Two of my thoughtful buddies from work, Jason and Kymn, asked me months ago if I wanted to check out the 'Rat Dog' ride this year...they've been talking about it for a few years and I think they figured it was time to actually DO it. It looked interesting...single-track riding on the Oregon coast conjured visions of riding through lush green forest and experiencing extraordinary hook-up on that dark, rich, moist terra firma. I'll try anything once (well, almost anything) so I was in!
The trip over was somewhat uneventful...Jason and I managed to take the long way through Portland, while Jackson and Curt managed to almost make it south to Wilsonville. It all worked out thought, and we found the base camp after 8 hours of driving: Diamond Mill OHV Staging Area. This was a MUCH smaller gathering than the Black Dog ride, with probably only 60 riders. After a great Treager dinner provided by Jason, it was time for the night ride. We took off a little early, but found out that was fine because it was so damn dusty than when it did get dark my damn light just refracted right back in my face. There was some steep trail with gnarly baby-head-size rocks that seemed to bounce me from one side of the trail to the other...kinda frustrating! Where o' where is that jungle I was dreaming about...
Weelll...we eventually ended up getting completely lost. The roll chart wasn't done quite well enough and I got seriously turned around while fearless leader (Jason H.) rode around trying to find the proper trail...with us in pursuit. About that time Jason M's bike started running badly...this is a 2012 KTM 500EXC with maybe 700 miles on it. It was dying constantly and wouldn't start with the electric starter, leaving a very tired kicked-out Jason ready to find camp. I had my GPS on me but hadn't turned it on because I saw Jackson had a GPS on his bike. Problem was, he didn't know how to use the thing...it was merely a result of a recent $2000 testosterone-fed shopping spree of his (more on that later). The only good thing we had going was that he knew just enough to make a waypoint at camp and had been taking tracks on the ride.
After fiddle-farting around with his GPS and getting it set right, I jumped on his bike and led the group back to camp. At that point the two Jason's went to work to find the problem. Long story short, they couldn't find the culprit and we all thought the valves just tightened up. Next morning they tore into it again...
A guy down the way had some feeler gauges so they were able to check the valves...there was zero clearance on all but one. Now, fast-forward ahead...Jason took it to the KTM dealer and they found the real culprit: a kinked fuel line and split o-ring. Shit...that's a pisser...Jason was camp-bound for the ride the next day...
While we were all on the 'A' ride Kymn decided he was going to do the 'C' course...I knew I had a bad feeling about him going off alone at night be he's a big boy. Problem was, he had second thoughts about 5 miles into the ride too...actually, I think his thoughts were "...what the hell am I doing out here...". So he decided to turn around. In mid-turn he lost his footing and ended up doing the splits...and the bike fell on his leg. He felt a rip and that was game over...he came back to camp and went straight to bed. So Kymn and Jason were both camp-bound for the ride the next day. And yes, these are the two that put this party together...
The next day, the four remaining riders took off for the ride on the 'A' course:
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| Lining up for the start... |
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| Bottom of first 'AA' section |
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Resting after the first downhill 'AA' section
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I have to say something here...at this resting area two guys came down right after us...one was on a KTM 690 (I think) and the other was on a Honda XR200. I was listening to their plans after this first 'AA' downhill section, and it sounded like that was the last section of the 'AA' they were going to do. As they took off, XR200 guy had the audacity to yell 'you need a bigger bike!!' as he rolled by me...two words for you dude: blow me. This is the same guy that tried to get the hard-luck award because HIS BUDDY on the KTM broke down...and XR200 guy was all butt-hurt because KTM-guy wasn't at camp when he got back from finishing the ride...after leaving KTM-friend on the trail! Oooohhh...he'll get his...carma, dude...carma...
The second part of the 'AA' trail was a brand-new path cut by some fandagled-new trail-making machine. It was extremely loose and branches were sticking out everywhere...I was freaking out due to the lost
battle with a tree earlier this year. The bottom part was the icing on the cake: tires mixed with some gnarly rocks...I didn't go down, and it made me feel a little better about my riding level when one of the sweeper crew guys did the superman on the first set of tires...
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| Bottom of 'Mainline' |
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| 'Mainline' maker admiring his work...and waiting for the next victim |
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| Finally, some jungle! Still dusty though... |
After the ride we went to the awards ceremony, where they give out trophies and prizes for things like 'youngest rider' and 'bad-luck' award and 'most points' award. The points were accumulated by completing games along the trail...and a little luck at rolling the dice. I took home 11th in points and got a fork brace to replace the one I recently broke. Jason (KTM 500 guy) took home the 'bad luck' award and Tom was nice enough to give him free entry into next year's rat dog ride...
I had to add this picture in...this guy was from Canada and had about 130k miles on this '08 KLR 650. It had all sorts of farkles and you could really tell he's done some riding on it. The seat is a bear-pelt! I asked if he killed the seat himself...
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| Crazy Canadian KLR-guy |
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| Da boyz |
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| 60-mile Saturday single-track ride |
