What is it?
The Adventure Bike Gathering a suggestion that you should come to Vernon, meet other riders, and go out riding and exploring together. Some people will follow GPS tracks, others will simply venture out to see what they find.
Expect very little organization, and zero pampering. You come here as an adventurer knowing that others are near. You figure out your days by talking to other people. Ride, eat, mingle, make new friends, ride some more. If you think this sounds cool, we look forward to seeing you!
September 14 – 16, 2023
Vernon, British Columbia
Here’s the plan…
There is no registration process. We have a pile of reasons for this but they are not worth cluttering this page. We may have 30 people show up, or 300.
Come to Vernon. Stay in a hotel, flop at a buddies house, stay in a campground, or stealth camp in the parking lot. We’ve seen it all!
Show up each morning is the parking lot outside of the Fairfield Hotel. There is a Blendz coffee shop in the immediate area.
- If you are a Keener, show up at 7 AM. You will get the greatest choice of rides to join, and the most bench racing time. If you plan to go on a full day ride, come early as the team likely needs to leave early to get home before dark.
- Regular folks show up around 8 AM, pick a ride, to chat with moto buddies from years gone by, and depart on time at 9 AM.
- The Nappers arrive any time after 9 AM when most of us are gone but hopefully find somebody to ride with! Hey, we run a tight ship!
If you are on a half-day ride, you can come back to the food trucks for lunch, hang out with other riders, and pick an afternoon group to go out with.
2023 Routes
We have prepared new routes for 2023, and created a system so you can ride some of the best, and most classic, trails from Gatherings gone by. Check out our new ROUTES page.
Hard ADV Club
Some of the rides that people will be going on are very challenging, and all are potentially dangerous. Riders are encouraged to know their own ability level, as well as the ability level of the other riders that they are choosing to ride with.
We suggest that advanced riders get to know each other on a shorter and lower consequence routes such as Twisted Steel & Climbing Salsa Shark before venturing into the harder options.
Here are some details for ya…
Choose Your Adventure
- Join some riders and go out together.
- Take some GPS tracks and guide yourselves.
- Create your own adventure in our many local road and trail systems.
Suitable Bikes
Anything street legal with dirt-worthy tires. 250cc to whatever monster you call your steed.
Accommodations
Both Hotels listed below are side by side, and next to the parking lot that we use as our meeting point before each ride.
Plan A > Best Western Premier Route 97 Vernon is offering up rooms to our crew for $159 / night. Reservation Link. The Link is valid until August 31. Please book now!
Plan B > We suggest the Fairfield (by Marriott). They have $199 rooms set aside for us, so be sure to tell them that you are coming for the Adventure Bike Gathering.
Good Camping Options
- Ellison Provincial Campground – A Stunning Provincial Campground (West of Town ~15 Mins Away)
- Cedar Falls Campground & RV Park – A Very Nice Private Campground (East of Town ~5 Mins Away)
- Kekuli Bay Provincial Park Campground (South of Town ~15 Mins)
Cost & Stuff
It’s free, but there are also no perks!
- No accommodation.
- Bring your own bike.
- Pay for your own meals.
- No guaranteed spots on rides.
This is not a professional event. Your satisfaction is not guaranteed. You are a part of making this gathering happen, not somebody paying to attend.
If you are lucky you may get a decal or two, and perhaps win a prize from one of our sponsors.
If you are cool with all of this, we look forward to riding with you!
Safety Check System
We don’t have one. Your buddies are your check-in system. Your communications gear is your lifeline. If you are going deep into the mountains like Park Mountain, Sugar Mountain, Hunter’s Range, Mara Lookout, etc. make sure you have all of the safety and communications gear within your group. We won’t know if you don’t make it back to town in a timely fashion.
Remember, this is not an event. This is a location and a time to meet. Whatever you decide to do once here is up to you!
Routes & Difficulties
Get familiar with some of our routes by watching our videos. Remember, most videos make the riding look significantly easier.
Be Prepared
Physical fitness plays a significant role as rides can take 3 to 4 hours, venture deep into the wilderness, and can have sustained levels of difficulty.
60:40 tires should be considered a minimum. None of our routes are groomed!
Bring riding gear for weather that could be 25 degrees and sunny (yay), or 10 degrees and rainy (ew!).
Lunches
Food trucks will be located at Vernon Motorsports. See ya there for a snack, and then we take off again!
Evening Gatherings at 6pm
Thursday > Station BBQ Smokehouse
Friday > The Kal Sports Bar
Saturday > Martens Brewpub
Note: On Thursday and Friday the restaurants will fill up and they will need to turn people away. We don’t have a lot of big venues in Vernon. On Saturday, we have the entire place booked and everybody should be able to fit in.
2023 Sponsors
That Moto App is a premier sponsor and is footing the bill so everybody can get a package of Gathering stickers for free. That’s about $1,000!
Join today for free with Access Code: Ride4Dylan
Alan from RPM in Blairmore is back and giving us stuff again! Bark Busters. Two sets as well! Visit them online here, and if you are rolling through the Crowsnest Pass, be sure to stop in and say hello!
This sharp outfit by Ride 509 has been generously donated by Vernon Motorsports. Thanks Justin & Amanda!
Check out this nifty Lexin P5 Smart Pump & Battery Pack, donated by Dirty Matt from Rapid Revolutions – Tire Pump and Battery pack all in one. Score!
This lightweight hydration pack by Fly Racing could be yours courtesy of Mountain Sports Distribution.
These snappy Scott Fury goggles have been donate by RPM. Thanks Alan!
Alan from RPM has sent us two great looking tires for us to give away. This is a 60/40 tire from Mitas called the E-07+ ENDURO TRAIL. It looks bomber to us, and now that I have them in my living room, I may nab a set to try them out. My current ADV tires are making me go deaf!
Look after your moto batteries better with this Oximiser 900 donated by Vernon Motorsports. This unit looks deluxe!
Dirty Matt from Rapid Revolutions donated this handy Element E50 Fire Extinguisher – Strap it to your bike or your body for 50 seconds of extinguishing power.
Mountain Sports Distribution has generously donated several sets of Fly Racing gloves to help keep your hands protected, warm, and dry.
Lorry from Outback Motortek will be present this year and he plans to give away form $200 gift certificates. Nice!
We first saw these in That Moto App and immediately ordered two of them for ourselves. We got a quick response from Engduro thanking us for our purchases and asking us if they could donate 3 of these to be given away at The Gathering. You betcha guys! Learn more about this great tool right here.
These snazzy goggles, the Accuri 2 by 100%, are also from RPM and sport a clear lens. Great for fall riding when the sun dips down low sooner than we may like!
Another sharp outfit by Ride 509 has been generously donated by Vernon Motorsports. They are really going to spruce up our rag tag crew!
Dirty Matt from Rapid Revolutions strikes again with the generous donation of a Speed Demon Multi-Function Power Pack. Need a boost? Dirty Matt has your back!
Fly Racing shirts courtesy of Mountain Sports Distribution. Thanks guys!
Gathering & Other Moto T-Shirts
Looking for some cool moto t-shirts? We got a bunch printed this year! Bring cash. We just want to recover our costs.
Highlights from Last Year
We have a web page that features a pile of the highlights from our 2022 event. Check it out HERE!
The Adventure Bike Gathering
September 14 – 16, 2023
Vernon, British Columbia