Ride Training with RawHyde: Intro to Adv- Part 1 Days 2 and 3

Intro to Adventure
Day 2/3- Saturday/Sunday

Early rise. The evening was quiet, aside from the soothing sounds of grown men snoring and farting harmoniously in the large barracks style tent.

Saturday morning in the group tent, beds made and everyone's out getting their bikes ready

Out of bed and into the riding gear, boots and all. We had quick breakfast and then were off to the coral for bike checks and a debrief/lecture with Jim. He philosophized on the riding of large bikes in dirt and how one should approach their thinking. He discussed confidence, misconceptions, bike handling, balance, weight and the physics of traction. I was selected to assist with a demo whereby he stood atop a loaded 1200 and instructed me to kick the front wheel as hard as I could, to simulate striking a large heavy object with the front wheel ; to demonstrate how posture rigidity can affect your balance and the bikes handling.

After the debrief, we split off into groups based on experience and headed out with the coaches to work on skills. One of the main reasons I'm here is to better by abilities both on and off-road in preparation for Thrukon. There are many riders here of varying ability attacking diverse terrain, which most of the participants have never encountered.

A student hits the apex a little too hot and loses it in a cloud of Tehachapi dust

The author climbing what looked like a much steeper hill in person

During the training there was a section on how to solo-lift a 450lb motorcycle that's lying on its side. While this was an extremely useful skill to have, sadly, my bike was selected as the demo for this lesson. So after about a dozen times of being dropped on its side by the coaches, the valve covers got misaligned and started leaking oil. The group got a impromptu lesson on how to loosen and readjust the valve covers to re-seat them.

Adjusting the valve cover to stop oil from leaking

All-in-all the Intro class was a good opportunity for me to acclimate to the 1200GS and get a feel for its power to weight ratio. Later I would come to find that the suspension was set much too low for my height and I would be adjusting it out in the Mojave desert after bottoming out multiple times on some rather intense terrain littered with basketball sized boulders. It was at this point I realized why I had felt like i was sitting on a steroid powered Vespa.

For the completion of this report, please see the following post >>>

Ride Training with RawHyde: Intro to Adv- Part 1 Day 1

Base Camp Alpha Ride Leader Shawn Thomas assesses the lesser of of two evils

Intro to Adventure
Day 1- Friday

January was a busy month for planning, as most of our support request letters were sent out to various brands we'd like to work with. We'll announce more partners as we hear back from them.

For now, I would personally like to extend a HUGE "Thank you!" to Klim (Mark Kinkart and team) and Rawhyde (Jim Hyde and team) for their generosity in providing exceptional gear and ride training.

As a follow-up to the  post on 11/26 regarding the Badlands giveaway, below is a report of the recently completed Intro and Base Camp Alpha (BCA) courses, provided by Rawhyde, which took place over January 23-27 in Castiac and Mojave, California. Below is a description of what one can expect the Intro weekend may look like.

Camp and camera drill down for five days on a R1200GS through Mojave

Intro to Adventure
Day 1- Friday
Arrived at LAX and walked off the plane. Got the rental car and drove to Rawhyde for a 1700 arrival time, as specified in the registration materials. As soon as I got off the main road and onto the dirt and gravel "driveway" that led up to the ranch, the front right tire of the car blew out. Off to a good start. Stopped the car and got out to inspect the tire, sadly the rim was resting on the ground. "Well that's fucked" I thought to myself. So instead of wasting my time with the flat I looked up to take in the surroundings. The property on which RawHyde resides is a crowd of thirsty scrub brush covered rolling hills shaded by native sycamore, California bay laurel, walnut and oak trees.

Entrance and "driveway" to Rawhyde Ranch

As I surveyed the landscape I spotted a dune buggy looking thing, and not far off was gentleman with a head of snow white hair chalking a white serpentine line in the dry, dusty clay. Obviously it was Jim. He was out there putting in some hours getting the courses prepped for the weekend ahead. I threw a wave and turned my attention back to the crippled rental car. It was getting to be about the time I was supposed to arrive at the Ranch, so I slowly Cruz'd the crippled Chevy all the way up to the parking area. The flat was left for another day and instead, I unloaded the car and prepared to settle in for the next five days.

 Jim Hyde chalks the serpentine in preparation for the weekends activities

Section of the BMW Academy/Rawhyde Ranch training facility

Audrey, a member of the Rawhyde team, met with me for sign in and gave me a quick tour of the facility. Mess hall, bar, bunk, outdoor showers, the all-important kitchen and finally, dual-sport checkout.

The rental BMW 1200GS I was issued for the 5 says of training

The evening consisted of an orientation to our quarters, dinner, and a meet-n-greet in the Dakar Bar. Then some camp fire conversation to get warm and learn about our classmates. Finally off to bed in the Bedouin tent

Debriefing in the Dakar Bar with Jim Hyde and his team

Participants converse with ride coaches and each other around the fire

The overnight accommodations were both utilitarian and comfortable

Announcement of the 2015 Thrukon Team

Introducing the core members of this exciting project, Nathan, Errin and Jeffry...

Nathan Napolitano

Scientist, Rookie Explorer, Photographer

Riding a 2013 BMW F800GS 

Nathan is rookie explorer and savvy field researcher who advocates for direct observation and action. Never one to remain in a comfort zone, Nathan prefers to be in the thick of things and welcomes challenging situations. He believes that spending time outdoors searching for new subjects and having transformative experiences is exactly how life should be lived. Not as a tourist, but as an active participant who is constantly learning. 

Nathan has spent years documenting a range of subjects and subcultures from underground music scenes and urban cycling; to international travel, natural disaster recovery, and more recently, environmental concerns. Trained as an epidemiologist in the realm of the public health, Nathan has seen time and time again that our health as a population is dependent upon our relationship with our surroundings. 

Whether he is surveying the aftermath and recovery of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka, or capturing the fragile relationship between humans and the planet, whatever the project… Nathan can be found somewhere outside.

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Errin Vasquez

Television Editor, Dual-sport Enthusiast, Long Distance Cyclist. 

Riding a 2014 BMW F800GSAdv 

Errin Vasquez was born and raised in Los Angeles. He currently works in the television industry where he is paid to sit in a basement and watch TV all day. When not working he spends as much time as he can outdoors and is often found cycling, hiking, motorcycling, camping or just making coffee outside. 

As a cyclist, Errin participates in various fundraisers to raise awareness for his wife who suffers from a form of Liver Disease (PSC) as well as for his mom and friend who live with Multiple Sclerosis. These fundraisers including riding a portion of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route self-supported and riding a multiple fatbike centuries (100 miles in a day) in both California and Utah. He is also an active randonneur, a form of long distance cycling. 

Errin's love of adventure has taken him all across his home state of California as well as parts of Baja, Mexico on his dual-sport motorcycle over the years. Death Valley is a favorite motorcycling destination of his for both its scenery and remote dirt roads.

Read more about Errin's travels here: Frontage Roads

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Jeffry Hesse

Former Senior Product Manager at National Geographic, Photographer, Alaska Team Guide.

Shooting film with a Mamiya 645, Canon Elan IIe, Olympus Stylus DLX, video with Canon t3i 

Born the Grandson of a Fishing and Hunting Guide from Alaska brings with it some interesting baggage. Jeffry's family has been in Alaska since the early 1960's. Jeffry's Grandfather died in 2003, and when he did he came to know his Grandmother and Step Grandfather much more so. Taking cues from his Grandparents, Jeffry was taught to appreciate the land around him rather than to exploit it. Deviating from his Grandfather's mission that involved hunting, the only machinery Jeffry shoots nature with is a camera. 

Spending most of his life working in Technology, Jeffry feels compelled to make a difference in the world aside from his professional life. When not doing his day job as an Agile Coach/Product Manager, he finds solace in nature and gets to it any which way he can. Like Nathan, he abhors the comfort zone and appreciates getting "out there". He has ridden from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington, DC twice self-supported on his bike, once by doing the whole ride without a cell phone. Jeffry is at home in the wild and his absolute loves are the glaciers of the world, and the mountains they belong to. His travels have taken him from Alaska to Patagonia, and many places in between.  

Jeffry's main passion with Photography was inspired by his time at The National Geographic Society. He is an avid photographer and mainly shoots 135 and 120 film. Film teaches a patience akin to that of watching a glacier calve, the perfect moment comes and it is not to be wasted. His main goal in the involvement of Thrukon is to add to the growing realization of how we as humans are altering the planet. His inspirations in photography work are James Balog and Aaron Huey, and a list of many others. 

Read more about Jeffry's travels here: Jeffry Hesse
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Klim + Rawhyde Video Contest

Thrukon wins!  

Thank you to Mark Kincart and everyone at Klim, Jim Hyde and the Rawhyde Team! We are honored and absolutely grateful for the support!

Back in late May while shooting the 2014 Formula One Monaco Grand Prix, I received an email from Klim Technical Riding Gear announcing that they had paired up with Rawhyde Adventures to offer a little video contest. I say little, but actually, it was a huge prize package!

Klim had ponied up a bunch of their Badlands Pro gear, roughly $1800 worth! And Rawhyde had generously threw in a full Intro to Adventure 3-day course, the 2-day Base Camp Alpha follow-up Mohave desert ride, and a free rental of whatever BMW model you felt like taking out for 5 days of riding (I've chosen the 1200GS). A total prize package of $4500! This was perfect timing as I was still trying to figure out how to approach Klim for support, and though I already had a Badlands Pro jacket, I still needed proper riding pants, gloves and other important pieces of kit.

Emailed contest announcement with list of prizes

The contest required a two-minute video explaining what you would do with the winnings. Luckily we had just the project in mind. The deadline for the contest was mid-June, which made for a very tight deadline of only a couple weeks. We immediately started putting together a rough script for the video, and as soon as I returned to the states, began compiling footage and shooting anything else that would show how the winnings would be perfect to use toward the Thrukon project.

So after some more "excuses" to go riding, and a few long hours of editing, here's the winning video:

For better quality, view video on our Vimeo channel

Klim / Rawhyde Badlands gift certificate of winnings 

Klim Badlands Pro Pants, Dakar Pro Jersey, F4 ECE Helmet and other quality gear

And of course we're looking forward to participating in the Rawhyde Intro to Adventure and Base Camp Alpha, which is scheduled for January.

The gear and training will all be used toward Thrukon and future endeavors as well.

Field Testing - Northern Cascades - August 2014

In a continued effort to refine and test the gear for Thrukon, the F800GS was taken far North into the Cascades near the Canadian border, for a two day exploration of what might be one of the most striking areas of the Pacific Northwest.

List of standard supplies in the dry bag include:

Ortlieb Rack Pack 49L Dry Bag .......... 910g
Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 Tent ............ 963g
Big Agnes UL2 Footprint .................... 142g
REI Flexlite Chair .............................. 793g
Snow Peak Starter Kit ....................... 225g
Snow Peak Mini Hozuki Light .............. 54g w/o batt.
Snow Peak 110 Gold ProIso ............... 227g (x2)
Sierra Designs Zissou Mummy Bag .... 1191g
Therm-a-Rest ProLite Pad Small ......... 312g
Black Diamond Cosmo Headlamp ....... 91g w/ batt.

Total ................................................ 6,722g = 14.82lbs


In addition to field testing equipment, the exercises are planned to simulate real world travel on a long trip. Which includes experiencing the disorienting reality of arriving at a foreign place, tired, hungry; and having to find a place to set up camp and make a meal in the pitch black. 

The first day of travel put me deep in the canopy just after darkness fell. Camp was set by the dim red glow of the Cosmo headlamp.

Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 lit by a single Snow Peak mini Hozuki

Once the tent was pitched I focused on and dinner was a freeze dried pack of Apine Faire boiled over the hot blue flame of the Snow Peak Giga Power.

 Dinner of Alpine Aire curry and rice cooked on the Snow Peak Giga Power Auto Stove

I was tired and soon the sky was going to relieve itself all over the tops of the trees, and then on me. I ate quickly and packed the more sensitive equipment, cameras, electronics into the tent and spent the last few minutes of awareness with the light pat of rain hitting the fly and the gentle hum of wind inside my helmet still ringing in my ears, thinking that the temperature is perfect.

Morning comes, it's quite. No wind. The sky has cleared and is a pale dusty blue. I make no real effort to rise but eventually I poke my head out of the tent to check on the whip. All is well and I realize I'm starving.

Morning at camp in the Cascades near Ross Lake

Breakfast was two servings of apple cinnamon oatmeal and some tea that I brought back from Tealuxe on a recent trip to Boston.

#campwizard tip #1: Cooking on a log may cause stove tips and loss of rations. With that said, breakfast was a total success and it was time to pack up and do some glacial runoff research.

Diablo Lake tinted sea foam green with Jackson Mountain in the distance

The green hue of the water in Diablo Lake is caused by glacial runoff form the 700+ northern cascade glaciers, which provide 230 billion gallons of water during the summer months. Almost of this water is utilized for irrigation, salmon fisheries and power.

On the edge of Ross Lake near the Canadian border

 Obligatory, burned-out-warehouse-down-by-the-river, fashion model shot

Another successful multi-day test with no real issues or significant findings with the equipment. Everything worked as expected and provided a comfortable and enjoyable experience.