So the motor driven toys are put away. Time to hit the hills and get the legs ready for winter.
Derek had a fun route idea on Mt Olympus so we gave it a whirl. He blogged about it with some cool Winter/Summer photo’s HERE.
Monthly Archive for September, 2009
I was lucky enough to survive one epic moto ride this summer, so why not push my luck. The proposed route was a fully inspired breathtaking loop through the diverse central part of this lovely state called Utah.
Our 750 mile route took us on 4 days of ATV trails, singletrack, dirt roads and deer paths and a little slab.
Our fearless leader and slave driver posted a trip report here.
I’ll add a few of my favorite moments from the whirlwind adventure.
Ready to rock and get rocked riding trail #157 in American Fork
Guy on the bumpy goodness that is Squaw Peak Road
Fixing flat in Left Fork Hobble Creek
Derek apparently gets off on this sort of thing
Fixing flats can be fun as long as you have the right tools, somebody that knows what they are doing and you keep the dirty jokes coming.
Tom on the Fast and fun ATV track above Strawberry Res
Refueling bikes and bodies at the marina
Survived a slippery dark descent into French Hollow for our first night
Settling down under the tarp for the evening
Warming up after a cold night by blazing some great trail at sunrise
Bob deep into the Skyline ridge section
King tweaker giving me the stare down in Joe's Valley
Blazing saddles up a steep and rocky atv climb
I will never forget Rock Canyon. Ouch!
Neither will my bike. This is the after photo of the aluma-weld repair
Not pretty, but it did the job and I was able to finish the trip.
Still riding the big and loose rocks of Rock Canyon
We stayed close so we could help each other out
Or,at least get pictures of it when things go south
I think this was the only time on the whole trip that Bob went down? The man is silky smooth on two wheels.
Not out of the woods yet
Heading out of Ferron into the swell
Chasing the light through the sandy washes
Trying to knock out 200 mostly off-road miles a day doesn’t give you much time take it all in, but this just stopped us in our tracks.
Give this Guy a few days on a bike and then get the hell out of the way!
Crossing deep under I-70
Relaxing after a long day
The "RED TRAIL" was a rude awakening and the most technical part of the whole trip.
Up and down, in, out and around the scenic sandy washes
The Swell finally spit us out. We by-passed Goblin Valley since we were a bit behind schedule.
A quick oil change and proper salute in Hanksville
The brothers Macfarlane put on a show at this natural playground
High gearing it through the moonscape of Capitol Reef
There’s a big gap here where I don’t have any great pics. We rode out of Capitol Reef high into the Thousand Lakes Mountains and mistakingly took a ‘horse path’ into Loa for fuel. From there we shot north to Fish Lake for dinner.
Cruising north on dirt and gravel with the sun setting
Time to look for a campsite
The camera batteries were getting low so there’s another blank spot here where we went on pavement to Salina and north to Gunnison. From here we rode Antelope Valley and dirt roads still heading north.
- Regrouping on the Mount Nebo Scenic Loop
Up and over Mona Pole road with nice Nebo views
From here we crossed west of I-15 to Goshen for lunch and gas.
Kicking up dust along the power line road west of Utah Lake
Nice views of the lake and 'Happy Valley' from the Lakeview Mountains
One more flat just a mile or two from where the dirt and trip end and the pavement begins
Black top back into the SLC valley to wrap it up
Thankfully we took plenty of pics because this trip was quite the blur. It’s fun to have a goal and rally hard to cover lots of ground, but we all decided next time we would take more time to stop and just enjoy our surroundings.
Thanks for waiting for me and helping me start my bike fella’s. Hopefully I won’t have to be saying that after every moto outing. Actually I’m not sure my body and wallet can take this kind of abuse, but it is one of the most challenging and exciting experiences I’ve had.
Leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for one last moto trip before the snow falls (fingers crossed).
Simply take all of this
,strap it to this
and the next 4 days become an adventure!
The ‘plan’ is to head south to Hanksville staying on as much dirt as possible while camping along the way. Braaaaaap Braaap.
Looks like the rumors are true. Shortly after Dylan and I left the Alaska Range a team of two sped up and over the Sultana Ride and descended the Archangel!
Blog report here.
Amazing circumnavigation requiring serious commitment and balls to drop in without having climbed the route.
Dylan and I were really excited to go back next spring and give it another go, but part of the allure was that it was untouched. We’ll see what happens.
I got invited along on an epic two wheeled adventure north from Ogden Canyon to Jackson Hole. A recently formed bike gang calling themselves Team Monkey Spank inducted me into the tribe with a 960 mile ride over 8 days in August. This lawless crew of rebels hide behind desks trying to blend with the common man for most of the year, but release them on their metal ponies and all hell breaks loose.
The cast of characters-
Jonny 'The Bareback Rider' Atencio
Ross 'Dare you to smell my boots' Hayes
Dustin' Spilt Whiskey' Roberston
Kelly 'The Navigator' Phillipps
Noah 'Will someone please kick-start my bike for me' Howell
Dave 'The Jiffy Pop Kid' Drulard
I didn’t really know what I was getting into and it was clear on day one I was in over my head. Sometimes you spank the monkey and sometimes the monkey spanks you! Thanks for waiting for me and showing me how to ride fella’s! One of the the best adventures ever.
Highlights from the trip HERE.