The 60 Something Ride

                                The 60-Something Ride

This was a Dual Sport, Adventure, Dirt Bike Ride all rolled into one!  The reason being, we had a KTM 500, a KLR 650, a KTM 690 and my little girly KTM 450 rounding out the group of bikes.  The riders were Jerry aka Lefty, Mark aka The Mechanic, Jess aka Hose-b (Jose’s brother) and #33. Everyone in the group was in the 60-something age category.

The ride was a loop starting and ending from Hose-b’s house a few miles outside of Orofino, Idaho. The terrain is some of the most scenic riding you can do without traveling to Banff or Switzerland.

The back roads were twisty and beautiful, the gravel roads were lined with forest and mountain views while passing an untold number of rivers, creeks and a lake.

The host rider, Hose-b (Jess) informed everyone that it was a “Kickstands UP at 8am ride”. No messing around! Let’s ride, I like it! So we suit up, I warmed my bike up a bit just to make sure it was ready to go. Lefty (Jerry) comes rolling in ready to go a bit early and The Mechanic (Mark) rolls in wanting to add a splash of gas to his bike since he had ridden to the starting point. Good plan.

Jess unveiled the newly acquired KLR 650 from underneath its cover and attempted to fire it up…………………oops.  Left the key on yesterday from a parts run into town. Battery dead as a door-nail.  So it is time to get out the jump box to get her fired up!  We git-er-done and away we go. No deadline, no real route planned, just a direction idea and finding new stuff if possible.  I hope no one brings up we missed our kickstands up start by a few minutes. Lol.

The ride is very scenic and stays on back roads and gravel roads for the better part of the day. We encountered a couple of BDR riders along the way as we obviously crossed the course laid out on GPS tracks by the Back Country Discovery Ride organizer. We spoke to one who said he was doing the route.

We visited a well-stocked Fire Camp but were surprised to find no one there during the day. Fire Trucks but no Firemen, hmmmm. We then made our way down a road none of us had ever traveled and it dumped us at a small town called Clarkia. It was a welcome relief as we were 117 miles into our ride and everyone was ready for a break and possibly a cold beverage at the little store/grill there. They even had a gas pump so Mark could top off his 690 KTM since he had one of the shortest fuel ranges in our group. We snacked, had some cold drinks and were back on the road. Just a little way out of town we looked over and saw a big sign next to a motocross track! It was called ‘Fossil Bowl’. I have no idea why but since it was just sitting there not being used I busted a u-turn to go inquire as to how I might ride there. It seems it is a local track, very nicely laid out with a lot of work that has gone into it and it shows by the facility amenities. Bathrooms, starting gate, announcing tower, sign up booth, fencing, whoop section and signage that gave basically permission to ride with the suggestions/rules listed. That was so Awesome that a community would allow that with such simple rules that were basically ‘If you ride here, Don’t be Stupid” I loved that!!!  Even though I was on my 450 KTM trail bike I obviously HAD to make a couple of laps. After all what kind of a Moto Nazi would I be if I passed up a chance to ride at The Fossil Bowl!

I made a couple of slow laps while the 60-Somethings waited, they may have taken a few pics. Of course it was dry and slippery because it had not been watered and it is the end of July. But it was worth it with the little bit of air it provided and the decent uphill and drop offs built into the course. I would love to come back and ride it on a moto bike on a prepped day. It would be a great track under those conditions.

Back on the road and our next stop after some back road two lane riding was a very small town called Elk River. It is a recreation area with camping, fishing, hunting, boating. But the best thing we found was the fact that they had Huckleberry shakes at the General Store.  If you haven’t tried a Huckleberry shake I would recommend you do at least once. Outstanding!  The bonus for me was that it seemed everyone brought their dogs when they went to the store, in the short time we spent there I got to pet a half dozen dogs. But finally the 60-somethings made me leave since we were now on our way back to Hose-b’s house. Maybe 40 miles.

The ride home was fun for Lefty and I as it was now our turn to lead on the gravel roads, so our dust was substantially reduced. I enjoyed the last leg of the ride, however there is always that opportunity to meet a car/truck or even another bike if you go too fast. So discretion is a strong point while riding out front. We survived and rolled into Jess’s house somewhere around 4:30, then Mark and Jess rolled in a few minutes later. Jess was not happy with the KLR on the final leg of the ride and was talking about selling it.  I said I would give him $50 and then Lefty pops up with $100 more than whatever #33 is offering. Oh! Torpedoed by a homie!  I guess I will keep on riding my old broke down 2007 KLR better known as ‘Mad Max’. 

#33

‘we may not be fast, but we are lapping everyone on the couch’