THE 2002 RAT DAWG DUALSPORT EVENT

It's Saturday the 21st September, and time for the famous Rat Dawg Dualsport Event. This was to be 112 miles of pure riding enjoyment for me. The setting was perfect, and the stage was set for the riders to take up their positions and ride in an area steeped in motorcycle history.

To read more about the Trask area and it's history, please visit http://www.blackdogdualsport.com and click on the Rat Dog icon.

Once again, I was teamed up with two of my buddies Jim L, and George F, from southern Oregon. The photo above is of George, can you guess what his riding number was ? ... lol. Nice one George, I have come up with "Won for 1" you got "Too for 2", and then theres "Free for 3", not to mention "Ate for 8" ...

The event was once again well attended, with something in the region of 110 riders showing up to do battle atop of their steed of choice, which ranged from KLR's to XRL's, BMW's to XT's.

Alcan5000 entrant Ramey "Coach' Stroud.

Ok, once the riders meeting was over, the three of us George, Jim, and myself, left the camp grounds as quickly as we could. We were riding the "B course" and for the most part we were the only ones out there, so dust, and congestion was non-exsitent. After riding a sweet piece of two track, which swerved it's way down to some logging roads, we found ourselve at the first check point, which was being manned by Mad Dog Murphy, one of the trail guru's for this area.

Check Point One.

The three of us were to visit this check point again approx 20 minutes later, due to the fact the lead rider missed the turn, and took the group for a little extra jaunt around the forest :-) ... sowwy

From check point one, we are directed along some easy, and fast track logging roads, until we reach an optional section called Grindstone Summit. We all decided to do the 2 miles trek up to the summit. The road was jeep travelled, yet still a fun piece of two track with a couple of switch backs thrown in for the entertainment value.

Grindstone Summit.

The views from atop of the summit were pretty awe inspiring, to the north, east, and south you looked down on the Tillamook Forest, and off to the west was a view of Pacific Ocean and the bay of Tillamook. Well worth the ride up the mountain.
 

Peak view, looking down on the group.

Well once rested, it was time to head back down to less heighty terrain. the ride down was fun as this was a two way section, and a close call with a DRZ, got my heart pumping even more.

Lunch Stop, in the town of Beaver.

Lunch time brought even more oppurtunities for a few photos, and to grab a bite to eat, the store in Beaver Oregon, knocks out a pretty wicked sandwiche, and come the half way point makes for a tasty treat for all to enjoy.

 

After lunch, it's back into the saddle to see what other wonders the Northwest Tour an Trail folks have in store for us. Not too far from Beaver we are led up Munson Road, which will soon lead us to the Bushong Rd, and trail system.

This has to be the highlight of the event for me, even though the whole course was splattered with excellent riding, I totally loved riding the Bushong.

Coming from a gravel road we are pointed up to a tree lined entrance road "The Bushong" .. everything is fine, and I'm riding along some fun two track, then the trees clear out, and I notice a power line pilon, "Ding" a little light goes on in my head, and I know where ever there are pilons, that usually means a hill of some kind is coming. I was right, bouncing up the hill, I knuckle down and gas it, this was a exciting section, and I didn't go down so thats always bonus, once we had crested the hill, we weave our way along and over the ridge. Then we are dropped down along the actual road. Whoa !!!, the rollchart had stated "Caution Waterbars" , but it didn't mention "Caution Extreme Fun-A-Roonie Ahead" .... This was a total blast,

Imagine if you can, a dirt, and sparcely gravelled road, that winds its way down a hill for miles, with corners every 500 feet or there abouts, and water bars (Dirt humps) around every blind corner, throw in the fact that the ground is begining to become covered with leaves that HIDE any ruts or rocks, and water traps. And you have a perfect in my opinion dualsporting road.

I had a few hairy moments of going too fast over a couple of the waterbars, and getting a little air, but the worst was getting up speed going over a hump, and then seenig you have a sharp turn like 10 feet away to navigate, and hoping and praying your MT 21 is gonna hook up, and slow you down in time. :-) ... nothing but smiles for me on that section !!!!!!

Another surviver emerges.

THE NORTH LOOP.

From the Bushong its just a few more miles of gravelled roads back to the camp ground, where we top off our gas tanks, and take a quick breather, before starting the second loop of the Rat Dog.

Once back on the road we are treated to going up the Zig Zig Rd, this is similar to the last fun section we had rode along, but without the waterbars, plus this time we are going up hill, instead of descending. The Zig Zag, is another great dualsporting road, with lots of loose rocks (small in size for the most part) and some tight switch backs, it's when you have a switch back thats covered in rocks, and has a rut, is when the problems begin, but we all rode that puppy, all be it, with out legs flaying everywhere. Hey maybe we're just GOOD riders :-)

Me, myself and I, atop of Hembre Summit

From Zig Zag, we are pointed towards Hembre Ridge Summit,this is another two way section, but the roads leading up to the ridge are logging roads with plenty of room on them for two way traffic.

Bikes, 2 DR's and an XT.

Once down from the summit, I realized that I had forgotten to zero out my odemeter, and we got slightly lost, if theres such a thing. But not to worry as it just so happens we bumped into Don N, and he quickly showed us where we went wrong, and took us back to camp. We missed one of the trails, which is a bummer, but better safe than sorry is the way to go.