Racer Gloves Travel: Antelope Res Ride

Having done many camp rides over the years as a solo rider, and thousands of miles 2up with my wife both on road and off road, it was time for our first camp ride.

Our bike is a 2015 BMW GSA, and as any rider knows, camping solo, planning and packing is fairly easy. But two up requires more planning. Larger tent, 2 sleeping bags, 2 sleeping pads and more duplicity for two. The biggest challenge for 2up was food. Since this was our first time camping, we decided to stay relatively local and only camp for one night which required minimal food and water.

Food wise, we decided to go with the old faithful…Mountain House freeze dried dinner and breakfast, some healthy snacks and enough water for the Mountain House and for the ever important morning Joe. Of course, no camp is complete unless you have a Jet Boil and your favorite Joe. For us its Pete’s Major Dickason’s. Dark…. nothing added…black. A “naked” Joe if you will.

With the GS carefully packed using the stock BMW boxes and 2 soft boxes on top of the side boxes we were ready to head out.

Living in Central Oregon with relatively close access to the Ochoco/Maury mountains, we chose Antelope Flat reservoir as our destination. There are several ways to get there and we chose the off road route from our house on the east side of Bend.

After 35mi of pavement from our house we got onto forest service roads past remote ranches, run down barns and variety of grassland and pine trees we arrived at Antelope Res about 2hrs later and a total of approximately 75mi and 5000’ elevation. 

This was not our first time riding off road, but with Lori on back and the boxes fully loaded, we were at our heaviest load yet. The GSA with electronic suspension worked flawlessly off road. We’ve developed a system when Lori gets on/off the bike so as not to cause undo balance that could cause me to tip over. After several thousand miles, no tip overs so far. We also use a Sena communicator and I let her know when to expect a bump or rough road section. The Sena also allows us to experience the ride as a couple and point out thing as we go along. Usually its Lori that’s doing the sightseeing since my focus is always on what’s in front of us, especially when off road.

This was July 1st weekend and Antelope Res is not a very popular camp spot since its fairly muddy and is not good for swimming. The main draw in spring/summer is fishing. The Forest service does stock it with trout and fisherman usually in pontoon style boats. Fall season sees mostly hunters. 

There are 25 camp spots and when we got there only 3 were taken. With plenty of light left, we unloaded the GSA and setup camp. Fortunately, there was no rain forecast so we were able to leave our gear on the bike overnight without worry and pack food and extras in the boxes. 

After serving up our “gourmet” combo of Mountain House Beef Stroganoff and Teriyaki Chicken we took a walk and headed down to the water to check things out. With most of Oregon in a drought this year, the water was fairly low and shores were muddy. A few boats out fishing and many birds flying around. Other than that, very quiet and peaceful.

As we settled into the tent for the night some strange sounds were heard in the near distance which sounded like Elk. Central Oregon in the summer, the sun sets late and it didn’t get dark until around 9pm. The bonus of getting up to elevation and away from light sources is clear skies and fantastic views of the Milky Way Galaxy and many stars. A phone app helps with identifying the night sky.

After a good night sleep, the first task in the morning is that “naked Joe”! Jet Boil fired up and the Aero Press locked and loaded, coffee is served. Once the first Joe is poured it was time for our Mountain House breakfast of scrambled eggs. Not quite the same as the real thing, but the Mountain House meal is adequate for getting us going in the morning. 

After getting the GSA packed up, we decided to head down to the Post store 35mi away to get a splash of gas and a morning snack before we headed home. Although the GSA holds almost 8 gallons of gas and a 350mi plus range I don’t like to fill it up unless necessary when riding off road.

Gassed up we headed back up to the mountains of a different FS road that took a more circuitous route back to one of the roads we took up. Instead of taking the same roads back down to home we decided to explore a few new FS roads. 

As we were working our way down out of the mountains we could see the rain clouds in the distance. Since we are AGATT and of course wearing Racer Gloves MultiTop 2 water proof gloves, we were ready. Fortunately, when it started to downpour on us we only had 2 miles of dirt/gravel road before getting back on pavement.

What we learned from this “test” ride, was how to choose the least of what we need to make packing efficient. Freeze dried food and plenty of water works adequately for 1-2 days, but we’ll have to have a better plan for real food for our next camp ride. We also could have made more room if we didn’t use our 20 degree sleeping bags and only used a down blanket or other similar top cover. All in all a successful trip.