A Motorcycle Travel Adventure to the Desert – On a 2024 Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro

I didn't plan it this way. It just kind of happened. Sometimes the best memories you'll make are the ones you just stumble upon. That's what happened when I mustered the courage to tackle a tough, loose gravel road to get to one of the most awe-inspiring places I've ever been. I did it with someone I bumped into when I was gassing up and gathering supplies. There was no part of me that thought I'd actually go through with it. I think it was all theater for my own sake until I met Michael, a guy roughly my age who rolled into Field Station on a BMW GS in the middle of nowhere Oregon to do the same thing I was going to do and with the same fears and apprehensions. We decided to team up and ride the road together. We ended up camping together, seeing the most incredible sky and perhaps creating a friendship. To say adventure riding is worth it is an understatement. I'm just leaving Fields, Oregon, headed towards the Alvord Desert. Yesterday I tried going down this route. Eventually this turns into loose gravel. Once I hit the gravel I turned around, got about a mile in, totally wimped out, just turned around, tail between my legs and went home. I got back last night and I'm laying in bed in my little motel room down in Denial Junction and I was really upset with myself. I said to myself, why don't you go ahead and buy an expensive adventure bike when you're afraid to ride on gravel? So I mustered every piece of my courage, got up this morning and hit the road. This is absolutely insane. I'm in the Alvord Desert in southeastern Oregon. It's a 12 by 7 mile old lake bed and it's just, it's like riding a boat. You can go anywhere and you can pretty much do anything. I've never seen anything like it. I laid in bed last night in a little motel at Denial Junction which is just over the border in Nevada and I kicked myself to sleep essentially but I woke up this morning, gathered my courage and headed back up to that gravel road. Along the way I met Michael. Say hi Michael. Michael's riding a BMW. Michael's a super cool guy. Michael's the reason I am out here today because I don't think I would have had the courage to hit that road by myself. But I think Michael was feeling the same way. And so we relied on each other as new friends and we got through that road. Both of us nearly dumped our bikes at least once or twice. And now we're in one of the most amazing places I think I've ever been in my entire life. I've never seen anything like this. I feel like we're riding jet fighters. It's just the most amazing, free-feeling weirdness that I think I've ever experienced. You know I've made my fair share of videos where I've encouraged people to sort of confront their fears and do it anyway. And yesterday when I went up a mile on that gravel road and ended up turning back I felt like a complete goddamn hypocrite. I was so absolutely 100% disappointed in myself I can't even tell you. I got back and I said to myself what the hell did you spend all this money on an adventure bike for if you're not going to even ride it on gravel friggin roads. What kind of a... what kind of a wuss are you? Then I realized you know what? That day yesterday when I rode up that gravel road I wasn't feeling it. I wasn't feeling like I was at my best. I wasn't feeling confident and I made the right decision. I turned back. That was the right decision at the time and I regret beating myself up over it. This is wild. Part of me wants to just absolutely send it. Another part of me says you have no idea what's going to happen if you get above say 55, 60 miles an hour on this shit. It's all fine and good riding at this speed but I don't know. On the other hand people have set land speed records out here. One of them died in the process. But I'm not riding a rocket fueled bike. In order to make myself do this today what I did was I went home last night. Well I didn't go home. I went back to my motel room. I sat there and I kind of reassessed everything I knew about riding on gravel and all that stuff. Kind of did an inventory in my brain of everything that I had been taught in my ADB class and so on. And then I watched a bunch of YouTube videos and got differing opinions on the best way to ride through loose gravel. I picked one that I thought made the most sense. And that's the one I used and that's the one that absolutely worked just great for me. I can imagine this might not be the most compelling video that I've ever made visually. But my god I wish you could be here to see this. It's stunning. This stop here in the Alvord Desert is part of a 2000 mile trip I've been on since last Thursday. Today is I think Tuesday. So I've been at it for almost a week. I've seen all kinds of stuff. I came down from Portland. Went down to the Bay Area in Northern California. Over through Nevada. Up into I don't know where. And ended up in Danao Junction. That was yesterday. And today I am here in the Alvord Desert where I'm going to camp out for the night. I've got some water. I've got a tent. I've got some ramen noodle type things. And a couple cameras. That's about it. Oh and a chair. And my motorcycle. Otherwise I've got nothing. If you ever consider coming out to the Alvord Desert to ride around and you're kind of worried about riding in the sand. There's really nothing to worry about because it's not sand at all. It's like riding on I don't know some kind of weird pavement. It's almost like tile but it's not slippery. It's just I don't know it's the weirdest thing. I can't even explain it. I'll show you a picture I took of it close up so you can see. You know it's funny I came out here without some of the little staples that I like to have with me when I go camping. My non-alcoholic beer. Some meat or something you know good to eat. Or a pizza or something like that. Basically the little creature comforts. This is the first time in a very long time that I remember kind of coming out. Not necessarily unprepared. But not with the little luxuries that I sometimes take. I'm kind of looking forward to it. I'm kind of I'm so super happy that I met this guy. Who first of all isn't an exporter which is great. But is a lot like me. Just kind of hit the road. Wasn't exactly sure where he was going. Wanted to go to the desert. Wasn't really sure about it. Made it here. And you know I think when we both turned the corner on that gravel road and saw the desert. Both of our jaws kind of dropped. I got to be honest and say I was really looking forward to being out here alone tonight. But now that Michael's here. It's a totally different vibe and I'm here for it. I'm pretty excited to have someone to talk to. To have someone to share this with. Even though I don't know this guy at all. It's one of those things where you just kind of know. That after experiencing something like this with a complete stranger. That we'll probably be in contact with each other for the rest of our lives. Or at least you know the next few months. I'm not saying that this is some sort of spiritual experience or anything like that. But there's something about it. There's something about overcoming the fear to get here in the first place. And then getting here and seeing this and just being completely astonished. And then knowing that you're going to be spending the night out here. Basically relying on your own whatever to get through. Because I have no idea what's going to happen tonight. I have no idea if it's going to be 20 degrees. Although I know it's probably going to be in the 40s. I have no idea if it's going to be super windy. I have a pretty good idea that it's not going to rain. Because I've checked the forecast a thousand times for that. And even asked. Because one thing you don't want is to be stuck out here in the rain. That would be a very very bad thing. So in the end my point is. Even though I was really looking forward to being out here all by myself tonight. I am super super happy to have a new friend to share this with. And I guess the lesson to myself is that I need to not be so selfish about my alone time. Because if you can sort of just give in to the idea of not having everything exactly the way you want it. You might be up for the time of your life. This is insane. I can't stop. I can't stop thinking about how just unbelievably amazing this is. It's just so amazing to be out in the middle of this. Being able to ride as fast as you want. In any direction that you want. Stop wherever you want. And be surrounded by this unbelievable beauty. Today is one of those days where I just feel like I'm one of the luckiest people that's ever walked the earth. Thanks for watching.