Chris Birch might be your laid-back neighbour in New Zealand, but as KTM’s Global Adventure Ambassador, his backyard just happens to be the whole world. Whether he’s carving through Colorado or tackling the mountains in Romania, Birchy lives life full throttle—and we’re along for the ride.
This new monthly blog series follows Birchy as he ventures off the beaten track, sharing the wild, the wonderful, and the downright gnarly from his two-wheeled travels. So if you’ve got a case of FOMO (and a thirst for adventure), consider this your monthly dose of inspiration to get out and twist the throttle.
First up …. Birchy recently spent two months in the United States, hosting coaching clinics and then exploring for 2500 miles solo on his 890 ADVENTURE R.
Our Say No To Slow adventure schools in Utah have become a highlight of the year for me, just as the weather starts to turn wet and cold in New Zealand, it's time to head north for warmer and drier. This year's schools were the best with great students and perfect conditions. But it was after the schools that the real adventure started.
By a happy coincidence I ended up with two weeks to kill before meeting friends for a ride in Mexico, so after a month of schools and riding my KTM 890 ADVENTURE R every day - I did the only sensible thing I could do: strapped my tent and camping gear on, and set off with no real plan other than to explore and ride from sun up till sun down.
I spent an hour on my phone downloading the Utah and Colorado Back Country Discovery Routes (BDR), so I had an easy but beautiful back country starting point. I then started searching for the enduro trails for the all-important spicy parts.
That’s where I reckon the KTM 890 ADVENTURE R is so incredible. With everything I needed to live - admittedly not in luxury and smelling pretty bad in my Kriega luggage - I could punch out some interstate, explore deserted back country roads or hunt down dirt bikes on the single track ... just following my nose and doing whatever I wanted to do in the moment.
Heading out of Salt Lake City, I ditched the highway as soon as possible for a maze of single track that would take me up to the Alpine and on to the BDR route. What my limited research hadn't told me was any difficulty ratings of the trails, and very quickly I was riding trails that would not be out of place in a hard enduro race.
I had my Walmart sandals strapped on the back, and I lost them almost immediately. And then I dropped the bike in a creek.
“OK, time to take this a bit more seriously”. I dumped some pressure out of my tyres and promised myself to ride with a mindset more suitable for a solo mission in a foreign country. A bit less ego, a bit less excitement, a bit more thinking.
Coming across a group of enduro riders at the top of one particularly tough rocky climb was a funny moment.
“Where the XXXX are you going on that?” They asked.
“Probably Colorado, but maybe Arizona as well.” I answered. I think I blew their minds a bit!
Over the next two weeks I had the best trip I’ve had in years.
I rode in the snow at over 3000m.
I rode in 41 degrees (insanely hot for a Kiwi) and in sand dunes in the Desert near Moab.
I rode super technical seventeen chillies rock crawler trails in Moab. And when I wanted a change in scenery, punched out six hours on the Highway and went and rode single track in the mountains and forests in Colorado.
I camped in some beautiful places, met some amazing people - with the inevitable “You're from New Zealand????” sparking interesting conversations.
And fell even more in love with Adventure Bikes. Sometimes no plan is the best plan.
- Birchy