I was a Boy Scout, Troop 285. One of two Eagle Scouts in our small group of youngsters, I learned to love camping. I also love to ride. I should have been a cowboy, but my granddad sold my horse before that thought ever got the bit in its teeth. So, I bought a motorcycle instead. I never chased cattle, but I rode the range…still do, every chance I get. My bedroll consists of a North Face Blue Kazoo sleeping bag and a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2 tent. My steed is a BMW R1200GS Adventure. Motel Six might as well save a few kilowatts and turn out the light. I’ll be somewhere under the stars, thank you.
The Rawhyde Adventure Ranch, deep in the heart of the Angeles National Forest north of Castaic, California, has become BMW’s west coast training center and host to the 2010 GS Trophy qualifier, “The Adventure Rider’s Challenge.” The event was held there at the end of April and first of May. I rode out with Adventure Rider Magazine’s publisher, James Pratt, primitive camping in some of the west’s magnificently remote but motor-accessible places.
Many times we find ourselves bound by urgency, flying down the highway, bent on making it to our destination in time to have a well planned bit of fun and then return home to the lawn, jobs and other obligations, a predictable experience when we attempt to schedule every moment. Not this time. Adventure, I have heard it said, is what happens when plans go awry. Sans any plans then, it’s all an adventure, right? Our only obligation was to make it to the Rawhyde Ranch in time to compete, six days travel away. Plenty of time to ride a motorcycle less than 2,000 miles. We barely made it with all our wanderings!
We burned the six days out to California and I continued my rambling, rolling explorations another three weeks and 5,000 miles after the competition before returning home. I will attempt to share more of that story later, but suffice it to say that we were successful at the Challenge and I will be representing the United States in the GS Trophy competition in Africa this November. 
As I prepare for the event, I am grateful to have a Backwoods store in my hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. It was a “fur piece” to north Oklahoma City back in the dust bowl days before they put in a store a mile from my house! Next week I will load my gear on my bike and head to the Great Northwest to meet my team mates for the trophy and ride the Oregon Back Country Discovery Route (OBDR), and to attend BMW’s National Rally in Redmond, Oregon. The OBDR, a 750-mile, mostly dirt trail from California to Washington, will serve as a training run. We will camp along the way, enjoying the outdoors and learning something about working together as a team.
Learn more about the Adventure Rider’s Challenge and the GS Trophy completion by checking out this link. Dragoo in center of opening slide and on red R1200GS, black and white shirt, gray helmet.
And more about the GS Trophy here:
About Bill Dragoo: Bill Dragoo takes to riding big motorcycles in the rough like a fish takes to water. Bill and his wife, Susan, of Norman, Oklahoma, are writing a book, “Ultimate Dual Sport Rides of North America.” Bill just finished a 7000-mile journey through the western United States, where he went to compete and to meet with contributors. Over the last three years Bill has competed in the Rawhyde Adventure Rider’s Challenge near Los Angeles, California, an amateur skills competition for dual sport motorcycles of 650cc and above. He has scored two first-place podium spots and a second during his three attempts at the ARC. Bill’s first success in 2008 caught the eye of BMW Motorrad of North America and put him in the running for a world class, dream come true event. BMW’s German parent company sponsors “The GS Trophy” every two years. Based on the popular “Camel Trophy” of years past, the GS Trophy showcases the R1200GS and F800GS instead of Land Rovers. Conditions are, otherwise, much the same.
In 2008 the contest was held in Tunisia, North Africa. Bill was one of six finalists, but missed the final cut in competition at BMW’s east coast training facility at Spartanburg, South Carolina. This year his second-place finish on Day One of the Adventure Rider’s Challenge earned him a place among the Top 20, who would compete the second day for one of the top three positions on the GS Trophy team. The 2010 GS Trophy will have teams from 14 countries taking on the terrain of South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique.
They’re your best friend, confidant and an adopted member of your family- so why not plan an excursion for them, too? As the weather warms and you’re itching to immerse yourself in nature, consider letting your next trip “go to the dogs” by scheduling an adventure with your partner in crime!
Brad Jerome, Ron Meyer, Dea Spiker-Meyer, Kandice Westerhoff & Kathy Westerhoff
We hosted our first yoga at Backwoods session. Bryce from the Ashtanga Studio on campus corner was our instructor. He said the class was at a lower level than a beginner class, but I’ve been doing yoga for quite some time and found parts of it to be a challenge.