It's time once again... Join us Saturday August 27th for an encore ride
of the 3 day GPS fun ride and campout commemorating this year's release
of the Olympic Mountains Loop GPS Tour. If you missed the May ride,
you've got a second chance! This is a GPS ride custom made for dual
sport motorcycles. We'll make the tightest loop that can be made
around the Olympics on public roads. That means mostly dirt Forest
Service roads, which can vary from straight, wide and fast... to downright
nasty ... but there are some killer sections of real twisty pavement
as well. Lengthy, boring sections of asphalt have been kept to a bare
minimum. For more information on the tour and route, click
-->here<--.
May's ride was a blast, and while a good time was had by all, well...
the weather and visibility on Day 2 kind of sucked! This fall's
ride promises to be a good time for all, and I have it on good authority
that the weather is going to be spectacular for the full 3 days! Hopefully
we'll not yet see a burn ban in place at that time, though it is
common that time of year. Either way, we'll have a great time.
We'll meet up at the Burgermaster in Shelton Saturday morning at 8:00,
pick a campsite destination suitable for our group size, then gas
up and head north for the first of 3 days of excellent dual-sport
touring. We'll meet up that evening at the designated campsite
for some bench racing, story telling and a general good time around the
fire. On Sunday, we'll repeat the process of site selection, then
enjoy another day of fantastic riding in some of the remotest and most
beautiful areas that western Washington has to offer. Another
great evening around the fire among new friends will round out the day.
Monday, we'll cover the last (and possibly most remote) section of ground
necessary to complete the loop before heading home.
This is a GPS ride. As such, you are free (and encouraged) to
ride at a pace comfortable to you, making stops when and where you desire
without the worry of holding back faster riders or having to slow down
or wait for the rider behind you. Though I commonly stop to take
a break, pictures, or a leak, thereby allowing slower riders frequent chances
to catch up, in general, the tour is not traveled as one large group that
stays together.
Last time out, I encouraged all interested riders
to join us... but this time I am encouraging/inviting only riders with GPS
receivers and who have purchased --or will purchase-- the
Olympic Mountains Loop GPS Tour
to participate. If you don't have a GPS, I highly encourage you to
consider purchasing one as a permanent addition to your riding equipment.
Highly capable mapping units with mapping software and auto-routing
can be had for less than 250 dollars.
I will not be selling the tour packages on Saturday morning as I have
in times past. For maximum enjoyability, and a smooth event, you must
order the GPS Tour package before the ride so you have time to load the
tour into your GPS receiver as well as read through the instructions and
familiarize yourself with the GPS setup and how the route navigation works.
The package includes a spiral bound laminated tour booklet with accompanying
CD-ROM and a laminated "cheat card". Last minute participants may
pick up the tour package on Friday evening and have the tour downloaded
to their receiver at GripTwister's compound, but must order and pay on-line
in advance. Please let me know by Thursday if you fall into this category.
Click here
to order the tour.
For those riders coming from afar or for those who just want to eliminate
the need for a pre-dawn ride to the staging area (Shelton Burgermaster),
I will open the gates on Friday night at 6 p.m. for riders to camp out
on the beautiful park-like grounds of the GripTwister compound.
You can put up your tent or just roll out your bag on the grassy banks
of the creek under tall cedar and fir trees. We'll have a huge bonfire
going nearby where you can enjoy a cold one with myself and/or others,
roast something to eat, or just warm up before retiring for the evening.
In the morning, it's a 5 minute ride to the Shelton Burgermaster, which
serves breakfast. Sorry, no restrooms after 10pm, but it's a wooded
area, so fellas at least shouldn't have a problem. The GPS coordinates
of the compound are:
N47 11.035 W123 06.358 WGS 84 Datum
A few pics from this year's spring funride can be viewed
here.
