Challenging Hills on an Adventure Bike / R1200GS ADV

This is Queenman Mountain, also known as Baby Head Hill. And this is the most infamous hill in the entire Washington Backcountry Discovery Route. Alright, so the idea here, the best way to get up a hill like this is just clear all the rocks out of your way so you have a nice clean path. No it's not. Queenman Mountain is infamous because many a bike has met its fate here, and many a rider has fallen down and struggled. It catches people by surprise. From the bottom it looks very unassuming. But this hill is made out of lava rock, and it doesn't lock together, it continues to move. So going up the hill, that front end is going to kick around, the bike's going to kick around, and many riders aren't ready for that. There's three steps to success on this particular hill. First, you've got to have the right mindset. When you get to the bottom of this hill, if you can't visualize yourself at the top, if you're not convinced you're going to make it, just turn around, go around. But that means you have to go all the way back to the pavement, because there's no workaround in the dirt for this particular hill. Second part is, make sure you know where you're going. Park your bike down the hill, walk up and take a look at what it looks like. It doesn't look like much from the bottom, but when you get up there and you find out, none of this stuff locks in. It's rolling around, it's like riding on gravel, but it's really big gravel. The third part is having the right skills and the right techniques. Sitting down on this hill is not an option. You need to be standing up and being neutral. Get forward on the bike, so that your hands are loose on the controls and the handlebars. As you start going up this hill, your bike's going to get really loose on these rocks. These things don't lock in, and your front end's going to start moving left and right. That back end's going to kick up and move off of things. You've got to be above the bike, so when it's moving, you're independent of the motorcycle. You have to stay loose on the grip. Your throttle hand, you can't be holding on really tight and being rough on it. It has to be very, very smooth, and you've got to keep those two fingers over that clutch for your buffering power. Every time that back wheel catches a rock and spits it out, it ends up in midair. When that tire hits the ground, you need to have already buffered power. Trimmed off just enough, so when that tire hits the ground, it doesn't start spinning, but it keeps you moving forward. If you stall and stop on this hill, things only get worse. So you've got to keep the forward motion. Keep your eyes at the top of the hill. Anytime you look at something, that's where you're going to go. And you can't worry about looking at rocks on the hill. The whole hill is made of rocks. What you're looking for is that notch that you can get your wheel into. You're looking for the rocks that are buried in deep, that are predictable traction, that you know when you ride up and over them, they're not going to move. When your back tire hits it, that you're going to keep forward driving, forward momentum. When you get to the top, there's a shelf of rocks here, and they don't move at all, but it looks scary. That's the best place to go, because you can get up on that shelf, and you've got good control. It's predictable. You know what's going to happen, and you can keep the drive going. This hill isn't for the faint of heart, and it's not an easy hill. But there's got to be a first time. And if it's your first time coming here, bring somebody with you, keep your bike light. Pull your luggage off at the bottom of the hill. Make it easy for yourself, and then haul it back to the top. Any adventure bike can make it up this hill. I'm running street tires. I have street air pressure. I did add a little protection. I've got the beefiest skid plate I can get on the bike. I've got engine protection, and I've got guards so I don't accidentally break my levers if something goes wrong. In the end, it's not the bike or the gear that gets you to the top of this hill safely. It's your knowledge, it's your confidence, and it's your skill.