What are these roads I am ranking? This video ranks the hardest roads on the main track of the BDR as denoted in the tracks by the listed easier alternatives. BDR has not listed these harder roads as separate tracks, so the way you know you are on a harder road is when there is an easier alternative to that road. Wherever there is a track listed as “easier”, then what it is bypassing is a “harder” segment. EXCEPTIONS: 1) there are a couple roads that are not considered harder, but have alternate tracks because of seasonal closures. I did not rank these. 2) There are also a few expert sections in Maine that are separate tracks and not part of the main route.
may not be the kind of videos you enjoy making but it is the kind of comprehensive videos i look for if I'm planning on riding it. Thanks. I want to know ahead of time if I want to risk the road.
@@StravaigADV I hope you keep it up! I know full well how difficult it can be to maintain a channel, but you did a great job with this whole series. Noticeable improvement on audio quality from your first couple videos to this one, and your narrative is very natural, reminds me of Everide, which I mean as a compliment!
@@DirtObseXXionthat’s a big compliment especially coming from someone with a channel like you have! Super stoked you noticed the improvement. This channel has been a long time coming, so I think it’s here to stay!
This video is INSANELY helpful! I have been riding ADV with a Tiger 800 for three years. I'm finally getting confident enough (brave enough) to start trying SOME of the expert sections. So this video was SOOOOOOO helpful in planning which ones to try and which ones to avoid (for now) One question - where is that "waterfall" route you ride through around :59 of the video? Thanks again for taking the time to much such an informative video!
Thank you for your comment! I love that road with the waterfall running over the road. So cool! It is one of the first dirt segments on section 1. I can get an exact pin if you’d like.
The Class VI's around where I live (NH's version of VT's Class IV) would all be in your top 5. For a while, I just assumed that was normal for off-road riding lol.
Where is ‘Joy Road’ on the route? I’m looking at the 2024 version of the BDR, where they’ve flipped all the “alt easy” sections to the main track, and labeled most of these as “alt hard” sections now (although Pepper road remains on the main route). But I can’t find Joy Road either as an Alt Hard or by searching the map in GAIA. Thanks for pointing it out if you can!
@@StravaigADV Ah - perfect. So it is just off the route now…maybe the BDR team got fussed at for taking the route through that reserve or something…who knows. I should have assumed as much since it’s so close to the route, but appreciate having it confirmed! Also really appreciate this video - it’s been super helpful for my planning with all the rains rolling right across the VT/NH sections the last 48 hours. As someone else said, it’s the rare detailed, clear, and specific video that is way more informative than most videologs for future riders, and still fun to watch! Subscribed & will go back and watch the other vids you mentioned!
awesome edits. thank you for creating them. glad i found these videos while researching my bdr trip this season. may i ask what time of year you guys did this ride? sorry if i missed it.
@@LCARSADV we stopped to eat at a restaurant once each day. Sometimes for lunch, sometimes dinner. We were not very efficient getting out of camp especially because I had a cold at the start. We stopped for some sights like the Persian mansion. We lost time with a small breakdown. I did skip a small section of route, but mainly because of bad weather. If you are considering going, definitely check out the other videos I made on the route to give an idea of our pacing. If we had more people in the group, or more issues, we would have needed to be more efficient or another day.
It appears that the difficulty is almost solely dependent on how wet/muddy the conditions are at the time you travel. There doesn't appear to be much in the way of actual "technical" terrain (aside from #1-3), at least not in the traditional sense. Looking back on the available BDR's I never thought I'd have any interest in the MA BDR or the NE BDR but here I am considering both on my bigger adventure bike. If nothing else I find it exciting to explore the NE parts of the country in a way that most never thought possible, "off-road".
Pepper Rd can vary a LOT in difficulty depending on how wet it is. When I first rode it a several years back it was sucking mud over the wheel axle depth, submerged logs, waterbars that you would bottom out on in an enduro. Just nasty. I've been down it a few more times since and it has been a bit drier and a lot easier.
This video rates the hardest roads on the main track of the BDR as denoted in the tracks by the listed easier alternatives. BDR has not listed these harder roads as separate tracks, so the way you know you are on a harder road is when there is an easier alternative to that road. Wherever there is a track listed as “easier”, then what it is bypassing is a “harder” segment. EXCEPTIONS: 1) there are a couple roads that are not considered harder, but have alternate tracks because of seasonal closures. I did not rank these. 2) There are also a few expert sections in Maine that are separate tracks and not part of the main route.
What would a 5 ranking be? Impossible? Were there any short sections within the hardest sections that you would rate a 5? How would the hardest sections of the NEBDR rank in comparison with other BDRs? That was almost as fun to watch as it was to ride.
Nothing was rated a 5. 5 would be, single track, with obstacles that require serious skill, and be on perilous terrain (side of mountain kind of thing). The hardest trail I have done is the hard trails at Brown Mountain, NC. That’s a 4 with some parts I didn’t ride maybe even 4.5 (I didn’t ride the whole loop, so going by what I’ve been told). I have ridden COBDR and MABDR, the NE is harder, but the roads connecting the hard roads are very easy. The COBDR doesn’t have roads as hard as the NE, but the average road is harder than the average NE road. The side of a mountain thing is very true of the CO. I’ll be on the UTBDR this year and will also make a MABDR video.
I'm wondering why there are closed road signs and barriers if it's the official BDR? Is it running through private properties that owners have not approved of or is it just people who live nearby who have no legal right to put gates and signs?
It is people with no legal right. I talked to a local that said many people move in and want to privatize public roads. But they are in fact all public open roads.
I wish I was the impression I thought most of these roads were unmaintained which means don't be no one repairing them unless the local does it on their own accord
I live in this area of VT. The difficulty of most of these class 4 roads is entirely dependent on what the recent weather has been like. Heavy rains tend to wash out entire sections, and deepen the puddles and crossings. Plus the runoff erodes the steeper hills to the point they are like rocky stream beds. The big washout shown at the end of the video was on Forest Road 10 where a bridge got swept away during a heavy storm, between Landgrove and Mount Tabor. That caused the road to be closed while they worked on it, so there is a long state highway bypass track in the currently available tracks on the BDR web site. The good news is that now in 2024 the repairs are completed, so no need to use that bypass. They also changed the NEBDR tracks so that the default is the easier, and the harder sections are the red alternates. I applaud them for doing that as it makes it more intuitive for newer riders or those with bigger bikes. If you are riding a bigger bike, or not up for the challenge of the hardest section, bypassing icebed road is a good idea. It isn’t a long bypass and route 140 is a nice little twisty paved road. The next hard section going north, Tabor Road, can be bypassed without riding around it on the pavement. Follow the Tabor Road “hard” section up to Hortonville and go right on Shunpike Rd. . Take Shunpike to the first left on Lake Ninevah Rd. Take that up past the Lake to rejoin the “hard” track which comes out of the woods on your left, and then goes right, down Patch Brook Rd, to Dublin Rd, to the intersection with VT Route 100 in Tyson. I would then follow the (now standard) track up Route 100 to 100A and up Lynds Hill Road, which brings you into the nice Plymouth 5 corners area, and bypasses Mount Moses Road. You’ll rejoin the hard track just before route 4 in Bridgewater. I recommend stopping at the Mill in Bridgewater for a couple slices of pizza at Ramuntos if you hit it at the right time.
@@StravaigADV I rode it this weekend. Right after the intro section, there is a short ATV trail with a loose rocky hill (steep decent and then steep incline) that warms you up. I rode it solo so it got me going. Then the section with the waterfall across the road is River Rd.. Not too difficult but with some steep dropoffs. The rest of the section is easy except a very short section at the very end which is very loose and steep.
Depends… 😆 a) your skill off-road on a big bike b) how much you enjoy the tiger on the paved stuff, also if you are riding black top a lot to get there. c) how concerned are you about maintaining the aesthetics of the big bike d) are you bypassing any of the harder stuff If A skill and B enjoyment/paved roads answer is lots, take the tiger. If A is little skill and C concern is high, take the DR. If D is bypassing hard stuff, take the tiger for sure as the the non-hard roads are quite easy. Hopefully this helps you make a decision. I think the best thing you can do is ride both of the bikes fully loaded on some similar difficulty stuff you can find near your area and see which you like more.
What are these roads I am ranking?
This video ranks the hardest roads on the main track of the BDR as denoted in the tracks by the listed easier alternatives. BDR has not listed these harder roads as separate tracks, so the way you know you are on a harder road is when there is an easier alternative to that road. Wherever there is a track listed as “easier”, then what it is bypassing is a “harder” segment.
EXCEPTIONS: 1) there are a couple roads that are not considered harder, but have alternate tracks because of seasonal closures. I did not rank these. 2) There are also a few expert sections in Maine that are separate tracks and not part of the main route.
may not be the kind of videos you enjoy making but it is the kind of comprehensive videos i look for if I'm planning on riding it. Thanks. I want to know ahead of time if I want to risk the road.
Great job on this, loved the justification of rankings and the 5 factor ranking system. Narration was on point!
Thank you sir! I expect the rating system will evolve as I use it, but it’s a good starting point.
@@StravaigADV I hope you keep it up! I know full well how difficult it can be to maintain a channel, but you did a great job with this whole series. Noticeable improvement on audio quality from your first couple videos to this one, and your narrative is very natural, reminds me of Everide, which I mean as a compliment!
@@DirtObseXXionthat’s a big compliment especially coming from someone with a channel like you have! Super stoked you noticed the improvement. This channel has been a long time coming, so I think it’s here to stay!
Awesome video man! Ready for that iron mountain footage!
Coming soon!
This Video was super informative! Thank you for sharing!
Glad it was helpful!
Great video. I live reasonably close to Ice Bed. Did the first bit now I’m stoked to complete it!
I am looking at the NEBDR and the MABDR.
Thanks for the information.
I have ridden both. I will be doing MABDR video later this year.
@@StravaigADV I will be looking forward to it. Thanks 👍
@@MotoOffroadAdventures any question you’d like answered about MABDR?
Thanks for making this. Going to be doing this route one day and it’s helpful.
Good to hear! Let me know if you have any questions I can answer about it.
I did most of the NH and Maine route on a Honda PCX 150 scooter -because it was funny. No problems.
Wow! Sounds like you need to make a video about that. I will say, VT is quite a bit harder than the rest.
Heck yeah! I'm gonna do it soon on my Honda ct125. Super excited.
This video is INSANELY helpful! I have been riding ADV with a Tiger 800 for three years. I'm finally getting confident enough (brave enough) to start trying SOME of the expert sections. So this video was SOOOOOOO helpful in planning which ones to try and which ones to avoid (for now) One question - where is that "waterfall" route you ride through around :59 of the video? Thanks again for taking the time to much such an informative video!
Thank you for your comment! I love that road with the waterfall running over the road. So cool! It is one of the first dirt segments on section 1. I can get an exact pin if you’d like.
@@StravaigADV Nope that's enough info for me - so up in NY? I was hoping it was in VT ;-) Thanks so much for the quick response!
Thanks for sharing, aids in our planning for 2024
Let me know if you have any questions (camping, eating) and I’ll try to help
Liked, subscribed and commented. Good work.x
Great video and narration!
Glad to see you following along!
Good info!
Glad it was helpful!
The Class VI's around where I live (NH's version of VT's Class IV) would all be in your top 5. For a while, I just assumed that was normal for off-road riding lol.
Especially with the washouts those roads are pretty tough on and adventure bike.
Great info!
Glad it was helpful!
Where is ‘Joy Road’ on the route? I’m looking at the 2024 version of the BDR, where they’ve flipped all the “alt easy” sections to the main track, and labeled most of these as “alt hard” sections now (although Pepper road remains on the main route). But I can’t find Joy Road either as an Alt Hard or by searching the map in GAIA. Thanks for pointing it out if you can!
Yeah that update really changes how things look. It’s a small detour.
Here are the coordinates: 42.97974, -72.5798
@@StravaigADV Ah - perfect. So it is just off the route now…maybe the BDR team got fussed at for taking the route through that reserve or something…who knows. I should have assumed as much since it’s so close to the route, but appreciate having it confirmed!
Also really appreciate this video - it’s been super helpful for my planning with all the rains rolling right across the VT/NH sections the last 48 hours. As someone else said, it’s the rare detailed, clear, and specific video that is way more informative than most videologs for future riders, and still fun to watch! Subscribed & will go back and watch the other vids you mentioned!
Really well done video! You earned a subscription from me!
Welcome aboard! And thank you. More coming soon!
awesome edits. thank you for creating them. glad i found these videos while researching my bdr trip this season. may i ask what time of year you guys did this ride? sorry if i missed it.
Fall of last year. 2023.
Looks like a Blast!
AWESOME
Great edit! How long did it take you to complete it?
We started section 1 Saturday at around 5 pm, I made it to the end of 8 around 5 on Friday afternoon.
@@StravaigADV thanks. Is that stopping to enjoy the scenery and eat, or all out miles every day?
@@LCARSADV we stopped to eat at a restaurant once each day. Sometimes for lunch, sometimes dinner. We were not very efficient getting out of camp especially because I had a cold at the start. We stopped for some sights like the Persian mansion. We lost time with a small breakdown. I did skip a small section of route, but mainly because of bad weather. If you are considering going, definitely check out the other videos I made on the route to give an idea of our pacing. If we had more people in the group, or more issues, we would have needed to be more efficient or another day.
@@StravaigADV great! Thanks man, I will watch those videos, great narration by the way. Where are you based out of?
Thank you! I am based out of NC.
It appears that the difficulty is almost solely dependent on how wet/muddy the conditions are at the time you travel. There doesn't appear to be much in the way of actual "technical" terrain (aside from #1-3), at least not in the traditional sense. Looking back on the available BDR's I never thought I'd have any interest in the MA BDR or the NE BDR but here I am considering both on my bigger adventure bike. If nothing else I find it exciting to explore the NE parts of the country in a way that most never thought possible, "off-road".
m riding this for the 1st time Aug 2024. I have 2 bikes DR 650 and Tiger 900 Rally Pro. Which would you recommend?
Left my response on your other comment
Pepper Rd can vary a LOT in difficulty depending on how wet it is. When I first rode it a several years back it was sucking mud over the wheel axle depth, submerged logs, waterbars that you would bottom out on in an enduro. Just nasty. I've been down it a few more times since and it has been a bit drier and a lot easier.
And that is an important point: weather makes a big difference in conditions and difficulty.
I'm confused, are these roads you are ranking marked as the Expert roads or are they on the bypasses around the expert roads?
This video rates the hardest roads on the main track of the BDR as denoted in the tracks by the listed easier alternatives. BDR has not listed these harder roads as separate tracks, so the way you know you are on a harder road is when there is an easier alternative to that road. Wherever there is a track listed as “easier”, then what it is bypassing is a “harder” segment.
EXCEPTIONS: 1) there are a couple roads that are not considered harder, but have alternate tracks because of seasonal closures. I did not rank these. 2) There are also a few expert sections in Maine that are separate tracks and not part of the main route.
Thanks for the clarification. Great information!@@StravaigADV
What would a 5 ranking be? Impossible? Were there any short sections within the hardest sections that you would rate a 5? How would the hardest sections of the NEBDR rank in comparison with other BDRs? That was almost as fun to watch as it was to ride.
Nothing was rated a 5. 5 would be, single track, with obstacles that require serious skill, and be on perilous terrain (side of mountain kind of thing). The hardest trail I have done is the hard trails at Brown Mountain, NC. That’s a 4 with some parts I didn’t ride maybe even 4.5 (I didn’t ride the whole loop, so going by what I’ve been told). I have ridden COBDR and MABDR, the NE is harder, but the roads connecting the hard roads are very easy. The COBDR doesn’t have roads as hard as the NE, but the average road is harder than the average NE road. The side of a mountain thing is very true of the CO. I’ll be on the UTBDR this year and will also make a MABDR video.
I'm wondering why there are closed road signs and barriers if it's the official BDR? Is it running through private properties that owners have not approved of or is it just people who live nearby who have no legal right to put gates and signs?
It is people with no legal right. I talked to a local that said many people move in and want to privatize public roads. But they are in fact all public open roads.
I wish I was the impression I thought most of these roads were unmaintained which means don't be no one repairing them unless the local does it on their own accord
Hi Timothy, are you referring to these ranked roads? The NEBDR traverses some class IV unmaintained roads, but many more maintained roads.
I live in this area of VT. The difficulty of most of these class 4 roads is entirely dependent on what the recent weather has been like. Heavy rains tend to wash out entire sections, and deepen the puddles and crossings. Plus the runoff erodes the steeper hills to the point they are like rocky stream beds.
The big washout shown at the end of the video was on Forest Road 10 where a bridge got swept away during a heavy storm, between Landgrove and Mount Tabor. That caused the road to be closed while they worked on it, so there is a long state highway bypass track in the currently available tracks on the BDR web site. The good news is that now in 2024 the repairs are completed, so no need to use that bypass.
They also changed the NEBDR tracks so that the default is the easier, and the harder sections are the red alternates. I applaud them for doing that as it makes it more intuitive for newer riders or those with bigger bikes.
If you are riding a bigger bike, or not up for the challenge of the hardest section, bypassing icebed road is a good idea. It isn’t a long bypass and route 140 is a nice little twisty paved road. The next hard section going north, Tabor Road, can be bypassed without riding around it on the pavement. Follow the Tabor Road “hard” section up to Hortonville and go right on Shunpike Rd. . Take Shunpike to the first left on Lake Ninevah Rd. Take that up past the Lake to rejoin the “hard” track which comes out of the woods on your left, and then goes right, down Patch Brook Rd, to Dublin Rd, to the intersection with VT Route 100 in Tyson.
I would then follow the (now standard) track up Route 100 to 100A and up Lynds Hill Road, which brings you into the nice Plymouth 5 corners area, and bypasses Mount Moses Road. You’ll rejoin the hard track just before route 4 in Bridgewater.
I recommend stopping at the Mill in Bridgewater for a couple slices of pizza at Ramuntos if you hit it at the right time.
What's the hardest part of section 1 between Hancock and Andes?
Probably whatever road this is, right near the beginning:
ruclips.net/video/1o_VvNNDB5g/видео.htmlsi=JNGmMXKXnewNYQtX&t=175
@@StravaigADV I rode it this weekend. Right after the intro section, there is a short ATV trail with a loose rocky hill (steep decent and then steep incline) that warms you up. I rode it solo so it got me going. Then the section with the waterfall across the road is River Rd.. Not too difficult but with some steep dropoffs. The rest of the section is easy except a very short section at the very end which is very loose and steep.
What KTM are you riding ?
@@steve70918 a 2020 790 Adventure R
In 2021 (I think) it became the 890,
Im riding this for the 1st time Aug 2024. I have 2 bikes DR 650 and Tiger 900 Rally Pro. Which would you recommend?
Depends… 😆
a) your skill off-road on a big bike
b) how much you enjoy the tiger on the paved stuff, also if you are riding black top a lot to get there.
c) how concerned are you about maintaining the aesthetics of the big bike
d) are you bypassing any of the harder stuff
If A skill and B enjoyment/paved roads answer is lots, take the tiger.
If A is little skill and C concern is high, take the DR.
If D is bypassing hard stuff, take the tiger for sure as the the non-hard roads are quite easy.
Hopefully this helps you make a decision.
I think the best thing you can do is ride both of the bikes fully loaded on some similar difficulty stuff you can find near your area and see which you like more.