Long Horns and Monkey Butt

Here is a little story how Outsidevan's Espar Power Hauler and owner spent the weekend. Thanks for the story, we love to hear about your Dodge Sprinter adventures on the Outside!

"Yesterday, I swam thinking the surf was not going to happen. Then I got the call that Shark fin was going off. Turned out to be one of the best SUP sesh's to date--big, glassy walls to a wide channel. One tow-team out earlier that am. Then, Tim showed up with a ski and we towed a building swell at the Siletz River mouth for two more hours. I then (red) bulled-up and drove to bend. I wanted to check out a dual sport link from the China Hat single track area to the Christmas valley dunes. (In preparation for the upcoming Dune/Carne Asada fest in October). It ended up being three tanks/250 miles of exploration. Soft red cinder gravel, twisty singletrack, technical rock gardens, long drones on lonely country roads and wind groomed pumice dunes. I left Bend in the morning. That evening in La Pine (with a Margarita, some fantastic mexican food, my flip flops and a change of clothes. AHHH!) Backed my van up to a gravel bank and I roosted my 690 KTM right in, bonking hard. Great route past several caves, multiple ecosystems, and epic desert vistas. The cave in the picture was used as a civil defense bomb shelter back in the day."

Outside MTB

New levels of backcountry travel and shuttle. Crossing days of "hiking" in hours, we explored single-track mostly reserved for high-end moto's. The Southern panhandle of the Pacific Northwest Wilderness was camp, home, and a spaghetti bowl of almost 80 miles of logging roads. Hauling up to 5 Giant mountain bikes, 5 people, 1 dog, lots of H20 through the wash board roads the Dodge Sprinter was a perfect means to getting totally lost for two nights and three days of rad dirt exploration. Underestimating the elements in such a remote setting has led to rescues and evacuation, don't forget your matches, zip-ties, and level of capability. ~ osv ~

Wild Strawberries!

Quality times

Norco Shore

... helps getting out the cob webs

Coast Escape

105 in the Gorge with no wind calls for the coast!

Fun on the Surf Tech Takayama "in the pink"

And even some wind in the afternoon for a kite session on a Slingshot Rpm

Dan from Werner Paddles joined us and both Dodge Sprinters made it through sand- momentum is your friend.

Welcome to the Family

In an old Russian tradition, we "wash over" the Dodge Sprinter Transformer, welcoming it to the family. Washing over involves a water glass full of alcohol (of course) that can either be poured on the vehicle directly or better yet, you spit it!

Thank you for introducing us to this great custom-

we will be sure to include this in the future!

160 mile Happy Hour

Making the best out of weak swell we did down-winders with no straps and worked on transitions that flowed with the little waves. Brought the SUP and all kite sizes, had to fly my old 17 Slingshot Machine that's been collecting dust for two years. The coast was alive with little fish and the birds were ravenous. The sunset and evening spent drinking and eating on the beach in the van was the highlight of the whole trip.

Mid Summer Moto

Hot summer dusty dirt. Not even. Two days of rain, tacky terra firma Nectora. Konstantin the newest member of the Outsidevans dream team loaded up in Transformer, followed by the KTM Power Hauler for a mid summer assault on the goods. I'd have to say, the Dodge Sprinter we drove was well equipped but was nothing compared to Konstantin's KTM. This bike had more billet and bling than any factory ride we had ever seen.