Chasing Light Pt. 1

A few weeks later a box arrived with two Defender 3 GTX suits, one Dominator 3 GTX suit, three pairs of Expedition H2O boots, along with helmets from NEXX and Bell. Not to mention the right accessories like gloves, hydration packs, socks, and base layers. It was Christmas in June! Phone calls to friends at BMW and Ducati helped set us up with a two of the latest adventure bikes: A BMW R1250GS Adventure and a Ducati Multistrada Enduro 1260. A trip for three it would be.

Matt Sanders - rider #2 - and I have worked together on REV’IT! shoots for a few years and have been friends for years before that. I’ve been wearing REV’IT! gear since I bought my first adventure bike in 2004, which coincided with REV’IT! first being imported to the US. Our third was my friend Matias, who I met the year before in NYC. He had ridden his R80GS to Argentina with a friend and wrote about the trip in the book Two Wheels South and had spent his time in lockdown rebuilding his vintage BMW R100GS for an upcoming trip to Africa.

Matias had shipped his motorcycle to Oregon to be a part of the 1 Moto Show and left it there to take on this trip. This adventure would be a solid shakedown of his new bike build, the first bike from his new company, Myth Motors. For Matt and I, this was a chance to ride the latest and greatest bikes from BMW and Ducati and to explore parts of Oregon that people rarely get to explore. Sadly, the day before we were supposed to leave, on the shakedown run, Matias had a spill and broke his ankle - throwing the trip into doubt.

As Scott readied himself for the trip with less than a day to get his affairs in order, I had the Myth bike on my bike lift in the shop; making some last-minute repairs to a new luggage rack that was far to wobbly to survive a week in Oregon, much less a month in Africa. It was a late night of welding and fabricating but by morning, the bike was solid.

Our initial plan to ride up and past Mt. Hood - the dormant volcanic peak east of Portland - was derailed by last year’s forest fires that had closed many roads. Instead, we hurtled up the main road and into near freezing temperatures at the top of the pass. At Government Camp, we stopped to put in our thermal liners then headed off to a road Scott knew that had spectacular views of Mt. Hood. Not more than a mile down the road, we hit snow as deep as the bikes. There was even a Jeep buried up to its doors blocking the way. Our mountain photos would have to wait.