Big Dog Ride 2013

[ajayhawkfan]

I have heard the Big Dog Ride is a great event. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/bigdog/ I'm on the waiting list for this years event.

Has anyone done this ride before? Anyone interested in going?

[allkidd]

I will be in Taylor Lake Colorado the first week of August so maybe I could stay out there for another few days. Looks like Ridgeway is only about an 1 1/2 hour from Taylor.

On their webpage, they alluded to riding some single track....most Colorado ST would make Pannell road seem like a walk in the park. Riding a small bike, I've been on some of those 12" wide trails where if you fall off to one side you and your bike are gone. For sure, I wouldn't want to ride that type trail with a GS. Usually, the other side of the trail is a steep rock incline where you are riding as close as possible to it in an attempt not to bump into the rock that could propel you into the abyss drop off on the other side.

It appears that this ride is invitation only with limited space. I will check my calendar and see about putting my name of the list.

[ajayhawkfan]

I spoke to a guy that has gone to three of these. He said that they break up into three groups, hair on fire, moderate and cheeseburger ride.

Is it invitation only. You do need to put your name in the hat to get an invitation. You also need to be on you GS or some other pig.

[troy]

I'm not interested in riding my F800GS on mountain singletrack with deadly ledges. If that makes me a girly-man, so be it.

I'm sure they have plenty of alternative routes for the worst parts, but they say to "expect" to be on ledges like that.

Also, backed with my experience riding 1 week out of Ouray, CO on my KTM 450 last year including many of the famous pass roads and singletrack, I'd rather be on my smaller, lighter weapon in that stuff. Less struggle, less damage (and thus less expensive), and more fun. Even the popular, highly-travelled pass "roads" offer big challenges for big motorcycles.

The Big Dog Ride is not for your average rider. That said, do get out to CO and ride. It's amazing.

[Drz Charlie]

Likely my age, but I have no desire to tempt fate anymore than I have. Oh to be 10' tall and bullet proof again .

[stimmer6253472]

I would say at 400 to 600 miles a day they are not riding much expert single track.
Jim

[ajayhawkfan]

I'm not interested in riding my F800GS on mountain singletrack with deadly ledges. If that makes me a girly-man, so be it.

I'm sure they have plenty of alternative routes for the worst parts, but they say to "expect" to be on ledges like that.

Also, backed with my experience riding 1 week out of Ouray, CO on my KTM 450 last year including many of the famous pass roads and singletrack, I'd rather be on my smaller, lighter weapon in that stuff. Less struggle, less damage (and thus less expensive), and more fun. Even the popular, highly-travelled pass "roads" offer big challenges for big motorcycles.

The Big Dog Ride is not for your average rider. That said, do get out to CO and ride. It's amazing.

Troy, I spoke to one of the GS Giants that rode through the Frog Bayou at the BMW Rally. He also attended three Big Dog Rides. He had never ridden with us but thought if you could ride through Frog Bayou you should not have a problem and even if it get over someones head there are lots of places to head back. In addition, they break up into 3 groups of different levels.

[kendall_smith]

There is one of two possible things going on here:

1) They are being overly dramatic with their description of the ride to drive home the point that it is not beginner friendly.
2) They are some bad-ass riders.

After reading their webpage, I am leaning towards option 1. They talk about how hard-core the trails they ride are, but all their pictures on the page are of guys riding on open roads. If I was going to build a website to showcase how hard a ride I was putting on was, I would include pictures and possibly video of the toughest sections. They go on to say that one guy rides in tennis shoes (I believe they use the term "wisely" to describe this decision) so he doesn't have to wait for his motocross boots to dry out. That doesn't scream "hardcore" rider to me- wearing tennis shoes on gnarly single track while riding an 600 plus pound bike sounds like a broken ankle within the first 100 feet to me.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but that is what I took from it. Other than that, I'll bet it would be a fun ride. You would have to try to not have fun riding in the Rocky Mountains and I'm sure that there is plenty of fun to be had on this ride.

I would say at 400 to 600 miles a day they are not riding much expert single track.
Jim

Good point as well.