I signed up for the 2014 Desert 100 Poker Run and Race (Adventure Class) this April 5th and 6th near Odessa, WA. Truth is I've never "raced" any motorcycle. But with a plan to not hurt myself, not hurt the bike, finish, and have fun doing it--it seems like a great thing to try. This class is doing one lap (50 miles) where the big dogs do 2, but it's supposedly the same course and after watching an F800GS flog itself to a 3rd place finish last year--I'm seriously looking forward to trying the Husky out. And the thought of participating in the single-line start of hundreds of bikes at the same time....totally fun! I'll be running my spoked set of rims certainly with off-road oriented knobbies, taking off some of the unnecessary bits for the race itself (i.e windshield, top case, etc.), but make no mistake I'll be riding my bike to the race, camping from it, and riding it back home. I'll wager I'm the only Strada in event. Wish me luck!
Good luck man. I have done that one a few times. Once on my 125 and once on a 250. Silty and rough with lots of rocks. Hope you have a good skid plate. That vid is about what to expect but many years it is a dust bowl. 2 filters might be good so it will actually run on the way home. Its a huge party with a race tossed in. Got several friends out there setting up corse now. Might be out there this year but doubt it.
They were passing a lot of non-adventure bikes, finished 3rd in class, 1st & 2nd must have checked out. They must have had Konflict Motorsports suspension mods. Looks like it would be really fun, just stay clear of the bottlenecks like at the 1:30 mark, and you'll be fine.
Since I was 6! And snowmobiles since I was 11. And street bikes since I was 21. The were some 3 and 4 wheeler experiences in there too. ...just never "raced" motorcycles where I had a designated number or there be a starting gun. I figure I'll treat it like a poker run, but with people more eager to pass me for some reason.
I'll just do one race he says... Get ready for the addiction. After trail riding for 10 or 12 years, I decided to try a race in 2008. I don't have good records handy for my first 3 years, but in 2011-2013 I ran 80 hare scrambles, enduros, and endurocross events. I went through serious withdrawal making my schedule this year, dropping it down to 16 events. Oh, and I once saw a guy lineup at a harescramble on a big GS 1100 (or whatever the air cooled was before the water cooled came out). I don't think he made it halfway through the 11 mile lap, but that course had some sections that anything bigger than a 200 was going to have problems with. TR should be good, although heavy, in the more open stuff (minus it's suspension). And don't forget to turn off your ABS.
Thank you for the reminder. On my list of things to do is find the ABS fuse for this event. I'd rather not have to remember in the heat of the race start to pause an extra 5 seconds holding in the ABS button. I'd like to think, vainly and comically, I'd a contender for the hole shot.
That's some mean narcolepsy for being under 2:08 into a race. It was probably that running start...screw that. Just go into it knowing your goal is 50 miles. The banzai start through the brush at the start isn't going to win you a race, but a flat or crash there can put you out of the race. With a 400+ lbs bike, you're going to want to conserve as much energy as possible, that means using caution. Picking your line. Going slow when you need to, and carrying momentum when needed. You are not going to want to pick up that bike, so don't let the race aspect get to you too much. Coming around that finish line is going to feel good, whether you're in first or last (hint: you won't be last if you keep rubber side down -- I'd bet in an ADV bike class finishing 50 miles would put you at least in top 50% of the class).
When the cannon goes off I drink one more swallow of coffee, walk to my bike and my brother starts it We at least that is what I did last time. I got beat by a kid on a mini trail, but I finished.
Wow, that sounds like a true adventure! I always wanted to do the "real" Barstow to Vegas race just to say I lined up to race to the pile up at the tire fire. By the time I was ready, it was forever changed. I still want to do it in the current DS style, but the glory days are gone. Best of luck and let us know how it goes!
The last three posts were VERY helpful with great perspective. Thanks. Yes, my goal is to finish, finish safely, finish without destroying my cherry Strada....and if I do those first three it would be nice to finish well. I've got a 3300 mile UTBDR trip planned in July on this bike and the only thing I want to have to replace is rubber. I'll also be getting a bit of a peek of things the day before in the poker run....that involves a free lunch via the local brewery....so looking forward to the good time aspect. I think there's going to be an enclave of Adventure.com riders camping out together...so I can imagine the aluminum bottle of Pendleton flowing freely in evenings. A new Kenda K760 rear is being delivered next week and the D606 front has plenty of life left.
That looks like a massive good time! Can't wait to hear how it goes this week end. Good Luck Ignaciob! Are you going to have a helmet cam so we can see some video?
That's the plan! I've got a newer GoPro 3 I'm planning to run on my chest and an older GoPro 960 that I'm thinking about mounting on the crash bars (although I've heard horror stories of many cameras being lost off mounts like this). I even bought a Sena Bluetooth Audio Pack (mainly for my UTBDR ride in July) so I can add audio narration while riding....if I can get it to work while I'm also talking with a fellow rider via another Sena. I'm working this evening to try and nail that down....I seem to be only able to get one to connect at a time. Of course that will be next week after I'm back. Laptops aren't part of the recipe this weekend and WiFi isn't a strong suit of Odessa.
While connectivity may be limited I'll be transmitting GPS position starting Friday afternoon via SPOT and possibly posting a snapshot or two depending on cellular data connectivity. Nearest town is population 887 and there will be thousands camping...I'm betting the nearest cell tower will be getting a serious workout. Check out my blog to see details for this weekend.
