Posted to the BMW mailing list October 11, 1994.
This was the original raw content for the MOA News version, and makes for a fresher, if cruder, read.
10/11/94
The Ridgerunner 500 '94 started out as something of a dare.
I complained to frequent riding partner Dave Doudna that I'd like to ride it again this year, but I didn't have a dual-sport bike. Dave said, what about the R80 G/S you just bought? I said, sure Dave, YOU ride the RR 500 on a GS, go right ahead!! This gave way to, hmmm, on second thought....
Soon Dave had Doug Merriman (R100GS), David Mischel (R80 G/S) and Bob Pasker hooked on the idea. Bob reconsidered the wisdom of riding his R100GS and brought his Honda XL350 instead. A snafu in purchasing a trailer hitch/platform resulted in Bob showing up with his XL350 crammed into the back of his Isuzu Trooper!
Is the GS a dirt or dual-sport bike suited for a ride like this? Well, define "suited." It depends on your attitude: the BMW GS is not a dirt bike -- but we didn't expect them to be. If you compare it to an XR600, you'll be disappointed, but it's pointless to directly compare them since they are different types of bikes. We'd stick to the B routes, give ourselves a lot of time, do the best we could, and have a hell of a weekend riding our GS's in dirt.
I spent some time Friday night after we arrived performing an emergency fork-oil extraction using a tube of drinking straws duct-taped together. I hadn't pumped the forks to push out the fork oil during a fork oil change, and one side was grossly overfilled. This unscientific "repair" left the forks uneven and still exhibiting occasional hydraulic lock, but at least it was rideable.
We went over the route with several of the extremely helpful Ridgerunners who advised us to skip certain rocky sections that might be impassable on a GS. This year there were no A and B routes to speak of; rather it was the Route and the (paved) Bailouts. We'd ride the entire course the first day, and skip a few sections on the second day.
One of the Ridgerunners must have sold his soul for a tidy sum, because we couldn't have asked for better conditions. A storm had passed through the weekend before, dumping up to a foot of snow in parts of the Sierras, but by the time we went through, there was little mud to speak of, and the dust was minimal. It was warm without being hot and the weather was perfect.
The morning was the typical excitment and chaos. Many riders were on their way before it was light enough to read the rollcharts! One couple trucked in a BMW GS/PD, and at first we thought they could at least have ridden the BMW here! It turned out these two were Eric and Gail Haws of Eugene Oregon, who have done some incredible trips, one across Siberia where there were no gas stations and another in Iceland. Later they had to drop out due to a charging system problem. We counted about 7-8 BMWs, including us.
We had to leave Bob behind in the first 5 miles since his XL350 was stalling and he thought he might have bad gas. When Bob caught up with us later, he admitted that he'd totally spaced out and had NO gas!
Soon into the ride, we buddied up, Dave and David being the faster riders and Doug and I the slower (later joined by Bob). The first section was 100 miles of dirt, scenic and entertaining without being terribly difficult except that it was very long. One muddy spot resulted in sudden slideout and miraculous save by Doug, and my fixated observation of this event resulted in same. Doug and I also came across a downed rider who'd apparently been knocked out, but was awake when we arrived. A Ridgerunner sweep was there, so we left him in good hands.
At the first gas stop, we found a long line, but the mega-organized Ridgerunners had someone there manning the pumps and keeping things moving. Doug decided to bail the next dirt section straight to lunch. Bob and I got gas and went the dirt way, guaranteeing a long, long time to lunch, which was 130 dirt miles and 50 street miles from the start. The Ridgerunners say that next year they'll fix that.
Things got looser, rockier and steeper in the forested second section. In one particularly sharp and loose-surface corner, I hesitated too long, stalled the bike and dropped it at a dead stop. Later, when Bob and I caught Dave and David at lunch, David's bent right mirror told a similar story, on the same road. I'd ridden that road before, uphill on last year's RR500, and once downhill on my R65! I had the least amount of trouble the time I'd ridden it on the R65, but it was much harder-packed. These roads may be in the same geographical location, but weather and hundreds of riders roosting over it makes it a much different road.
50 miles of fantastic snow-capped mountain scenery over Hwy 88 took us to a late and well-deserved lunch near Markleeville, where we all met up.
Unfortunately, the Forest Service revoked the Ridgerunner's permit to ride the fantastic Tahoe Rim trail after lunch (due to logging). At a checkpoint, volunteers passed out a route change. We got to ride another trail that was narrow, moistly sandy in spots, rocky in others, with mud puddles in narrow corners. These certainly were interesting! I went through these slowly and deliberately, praising my G/S's low-down power that was always there when I didn't have time or brainpower to downshift. Doug was swarmed by roosting dirt riders in one of these corners, forcing the GS down and nearly running over his helmet (later they apologized profusely). I was embarrassed by a couple two-up on a Honda TransAlp who whizzed right by me. Hey, that's not a real dual-sport bike! :-) There were several two-up pairs, and the passengers didn't seem to slow down the riders at all.
We got to Carson City before dark, checked in and picked up our T-shirts. Dinner was at a casino, the tab supplemented by a surprise $10 winnings from a single game of Keno. Doug decided to sleep in Sunday and skip the dirt. We slept "in" too -- to the late hour of 6am. Check-in for both days was 6am-8am, and by 7am over half of the riders are out already.
Sunday morning's ride started out rocky and rough, putting me on the pegs through most of it, suffering through the hydraulic lock in my forks and wondering how the other guys could go so fast through this! This proved to be the most technical part that we covered and it certainly kept me busy. David Mischel commented that Dave rides like a gentleman: seated (most of the time) and composed. I noticed that most of the dirt riders roosting by me were seated as well, and decided to blame some of it on my untuned suspension. Fortunately, after riding for two days on dirt roads in Baja on a loaded-down R65 also afflicted with severe hydraulic lock (probably the best experience that ever happened to me as a dirt rider), rocks don't scare me anymore. I picked my way around them, BMW-style, trusting my large front wheel for the ones I had to hit head-on. I doubt a better suspension setup would have made me much faster (certainly more comfortable) and wondered why I was so slow. When I caught up to the others, we indulged in a pose photo session in front of the Como ruins in the Nevada desert.
Another checkpoint marked our bail-out from a rocky difficult section, and we noticed the other BMW GS's also wisely avoiding this. One of the GS riders I recognized from last year, and this year he was riding with the BMW hard cases!
The bail-out took us to a checkpoint and gas. We all blew off the gas, but of course, Bob's XL350 went on reserve soon after. We had to chuckle at this continuation of the "Bob Gets Gas" story. Luckily he made it to lunch where he was able to get gas.
Levithian Mine Road led us to forest service roads, a beautiful and fun ride with some challenging muddy sections that of course had to be uphill and just after a corner. I prayed not to be passed in the midst of these -- as it was, I was already watching my mirror carefully for headlights and would slow down and wave the roosters by -- but not in that mud! Through stuff like that I'd keep the bike in 2nd gear, slip the clutch if needed, use the rear brake if needed, and keep my left foot down to catch, if needed, and poke through it as smoothly as possible. A beginner-on-BMW-in-mud thing, I guess, since the real dirt riders would blast through as though it was paved. Remind me to breathe every so often through that stuff!
Another excellent lunch of barbeque, salad and apples (nice touch!) fortified us. There is NOTHING like a wonderful hot lunch in the middle of a ride, and the Ridgerunners do a great barbeque as well as a great ride. After lunch, we skipped a tough section as per Ridgerunner advice, and then went on to ride the second section we'd done yesterday, in the opposite direction. Though I'd ridden this road on an XT200, the R65 and the G/S, I was nervous about it since it was loose, rocky and uphill. Opposite to most riders, EVERY dirt crash I've ever had has been uphill, and most every drop and close call too.
Again, the big front wheel, the ever-present torque and the Gripster tires (for once I appreciated tires) quelled my apprehensions until I came around a corner and saw David Mischel standing in the woods out of the corner of my eye. He'd been having lots of fun, it seemed! He was unhurt, but his R80 G/S was nearly vertical off the side of the road. True to the RR500 spirit, other riders stopped immediately and in no time 6 guys hauled the Beemer back on the road while I helpfully snapped photos. A partly rusted luggage rack was the only casualty, and the G/S started right up.
Luckily for me, this slowed David down somewhat, because he was able to see when I stopped in the SAME corner as I had yesterday, a sharp, steep left-hander, very torn up with loose dirt, and on a terrible line. Stopping at all was my mistake, and my attempt to get going again resulted in a downhill drop. Well, now I can say that I've picked up my G/S by myself. Fear had won, in retrospect; I should have PEGGED it and counted on the bike to pull me out! David arrived and helped me position it better, and with some coaching I finally got it through that corner.
After that, I was mad at the mountain and myself for being afraid to slide (as bad as being afraid to lean on the street!). Without slowing down, I stayed on the pegs and whooshed through every obstacle without hesitation and with an I-dare-you-to-defy-me attitude. This worked *much* better than my previous oh-shit-oh-shit state of mind! David too relaxed after his er, "offroad" incident, and we found that the injection of adrenaline from an incident can be a real benefit if used positively. Later we found out that Dave Doudna had also stopped in "my" corner and came close to ruining his no-drop weekend, but squeaked his way out of it. Dave and Bob remained vertical all weekend.
The rest was easy dirt roads and then 30 miles of pavement back to Angel's Camp. We'd done it!! We'd done the Ridgerunner 500 on our BMW's!
We checked in, packed our luggage, put Bob's XL350 back in the Trooper, and prepared for the ride home. So much for laughing at people who'd arrived in four-wheeled vehicles -- they had the last laugh. We now had to *ride* 130 miles home!
Bob left before Dave, David and myself, but later we caught him on the side of the road putting his XL350's gas into the Trooper. "You're never going to believe this," he said, "but I have no idea how much gas I have in the car!" The gauge had recently broken. Chapter 3 in "Bob Gets Gas!"
When we finished in Angel's Camp, lots of people said things like, "Hats off to you guys -- I wouldn't want to wrestle that heavy thing in the dirt!" But you don't "wrestle" it -- you ride GS's differently than you would a real dirt bike. The GS a pig in dirt only if you expect it to be an antelope.
Terms like "less fun" and "more work" come up when talking about the GS in dirt -- but what is "fun" and "work" ? It's entirely subjective and depends on to what you compare it. Riding a BMW GS on this ride is a different experience than riding a real dirtbike -- both can be fun, and both can be work, only different types and in different amounts, and what appeals to each rider varies.
Bob observed that he wasn't any faster on his XL350 than his GS, but he was a lot less tired. Certainly most riders prefer to be less tired, and many prefer to have dirtbike-type of fun instead of GS-type of fun, no argument there. They're just *different*. Obviously GS-type fun doesn't appeal to the vast majority of dual-sporters on the RR500, but I'd never say that I had "less" fun on the G/S than on the dirt bike I rode last year. I'll take ALL kinds of fun!
My only regret was that we had to skip certain sections, but I came away just as elated as last year, and with new confidence. I'd much rather have been out there on my G/S than at home wishing I had a "real" dirt bike.
The RR500 gains about 60-70 riders every year, and this year there was a record 370. They vow to keep it down to 400, because after that it would be unmanageable. The effort and organization that goes into this ride is incredible. Gas stations, checkpoints and other decision points are all well-manned and marked. The rollcharts were accurate, clear and made navigation easy. The sweeps and support people were extremely helpful, and there was a rescue crew in Jeeps. The lunch stop had support from Honda and Suzuki, and there were also ATK and KTM reps there. Honda even loaned a woman an XR250L after her DR350 crapped out. This is a class-A dual-sport ride, and the organizers are extremely friendly and helpful.
Some people might say that they'd rather do their own ride than ride an organized one, but both have their own merits. This organized ride lets you forget about concerns of food, luggage transport, navigation, support, getting lost or stranded and lets you concentrate on just the riding and the scenery. I've ridden two RR500's now, once on a Yamaha XT200 and once on the G/S and both times will go down as lifetime highlights.
Back to Ridgerunner 500 1994.