TAT 2018 Post 05 07/03/18

Day 3 completed. It is actually 5 am on the 4^th of July but I was too tired to write the post last night and you will understand why after reading this blog.

Lots to write about but will be brief.

We planned for an early departure from Ketchum, ID (Sun Valley) with temperatures around 46 degrees. Of course, this is colder than we planned so everyone was pulling all the warm clothes out of their bags they could find. We loaded up and everyone started engines except my KTM wouldn’t start even with the kick starter. We kept trying and finally we got it to fire and it started to purr, reluctantly. I had replaced the dead battery just before starting this ride with a Lithium one. I’ve heard these don’t perform well in cold. Another possible cause is it has an open fuel injection system which means it doesn’t automatically adjust for altitude like your car does. Whatever the reason it was a bad start for an even worse day.

Another issue we had was that Steve’s WR-250R had 0 pressure in the tire. He could not get the tire to take air form our small air pump. He also could not get the valve stem out for some reason. He evidently had ridden all day before with this condition so decided to continue today and watch it closely. We really did not know what air pressure it had because of the valve stem problem but the bike rode ok.

Our ride plan said this would be an interesting 152-mile ride through the Saw Tooth Mountains to Boise, ID. We would even go over Dollarhide Summit somewhere around 8000 to 9000 ft elevation. We entered the mountains quickly from Ketchum with 24 miles to the top of the mountain. We immediately see a sign that says hwy 127 to Featherville closed due to mud slide. We stopped and looked at our map but could not see this highway anywhere. We finally found it on our Garmin topo GPS but is still not clear what road they were talking about. In addition, the sing had been there for several years, so we had a hared time deciding if it was still valid. We decided to continue as planned an adjust as conditions dictated. We did this a lot all day. The ride to the top of Dollarhide Summit is beautiful and is a must do section.

You must reference the map below to follow the rest of the discussion. After descending from the summit we came to an intersection with a much bigger and newer sign that said road closed due to mudslide. On the map this is where the red track deviates from the blue track and heads south. As we are looking at the map and deciding how to deviate off the TAT and the shortest way around the mudslide, several ATVs came from the closed road. We asked if our bikes could get around the mudslide and they confirmed no is was totally blocked. We then asked for a route around the mudslide and got some confusing information but enough to know we weren’t going to be on the TAT again for many miles. We headed south to Highway 20 and a small town named Fairville where we topped off our fuel. Fuel was an issue all day and we had to use several RotoPax of our extra fuel to keep the bikes with small tanks going.

We then headed west on Hwy 20 at max speed of our bikes because this was a busy road with lots of trucks. Speed limit was 65 so of course the truck/car traffic wanted to go 70+ but our bikes were struggling to do 60 mph. After passing Hill City (about 25 miles) we turned back north on a dirt road with no signs. We looked at our GPS topo maps and we could tell it headed in the direction we wanted so rode off in the dust, BTW dust is a major problem with multiple bikes and it caused lots of pain all day. It covers the GPS screens, face shields (outside and inside) and glasses if you wear them. Even riding far apart doesn’t work because you lose continuity of the group due to intercom range.

We finally made it to Featherville and stop just short of the TAT at Cyndie’s Featherville Café. This place is owned by a USAF veteran and a real nice guy. We had a good lunch and talked to the owner about all the TAT riders that stop at his place since it is right on the original TAT route. He said the road had been closed for several years but should be open next year so all you TAT riders take notice. On the map this is where the red track came back to the blue line (the first time). Our detour was almost 40 miles so this made our easy 152-mile ride much longer. The problem started because also suggested a short side trip that had better scenery but would hook back up with the TAT a few miles down the track, this is the little bubble on the red track that goes south then back to the blue line. Several of our riders listened to the directions but once on the side trip no one really paid good attention plus there were several roads that were not clearly marked. As a result, we went much further than expected and had to continually check our GPS topo maps trying to reconnect with the TAT. BAD DECISION! The day got even longer due to this side ride.

This is where the day turned from bad to worse. Just prior to the red track reconnecting with the blue track we are on a steep decent on switchbacks. We had been dealing all day with lots of ruts in the road from water erosion. I hit one rut and it drove my bike straight for the side of a very steep drop-off. Scared the crap out of me and I asked Jeff, who was following me, if he had his GoPro camera on because I didn’t want to ride off the side of the mountain if it wasn’t at least on video. He made a joke and said it would put it on, so he could capture a crash if it happens. 10 seconds after turning on his camera I did crash!

The sequence of pictures shows me hitting another one of these ruts and this time my front wheel goes out from under the bike and I go over the handlebars. GoPro cameras make the track seem much flatter than it is. As I come down the track I picked the best line I could see from the top, but it ended with a rut crossing my path at the bottom at a sharp angle. It was deep and had loose sand on the slope and I could see immediately I was not going to be able to ride over this rut without crashing. I even said it on the intercom just before I hit the rut. I wasn’t going that fast but sand on the track and the angle of the rut ensured I wasn’t able to stop in time. I rolled as I left the bike and ended up hitting hard on my right shoulder and then my helmet hit even harder on the right back. It stunned me for a bit, but I was able to get up quickly and try to get the bake back up to check for damage. Jeff in the meantime had stopped behind me and jumped off his bike but the slope was so steep his bike almost rolled off the kickstand, so he had to reposition it, so it would not roll downhill.

Jeff and I lifted my bike and he walked it down the hill while I walked behind checking myself for any serious injury. I clearly hit solid on my shoulder, but my body armor saved me there and I still only have slight pain in that area. I was more concerned about my head and neck because that was what hit the hardest. I was able to move ok and had no indication of a head injury, so we got loaded back up and continued the ride. This morning my neck clearly is sore because of the crash but no lasting injury that I can see. My Aire Helmet and body armor made all the difference and I cannot say enough about why you should use this equipment. I did have problems the rest of the long ride ahead with all the rough roads and washboards and had to slow down a lot to relieve the jarring caused by this.

Miscellaneous events of the day:

At one stretch Terry was in the lead with 6 bikes in trail on a dual track when he said on the intercom “water on left side, go right”. The following bikes all crossed over to the right side when Terry then quickly said “no left side”. As a result, all the bikes got to ride through the water because he confused right from left. We threatened to put tags on his gloves, so he would be able to confirm which side road hazards were on for his intercom warnings.

We passed an area close to Boise where huge grasshoppers or beetles were all over the road. Not sure what was going on, but it was spooky since we had to continually ride over them.

At another section I’m in lead and Jeff says over the intercom “look at all the bees” I immediately get stung om my upper right arm doing 55 mph on a paved road. I shouted in my intercom “I just got stung, how did you do that?” I found out that he saw lots of bee boxes right next to the road and I evidently went through a swarm of bees. Just great. I have a sore neck, covered in dust and now I have a painful bee sting.

In another section I’m riding along and started hearing a loud clicking that sounded like it was coming from my bike. I immediately though hit was a valve issue since I’ve had old cars with valve lifters that failed. I stopped and clicking continued. I asked pother riders on the intercom could they hear that clicking sound, they said no. For a second I though could it be from my head hitting the ground, so I pulled off my helmet and the clicking stopped, good no head injury issue. I then realized it was my Sena intercom. I turned the Sena off then back on and it stopped and never came again. Some of the other riders had experienced this before so take note Sena!

We finally got through rush hour traffic at Boise and arrived at our hotel. We were all beat, me especially. The other riders worked on Jason’s bike which had a front strut leak. Steve finally got his front tire to take air and they had to tighten the wheel bearings on the trailer. Meantime I’m setting in the shade drinking a beer, sorry guys.

Matty rode with us today but was not feeling at all well. He didn’t complain but we all were sorry he had to endure todays misadventures feeling poorly. Not sure if he will ride today or take a break in the support truck.

In summary, Idaho has some great riding areas and we really enjoyed that but the rest of the things that happened made this a very tiring day.

Today (4^th of July) we hope for an “easy” ride of 142 miles with a good portion on pavement. We have plenty of fuel stops on the route and the support truck will follow us on some portions of the ride.

I’m not going to [proof read this post so forgive me of any errors. I must start getting ready for today’s adventure.

Ride Safe!

I can't get anymore pictures to download so will try again this evening with my next post. Sorry.