Black Dog Dualsport Ride
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It all started when David came into our shop in Springfield, OR, to purchase some goodies for his brand new DR650. We got to chatting and he told me he was thinking of doing the Black Dog Dualsport event. I told him I’d just signed up, too.
The day before the event we met for coffee then headed off through Marcola and Sweet Home, before making our way around Green Peter Lake. Quartzville Creek runs into the upper end of this lake—an absolute thing of beauty so clear you can count the rocks at a depth of 20 feet. Rushing rapids, waterfalls and long meandering sections mean there’s something new around every corner.
Continuing over the pass and down to Highway 22, we hung a left and rode into the little town of Detroit, stopping at the Steel Wheels Restaurant. This is a cool little spot with a couple of old motorcycles inside and various humorous two-wheeled sculptures outside. Nice place to visit!
On the other side of town we jumped on Valentino Rossi Road, enjoying it for quite some time before turning onto Bryan Smith Road where there are majestic views of Mt. Hood and plenty of photo ops. Finally we hit Highway 26 and took that north to Highway 35 before heading into the Hood River County Fairgrounds—the staging area for the festivities.
Arriving just after 5:00 p.m., we found our friends and headed to a hotel in the neighboring community of The Dalles. Even though it was on Interstate 84, the ride was beautiful as it ran just above the Columbia River Gorge.
Saturday morning was sign-up and a riders’ meeting where we were given the roll charts. The promoters were happy to let us know we’d be riding trails they’d not used this early in summer for more than a decade due to high country snowpack. There’s a lot of attention given to being considerate riders because the routes are often near homes where owners can be sensitive to noise and dust. The course would also pass through Schreiner Farms where they raise zebras, camels, giraffes, and other exotic creatures.
Back at the bikes, we rolled the route sheets into the chart holders, and set our odometers to 0.0 ready to follow the directions. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Right….
The first part of the day was the “Spank the Monkey” special test—broken into two sections, one for the AA and A riders and the other side for the rest of us. The easy part had us riding over long planks and then between boards about 18 inches apart—spanking a stuffed hanging monkey at the exit.
Within the first couple of miles the chart indicated a left onto a road that didn’t exist. So we just went on a bit, hooked onto another road the chart said we’d arrive at eventually, and continued. The only problem was that we were now off on our mileage. Luckily there were odometer resets about every 10 to 15 miles—a necessity because not all odometers are calibrated the same.
Once or twice more we had to stop and figure out what was going on, but that made it kind of fun, bringing a “thinking” element into the mix. Checking the route sheet and the odometer, and keeping eyes on the road is a delicate balancing act.
Most of Saturday was an easy ride, a good mix of backcountry paved, dirt, and gravel roads with a couple of intermediate sections tossed in for good measure—kind of like the scenic tour. There were lots of incredible vistas of the Cascade Mountains. At one point we were able to see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams in Washington State, then Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson in Oregon. Amazing considering the two furthest peaks are 100 miles apart.
After spending most of the morning in Washington, we hopped into Oregon and had a quick stop at Fun Country Powersports in The Dalles. They welcomed everyone with ice cold bottles of water and an air-conditioned showroom. Both were welcome as the outside temperature was bumping the 90°F mark. Doesn’t sound too bad, but take my word that it was hot!
From there we wound around up to the Rowena Crest Viewpoint on State Highway 30 to enjoy a jaw-dropping 320 degree vista down to the Columbia River Gorge. It was less than 20 miles back to the fairgrounds along roads meandering through an area covered with fruit trees and wineries. All too soon we were directed to the day-ending special test ride around a small horseshoe-shaped course. The slowest time was the goal, with penalties for dabs or falls.
And did I mention the kids? The course was jammed with them, armed with large-caliber water weapons. The U.S. Navy doesn’t have a thing on these warriors of hydration. They gave David everything they had in an attempt to derail his slow-speed test. The funny part was he rode competitive trials back in his homeland of New Zealand. The DR is no trials bike and he fell over just as his front wheel crossed the finish line.
Sunday began with another sign-in, meeting, and roll chart winding before we headed through the gate at eight in the morning. Somehow I managed to get us lost within the first two miles. After doubling back a couple of times I found the error. Meanwhile, David was just sitting at the intersection waiting for me to come to my senses. Paybacks can be tough!
Because I was pulled over to the other side of the road, my friend Lisa went by and almost didn’t see me until I waved. Grabbing the front brake on the loose gravel she went down. Thankfully, she was wearing body armor. However, her little WR250 wasn’t so lucky. The bars and mounts were tweaked and a few other minor scars now adorned the plastics. No biggie, as her boyfriend, Brian, and I had it ready to go in about 15 minutes. With her bike resurrected, off we went.
Later that day we were in another difficult section when we encountered a gentleman who’d toppled his V-Strom 1000 on a particularly nasty rocky climb. He thought he’d broken a rib and was having a tough time breathing. Marty, another rider, stopped to help. He and I got the big V upright, then walked with the bike’s owner a bit to make sure he was okay. Marty then rode that monster to the top of that climb like he was on an XR100. I couldn’t keep up with him, watching in jaw-dropping amazement as he tackled that tricky, rocky climb.
We enjoyed an additional 15-plus miles of trails before popping out onto pavement to head back to the fairgrounds. Once there we ran the water gauntlet one more time before David and I reloaded our luggage to begin the five-hour ride home. It was hot too, hitting 102°F in Warm Springs (I wonder where they got that name?).
While the Black Dog Dualsport Ride was my first official dual-sport event, it won’t be my last. It was well organized, a lot of fun and we enjoyed great camaraderie among all the riders. If you haven’t gotten involved, give it a whirl, you just might be surprised. BlackDogDualsport.com
Drummond Evans works at ProCycle.us in Springfield, Oregon, the center of the universe for the DR650 along with parts and accessories for many other dual-sport and adventure motorcycles. He has been riding for many years, trying everything from trials to flat track, even having ridden the Sacramento Mile on a big V-twin. Now he’s a die-hard Suzuki guy riding either his DR or DL almost every day of the year.
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