Bailey goes to Over and Out Moto!

Dirt Daze

Flying solo at a three-day, dirt riding, moto campout with no previous dirt riding experience and surrounded by 200 women I had never met (and as an introvert I might add)- I was scared shitless. Nonetheless, I packed up my newly acquired DRZ-400 with the essentials; a tent, sleeping bag, clothes, spare tubes, and hit the road.

Tamaqua. A tiny town nestled in the hills and farmlands of rural Pennsylvania. I arrived just as they were opening the gates to the campsite for Over and Out Moto. There was already quite a line of motorcycles, trucks, and RV's waiting anxiously to get in and claim their campsite for the next three days. After setting up my tent and getting the paniers off my bike, I took some time to check out the grounds. Motorgrrl and Rev'it had some tents set up and the Over and Out crew had their merch laid out on display in a large barn. They had heaps of gear set up from varying brands such as Monster Energy, Rev'It, and Fox that would be raffled off the next evening.

At Noon we all met in the field by the barn for our first Rider's meeting to go over the day's events and trail maps. Enduro clinics were being held by renowned women's enduro rider Rachel Gutish as well as "Into to Dirt" lessons. Attendees also had the choice to do group rides based on skill level that launched directly from the campsite. I had signed up for the "Guided Dual Sport Ride" held by some of the members of the DVTR club. As we waited for the group to arrive, we had time to stop by the Motorgrrl pop-up garage to have our bikes inspected before taking off.

There were around 20 people in our guided Dual Sport ride; once we had all arrived at the meeting point, we set off on our 5-hour adventure. We wound our way through beautiful, tree-lined country roads and cut through a few cornfields until we reached our first dirt road. I must say at this point I was apprehensive about what I had gotten myself into seeing as the most off-road experience I had was going about 5mph in a dirt parking lot.  

We kept it pretty simple for this first day of riding and made our way through densely vegetated two-track roads, splashing through puddles along the way. We stopped for lunch about 2 hours in at an amazing hilltop restaurant with a stunning view of the hilly countryside. After an hour of food, refreshing drinks, and good conversation, we set back out and made our way to the first challenge of the weekend: the "Bike Wash". This rightly named body of water was around 2 ft deep and had a slick, rocky base. I must say, it did get a substantial amount of mud and dirt off of my bike! Shortly after we made our way back to camp, once again utilizing beautiful, winding, country roads to do so. 

We arrived back just in time to enjoy dinner from the Blend Life food truck and to watch the lighting of our campfire. After changing out of our soggy, mud-soaked riding clothes, we made our way to the campfire to end the day with smores and a raffle.

I woke in the morning to a layer of dew covering the ground, my tent, and my bike. The campsite was engulfed in a dense fog that made the morning light even softer than normal. Being the early bird that I am, I made my way to the Blend Life food truck for a breakfast sandwich and a much-needed coffee. We had the morning rider's meeting at 8:30 and then dispersed into our rider groups. Much like the day before, multiple enduro clinics were being held by Rachel Gutish and an Intro to Dirt Skills class. There was also a mountain bike skills clinic being held by those who were able to bring mountain bikes with them. I had pre-registered for the 9:30 am - 5 pm Guided Dual Sport with the DVTR club members that we rode with the day prior.

Before setting off for the day, our guides let us choose what skill level we thought we fell into: beginner, intermediate, or expert. I originally had it in my mind to join the beginners, but one of the lead guides said I was better suited for the intermediate group. They let us know that they would be offering "options" of more difficult routes that were available to take if anyone was looking for a challenge. We eagerly set off and warmed up on beautiful farm-lined, paved roads.

 Saturday's terrain was much more technical than the previous day. We tackled steep, rocky inclines and loose, muddy curves. I found the rocky descents and tight, low-speed maneuvering to be the most challenging. Our first "option" of the day was a technical and rocky hill climb. This feature was off to the side of the trail, so we were able to watch our peers tackle the beast. I worked up the nerve to attempt the easier of the two hill climbs, made it just over 3/4s of the way up, and found myself in a deep rut. I tipped in what felt like slow motion onto the rocky ground. One of the guides came up and helped me stand my bike up, which was no easy feat with the loose terrain below us. Exhausted, I hopped back on my bike and rode out the rest of the hill climb.

We stopped for much-needed refreshments, then began to make our way back to the campsite. We split into two groups, those who wanted to take the more challenging way back and those that wanted to take the quicker way back. Even though I was completely exhausted, I still felt the urge to take the challenging way back. We made our way through more loose inclines until we finally found our way back to pavement.

Back at camp, we got delicious smoothies from the food truck and made sure to purchase last-minute raffle tickets for the drawing that would take place that night. We ended the evening with lighthearted slow races and raffle drawings (one of which was won by yours truly).

I made my way back to my tent for the last time that weekend, thinking about everything I had learned and had the privilege of taking part in. I woke up early the next morning, got some coffee and breakfast, and started packing up my tent and gear. 

I am beyond proud of myself for doing something so new to me and for actually doing seemingly well at it! I had the pleasure of meeting some phenomenal women from all over the country and look forward to getting to ride with everyone again soon.  Here’s to many more years of Over and Out Moto!