Styx In The Mud - Adventure Rider

Day three of the trip begins at over 9000 feet in elevation. Having tossed and turned nearly all night we wake and don our cold-weather gear. It's too cold to eat and between yesterday's crash and the cold neither of us are in any mood to stick around too long. We load the bikes and head towards the nearest town for our morning routine of fuel, food and bio-breaks. After the prior day's fiasco it becomes clear that we are unlikely to make our planned mileage so Chris starts making adjustments to the route and lops off a chunk of the ride from the early part of the day. It's also clear that our gear really isn't suited for 30 degree nights so our initial plan of staying at over 10,000' needs revision. While enjoying a breakfast burrito from a local New Mexico staple our tour plans are revised: the new goal is to make it just across the Colorado border, cut out a portion of the route and find an established campground. At least, that's the plan... Our route be...

With the inaugural trip just a week away I'm starting to scramble to get everything ready. I have most of the gear and equipment yet still have a laundry list of tasks to complete before the trip. The overnight test-trip taught me a few things and the bike isn't quite ready yet. The first project that needs completion is the swap-out of my rubber. I had previously purchased a bead-breaker (for my shop) and a set of tire irons (for use on the trails in an emergency) and, much like testing of my camping gear, I could benefit from using these in a more-or-less controlled environment to gain a little practice. I select a Sunday morning to make an attempt one week before the actual trip and get to work setting up the bead-breaker and gathering the other tools needed: flat tire irons, curved tire iron, rim protectors, valve stem core removal tool, tire bead lubricant and the miscellaneous hand tools needed to pluck the wheels from underneath the bike. Rim removal is a snap and b...

As mentioned in an earlier post it's important to do some controlled training before diving head-long into  your first adventure ride and in late April I was finally ready for an overnight trial-run with all my newly acquired gear. To be honest, this trip probably wouldn't have happened if not for my wife who continued to "suggest" an overnight trip. Once the weather warmed up a little we selected a Friday night to take the test. Being the very first overnight with all my gear she packed up the SUV with all her stuff and a bag of backup gear for me to use should things come completely off the rails. The site we picked is one we frequent often with kayaks but this would be our first use of their campground: a small state part about 10 minutes from our house. The thinking is that if the whole thing turns into a SNAFU we can pack up and head for home. The route to get there is also a good one with gravel backroads the entire way so it will help give my equipment a chance...

There's no way to do these types if trips without the right equipment. After months (MONTHS!) of searching, kicking tires, and endless hours on YouTube "researching" I finally landed on this sweet machine - a 2018 Triumph Tiger 800 XCA. Triumph Tiger 800 XCA Being the nerd that I am, I did this completely online - bought the thing without ever laying eyes on it from a private party in South Carolina! The whole ordeal took about 3 months to fully materialize but before you know it a random transport company was at my driveway - only I wasn't there to offload it. NOPE! I was on vacation at the time, so a neighbor was nice enough to help me out and roll my new iron horse into my garage. This model is pretty sick and comes with cornering ABS, variable traction control, 5 different riding modes, full TFT LCD dash, heated grips and seat, back-lit switch gear, full LED lighting with trail flood lights, aluminum skid plate, lower crash bars, 21" front tire, W...