10 day epic tour of Oregon coast/desert/cascades

7 Riders 1 Driver and a hell of a good time! Our trip planning started two years ago and while many things in the world tried to cancel this trip we had decided as long as planes were flying and we did not have to spend 14 days in quarantine we were going. A huge shoutout to inmate Greg who helped with planning and took us to some amazing places.

Day 1 flew out of Virginia early morning and with time zones landed before lunch in PDX. We met our support driver unloaded and headed for the coast. While the plan was to arrive mid-afternoon a trail closure 15 miles in blocked our route and so the adventure had begun. Luckily we found a workaround that ended up being great dirt roads and a blast to ride.

Making our way down the coast we found a hotel south of Lincoln City and after a few beers called it a night.

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Day 2 kept the adventure rolling starting the morning with overcast skies we missed the great photo spots of thors well and other sites but riding on the beach was something that had to be checked off the bucket list. Side note flags are required and just getting to the beach is equal to a hard enduro. Two of the group made it to the beach and back but it took lots of throttle control and fighting the Big Red Pig from going down.



Day 2 after lunch hit the Route 6 of the BDR heading towards Sutherlin. We cut out at the last part to head to cottage grove so we could get lodging. This custom route provided the coolest paved road ever! Dropping elevation really fast with tight turns and overgrown to the point it was like a single track but paved.





After a good nights sleep, it was back to route 6 and east to Odel Lake Lodge

Nice! Look forward to following along and definitely interested to see/hear where you wander to. Hopefully, you'll make your way to the outback as the riding there is incredible. But for anyone else reading, it sucks...don't go

Knobby side down fellas

On the way to Odel Lake Lodge had to do a little trail maintenance but luckily only had one down tree.


Day 4 was spent fighting the sand and a total change of landscape hitting the high desert



The views were amazing and the sand riding was worth it to get to these great spots

Fort Rock and Silver Lake rounded out day 4 and we learned the meaning of a one-horse town staying at the Silverlake motel. Miles of straight barren land lay ahead and has the route moved farther east the population of each town dropped. Silver lake was a metropolis compared to Frenchglen population 12. The natural wonder of this side of the state is just as appealing as the cascades and provides its own challenges. Anyone who has ever run a 50ft wide gravel road at 60mph and hit a patch of heavy gravel knows what I mean.

The bar Silverlake had great food and cold brews Silverlake to Frenchglen involved lots of desert roads and fencing. Every couple miles we were dismounting to open and shut makeshift gates but it gives the open range feel. The group got split up when we found ourselves on undocumented trail both on Rever and on Garmin. Riding up a creek bed and making our own trail finally led us to a powerline road that took us back to the main line. The other group departed down the highway and we all met in Frenchglen.

More to come soon!

@ShenandoahDS1 - when were you guys out doing this ride...are you crafting the report from the ride right now?

Was just over in that neck of the woods this past weekend (Aug 7-9) and there was a group of bikers in Paisley, which is just south of where you took that shot from Fremont Point. Ironically, I was up at Fremont Point Saturday (8/8) and hope you don't mind me posting another shot from the lookout.

You guys must have cut through Christmas Valley making your way east to Frenchglen? I hope you're heading up to the Steens from Frenchglen and get to the summit - there's nothing like the view from 9500 feet.

Look forward to the next update!

Bring it!

We were in Paisley mid week 4 or 5th of august. Great picture Freemont point was the first big view we got to and it was breathtaking. Photos to come soon of Steens, Alvord, and the other good stuff!

Here is just the drone footage from our trip no GoPro or camera added yet.

Favorite Day of the trip? Frenchglen to Diamond. Day started with a ride up the steens mountains. The gravel road that goes 40 miles up into a mountain in the desert did not sound that exciting. Well if you watch the video you will see how jaw-dropping the overlooks were. Unreal the change in geological formations from flat desert to awsome sights. Got some good drone footage and headed back down to the heat. slabbed it to the town of fields were planes land on the highway and fuel up at the same gas station we were at. After a milkshake (there known for them) we headed out for the Alvord Desert.








































The closest thing that can describe this unusual riding surface is the red rock of Moab only flat. After some 95mph video shoots, we headed down the road to Diamond and encountered this:







A dust storm while not dangerous is intimidating in real life. After running from that we passed a wildfire that had been started by lightning. If we thought that was the topper for the day we then got into a nasty thunderstorm in the desert. 9 days riding the Pacific NW and we get rain in the desert, kinda funny. Arriving in Diamond we stayed at Hotel Diamond and was surprised to find a family-style prepped meal that may have been the best I have ever had. This place was the best place we stayed on our trip hands down.

Day 7-9 got really interesting. We left our great host at hotel Diamond and on to Christmas Valley except we never arrived. 22 miles in on a great desert ride the XR650 gave up. Turns out if you don't keep oil in them the breakdown. I had been in such a rush dealing with routes and details like confirming reservations a day ahead, getting checked in and out of lodging, keeping up with camera equipment, and making sure our support truck driver was on course I forgot bike maintenance. The day before I had smelled my bike smoking and when I checked the oil it was low but on an XR as everyone knows checking oil is not an exact science. The high temps and low oil left us sitting in the desert. I lost all power coming up a hill and when I pulled the dipstick smoke was all I could see.

The group decided the best action would be for the two fastest riders to ride on and get oil while the rest camped out

Turns out the had been on 22 miles of easy riding the next 18 took twice as long due to the number of fences, rough terrain, and technical sections. 4 hours later we returned with oil and filled the Big Red Pig up. Had I not felt confident in the toughness of an XR this would have been a bad decision but sure enough after having to roll start to get it fired up I was off to the races to get back to the box truck the route we had come in on. The XR did not fail and made it back to the truck knocking and not happy but it made it. We decided to slab to Bend getting into town late that night.

Bend to PDX



With one bike down and most of the group ready for some rest we took in the sights of Oregon on our final days seeing mount hood and the Columbia River Gorge. We had ridden 1800 miles in 9 days and had one hell of a trip. This is a brief overview but I'm working on a big video project for anyone who wants to hear more. I will post it here when finished. Thanks again to Humunn for hooking us up and letting us experience all that Oregon had to offer.

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> "Arriving in Diamond we stayed at Hotel Diamond and was surprised to find a family-style prepped meal that may have been the best I have ever had. This place was the best place we stayed on our trip hands down."

Yup. If you're in that vicinity. STAY at DIAMOND HOTEL !
The evening meal is something you will remember for the rest of your days.

Nice job with the drone footage @ShenandoahDS1! Was it you behind the controls? And what are you flying/shooting with? I know how much work goes into taking a drone along and the time it takes to get it out, setup, in the air, and then landed again. Great job capturing riding footage, doing that manually is not easy...lol.

Looking forward to the overall project. Sucks about the bike and oil, really glad you were able to get back to the chase truck. I haven't been to Diamond before, but it's going on my destination list based on your experience and what @TwilightZone just added