So I am committed to doing the AMA District 37 Dual Sport ride LA Barstow to Vegas over Thanksgiving Weekend.
The other day I was thinking…
The Southern California BDR starts in Yuma, Az.
I’ll be in Vegas at the end of the dual sport ride.
I wonder how far it is to Yuma from there?
It’s just 5 short hours of freeway and 294 miles says The Google!
Well… I have to get back from Vegas somehow, right?
Why not take a few extra days (6 or 7) and have fun on the way back?
Here’s the map of the BDR and you can see it certainly gets me within a days ride of home.
On the good side https://ridebdr.com/cabdr-south/ suggests the best time to ride this route is “Mid-October until mid-April.”
On the not so good side it’s also rated the hardest of any of the routes. They say, “Overall, the CABDR-South is one of the harder BDR routes, and is suited for riders with intermediate and above off-road skills.“
On the Good side, I’ll be fresh off a ride that is much harder – the LA B 2 V.
I’ve also ridden a bunch of these trails before – especially when we get closer to Death Valley.
There’s a big difference between the two rides.
The LAB2V is:
- a dual sport ride over 2 days.
- Riders leave the hotel pre dawn and hope to finish at the next hotel before the sun sets.
- There is a sag support system and AMA is not going to leave anyone out on the course alone.
The CABDR is:
- much more of a small independent group or solo ride
- there’s no hurry, no finish line, go at your own pace and stop when and where you want
- there’s also no support (officially) out there. Break down and you are your own to get out.
I’m perfectly ok with riding solo on the LAB2V. I’ll have riders around me all day long and if something did happen there’s a sag team and medical personnel that are looking out for you. You’re never riding alone on that ride.
Conversely, the CABDR is the opposite. You are entirely self supported. Run out of gas or break down and it’s up to you to get help. Yes there might be others riding it that will come along but they are few and far between.
Here’s a great short trailer…
or there’s the full length version…
So I’m looking for a riding partner or two to ride both rides or just the BDR part with me.
I’ve posted on a few different forums and I’ll keep asking around.
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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