It's Not An Adventure Until...

IT’S NOT AN ADVENTURE UNTIL...

FEATURES

TIPS AND TRICKS TO MAKE YOUR ADV RIDE SAFER AND MORE FUN

MARK LINDEMANN

WHAT DOES ADVENTURE MEAN TO YOU? As soon as the gas gauge wanders below the halfway point, some guys start wringing their hands and thinking about drinking their own urine. Others don’t think it’s a real injury unless you can see an exposed bone end. Adventure riding means the occasional inconvenience. Here are some tips and tricks that have made it all fun.

FAVORITE “CHEAT" TO START A FIRE:

Arc from battery terminals

FAVORITE “FIX-ALL” ITEMS:

• Duct tape wrapped around tire irons

• 50 feet of parachute cord

• Tube of epoxy putty

• Ten feet of 0.032 safety wire

FAVORITE EDIBILITY ENHANCERS:

• Tabasco

• Salsa Lizano

• Tamazula Extra Hot

FAVORITES

FAVORITE MULTITOOL:

Leatherman Surge

FAVORITE DIGESTION CORRECTION:

• Alka-Seltzer Lemon Lime

• Lomotil

• Imodium Multi-Symptom Relief

• Baby wipes and first-world toilet paper in Ziploc bag

THE “ALWAYS” BAG

Years of climbing, hiking, skiing, hunting, and riding have taught me the importance of being warm, dry, and comfortable at night, especially if you have no sleeping bag or tent. Tothat end, I carry my “always” bag. Small enough to tuck into the corner of a daypack or saddlebag, it’s the difference between shivering and snoring.

• Thin balaclava “ski mask” hat

• Capilene long-underwear top and bottom

• Fleece socks

• Buff-type neck gaiter

• Thin liner gloves

KEY TO ADVENTURE

While dirt bikes don’t need a key, dual-sports and ADV machines do. Once, in Death Valley, I went to start my bike in the morning and found only the key’s head remaining-the shaft had broken off and is still somewhere in the desert. Such are the rigors of the ADV lifestyle. Now I keep a spare in the bike’s battery box and another tied to the axle wrench in my tool kit. A flat key underneath your boot’s insole works too.

DRINK BOTTLED WATER. USE MORE HOT SAUCE.

TROUBLE AHEAD

Many survival shows and courses are designed to emphasize woodcraft skills, like trapping animals. In my experience, ADV riders need a different priority list. Most likely trouble will find you because the bike breaks, you break (like a bone), you get lost, you get sick, or you run out of gas. Riding with a companion will go a long way toward addressing most of these, but due to my charming personality I often end up riding alone. Here’s what you can do.

THE BIKE BREAKS: Start with a bike in superior condition, especially the tires. Changing your own tires and doing your own routine maintenance helps prepare you as well. So does learning to ride well enough so you don’t crash.

YOU BREAK: Take a first-aid class. Training, not a first-aid kit, saves lives.

YOU GET LOST: You can buy

a CPS, but mostly this means paying more attention and consulting your map more frequently. Talk to the locals too.

YOU GET SICK: Wash your hands more. Use hand sanitizer. Ninety percent of this is ass-tomouth disease. Drink bottled water. Use more hot sauce.

YOU RUN OUT OF GAS:

Poor planning. Carry a siphon hose. Never be on the bike with the smallest tank.