Colorado Dreaming

COLORADO DREAMING

FEATURES

THE CYCLE WORLD ADVENTURE RALLY-ROCKIES EDITION

Mark Lindemann

The BMW F800GS was on its side and sliding in one direction, its rider in another, and I was hard on the brakes, sliding in a third, trying to remember what I’d learned in trigonometry class about converging angles and rates of speed before I too ended up in the ditch. Welcome to Colorado.

Snarkmeisters smugly observe that many contemporary adventure bikes see nothing more challenging than an oil spot in the driveway of the local Starbucks. Then you’ve got riders like the 70 or so like-minded folks out here for the 2015 Adventure Rally-Rockies Edition. The idea is to ride your ADV bike the way it was designed to be ridden, in some of the best adventure-riding terrain you can find without a passport. And while most motorcycle rallies are ride-in-the-dust, follow-the-leader affairs, this one is completely different: more like a poker run, where teams of two, three, or four riders collect points for riding far and wide, on everything from two-lane highways to steep, challenging, committed single-track at elevations between 7,000 and 12,000 feet.

That’s how we find ourselves in Gunnison, a little gem of the American West billed as “the base camp of the Rocky Mountains.” Those 70 riders showcase a wide range of bikes and abilities.

On Thursday riders descend on Gunnison like a Viking raiding party and immediately go mano a mano with a specialskills course that tests their ability to jump logs and negotiate a tight, winding trail without dabbing. Clean the course and you gain a few points (more in a moment). It’s a great icebreaker: Everyone gets to know each other, and there is also coaching from experts like Ned Suesse and Ed Mann.

Dinners and breakfasts are also communal affairs, and Friday morning the riding starts in earnest. Maps and route books highlight 89 destinations, each with a point value between one and 10, dependent on difficulty and remoteness. It’s impossible to hit them all in the next two days, so the teams plan their routes and strategy carefully. Some of the riders are heartattack serious, in it to win it. For me, it’s really just an excuse to ride awesome country and see cool sights.

Colorado weather: Anyone who thinks ADV riding is just about Sahara sand dunes needs to spend a weekend in the Rockies. Gunnison serves up something from every column of the menu: rain, hail, sunshine, mud, dust, snow, lung-bursting altitude, rocky uphills, alpine meadows, slick downhills— sometimes all before noon. And it’s right about now that you realize what capable machines these modern ADV bikes are. With their electronic rider aids, traction control, and enginemanagement systems, they’re some of the most interesting two-wheelers out there.

Saturday saw a special gymkhana course, designed by rally race veteran Suesse. Fast times won more points, and you could run it as many times as you liked. Want another challenge? How about a timed tire-changing contest?

That points thing: Saturday night the Rally crew totaled everything up, awarding the coveted Adventure Cup to the winning team. There were plenty of other prizes too—riding suits from Rev’It! and Klim, along with swag from event sponsors like Doubletake Mirror, Motion Pro, EBC, SBS, and Galfer Brakes, Butler Maps, GEICO Insurance, and BMW. And it’s not exactly my definition of a bad day when Glenfiddich shows up and starts pouring single-malt scotch for everyone.

The year of 2015 marks the third year for the Rockies Edition of the Adventure Rally as well as its twin, the Sierra Edition.

For information on either, just go to cycleworld.com and type “Adventure Rally” into the search bar. You’ll have a great time. And nobody will ever accuse you of just “adventuring” to Starbucks again.