Dacre Overland Rally Date: July 6, 7, 8, 9 / 2023 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Dacre Overland Rally Date: July 6, 7, 8, 9 / 2023

I’d like to attempt this but I’m confused as to what bike you can bring it says blue/green plate but then says local roads
 
There are sub-classes and separate routes for green plated bikes and blue-plated ADV bikes within the Gold, Silver and Bronze classes. Iron class is the exception, which is blue plate only.
 
I have not attempted the Dacre, but I have done their RockHound Rally in Silver class on a 2 stroke enduro. My bike and riding skills were adequate for that class, but it was a long day, and I didn't even attempt the optional objectives. The Dacre will be way longer. The Iron class is probably more casual, but take them seriously when they talk about the overall fitness required to finish.
 
Ya it’s starting to sound like a pipe dream (beyond my capacity), maybe I should focus more on the rockhound, I ride a big 4 stroke, what tires and tubes did you use for the rockhound?
 
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I've always used Kenda Trakmasters and standard tubes. They did fine, but I have no experience with anything else to compare them to.
 
It says on the web page that you need a gps and an inreach emergency beacon, what type of navigation equipment did you use and did you find it difficult or lose your way at all?
 
I think the InReach beacon is just recommended for the Dacre, not mandatory. And for the RockHound Rally the InReach wasn't mentioned at all, but it wouldn't hurt to bring it if you have one. You do need a regular Garmin GPS from their supported model list for most of their events though. I used an ancient Venture HC which worked okay, although it has very limited on-board memory.

When I did the Corduroy Trail Ride and the RockHound Rally events a few years ago, you gave them your GPS the night before so they had time to load the tracks on it and so you didn't have time to figure out how to cheat on the route. But it looks like they now email you the GPX file a week ahead of time if you want it.

The Corduroy Trail Ride (not to be confused with the actual Corduroy Enduro) was the most casual event I did with them. Ended up riding in a group for most of that. I was one of the few in the group that actually had a GPS, and everyone else just tagged along. That one was pretty easy to follow. This would be a good event for most casual dual-sport riders to get their feet wet.

The RockHound Rally requires everyone to have a GPS, although it looks like they'll accept a cellphone GPS. I really wouldn't want to rely on a cellphone GPS for this event, especially if it's your actual phone that you'd use for emergency calls. The route is rough and there were a bunch of very deep water crossings the year I did it, so you'd be tempting fate to rely on GPS and emergency communications in a single fragile device. I don't recall navigation being especially tricky on this event, although I think we did get turned around once or twice. I also accidentally did one of the optional loops when I was tired and really just wanted to get back to camp.
 
Thanks Ash it’s so helpful to hear from people who have been there and done that. I’m really getting hooked on this type of event to the point that I’m even building a specific bike for them. I’ve found a lot more videos and I think an auto clutch, steering damper and a big flywheel weight are in order. I’m signing up for all the summer events including Offroad Ontario’s cross country series. I’ve recently retired and this is super exciting, coming from a road racing and Supermoto background I need that Sunday routine back in my life even if it is Saturdays. I hope to see you out there and thanks again for the feedback.
 
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I completed Bronze in 2019 on a 450 and Bronze again in 2021 on a 1090.

I failed on silver in 2018 on a 701. My skill wasn’t great and it was wrong bike for that class plus I knew nothing about gps.

Garmin Montana 610/680 or newer models are ideal. It’s the gps recommended to me by event organizer.

Be in shape! I’m an okay rider but being in shape helped the most. I put 20 hours on my engine that day.

If you have any other questions you can send me a PM.
 
20 hours of riding in one day! Mikel, I’m not even usually awake that long in one day, I think realistically that I could only complete one loop not both, so I am going to focus on the Rockhound rally and work from there, although I am still wondering wether I can compete in the silver class or should maybe try the bronze class first?
 
It's been 5 or 6 years since I rode the Rockhound so I don't remember exactly, but I think it was an 8-10hr day for me. I stopped to help a guy who had drowned his bike in a water crossing which added to the time, but I also just rode the course and didn't try to hit any of the official waypoint locations/activities for scoring/prizes. I was very tired long before the end of it.

For reference in terms of stamina, at the time I would usually ride around Ganaraska single-track for 4 hours straight at a decent clip, with maybe a 5 minute break in the middle. In terms of difficulty, the Silver Rockhound route was definitely harder than anything in Ganaraska, but nothing extreme from what I recall. No babyhead rock cliff climbs or anything like that, although I did get stuck up to the axles in mud at one point and there were two or three long water crossings with water up over the top of my boots. You do need to be comfortable with steep rooted hill climbs and descents, log crossings higher than axle height, and rocky sections.
 
I’m pretty comfy with the harder riding scenarios even though I am probably too old for extreme enduro, it’s the stamina thing I’ll have to work on. I’ve done plenty of 10-12 hour days in the Madawaska highlands but I’m definitely physically done after every one, I’m looking forward to the navigation factor; and hitting all the way points will definitely be part of the fun.
I’m building a specific bike just for this event so that will help; lowered and valved suspension for the rocks, high torque 390cc motor with an auto clutch and heavy flywheel, lots of armour and a comfy seat.
I’d like to find some teammates for the event as some of the obstacles in the videos look like an extra set of muscles may be needed to get the bikes up and/or over unless you have Billy Bolt type skills.
 
I have found some interested parties to form a team for the silver class over on advrider, is there anyone here interested in doing the silver class with a team?
 
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