Chasing Light: New REV’IT! Moto Adventure Video Series Launches
Three riders with a loose plan to find adventure on a quest to chase the light.
The answers revealed during their five-day adventure ride in Oregon will be shared in a beautifully-shot four-part video series called Chasing Light, with the first episode, Portland to Painted Hills, available to watch now.
The riders are cinematographer, Matthew Sanders, piloting a BMW R1250GSA; lead photographer, Gregor Halenda aboard a Ducati Multistrada 1260 Enduro and Scott Rounds, also a photographer, and “hero rider” a.k.a model for this gig, who muddied up the retro custom BMW R80, Myth 001, built by Matias Corea. Matias was originally going to ride his bike, but suffered a broken ankle the day before departure. If you like the Myth, take note that Gregor is also a veteran adventure bike builder, whose custom super-light, long-travel R100GS debuted to rave reviews in 2019.
The plan for the ride was loose, with only two goals in mind: Discover true adventure and make the most of each day’s golden hours, that “window of time each day when the angle of light is just right for making photographic magic,” typically right before sunset, but also just as the sun rises.
The guys would also be testing out and shooting REV’IT!’s latest adventure suits, Matthew in the Dominator 3 GTX jacket and pants and Gregor and Scott in the Defender 3 GTX jacket and pants. All the riders wore Expedition H2O boots. Over the course of their trip this gear would be tested in all extremes. ”We had snow, rain, dust, wind, mud and temperatures that varied from below freezing to almost 100 degrees,” says Gregor.
You can tell it’s a treat for the trio to do the photo and video work on the fly – on a real ride instead of within the confines of the complicated, corporate-organized marketing shoots they are used to dealing with. “No stylists, no motorhomes, no producers,” just pure adventure.
After watching the first episode of this series, you’re hooked, and not for just one reason. The high value of the imagery alone is worth the watch, but it’s the local’s-only inventory of empty, off-the-beaten-track backroads, towns and trails, plus the fraternity of the three friends and their sense of humor that draws you in.
Matthew says the project was an eye opener for him, and renewed his love of two-wheeled adventure. He’d been living in Oregon for 20 years, yet was seeing astounding sites, places like Leslie Gulch (Part 4) for the very first time.
All the insider info on the route, which includes memorable stops in multiple single-stoplight towns, secret camp spots, gorgeous backdrops, sinewy paved roads and challenging dirt tracks, is thanks to epicurean Gregor’s passion-borne side hustle as the owner of Saku-Moto, which offers highly curated adventure tours in Oregon. Think having the best milkshake of your life served up in the back room of a town’s only store, chasing a river for 50 miles on a flowy gravel road, then enjoying a local steak cooked straight on the coals in your camp.
The Chasing Light series is full of these amazing moments. And aside from losing a drone and a camera in mishaps, everything goes as expected for the first couple days. But stay tuned to watch the guys set up camp in the middle of the Alvord Desert’s 12-mile long, 7-mile wide dry lake bed just as a major storm rolls in.
And things only get more entertaining from there as they set off down muddy two-tracks in search of an elusive hot spring. Each episode of Chasing Light only gets more entertaining. At times, it’s pure calamity.
These ordeals become a prime opportunity to test the bikes, the gear and the fortitude of the riders. When I asked the guys about the bikes, their findings weren’t too surprising.
The Myth 001, a couple hundred pounds lighter and with a higher front fender and more narrow tires, was the easiest to ride when conditions got technical, but fell short on high speed stuff. Matthew, a former off-road and SuperMoto racer, hadn’t ridden his loaner BMW’s GSA much before the trip, and while he felt intimidated by the size at first, by day 5 he was a believer. The Ducati was a bike Gregor had been curious to try, though he found out quickly it performed much better on on-road segments than for challenging off-road riding.
As for the gear, it sure got put to the test, not only by having every type of weather condition thrown at it, but it also had to endure a ton of muddy tip-overs and dissipate the extreme body heat ignited by picking up those heavy bikes for six hours.
“With vents open and liners out we were comfortable in the high desert, even when we were picking up bikes for the 50th time,” reports Gregor of the Defender 3 GTX jackets and pants he and Scott were wearing. Yet when they crossed over Mount Hood in a snowstorm on the last day, they zipped up tight and stayed warm, and even stayed dry riding two hours through a driving rain storm. Matthew reported similar results with his all-season Dominator gear, saying the best thing was not having to even think about his gear because it was so comfortable and effective, “which is honestly the best compliment I could give to any riding gear.”
As for their spirits, when I mentioned to Matthew how I can’t help but laugh every time I watch the muddy road segment (future episode), he says it’s crucial to have a sense of humor about days like that. And this particular scene, for anyone who has ridden or trained extensively on big ADV bikes, is all too relatable.
Six miles in six hours, says Matthew. “That’s half the speed of your average turtle.”
So what is it that makes an adventure memorable? “Adventure riding isn’t about tackling hard trails, riding in foreign countries or covering hundreds or thousands of miles,” says Gregor. “It’s about using your motorcycle to explore your world.” All you need, he insists, is a set of knobbies, an open mind and a good map. Of course, versatile gear, adventure-ready bikes and good friends to help you pick up those bikes can also come in handy.
Did the crew ever find that perfect light they were chasing? Let’s just say the imagery in the Chasing Light series from REV’IT! is so sublime and satisfying you’ll want to watch it all over again.
‘Chasing Light’ Release Dates
You can keep up with the Chasing Light series on the REV’IT! Website or on their YouTube Channel. Here are the expected release dates so you don’t miss an episode:
- Part 1: Portland to Painted Rocks (released)
- Part 2: Mitchell – Frenchglen (11/1)
- Part 3: Frenchglen to Alvord Desert (11/5)
- Part 4: Rome to Home (11/10)
Photos by Gregor Halenda
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