By Chad de Alva
Mosko Moto is on to something with their Dusty Lizard campouts. These weekend-long events have a laid-back, run what you brung, choose your own adventure format that is a welcome change of pace compared to all of the other shows, rallies, and expos out there. Other events feel higly commercialized, or only focus on one brand of bike, or only have one route per day to ride, but the Dusty Lizard is best described as a community of riders that gathers in outstanding places to ride and hang out. We’ve been to several Dusty Lizard campouts now, and each event has served up a unique and truly enjoyable experience. The most recent Dusty Lizard was held in Silverton, Colorado, and it was in a word, awesome.
Silverton is a small town tucked in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. The side streets are still dirt, diagonal parking on Main Street is still a thing, and steam trains still stop in the middle of town. If Colorado mountain towns are known for being slowly and inexorably consumed by resort town affluence funded by out-of-state millionaires and billionaires, Silverton is doing a great job of avoiding this fate. Yet Silverton’s true riches lie not within the town limits, but in the seemingly infinite number of topo lines that describe the mountains around town in every direction. Silverton is a Rocky Mountain riding paradise.
Every road leading out of town is like a main artery, branching into smaller veins that spread out into an intricate network of capillaries—the dirt trails and tracks—each one winding and weaving through the contours of this breathtaking landscape. Some roads lead to historic mining camps, while others carefully climb their way up gulches and basins on their way to cross exposed ridgelines. With a bit of map study, one can create epic all day adventure that will take them to nearby mountain towns, and/or cover 100s of miles of world-class Mountain riding that's limited only by a bike’s fuel range and/or the rider’s endurance.
Figuring out where to ride and who to ride with at a Dusty Lizard is something that Mosko Moto has carefully considered. Each attendee is provided a selection of curated GPX tracks that run the spectrum from easy dirt roads to technical single track. These suggested routes are also printed on giant maps that are hung from the side of a trailer that forms one wall of what Mosko calls the Dusty Lizard lounge. With comfy couches, gas fireplaces to ward off the evening's chill, a supply of assorted fizzy beverages, and live music on Friday and Saturday night, the Dusty Lizard Lounge is a key component of what makes these events special. At other events, riders tend to hang out in small groups in their individual camps, yet at a Dusty Lizard, everyone hangs out in the lounge.
From kicking back with a fizzy beverage and swapping stories about the day’s adventures, to finding other riders to group up with who all want to go check out the same trail(s), the Dusty Lizard Lounge is what cultivates community at these events. What’s neat is that you’ll start to recognize folks at each successive Dusty Lizard you attend, and before you know it, you’ll be catching up and/or hanging out with folks around a campfire in a cool place, which is something we could all use more of. And then there’s the riding.
The San Juan Mountains have something for every type of rider, and the views are epic anywhere you look. On the first ride day, a couple of buddies rode over to Silverton from Telluride, and then we set off for an all-day high pass and single-track safari. Our route had it all: Mellow, wide gravel roads that took us past cool mining ruins, multiple high mountain passes with narrow shelf roads and grades too steep to be paved, 50 inch wide double track where ATV tires make perfectly burned corners for dirt bikes, and of course miles and miles of technical high alpine single track. We saw Moose in the highest reaches of one basin, and feasted upon wild raspberries in the in the lower elevations of another basin. There’s something about climbing mountains on dirt bikes and riding along their highest reaches on a narrow ribbon of trail that never gets old, and we enjoyed every mile of it. With nearly empty fuel tanks, but completely full cups, we made it to Silverton in time to catch the band and enjoy an outstanding evening with live music, good food, and good company in the Dusty Lizard Lounge.
For the second ride day, I had the opportunity to ride with a couple of guys from Mosko, and the one and only @one_lost_moto. We ended up starting our ride late in the morning, but the benefit of a leisurely start meant that we had a perfect excuse to stop in Telluride to get tacos for lunch. Off-road bikes are a wonderful tool in this part of the world, as they allow you to travel between towns much faster on the high passes than cars on the highway – as long as you’re not stopping for photos, which is my fault. By the time we made it to Telluride, the tacos were exactly what we needed. With our bellies full, riding more high passes was in order, so we set off for Ouray via another pass.
At the top of the pass, we stopped to take in the view and to play “is that thunderstorm and wall of water below it headed our way?” The top of a mountain is never a good place to be when a thunderstorm is bearing down on you, but thankfully for us, these storms appeared to be headed around us for the time being, so we were able to grab a few more shots before dropping into Ouray.
At this point, we had to make a game time call to revise our route back to Silverton so that we could make it in time for the evening’s events. While we had to give up a longer, more technical route, it meant that we got to do the go-fast, jump all the bar ditches route, which is also a ton of fun. It's great to have multiple fun options to get from A to B, especially since in many other parts of the world, the only way to shortcut a route is by hopping on the highway. After summiting one more pass, and only a couple more photo stops, we made it back to Silverton before dinner (hello, pig roast!) and the music kicked off. Yet Mother Nature also had some plans for the evening.
Remember those thunderstorms from earlier? Well, they found the Dusty Lizard Lounge right as the band was getting into their first set. Yet what I remember most about that night is eating a tasty dinner, and then getting to hang out around a campfire with some great folks. I’ve been at other rallies where everyone runs away once the rain starts, but at the Dusty Lizard a number of folks weathered the storm, and they were the ones who got to enjoy the brilliantly clear sky and near as makes no difference full moon lighting up the San Juan Mountains after the storm passed.
The Silverton Dusty Lizard was a great time. It's been awesome to watch Mosko Moto carefully refine and grow these events, and I only expect Dusty Lizard Campouts to get better as time goes on. It's awesome to be at an event where anyone on any brand of bike is welcome, riders get to choose their own adventure, and the whole experience isn't packaged as sales pitch. We only get so much time in life to ride and to go to riding events, so if you're looking for an event that's a hands down good time, in a great riding location, and attended by good people, you need to check out a Dusty Lizard campout.
For more information on dusty lizard camp outs, including upcoming events, visit: https://moskomoto.com/pages/events-rallies
