Dusty Butt 1,000km adventure ride

[alfonz]

the dusty butt was designed to be done in one day that is the challange that ryan had in mind although some had puntures etc one day is the dusty butt

[NordieBoy]

Yeah but...
The qualifying event for the one day Dusty Butt could be completing the 2 day Dusty Butt.

Just like the Coast to Coast but harder.

OR...

The 1 day and 2 day take off at the same time in the same direction (or staggered start) -> Maungatapu.
2 day overnights in St Arnaud along with any 1 dayers who have been delayed/dropped with punctures etc and caught up by the 2 dayers.
Then everyone can get together at the end for lunch on the 3rd day.

[cooneyr]

The Dusty Butt was intended to be a one day challange. It was expected to be a difficult 17 (make that 20+ with hindsight) hour ride. Nordie is right though in that I think we need to have two rides. A two or three day scenic ride - would suggest two days as easier to ride sunlight hours than taking time of work - and a one day flat out ride.

I think most are tending towards a two ish day ride so that they can see the country side and socialise. This is fine and I think most would enjoy it. If there are a select few who want to try and complete the 1 day challange then we should organise that as well.

No offence to anybody but I think the 1 day participants need to be confident and capable high speed gravel riders who are well prepared. The participants need to be able to ride non stop for a min of an hour at a time i.e. basically only stopping for fuel. This would be a personal challange ride rather than a see the scenery and socilise trip.

Both trips would be best run in the middle of summer when daylight hours are longest, the wx is good and both the Molesworth and Rainbow are open. I would suggest early Jan i.e. maybe straight after the Nelson Port races?

Cheers R

[PLUG]

The Dusty Butt was intended to be a one day challange.
If there are a select few who want to try and complete the 1 day challange then we should organise that as well.
This would be a personal challange ride rather than a see the scenery and socilise trip.
I would suggest early Jan i.e. maybe straight after the Nelson Port races?
Cheers R

count me in ...

[RedKLR650]

The Dusty Butt was intended to be a one day challange. It was expected to be a difficult 17 (make that 20+ with hindsight) hour ride. Nordie is right though in that I think we need to have two rides. A two or three day scenic ride - would suggest two days as easier to ride sunlight hours than taking time of work - and a one day flat out ride.
No offence to anybody but I think the 1 day participants need to be confident and capable high speed gravel riders who are well prepared. The participants need to be able to ride non stop for a min of an hour at a time i.e. basically only stopping for fuel. This would be a personal challange ride rather than a see the scenery and socilise trip.
Cheers R

Work ( wedding photography bookings ) permitting, count me in for both. The 2 day could be better first as a bit of a recon ride to suss out any dodgy corners just over rises as Ryan discovered , with the 1 dayer soon after while the route is still fresh in our memory. Even the top rally drivers are still allowed a recon run first

Hopefully you lot consider me qualified as a high speed gravel rider, and as for the non stop riding, having just completed the Southern Cross ride I don't think that's too much of a problem

Cheers, Stu

[RedKLR650]

BTDT. One road ride (Triumph RAT?) we made some impromptu route choices that pushed the limits of the remaining fuel, knowing that the KTM SuperTanker could be used as a backup. In the end it helped three bikes get to the next fuel stop under their own steam.

Out of curiosity Colin, just how many litres does the KTM supertanker hold, and roughly how far can you get on a good run ?

Cheers, Stu

[warewolf]

Out of curiosity Colin, just how many litres does the KTM supertanker hold, and roughly how far can you get on a good run?

Recent models are 25.5L. Range is typically around 500km of mixed riding, up to 570km on my best economy (slow road cruising on GC), down to 440km on the worst (two-up on Molesworth/Rainbow).

It's not overly huge for the class but is large for a dirt- or sprots-bike.

The older bikes had a 28L tank, plus the 660 Rallye has twin 10L side pod tanks, for a total of 48L. All that fuel has forced a rule change in the Dakar race recently: they reduced the range required of the bikes in order to reduce the fuel weight.

[Balrog]

No offence to anybody but I think the 1 day participants need to be confident and capable high speed gravel riders who are well prepared. The participants need to be able to ride non stop for a min of an hour at a time i.e. basically only stopping for fuel. This would be a personal challange ride rather than a see the scenery and socilise trip.

Cheers R

So what are we saying here?
That the ride is limited to fast riders only or that we just won't try to keep the group togeather and its every man for themselves once it starts?

[warewolf]

So what are we saying here?
That the ride is limited to fast riders only or that we just won't try to keep the group togeather and its every man for themselves once it starts?

The original (and only, as far as I'm concerned) intent of the Dusty Butt 1000 was to be a gravel/adventure version of the Grand Challenge (1000 Miles in 24 Hours): a personal challenge. Really, you should only ride with others that ride at your pace; that is, go when you go, stop when you stop. Faster riders can stop for longer, slower riders have to spend less time stopped. That's just the nature of the event, and it works well.

Harsh but true.

Whilst the route Ryan came up with was a beauty and lends itself to a much less rushed social ride, any plans in that direction should not carry the Dusty Butt name. Hey, I'm all for doing it as a social ride at a more modest pace, but then it won't be a Dusty Butt, but rather just another fantastic adventure ride.

My 2c.

[edit: and the name was inspired by these chaps: The Iron Butt Association. Plenty of useful long-distance riding tips there.]

[Balrog]

Sorry that probably didn't come across that well.

Ryan's right about the riding criteria, and I think warewolfs ride plan would be fine.
The fast guys should probably just go for it and not wait around.
That would give them the best chance of completing it.

Maybe riders might be interested in forming different speed groups.

[cooneyr]

Sorry that probably didn't come across that well.

Ryan's right about the riding criteria, and I think warewolfs ride plan would be fine.
The fast guys should probably just go for it and not wait around.
That would give them the best chance of completing it.

Maybe riders might be interested in forming different speed groups.

I think this is the only way to do it unfortunatly.

Cheers R

[PLUG]

The original (and only, as far as I'm concerned) intent of the Dusty Butt 1000 was to be a gravel/adventure version of the Grand Challenge (1000 Miles in 24 Hours): a personal challenge. Really, you should only ride with others that ride at your pace; that is, go when you go, stop when you stop. Faster riders can stop for longer, slower riders have to spend less time stopped. That's just the nature of the event, and it works well.

Harsh but true.

Whilst the route Ryan came up with was a beauty and lends itself to a much less rushed social ride, any plans in that direction should not carry the Dusty Butt name. Hey, I'm all for doing it as a social ride at a more modest pace, but then it won't be a Dusty Butt, but rather just another fantastic adventure ride.

My 2c.

[edit: and the name was inspired by these chaps: The Iron Butt Association. Plenty of useful long-distance riding tips there.]

... make that 4c ...

[PLUG]

So what are we saying here?

practice ... practice ... practice ... the more ya ride the faster ya get ... hunt out them loose surfaces GSjim & make some dust/mud ... you'll be good to go, come the new year ...

[warewolf]

Sorry that probably didn't come across that well.

It's fine. "Ride at your own pace" is another way of saying it.

It's a hare-and-tortoise game. The GC is run to encourage you to finish, the average speed required is something like 68km/h. On tar that's relatively easy, but in gravel and, let's face it, snotty 4wd tracks like Maungatapu, Porika and the like, that's a real challenge. So the average speed has to come from somewhere else... such as short stops.

On the DB 1st half, we kinda had quite a lazy day, with some quite long stops, not including the puncture repairs. Watching the clock on the GC you wouldn't do that. Get gas, drink/munch and off again. I ride the GC with a mate who is a bit slower. He sets the pace on the straights, the time of the stops etc. I ride at my own pace through the twisty bits, then to let him catch up either dawdle along the straights or stop at the next intersection. We'll pass some fellahs on the road, then they'll pull in to gas up after us, leave before we do, then we pass them again. We'll finish pretty close to them. Meanwhile the fast guys have had dinner & beer and are in bed before we finish.

The DB is a different animal to the GC. Things like opening gates poses a time problem in itself, particularly once you add in waiting or even co-ordinating other riders coming through... or gates swinging closed on bikes coming through Therefore I suggest for consideration doing a DB as 800km in a day, to pull it back to a hellishly long day ride. Figure 50km/h average, 16 hours, yeah it's still a toughie on lots of gravel. It's not supposed to be done at race pace (and recons not necessary) but rather a long steady ride.

But hey, it's been an interesting exercise, huh?

[Transalper]

The original (and only, as far as I'm concerned) intent of the Dusty Butt 1000 was to be a gravel/adventure version of the Grand Challenge .....
[edit: and the name was inspired by these chaps: The Iron Butt Association. Plenty of useful long-distance riding tips there.]

I'd have to agree with that too.

Perhaps a two day event if run with the same route sheet might be called the 'Scenic Butt' or the 'Dusty something' (i don't know.. blouse??) or... the DB Adventure as apposed to the DB Challenge... what ever.

Now I'm off to have a better look at that iornbutt website thanks warewolf.