Dual Sport Anyone?
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 4:37PM Sometimes you want to ride but you just don't want to go pound out laps on the track. So what can you do? How about you bust out a hundred or so miles through the Sierras. Dual Sport riding can be a blast! Take a look at what a good ride looks like.
Two for the road.
I met Zac at his house in Foresthill at 7:00 AM by 7:30 we were on the road headed ultimately to Truckee. On the way up to Robinson Flat we wove our way in and out and off and on some of the OHV trails that are on both sides of the paved road to Robinson Flat. From there until we got into Soda Springs we were on either trails or dirt roads.
After leaving Robinson Flat we stayed on the dirt road for a few miles until we picked up the Western States trail. This trail is the one used by the runners in the 100 mile Tahoe to Auburn foot race run once a year and is known as the Western States 100. If you complete the run within 24 hours you receive a buckle. This is also where the Tevis Cup is held once a year, this is a 100 mile horse race, run over virtually the same course.
Same thing if you finish within 24 hours you will receive a belt buckle.
I’ve had the pleasure of ridding a lot of the Western States trail on horseback. Actually the foot race started one year as a result of a rider’s horse not passing the initial vet check before the race, so the rider decided to run the race on foot. (He finished and thus started the annual foot race) Anyway we rode on this trail for many miles, a lot of up, down and side hills. Some of the side hills were a little hairy but all were passable. The Tevis Cup had been held the previous weekend so a lot the trails were pretty chewed up from over two hundred horses having tromped on them. We got off the trail when it began to head into Desolation Valley. From there into Soda Springs we rode on dirt roads.
From Soda Springs we followed dirt roads next to the railroad tracks into the Donner Ski Ranch. Our timing was excellent as they were preparing for a National Champion Trials event that weekend. After leaving Donner we followed old abandoned train tracks that took us through many tunnels and snow shreds, some of those tunnels were pitch black and it was difficult to see even with a headlight. Most of the tunnels had some standing water which added to the pucker factor. Riding along the old rail road beds on the side of the hills in the Sierras was absolutely beautiful; we eventually ended up in downtown Truckee.
We rode through Truckee and headed north on highway 89 a few miles then turned west and headed out to the Prosser Valley area, I didn’t know it but there’s a dam, lake and OHV area out there complete with a pretty nice MX track. We rode the track, and trails out there for a while, the nice thing about these trails is they aren’t all beat up, my guess is this area is used mostly by locals.
After that excursion we went back into Truckee had a bite to eat and headed back to Donner where we spent some time looking at some of the sections for the trials. We were also able to watch a few riders practicing including Cody Webb who clinched the national trials championship that weekend. After watching in amazement the incredible things these guys can do we headed back to Foresthill.
We took mostly the same route back, but we did not go back on the Western States trails because we knew a lot of the long down hills were so chewed up we would spend a lot of time pushing are way up to the tops. And for me a Dual Sport ride is not about pushing up any crappy trails.
Besides all the wonderful sites we saw on the way to and from I was entertained the whole way by Zac popping wheelies, some that seemed like they went on forever, and some at fifty plus miles per hour, totally amazing. We ended up back at Zac’s about 4:00PM a nice 8 ½ hour 181.8 mile dual sport ride. And yes I was tired and yes I was a little sore the next few days.
Doug 21J
;)