After completing the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route, we're up to nine BDRs since we started running them in 2016. Through the running of each one, @mrs.turbodb and I are - as you can imagine - regularly comparing the current BDR to the past ones. Now that I've been writing down these thoughts for the last five or so, it seems like a good tradition to continue into the future. TL;DR - The Colorado BDR - especially the northern half - is a fast BDR with plenty of varied terrain, though none of it feels all that remote, largely because Coloradans…
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After grabbing lunch in Eagle, we hopped on the freeway - a slightly embarrassing experience, given that we were aired down and travelling rather slowly - for the six-mile stint back to Gypsum and the start of Stage 5. In fact, we'd be splitting off from the main route, which follows the highway for a stretch, opting instead to run the 15-mile "Harder Alternate," rejoining the main route at the Colorado Canyon Gorge. "No Jimmy, the fish wasn't 'this big,' it was only four fingers long." Gypsum, keeping it real. Stage 5 - Gypsum to Steamboat Springs North of Gypsum…
Continue readingGypsum to Steamboat Springs and WY - Pavement and Private Land | COBDR Stage 5 and 6
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Having finally reached the summit of Mt. Antero - a place so accessible and yet not included on the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route (BDR) - we were headed into Buena Vista just before 11:00am in search of something to eat. We'd learned our lesson the previous morning - having arrived in Lake City before the traditional lunch hour, opting to skip lunch, and later regretting it - and @mrs.turbodb was working the airwaves to find a good spot to stop for lunch. Half a day later - having added a highlight that every BDR adventurer should enjoy as part of…
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One of the things we've learned about running a Backcountry Discovery Route (BDR) is that trying to time a stage to a day - where the day ends at the designated end (and thus beginning) of a stage - is a bad idea, at least when you're trying to camp. This is obvious once it's realized, and it makes total sense for the dual-sport bikes that BDRs are designed for, since they often use towns as places to find a roof for the night, but for a truck - where the sleeping arrangements are in the bed - it's better…
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We headed out of Telluride just after 1:00pm, and I was worried. We'd finished the entire first stage of the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route (COBDR) in half a day, and I knew that if we didn't slow down a bit, we'd find ourselves all the way through Stage 2 - and the Alpine Loop - before sunset. And that would be terrible, because I already knew where I wanted to camp for the night, and it wasn't past the Alpine Loop. In fact, it was only about halfway through! Luckily, speed is something I could control. Well, that and we could…
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One of the very first trips we took was to run the original Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route (BDR) in July 2017. In fact, we attempted a segment of the route in May on our way home from a trip to Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, but lingering snow and dozens of down trees made progress painfully slow. We enjoyed it so much that every year since, we've picked another BDR to tick off the list. This year, Colorado is the name of the game, and it's one I've been looking forward to for quite some time. The route begins at…
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