Rain, mud, and ruts: Zac’s 2017 Fundy Adventure Rally

Photos: Zac Kurylyk
Title photo: Tammy Perry

The event sounded like a good idea at first – I’d planned to run it for months – but about 20 minutes into the Fundy Adventure Rally’s offroad ride this year, I began to question whether I should have stayed home.

Riding the dirt roads in a foggy downpour, I realized I’d grabbed a thermal jacket liner in my rush to get to the rally … and left the rain liner at home. I was soaked through all my clothes, and the day was just beginning.

Way back in January, one of my New Year’s Resolutions was to ride the Fundy Adventure Rally this year. I figured I’d probably take my DR650, tag along on someone else’s team, and mix up some A routes and B routes, maybe throwing in a C route for kicks.

But it’s been a tough year at CMG. As a result, the DR650 isn’t quite finished (almost there) and I barely had the chance to ride offroad this season. I didn’t want to hold a team back, so I opted to ride the solo Scavenger route (a little over 250 km, instead of 500 km). And, because the six-fiddy was still not completed, I had to take my 1990 Suzuki DR350. Which, of course, needed some maintenance. It wouldn’t be a CMG rally weekend if there wasn’t some last-minute wrenching.

The 350 needed tires. With the rear tire off, I decided I might as well swap in my rebuilt shock while I was at it. And hey, look how loose that rear linkage is! Maybe I should install those bearings I bought months ago?

Against all odds, I was at the rally in time to chat with the GS Challenge competitors on Friday, set up a tent, then tear it down once I found a spot to stay in a cabin.

Those street-oriented tires plowed through a lot of muck!

Dan sports a muddy coating after his spill into the muck.

The only two-up team in this year’s rally finished without so much as a low-speed tipover.

Robert was good enough to take over ride leader duties for the Scavenger route group, and did an excellent job of making sure everyone was safe.

Four other bikes went out on the Scavenger route with me, rolling out shortly after 9 PM. There were two solo riders aboard BMWs, another guy riding two-up with his son on a Beemer, and another rider on a V-Strom. My 26-year-old 350 was the odd bike out, for sure.

At the start of the day, riding along on the verge of hypothermia, I wondered if I’d be able to complete the course, or if I’d have to turn back. Thankfully, I warmed up in Alma (perhaps due to the coffee, or perhaps because I got hot under the collar when it took a half hour’s wait to get service at the shop).

From there, the day just got better.

Not that there weren’t challenges. The day’s second off-road diversion (we had to do pavement to connect the dirt routes) saw us headed down an extremely greasy clay road that almost put all of us into the ditch, no matter what tires we had. However, that misery turned into fun as soon as we hit a gravel road in the coastal marsh a few minutes later. Not only could you trust your tires to go where you pointed them, but you could even enjoy the view for a few minutes, despite the fog and rain.

While the A, B, and C routes offer an all-day challenge for riders that many can’t finish (the attrition rate on the main course this year saw plenty of riders earn DNFs), the Scavenger course is aimed at providing an easy ramble through the same area on much tamer dirt roads, with an emphasis on scenic locales. It’s a great option for someone in my position, who wants to ride off-pavement and see some interesting country without wrapping themselves around a tree.

There are plenty of little side roads in New Brunswick that take riders to lookoffs and other scenery that you’d never find without some help, and that’s where FAR organizer Eric Russell’s hard work comes in. While I was riding a dirt road through the Kent Hills Wind Farm, atop a foggy mountain with windmill blades whizzing just overhead, I realized this was a place I probably never would have visited unless I’d come to the rally. My soaked T-shirt and jacket were suddenly less of a problem.

After the wind farm, a network of gravel tracks and potholed pavement (typical for NB) took us to Petiticodiac, where it was lunchtime. With the rain and mud, it would have been tempting to take an extra-long break, but we didn’t linger. We shoveled down some Subway, and then the group split up.

Before leaving, we’d been cautioned about the slick clay sections after Petitcodiac, and warned to take an asphalt detour. Some riders wisely heeded that advice, but I decided I was game for it, and headed down the forbidden route. I was on a little 350—what’s the worst that could happen? One rider followed me on a GS1200, figuring I could help him extract the beast from the mud if worst came to worst.

Turns out we were both right. I had little difficulty on the DR, but Dan ended up soaked to the skin in muck, thanks to a low-speed off in a waterhole. But his crash bars took the hit, we pulled the bike out, and rejoined the rest of the team quickly.

Photo time at Cape Enrage. There was plenty of opportunity for snaps along the way, despite the rain.

This creepy inukshuk army on the beach looked like a project of some weird backwoods NB death cult.

About two hours later we were back at Adair’s Wilderness Lodge, with the only real hazards being a few rutted, slippery clay sections and our own fatigue. While the riding itself wasn’t technical, the rain sapped our energy, and everyone was glad to be back.

Sitting at the Lodge, seeing the teams who’d already failed the A, B, and C routes, I felt a mixture of regret and happiness. On one hand, I’d really wanted to run the main 500-km route this year, and was disappointed that it hadn’t worked out. On the other hand, I’d managed to complete my ride without a DNF, my ancient dirt bike had actually completed the course when newer, shinier bikes hadn’t even started, and I had a pretty good idea of what I’d have to do if I wanted to challenge the main course next year.

But most importantly, I’d seen new country. That was one of my other New Year’s goals this year, and I thought I’d achieve it by traveling to the US or some other province. Little did I know that the most interesting scenery I’d see all summer would come right in my home province, in an area I’d circled many times on the street without taking the time to visit. Now, I’m just waiting for the cool fall weather to come, and the leaves to change, so I can return for more photos.

GALLERY

Check out all the pics that go with this story!

En route to the Fundy Adventure Rally! Photo: Tammy Perry

Many of the usual suspects were back for the 2017 event.

Last-minute wrenching, as usual.

There were a lot of RVs around the camping section, and even more tents. Plenty of people brought their families this year.

More last-minute wrenching. And here I thought CMG was the only ones …

Zac is sentenced to the stocks for the unforgiveable crime of wearing a KTM jacket on a Suzuki motorcycle.

This creepy inukshuk army on the beach looked like a project of some weird backwoods NB death cult.

Photo time at Cape Enrage. There was plenty of opportunity for snaps along the way, despite the rain.

Part of the Scavenger ride’s point is to collect random facts from landmarks along the way. Here, riders find out the history of a covered bridge.

This gravel road through a coastal marsh was an unexpected treat to find on the route.

Robert takes a photo at the Crooked Creek lookout. The Scavenger route is filled with gems like this spot, that you’d never find otherwise.

Sights like this are everywhere in NB, but you’d never find them without some reason to go there, like the rally.

Robert was good enough to take over ride leader duties for the Scavenger route group, and did an excellent job of making sure everyone was safe.

The only two-up team in this year’s rally finished without so much as a low-speed tipover.

The fog did tend to interfere with photos.

The gravel roads like this were considerably easier than the clay routes, which turned pretty greasy.

On service roads, just south of Petitcodiac. I’d known of the existence of these roads, but never bothered to explore them before.

Dan sports a muddy coating after his spill into the muck.

“Where next?” Actually, the GPS instructions were flawless, and the route’s mapbook was pretty easy too (unless you destroyed your speedo cable like I did).

Those street-oriented tires plowed through a lot of muck!

Until next year! By lunchtime Sunday, almost everyone was packed and ready to go.

Jamie Jones (you might remember him from the interview we did a couple years back) demonstrates his incredible two-wheeled control that earned him a spot in the GS Trophy event next year. That competition ran all weekend long at FAR.

Not every competitor was so lucky.