Washington BDR Day 1: Section 6 and (part of) 5. Canadian Border, Skull and Crossbones, Ruby Grade

We're about to tackle the Washington BDR, U.S. Canada border. Oh, this bike! Sorry, did you squirt? Bare encounter. Right in the doorway. Look at that. I got myself being a dumbass. I'm going into neutral, you douche. My first ever BDR water crossing. Is this not how you wear shirts? The Timbo is with us. Hello, friends. Welcome back to the Dork Side. I'm the Dork in the Road. I'm here with Travis, Explore Adventure Moto, and we're about to tackle the Washington BDR. I'm the Dork in the Road, and I want to be your internet writing buddy. So please consider subscribing. Travis and I are here at Alta Lake State Park. We're about two and a half hours from the Canadian border. Came up yesterday, did 500 miles on the bikes because we're going to ride the Washington BDR. But we're going to start at the Canadian border and ride it south. I've got a lot of questions about why we're doing it that way, mostly because that way, when we get done, Travis is like 45 minutes from home and I'm an hour and a half from home. So when we're done, gross, sweaty, hungry, tired, it'll be nice to not then have an eight hour ride to get all the way home because we live in Oregon. So we're starting at the top, working our way down. It's going to be awesome. So we're meeting up with Charles and Danny and Mike and Tim. And so we're going to have a group of six right in the BDR. And it's going to be awesome. So today will be section six and maybe some of section five. I don't know. We don't know where we're camping along the way. We're just going to find dispersed camping or end up in campgrounds, try to eat at restaurants, gas stations, things like that. Had a lovely dinner last night of jalapeno poppers, a corndog and some mozzarella sticks. So obviously I'm not doing keto on this trip. It's going to be too hard to find keto stuff and try to stay alive. We're camping off the bikes for a week. It's going to be an amazing trip. Thank you all for coming along. I hope you enjoy the videos. And yeah, let's do it. So this video and really the whole trip is sponsored by our friend Andrew of Vanash Motorsports. And before I left, he helped me out by putting some of his awesome accessories on the Norton, which is, of course, what I'm riding on this trip. So today I want to just take a minute and tell you a little bit about his GPS mount before we get rolling. This is the Vanash Motorsports GPS mount. This is his original design. Andrew is an engineer. You may have seen very similar looking designs from a Chinese company that has stolen Andrew's design and ripped it off and is producing it with way crappier materials. But this is a rock solid GPS mount. I love the angle because you can see it standing up and sitting down and makes the GPS look factory like it's right there above the screen, like a two tiered rally setup, which I enjoy. It's universal. So it has the standard APMS bolt pattern in both portrait and landscape orientation for mounting a large variety of GPS units. And I'm testing and I'm putting it to the test out here on this trip. I'm going to use my GPS to navigate and I'm going to be standing up the vast majority of the time. So it's really cool to have this mount that works both sitting and standing. All of Vanash Motorsports stuff is made out of a super heavy duty aluminum. The knockoff products are made with a lot less high quality aluminum. It's very solid, doesn't move in there at all. And it's just the two bolts to mount it in the factory hole. It works for 890s, 790s and 901s. And you can get 20% off if you want to pick one up for yourself with promo code Dork in the road on Andrew's website, which I will link for you below. This is an awesome accessory custom made for your bike. If you have an 890, 790 or a 901 Norden like I do, I highly recommend picking it up and buying it from a dude who runs a one man American company designs and manufactures all of his stuff in a bar in Albany, Oregon. He's my neighbor. So highly recommend Andrew's stuff and stay tuned because we're also going to be checking out the footpegs and the bar risers and the brake lever that he added to the Norden. So for now, we're going to pack up camp. Trav's almost done. I just got my tent packed up and then we're going to probably have some breakfast, meet the boys and tackle the route. So very excited. Let's roll. So we just officially turned on to the Washington BDR. We're headed up to the Canadian border so that we can turn down and come back south. The Canadian border is actually the ending point of the Washington BDR. But like I said, we are running it end to beginning. So we're going to go to the border and turn around and ride back and we will have ridden from Canada to Oregon. It's going to be awesome. This is it. The Canadian border. We're actually here just to turn around so that we can say we went from the border to the border. But there it is. U.S.-Canada border. The end of the Wabder. Let's ride it backwards because we do everything backwards because we're backwards people, but we're doing it. It's hot. That's Canada over there. That is the United States of America. Those are the boys. Let's go south. This road, we're turning off the pavement and it's literally called Totes Cooley. I don't know if you can see that, but this road looks totes cooley to me. All right, here we are. Oh, it's going to fast, dude. Oh, I thought that gate was in our road. Reroute already. Got as far as we could, guys. Going to drive 10 hours home. I'm going to be picking dusty boogers out of my nose for the rest of the day. Dusty boogers. That's my wrestling name. My finishing move is I wipe my boogers on people. Cow. Vodka. What's up, cow? Taking a right. Hey, no, I'm taking the left, bro. What? Oh, you're right. You're right. I turned. I'm bad. I can't read the GPS. I got a good shot of that sign. That's what I was after. Oh, another big hole. A new logging bridge. I haven't seen a new logging bridge in forever. Water crossing. Is it finally stand up territory? That was a good warm up, actually. Oh, oh, oh, this bike. Oh, I love that the traction control knows when I'm doing it on purpose versus when I'm just sliding. Oh, that was both wheels. That was both wheels. I'm jumping this thing fully loaded. So if you're wondering why I brought the Norden, that is why, baby. That is why. Oh, I got your shenanigans. Oh, now we're going up, bro. Yeah, sick. Get it. Dude. Oh, OK, I'm not going that way. Oh, man. Yeah, thanks for thanks for scouting that. You should have hopped it. OK, let's keep an eye out for those. You hit hard, dude. I was like, that is not good. That was not on purpose. Gorgeous. That's a good lesson, and don't get too excited hitting the fun stuff because you just don't know what's around the corner. I wasn't ever worried. I mean, except for the one part where I just saw it like, oh, I squirted the throttle to get through it. Yeah. Sorry. Did you squirt the throttle? I did. I squirted the throttle. Wow, you were that excited, huh? A little technical over there. There we go, fellers. Now we're having fun, fellers. You just saw a bear around the corner. Well, apparently there was a bear down here. So we'll see if we can catch him. Oh, yeah, there he is right there. I don't see him. I see him through the trees right there. Sweet. Well, bear encounter. I didn't I haven't seen him, but I believe you. Section six, everyone. Bear country. I'm going to say it's probably a mud hole. Oh, dude. Hell, yeah, it's solid because that culvert is there and out of the ground. So we get a picture in front of that. I want you to ride up that chute and jump. We're here on route six of the Wabner, and this is the skull and crossbones corral. Pretty cool. Old piece of history. And there's a cabin over here, too, which I'll show you in a sec. But this is neat. Cool that this is still standing. Seems like it won't be for long. But history, you know, this is this is why you do the Wabner. That's why you do BDR is to get out and see stuff that most people don't ever see. Oh, that's a bear. Oh, my God, is that bear? Yeah, they're around. Oh, a tree fell on it. Sucks. This was quite a piece, quite a cabin. Right. And it fell right in the doorway. Look at that. Crazy. Destroyed it. Pretty cool, man. That's pretty cool. This is such a cool, out of the way place that nobody sees. You know, my whole thing is getting out into the wilderness and seeing things that people don't see and discovering what's out there. And, you know, it's so great that the BDR exists because it leads us to things like this. I just have to give a shout out and a thank you to the person who really introduced me to the BDR, the person that told me about the BDR mission and has helped us plan and put this trip together. That's Nathan Fant, their routes manager. So it's a great organization with great people like Nathan. He's their routes manager. So he's the guy if you email, if you have questions or need help or want to know if a route's open or you want to submit a report, it's Nathan you talk to. So he's an awesome guy, a personal friend. And big shout out and thank you to Nathan for helping make this trip possible and encouraging and inspiring me. We're just here at the Skull and Crossbones Cabin and Corral on the BDR. And who do we run into? But Lori from Outback Motortek going the other direction. So these guys make fabulous, fabulous products. Travis's bike is covered in it. And as you can see, they're out here walking the walk and making it happen. Field testing all of your products. That's right. So that's awesome, dude. And you went all the way down and you're coming back up, right? Exactly. It's epic both ways. Yeah, I recommend you do it twice. Yeah, well, we may do that again sometime. So there you go. I feel less bad that we're doing it, quote unquote, backwards now because it's awesome both ways. No, it's fantastic. Well, that's crazy. Awesome to run into you. And I'll link their website in the description. But cool to meet you. Cheers, man. And ride safe. Yeah, thanks. There's some rocks. Oh, there's a water fountain. Yeah, I get it. Oh, nice. You nailed it. Oh, it's so impressive. Oh, that's actually kind of a deep hole. So deep. Oh, fun. Oh, I f***ed that up bad. I f***ed that up bad. Yeah, I just got to get going again. I got too close to it. I had to slow down. Sorry. And I was in the wrong gear. I think I was filming, though, so I got myself being a dumbass, at least. Oh, you ain't kidding. Oh, I think those bars are rolling. Yeah, they are. That was fun. That was something. What a view. Magical. Oh, butterfly in my mouth. Literally. Yuck. Did it drive to you? I guess. Look at this. In the mirror, there's a butterfly. My nose has been tickling this whole time. I hit him. OK, buddy. Oh, he flew off. He was alive. He was alive that whole time. No way. That's Lone Frank Pass 7K. I'll take it. That was fun. Some really fun stuff. Definitely a recent runoff. About to melt, so the road is interesting. Definitely a little technical. But my bike is very confidence inspiring. Look at this right side. It's garbage. OK, I'm standing. I don't want to be in that rut. Woo! That was some country. That was not good. Oh, dude. OK, I'm going to give you some space. So I can see. Did I fall? No. Oh, yeah. No, they do not go down the middle. It gets really bad up here. What? Why don't go down the middle? I don't get it. Holy hell. That is something. That was a raging river. I think it was. We're probably going to have to cross it. I'll tell you what. Second gear is incredibly useful on this bike. Because I have not had to go into first gear yet. Yeah, and I can jump it when I need to. Get the front end up over the top. Because this is where all the flooding was. And it's dry. I wondered how the Norton would do on something Tailly-esque. And this is not quite to that level for as long as that is. But there's definitely some parts that have been like that. And it's done fine. It's not three miles of it all at once. Some intense sections. This is the end of Section 6. And this whole town flooded last weekend. You can still see all the silt and mud everywhere. All of this. So they're doing a great job cleaning it up fast. There's a bar. There's probably a restaurant too. Oh, we got a KLR and a KLR. This has gone cannoli. Section 6 complete. Crushed it. Good job, fellas. Now we're going to find some gasohol. Right here. Oh, right here. Yeah. We found it. We did it. We found the gasohol. Good job, us. Now we're going to find a naked woman with a million dollars. Nope. It only works once a day. So here we are in Khan Cannoli. General store. They have gas. That's why we're here. Look at this beautiful surroundings. That's the mountains we just came out of. And as you can see, the remnants of the flood are still here. The water came right down Main Street. They're still cleaning it up just right over there. We're going to grab a bite, figure out our next move. It's about 3.43. So trying to find camp for the night isn't out of the question. But it's also not necessary at this moment exactly. So I don't know what for sure we're going to do. But we'll figure it out. It's 100 degrees. It's pretty hot. We're in Khan Cannoli. We looked at the map. We're going to go try for Leader Lake, which is a campground about 30 miles from here, on a lake. And then hopefully Tim can come meet us there. But we're going to go see if we can get a spot. And if we can, we're going to Okanagan to get some food, maybe some beverages, and chill out there for the night. So that's the plan. I'll check in with you when we get there. So technically right now, we are turning onto Section 5. We're going to go a little ways into Section 5. Pretty cool. Look at this giant... I mean, that rock is as big as, I don't know, a house? Literally as big as a house. It's as big as a cabin anyway. I don't know if it'll come across on the camera, but that thing is huge. Yeah, and it broke in half down here. So that means it came down that hill that side. Yeah. Yep. This is the old Ruby Town site. It used to be a ghost town. Oh, that's our road. We're going up it. We're going up on top of that. Only a few stone foundations remain. But I think it's on this straight... It's not on the road we're going up. So we're definitely about to get some interesting riding. That's a warning sign right there. Yeah, that's a warning sign. It's a deuce. Oh, it's a deuce. Yeah, I'm seeing that as I careen off the edge. Oh, yeah, this is interesting. This is interesting. Pretty awesome. Okay, well, I'm in the first gear, like I should have on the one I screwed up earlier. Stop going into neutral, you douche. This is something. At least I've got traction on the rocks. I'm like hitting them on purpose. Oh, this is the wrong road. No, I'm kidding. Well, now I'm using my clutch. What a climb. Yeah, that was something. Interesting. My first ever BDR water crossing. How was it? Oh, it's nothing. Oh, it's deep over here. Whoa. It felt deeper than that. Cool old homestead out here. That's neat. Or at least a fireplace. There's a couch and a bunch of garbage. Awesome. We're here exploring the campground. Doesn't look full. Let's see. This could work. Here we are at Leder Lake. It's gorgeous here. Just ran to town to pick up some food and some beer. And it was literally 10 degrees hotter in town than it is here. So that was pretty great, actually, to get a place up here where it's a little cooler. I'm just finishing up my dinner. I grabbed a sandwich and some macaroni salad. And we're gonna enjoy some beverages, I think. And Mr. Puff Puff here this evening. But what a great day of riding. I saw some amazing scenery. Got to really, really put the Norden to the test on the most technical off-road stuff I've done. They had that big flood down in Conconully. And so coming down the backside of that mountain, it was all the rivulets that had formed when all that water rushed down and flooded the town. And that's why half the road was washed away in so many places. So that was really interesting. That was all of Section 6. And the first 30 miles or so was Section 5. So we've done 100 miles today. Not bad because we started at noon. We've done a sixth of the route because the whole route is only 600 miles. So we're ahead of schedule, basically, is what I'm saying. Because we weren't even supposed to start until tomorrow. Today was going to be the day we were going to drive up here. So we were going to be camped near the beginning tonight. So we have a section and a quarter done ahead of where we would have been. So that's great. Camp all set up. Travel bike. The lake is beautiful. It's so cool up here, temperature-wise, but also it's just neat. There's the Norden and some food on the table. The boys over there chatting. That's where I'm headed to go say, what's up? So very thoughtful of Charles to get this done. Oh, I didn't see you had all three on, didn't I? Yeah. Oh, so he made shirts for all of us. What's the back say? This is kind of my look saying, get outside and get dirty. Damn, I hope we make it through. Otherwise. Look at this, got stuff on the sleeve and everything. That looks badass. Well, we also got to give a shout out to Custom To You because they did them for us. Yeah, rock stars. So we got a little Custom To You logo. Yeah. You guys owe Crystal a thank you because I said, make mine way bigger. Make my logo bigger. And she didn't. Thanks, man. Thanks, Crystal and Ryan, for helping Charles get something done. Check my flow. It fits. Is this not how you wear shirts? Thanks, Charles. We went on the right side. We went on the wrong side. There was a divot over there. There was. It was deep. Coming out of that, it was like a ledge there. I had water up on my seat. Like, it was deep. This fun section is when you first got onto section five and got onto the dirt up that hill. Yeah, that was. It was the spot where. Up Ruby Ridge. It was like, oh. I cannot stop. I have to keep going type of thing because it was loose and it was rocky and you had to get on the rocks to get traction. Yeah. To keep going. And I started looking for them. Yeah, that was fun. I mentioned him earlier, but the Tim has finally arrived. There's the Tim. He's here. It is 1045, but he's here. So we're going to go to sleep as soon as it gets set up. I told you there were six of us. Here's our sixth for the rest of the trip. The Timbo is with us. Great day of riding. Day one is in the books. Section six is done. Part of section five, we're going to get up in the morning, have some coffee, and tackle the rest of the route. But for now, I just want to say good night. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to like the video. And as always, Tim's here. And also, don't forget to be excellent to each other. Good night. Thank you. Excellent. This is my pancake. The bear just crossed the road in front of us. Right there. He's going up the hillsides. Oh, that looks bad. Put him in the side-by-side and take him down to the ambulance.