new guy) in the middle and I was riding sweep. It was now after 2 PM and as John Wayne would have said, “We were burning daylight”. From Sierraville the route heads down Henness Pass Rd.
Charles had suggested at lunch that we skip this boring flat section of Henness Pass that parallels the paved road. I knew exactly what he was referring to. We probably made up 30 or so minutes by staying on paved and cruising at 50+ MPH.
We got back on dirt (and Henness Pass Road proper) at Jackson Meadows and climbed up to the top of the ridge. At my favorite place to stop for lunch (when I am riding alone) I pointed out our future challenge – The Sierra Buttes Lookout.
I had Charles take a picture with the Buttes in the background. In just a little bit we would be here!
But first there was getting to Downieville.
THE DOWNIEVILLE DOWNHILL
I’m conflicted on this section. Technically it’s just a big long downhill. Yes, it’s steep. Yes, it’s 4 miles long. Yes, your brakes are going to be smoking by the end. But it’s not specifically hard. That said, I could see if something went slightly wrong it could be a disaster. Run out of brake pad, boil your fluid, carry too much speed, miss a turn and you are off the edge of the road and down a very steep tree lined embankment really quick. So, should this be labeled as Expert? Hard? Like I said, I’m conflicted. Currently it’s labelled as Caution when Wet but it’s also considered the regular route. There is a bypass for those not so inclined and I’ve done that pretty much every time I’ve been down Henness Pass as I usually head south towards home and not north towards Downieville.
In any case when we made the turn I told Rob that we were taking the hard(er) route and he knew there was an easier way to go but decided he was up for the challenge. He did great!
SIERRA BUTTES LOOKOUT
We literally rolled into Downieville, crossed the bridge and then the other bridge and headed up the HARD way to Sierra Buttes. No stopping. Once again, we gave Rob the chance to take the easy way. He decided to stay with us.
The HARD section splits from the easy route just outside of Downieville. We continued up Hwy 49 to Sierra City where we took a left and headed up dirt. It was easy at first and then just kept getting progressively harder.
It got steeper and then the dirt started getting more and more what I would call “whooped out”. I think these are caused by 4×4’s coming down the trail and their tires catching in certain areas of deeper, softer loam. Going up on a bike these whoops would result in super small sections that were even steeper but could zap your momentum and stall you out if you were not careful.
Next came the rocky switchback section with the super cool exposures to the right and left. This was full of chunky rocks just waiting to throw you off balance – plummeting you and your bike thousands of feet to your death. I have video from my helmet of me rooting myself on. I had all the adrenaline pumping at that point.
Charles got up to the top, parked his bike and tried to get us coming up on video. I was just about too close to him, but he did get a very short bit.
Once at the top, we parked and then came the climbing of stairs. My lack of lungs really hit me again. The first being on Mt. Patterson. I was having a hard time climbing the stairs at 8,857 feet. I had to stop a few times to catch my breath while Charles and Rob just skipped right up. LOL!
To me this was just as hard as Verdi Peak and I was psyched to have done it. It’s another one of those EPIC items that I would urge everyone to do. Even if you can’t ride all the way, you can park anywhere along the way and hike it to the top. I’m not sure how far up Mike T and Seth rode but I know they made it to the top too!
Oh, speaking of riding to the top – our new riding bud, Rob rode his DR650 all the way to the top too!
My tracking suggests that we headed up the switchbacks at 4:15 PM and headed back down around 4:45 PM. Riding down the switchbacks was pretty cool with these massive drop offs on either side. We quickly made it back to the trail, then connected back with the regular (easy) route.
There were some great forest roads with plenty of great looking camping all over the place. Our destination was Graeagle and so we kept going. I’m not sure why but we missed the Lookout for Mills Peak. I honestly don’t remember it right now but I see it as a POI on the tracks.
Ultimately we pulled hit Hwy 89 again and pulled into the town of Graeagle for gas. Just as I was pulling up to the pump I got a call from Tomm. He knew we were close. As a matter of fact, I looked up and there was his van – parked at the bar right next door! So we all filled up with gas and then headed to the bar for a beer.
Pardon the filthy dirty camera lens, and no Rob was actually happy and smiling – my photo just caught it off timed. We had a pretty full day.
Tomm had a friend who happened to live directly across the road from the bar and we were invited to either camp on the soccer field or their driveway. We chose driveway and quickly dropped everything and set up.
Once set up, we tried to find a place to eat in town. After not being accepted at an Italian place (no reservations and we looked filthy) we found a pizza place. We had pizza and beers and then went back to the driveway (camp) and sat around an LED pretending it was a fire and talked.
Tracking suggests that I did around 278 miles this day.
CAMPGROUND RATING
It’s not really a campground but we did sleep there. Sleeping at Chris’ driveway in Graeagle was 5 Stars! There was deer and wildlife. No fires, but there was a bar literally right across the street and in the morning they opened up for breakfast so that couldn’t have been better. There’s a porta-potty on the soccer field too!
In the morning I happened to see that he had an IAFF sticker in this back window. I asked where he had worked and was surprised that it was in Concord and Martinez.
Then I surprised him telling him who my wife is. 🙂
He had called and talked to her just a few weeks earlier. Small world.
DAY 6 – GRAEAGLE TO CHESTER
IN BDR DAYS…
- DAY 0: Was just getting from home to the start.
- DAY 1: Was from Mammoth to Bridgeport.
- DAY 2: Was from Bridgeport to Bear Valley.
- DAY 3: Was from Bear Valley to French Meadows.
- DAY 4: Was from French Meadows to Soda Springs and then ultimately home.
- DAY 5: Soda Springs / Truckee to Graeagle
- DAY 6: Graeagle to Chester
I woke up my usual early time. Sat around for a little then decided to quietly start packing up while I wait ed for the others. I had everything packed except rolling up the tent so I did a few laps around the soccer field and saw Tomm get out of his van. He suggested we cross the street for coffee. Sounded like an excellent idea. I texted Charles who I could still see in his sleeping bag (cowboy camping) and said we were going across the street. Didn’t have Rob’s number so we had to let him sleep. Soon all three of us were at the counter.
If you thought my picture from the bar the night before was blurry and there’s no way I could possibly do any worse – just wait for this one! How’s this?
After BK, we went back and woke up Rob. Charles packed up and headed home. Tomm pulled his Honda 450 off the back of his Sprinter and the 3 of us then headed back out on the BDR trail. This time it was Rob, Tomm and myself. We got a late start on the day 10 am ish.
The start to this section (Section 6) was a 50 mile dirt section to Taylorsville. It was perfect for Tomm as he left his van in Graeagle and when we crossed Hwy 89 again in Taylorsville he could zip on back from there and we would keep going.
The trail hits dirt just out of town. It quickly became a steep rock studded jeep trail that required we kept the speed down just to miss the rocks. We’re not talking anything technical, just pick your line stuff. Tomm and I were talking the whole way about anything and everything and that was good. We had Senas and were already paired, Rob had a different helmet com and so he wasn’t connected.
We had a great time riding along the top of the ridge. We stopped at Argentine Rock Lookout – elv. 7,209. ft.
This is the one that is being remodeled so they can rent it out for lodging. There was a few workers there so we decided not to walk up. The views were amazing and that would be a really cool place to stay in the future.
The trails were now more wide and sweeping. Not sure why we didn’t go up to Mt. Hough Lookout but it was just 2.7 miles from the sign. Taylorsville was just 5.3 away so maybe that was it.
The trail dropped us down into Taylorsville. It was lunch time when we hit Taylorsville and it would have been great to head into town as I heard nothing but good things about the market and their sandwiches, but it was getting late (1 PM) so we said good bye to Tomm (he rode Hwy 89 south to Graeagle – about 45 miles).
Rob and I headed on the trail towards Chester which was still a long long way. We were following Tomm as he headed down Hwy 89 and it was beautiful – so beautiful that we both missed our turn off and had to backtrack a 1/2 mile. No big thing.
As we came by Round Valley Reservoir I was wondering what I was seeing. There was something either floating or growing over much of the water.
We stopped for a break at a pit toilet and I walked out to get a closer look. It was definitely not floating – it was growing. Not sure what this stuff was but it was prolific.
Just watching the time – it was 1:30 when we stopped. We were skirting the edges of the Dixie Fire (2021) and were having fun on some gravel logging roads (with no logging activity around). It was a Sunday but I’m not sure if that has any effect on their work hours. Rob and I were practicing good BDR etiquette of waiting at turns for the guy behind you before carrying on. Honestly, I was having a bit of fun sliding the bike around here.
We finally pulled into the town of Chester along Lake Almanor. It was mid afternoon (3:30 PM) and having skipped lunch (and Rob skipping BK too) we were both a little hungry. One of the first businesses we saw coming into town was Timber House Brewery and there was very little discussion between us. More of like a nod and a YES!
We pulled in, got off our bikes and because we were sweaty, smelly and dirty – we sat on the outside patio. It wasn’t snow covered – it was actually a beautiful sun shining day! The green arrow is mine just to show the place where we sat.
Since it was just after 3 PM they were serving a “happy hour” menu.
I had a Peanut Butter Porter and we both had an Ahi Tuna Salad and a few other good things.
It was a welcome respite from the dust and dirt – but I’m honestly a little conflicted too. I mean the BDR is supposed to be roughing it. This picture doesn’t convey that at all.
For camping I had seen a few campground signs on the way into town. When the owner of the brew pub came out and talked with us he recommended something to the south as well. we popped into town, got gas at the first place we saw, then backtracked to find a campground.
We finally found it. Except for the Camp Host, it was empty and even then we didn’t see any one there. Maybe he was in town? Who knows. We circled through and found one we liked.
CAMPGROUND RATING
When the Camp Host came by he said that there was another campground just down the street that was half the cost. We had taken our packs off and made the decision to stay. It was incredibly nice of him to do that though.
The sites had water, pit toilets, nice tables, fire rings and plenty of firewood on the ground. The Host also mentioned that he saw that someone had left a small pile just a campsite or two over. The night was quiet, we were just off the route and we honestly didn’t need much. Four Stars!
GPS Coordinates: 40.21668, -121.18976
Mileage for today was 310!
In the morning we had breakfast, packed up, and then Rob and I split up. He was going to continue on his BDR and I had to ride home as I had an important meeting the following day. Tomm had suggested a particular route on coming home.
I wished Rob good luck and headed south down Hwy 89 to Hwy 70 and so on. Hwy 70 down into Paradise was a fabulous road and it would have been even better but there’s construction delays all along the Feather River.
Half way home I stopped for lunch in Yuba City at an In-and-Out for lunch. There was a whole flock of wild chickens in this parking lot. I did accidentally drop a few fries – totally by accident.
I took Hwy 113 to drop me down into Davis instead of going all the way to Sacramento. Once home, I texted the guys and let them know I was home then made myself an adult beverage, and sat on the front with my favorite wife and favorite chicken.
I got home and checked in with Instagram. Rob had posted a story about his riding with Tomm and myself.
What a nice guy! Thanks Rob! And you did great!
As for me, I still had Sections 7, 8 and 9 to finish.
ENDING MILES: 23,714
Tracking suggests I started at around 9:20 in the morning and pulled in my driveway at 3:20 in the afternoon. I spent another 3 days on the road and because of my early start with Charles I’m calling it an additional full 2 days on the BDR for a running total of 5.5 BDR Days.
Total riding days would be 8.
Total mileage for this trip was 714 door to door.
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, had a big cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and is currently building a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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- The NORCAL BDR (part 2) - October 21, 2024