The morning started at 3:34 am. Imagine, I have an upcoming ride and as usual can not sleep. I lay around and try to clear my mind but to no avail. I start getting my things ready. I need warm gear for the cool morning and cool gear for the hot afternoon. The bike is ready, fueled and loaded for the day by 4:30 am. I watch t.v. and wait for the sun to come up or for 5 am which ever comes first. The ride to Dillon Colorado is fairly uneventful. Monarch pass for what ever reason being the warmest part and the approach to Leadville being the coldest (even the pond and lakes were frozen over).

Arrival in Dillon is earlier than expected (7:30 ish am) I ride to the Dillon Inn to get checked in and to look thru my rider kit provided by the organizers. I do not know a soul and am amazed to find a lot of KTM products. Much to my surprise are a lot of dirt bike oriented machines and very few big adventure bikes. I see a lot of KTM 950 adventure S models. I see a few XR650r's and a few KTM 640 and 525 dirt bikes.

The riders divide themselves into categories: A's, B's and C's. We divide up into our groups. I choose to ride the "A" group which consists of 12 riders, one of which is Chris Jones who recently (January) competed in and finished the Paris to Dakar rally (a little over 5 thousand miles). We decide on a route and head off on our first pass (Webster pass). While riding up Webster we get our first river crossing. The water is clear and deep for street bike standards, or just as we like them in adventure riding, over the axles. At the top of Webster we are able to look up at Red Cone where a Jeep has recently rolled off the top and supposedly killed someone in the process. No one wanted to ride down valley to come back over Red Cone as it is a one-way road only.

After Webster we head up the road over Kenosha pass looking forward to getting off road again to go over Boreas pass. Over the top of Boreas pass we get on a primitive jeep road consisting of deep ruts, tree roots and lots of loose large slick rocks. The riding got a little more technical with a few deer crossing our paths to keep it interesting. At the bottom of Boreas we again regrouped. One rider in our group aboard a DR650 started to encounter starting problems with his Suzuki. After a little work the bike was once again moving under it's own power. We traveled south along Hwy. 9 and got in a little unexpected adventure riding around the road repairs in Alma.

Exiting the town of Alma we headed west again thru Park City and began the climb up Mosquito pass. The road was steady and bumpy with large pot holes and large planted rocks. Half way up we again regrouped at a river crossing. A great place for a few photos and to look at a new dent on the 2 week old BMW650x (cross). Having never been over this pass, I did not know what to expect and found that a few of the guys wanted to start behind me. A mile of so up the road I encountered the "pot holes" I believe they are called. The road approaching the summit of Mosquito is steep with large loose rocks and rock ledge step ups that have to be dissected with the brain at a high rate of speed to find their smooth lines and angles to do the least amount of damage to the V-Strom. As I reached the summit, a number of the "A" group were waiting and laughing that I was able to make it with ease on a motorcycle that is not intended for this type of riding. One of the riders was wanting to take pictures to send to a friend who used to own a V-Strom and had said, "You can't even ride the thing on gravel." Coming down Mosquito pass I had a number of riders following me down (I guess to see if I was going to crash) the bikes were close at first but spread out quickly along the long decent into Leadville.

The group decided on a Mexican restaurant in Leadville, to gather for lunch and to discuss the morning ride. The fish tacos were great and the Sobe drink refreshing. After lunch we refueled and headed down the highway to Buena Vista. Regrouping again in Buena Vista we took the back roads to St. Elmo where we split the group between two routes to the town of Tin Cup. One group of the mostly dirt bike oriented machines went south out of St. Elmo over the passes of Hancock and Tomichi. The others of us chose to ride over Tin Cup pass. Tin Cup was again steep with large pot holes and even larger rocks and a lot of ATV and Jeep traffic. At the top of the pass we enjoyed the beauty of the Continental Divide and paused to reflect on past rides in this area for some of the riders and of similar areas for other riders. The stop was enjoyable but short as the deadline to make it to Gunnison was fast approaching.

We started down the north face of the pass and one rider immediately fell in the boulder shoot of rocks on his KTM 640 super moto. He quickly picked it up and remounted before I could get my camera out to capture the moment. This was the most difficult trail I have ridden to date and required a lot of throttle control, balance and a lite touch of the brakes. The town of Tin Cup was a welcome site for the tired adventure riders. The ride to Taylor Reservoir was a nice cool down and we once again regrouped by the lake and started the long ride to Gunnison on the highway. I rode the whole section standing on the pegs and working on my balance and getting air on my tired and sweaty body. We were all thinking of the Gumbo that awaited us at the Tomichi inn and the cool beverages waiting in the coolers.

This was also a great opportunity to meet the other riders in the other groups and to reflect back on the ride with the riders I had met earlier that morning. I listened to them all tell me about the reservations they initially had about my riding ability and the motorcycle that I had chosen to ride in this event. The V-Strom is not a popular choice to ride on technical rough roads. I believe that I was able to demonstrate that with proper line selection and throttle control and a lot of luck, you can do a lot on a non-traditional motorcycle. Listening to the comments from the other riders, the V-Strom and myself were accepted into the fraternity of riders known as the "Big Dogs."

This was the end of Day 1 and the beginning of new friendships and new adventures. I had a moment to think of the open hearts of my family, grateful for their support and encouragement to do the type of riding that I love. I love my wife and enjoy our times together and thank her for her sacrifices in allowing me to go on these adventures. I was very excited that my wife Steph and son Zane would be joining me on Saturday evening for the steak dinner and get together to meet the riders I had the privilege of riding with on this event. I also reflected on the riders who have gotten me to this point. I thought of the great rides and adventures with Verle Nelson. The people like Jeff Davis and the Saturday morning crew in the 90's on sport bikes. The people like Tim Marchbanks that I share a lot of time racing in the desert with. All of these people and rides have brought me to where I am today and I have them to thank for their inspiration and support.

August 11, 2007, Day 2:

Day two began much different from day 1. For one thing I got to sleep in and did not have to ride 150 miles to get to the ride. We again split up into groups and I chose to ride with a couple of the same guys and a couple of guys on GS model BMW's. We chose to ride the highway to middle bridge and take the Lake City cut off. I led to the cut off and then the two GS bikes led the way at a moderate pace. Not quite the pace I am used to but spirited enough to keep from being bored. When we arrived in Lake City we stopped at the Tourist Center to get a copy of their new maps which are quite nice for the San Juan area.

The guys then appointed me trail leader and we headed towards Cinnamon Pass. I picked up the pace a little and we started out on what would be a little easier day. We passed a number of Jeeps and ATV's and I tried to put on a good show for all those that we encountered. The ride up Cinnamon pass was uneventful and I just enjoyed the scenery and the music of my i-pod. We again regrouped and decided collectively to ride to Animas Forks and make a new plan. Some of the guys wanted to go to Silverton via Animas Forks and some of us wanted to go via California Gulch, Hurricane down valley to Silverton. I talked all the group into the latter of the two options. Just at that moment 6 dirt bikers went around us and the guys looked at me and asked if I could catch them? I nodded yes and they told me to "go get um." I then had a purpose and set out to catch them as quickly as possible. In under a mile I had closed and passed 4 of the 6 dirt bikes with still two remaining bikes picking up the pace as I approached. With good line selection and determination I was able to pass the disappointed dirt bikes. The GS riders later saying how humiliating it must be to get passed by large adventure bikes in terrain more suited for full-on dirt bikes. After two challenging switch backs and a steep loose hill side, we arrived at the top of California Gulch. We looked around at the scenery and Lake Como and watched the arrival of the six dirt bikers who paid no attention to us and would not acknowledge our presence.

I told our guys the plan to get to Silverton and again led with a 950 KTM adventure in tow as we made our way across Hurricane and the decent into Silverton. A couple of the riders did not seem to be impressed with the large loose rocks and lack of smooth, rock free lines. The decent was short but challenging. This is the kind of stuff we love on big adventure bikes. In Silverton the town was busy and the streets packed with tourists. I pulled into the Brown Bear and the lady was nice enough to bump the line for a local and his riding partners and get us in ahead of the tourist gathering for the 30 minute wait or longer for a table. The plan after lunch consisted of retracing our tracks slightly to go over Corkscrew and on down to 550. Corkscrew has changed a lot in the last year. Speaking with a local in Ouray, we were in agreement that they have made the road worse and more dangerous for 4 wheel vehicles. The road is still fun and challenging for big bikes but is rougher and more dangerous for those who choose to view the area on four wheels.

Once on 550 and heading north, we get to the exit for Engineer pass and come across some fellow Big Dog riders. We learn that one of the Dogs has had some trouble and has dropped his R1200 GS about nine times between 3 guys attempting to get it down the bottom of Engineer. Apparently due to loss of brakes and large rocks that litter the bottom of the pass. We talk to the riders and realize we can not help them and hurry into Ouray to meet the two GS riders that took the highway to Ouray. We again regroup and make a plan to ride over Owl Creek Pass and join Hwy. 50 to ride into Gunnison. I again lead us to Owl Creek.

The road leading to Owl Creek is very dusty and has some traffic. I settle into a spirited pace and am familiar with the road. Due to dust the other riders spread out and the gap grew between the front runners and those in the back slowing for dust and picture opportunities. We again regroup at the top of Owl Creek. The descent down is clear and spirited and I was again leading down to Hwy. 50. The road was in great shape and the traffic was fairly lite. The riders comment at Hwy. 50 that I must be familiar with the road because my pace was fast and the lack of dust told them that I was faster than they were comfortable with not knowing the road. The rest of the ride was just getting back to Gunnison and the anticipation of the 2" thick T-bone steaks we would be eating very soon. I was also excited to see my beautiful wife and lovely son. They were to arrive around 7 pm.

The steak was great and large enough for Stephanie, Zane and I to split. We then attended a presentation from Chris Jones who, as a privateer, had competed in and finished the infamous Paris to Dakar race. His stories were wonderful and the slide show gave you a little taste of what he describes as the longest 16 days of his life. Other stories include a Big Dog rider who had ridden 32 thousand miles in South America and a rider who has competed several times at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The evening ended with the exchange of e-mail addresses and promises to see each other next year at the 2008 Big Dog Ride.