I have no idea what I'm doing.

Been distracted lately.. here's my doctors note




Does that also explain my feelings about the lawn ch.. I mean KLR?

that was the intent when I started. Being a cold blooded Canadian I underestimated the heat. In Texas I just about melted, and headed through Arkansas back NW. I hope to set out again in the fall to see that area.

After the salt run, I headed south. I put Moab on the map as an over nighter. The guide book had some great pictures, but it was much better in person. I rolled into town around supper and started asking around for places to camp. I thought most of the BLM was free to camp in, turns out the rules are pretty strict. I set up my tent at the Moon Flower Campground, a little ways up Kane Canyon Trail. This was recommended to me by one of the adventure touring shops in town, and you can see some of the indian wall sketching right in the camp site.

The pull in was pure dust and silt, I didn't realize until my front wheel hit it and tucked. Luckily I do have a bit of experience riding sand, and avoided another drop. Since it was still early I pitched my tent, stashed my stuff inside, and rolled back to Arches for some photos. I'm glad I did, the place is magical at dusk. It also cleared out, and I had the place to myself. After some deliberating, I pulled off the helmet and cruised the park in my maui jims. *puts on flame suit* No I don't condone this behavior, but no traffic in sight and I putted through the park at walking speed.











Forgot to turn off the flash, stupid stop sign.

with a thread title like that...i gotta be in!

When I read about Moab, I thought it was just a stop for 4x4's and wheeling. I wasn't prepared for the cool vibe of the town and all the stuff to do. It felt like a ski resort tailored just for people like me. People were cruising down the street in jeeps with no doors, quads and side by sides. Lots of shops renting toys, I couldn't resist.

The next morning after breakfast, I visited several shops that had dirt bikes out front. Most of them were renting new YZ450's. None of them were street legal, and they charged another $40 to deliver it to the trail. What happens when I run out of gas? I was on my own.. couldn't ride back into town to fuel up legally. I kept asking around and was given the phone number to a guy who rented dual sports. I rang him up and turns out he has KTM 2 strokes! Bingo. He will meet me at his shop in 45 minutes. Uhh, ok?

I roll up to the place and wait. Jim rides up in a Gasgas 300 2 stroke with a plate on it. Guess that's his commuter bike? And he just came from his day job? His shop is hilarious, looks just like my garage. Bikes everywhere, half of them disassembled. I start chuckling because this just got interesting. Jim loves to chat, and he is telling me some story about desert racing, while he runs back and forth from bike to bike, siphoning gas into a jerry can to fill the bike I'd be riding.

After we run through the bike (another gasgas 300) he says "well how about I join you for a ride and show you some trails?" Cool, I'm game. We take off and ride through town, and head up to BLM land.

Here's the thing, my dirty bike is a ktm xc 250. I've been riding dirt for a few years, and can handle myself on tight woods, single track, sand, and mx track. I'm an average rider, I'd like to think I can make it thru most trails. That is until I rode moab. Jim takes me up some steep rocky climbs, plenty of baby heads. I thought I had OK clutch control, that is until I watched him idle up the dang hill like a mountain goat. Then me spinning my way up, getting kicked off the pegs, and falling over like it was my first time on a dirt bike. Did I mention it was 95 out? Not so fun picking up a dirt bike repeatedly, I fell lots. We don't have hill climbs like this where I'm from.

Credit Jim for these photos. The guy even brought his own camera on the ride. No way in hell I was carrying the DSLR for this leg.





We rode the famous Hells Revenge before Jim split. I tackled slick rock and pissed off a lot of cyclists. Apparently it takes 6-7 hours to do that trail on a mountain bike. It took me 2 hours with lots of breaks. Although mountain biking is also a hobby of mine, this trail looks like pure masochism to pedal. I started apologizing to bikers as I passed them on the climbs, lots were too steep for them to pedal. They resorted to pushing/carrying.

You'll have to settle for my disposable cell phone pictures:







After Slick Rock, I was pretty beat. I rode one last trail - fins and things, and headed back into town to refuel. I stopped at a convenience store, and got a death stare from the lady working behind the counter. I must have smelled pretty ripe, covered in dust and wearing a nice dirt stache too. Oh well. I ignored her, sat down inside near an AC vent, and chugged 2 bottles of gatorade. After filling about 10lbs of water into my pack, I was off to ride Kane Creek/Spring Road. I could barely hold the bars at this point, but it's not every day you get an exotic dirt bike and even more exotic terrain. This road actually goes up the canyon, past the campgrounds. The pavement ends a few miles in, and there are quite a few jeep trail heads up the road. I elected not to try any jeep trails, since I was out there by myself with no cell service.







I used to think that a straight pipe harley is one of the most obnoxious bikes you can ride through downtown. It turns out a not-really street legal, 2 stroke dirt bike is much worse. I had to ride the Gasgas back to Jim's, nothing like spewing smoke on all the people enjoying their beer and dinner on the patios. No turn signals either, or mirrors, I am not good with hand signals. I think I just put my hand out whenever I did something, stop, turn, cut someone off, etc. Oh and can't forget stopping at a red light, shutting the bike off so it wouldn't overheat (no fan), and then kicking it for a good 30 seconds on green while people behind me are honking.

All in all it was an awesome day. I even managed to sneak in a shower with the hose at the shop. Jim is a stand up guy although his taste in dirt bikes is kinda weird. (who rides gasgas these days??) If you want to rent a dirt bike or go on a tour in the Moab area, check out his shop Dualsport Utah. The guy is also a great story teller and will keep you entertained for hours

And as a bonus, my clutch skills have improved tenfold since that ride. I hardly spin the tire anymore on my dirt outings. I can't wait to visit Moab again and try the "hard" trails.

Next up is Moki Dugway. I stop for gas a few hours south of Moab and who pulls up beside me in a big panel van with a trailer behind it? I'll give you a hint, it's got a Gasgas 300 on the back.

I'm really excited to ride Moki Dugway, I have my spare gallon of gas ready to go. Ever since chatting with the guy from Germany in that hostel about his close call, I've been itching to see the dugway. In fact, the whole way there I was subconsciously muttering "moki dugway moki dugway moki dugway" :huh '

"Moki Dugway!" I cried as I pulled up. I know, get a life John.



I am giddy, after a few pictures I start down the gravel. First corner, I lean the bike over and get a big slide from the front wheel. Yikes, I dab a foot and unclench myself from the seat. Brain still in dirt bike mode. Street bike tires don't handle like knobbies, duh.

I see another ADVer type on a big BMW/neon hi-vi up ahead and give a big wave. He waves back but doesn't stop, so I keep rolling. After a few minutes I realize it's steep enough to shut off the engine, so I put it in neutral, turn off the ingition, and coast. I'm thinking about the biker I met and his harrowing story about coasting miles and miles on the empty light down the dugway. Well less than 15 minutes later I was at the bottom. That wasn't as long as I expected. I did get some good views in though.







At the bottom, insatiated by the short offroad excusion, I turned onto Valley of the Gods road. My itenerary had me camping along this gravel road, shitty planning. It was 1 in the afternoon and hot as a furnace. I rode the 20 odd dirt miles and continued on.














Of course I had to stop at the 4 corners. Boy what a waste of $3 this was. A huge lineup of families waiting to take their picture on the monument, and a little boy was throwing a tantrum right on Arizona's corner. Apparently, he just didn't see what was so special about this stupid place, and why was he being forced to smile and look at the camera anyways? I echoed his sentiments. 4 families later I manage to snap this shot as one family exited and another was entering. F that. Turns out its not even the real coordinates of the 4 corners anyways.



Some folks stop to ask me about my trip in the parking lot. "where are you headed?"

"I'm going to Colorado tonight!" I reply. I really had no idea where I was going.

"Well its only 50 feet that way"

This really cracked me up, I was in tears.

Since I was improvising at this point, I decided Mesa Verde was the closest national park, and a likely spot to camp. I pictured riding into Colorado and the mountains/forests/snow leaping out at me. It looked exactly the same, no shit.

Stopping in the parking lot of the visitors center, I spot a ducati diavel. I oogle it for awhile and the owner comes out of the building and greets me. I find out his name is Jose, and he's on a trip from California. He rides the bike and his wife and kids follow in a big 5th wheel. Jose asks me where I'm sleeping tonight, and I tell him I don't know yet, probably in the national park campground. He offers up a spot next to his 5th wheel in the RV park down the road. I thank him and tell him maybe I will head down there if I can't find a good spot to camp.

The visitor center is just about to close, and I learn inside that the road to the mesa is closed at sunset. This park is not like the others, there are guided tours into the settlements that a ranger leads you in. These tours are scheduled throughout the day, but you can't really go and wander as you please. I mull this over outside on a picnic table as I cook a pot of uncle bens for dinner. Soon a ranger walks up to me.

"Are you planning on staying here much longer?"

"Well yes, about 45 minutes I suppose.."

"You have to leave, we're closing the gate"

Wtf, gate? Never saw that coming in, never seen a national park gated at night either. Turns out just the road to the visitor center is locked, and its not actually inside the park boundary yet. I awkwardly stuff a pot of boiling hot dinner into a saddle bag, ride 50 feet outside the gate, and sit down beside the "MESA VERDE" sign to finish eating. The ranger drives by slowly a couple times, not too happy with this. Screw off, what am I supposed to do with this hot pot?

After this I ride up the road to the National Park campsite, and see that it's $30. Still pissed at being chased out of the parking lot, I decide they are not getting my business. I ride to the RV park and spot Jose and his bike. What a treat this RV park was. After Jose feeds me a steak and some cold beers, I find the hot tub :eek1 and showers. This experience really floored me. I was not expecting such generosity from a complete stranger who I met on the road. I won't wax poetic about how my faith in humanity was restored, but it is nice to see that all is not doom and gloom in the world. I went to bed with a big grin on my face, wowed by a random act of kindness. People are awesome sometimes.

I'm in. Great RR. By the way, there's a little history to that cave you used outside of Lone Pine. That area is called the Alabama hills. Back in the early days of film they used to film westerns all over that area. There are still empty shell casings to be found lying around. If you had continued to head West (towards that HUGE mountain) you would have wound your way up the hill to the Mt. Whitney Portals. This is a campground and trail head for those who hike Mt. Whitney (the highest point in the Continental U.S.).

Have fun on the rest of your trip.

Great write-up so far... keep it coming! I'm a fan of your sophisticated humour. (grey poupon, no less).

When I first looked at your avatar I mistook it for Michael Caine (a la Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), so he has been reading the whole report to me.

You mentioned you may be heading out again in the fall? What're your plans so far? Do you plan to take the same bike?

I'm definately not taking the superduke again, I had a blast but this time I'd like something a bit more practical. Plus I love getting out on the dirt and exploring. I am thinking of a dualsport to replace this thing with. I am really lusting after an EXC 500 but that's stoopid money for a dirt bike.

I'm in keep going!

tom

I get up at a reasonable hour to see Mesa Verde, which has a great twisty road leading up the mesa. The actual dwellings though, not my cup of tea. I was still adjusting to the altitude, climbing ladders and hiking? Yea right.

There is a great deal of mystery surrounding the indigenous people who lived here. Why did they pack up and abandon their settlement one day? Perhaps they found some place more accessible to live. We'll never know.



I rode up the million dollar highway, again not at all what I pictured. In fact none of Colorado is. The rockies span all the way up to Alberta (and beyond) of course. I thought they would be similar, and that I would be riding through something like the icefield parkway in jasper - banff. I had saved my heated gear and all my layers throughout all this hot weather, in anticipation for the cold high passes in CO.

Well that didn't happen. It was nice and sunny out, I didn't even realize I was riding through the rockies as there was no snow on top.



The only thing that hit me really hard was the fatigue again. I kept pulling over and pacing around the bike, trying not to fall asleep.

As I hit Montrose and headed East, I started running into the smoke from the wildfires.



Pulling up in Salida, where my tentspace was for the night.


My host in Salida was Renee, she told me that she didn't come on adv much anymore, luckily she got my email and offered up this cool yurt to stay in. Looks small and plain on the outside, but was actually very spacious and modern inside.



That evening we met up with her husband who was working on a film on a missing mountain biker. They were shooting in an old haunted bar, and we got a tour of the creepy attic area where strange noises and cold drafts would appear. No pics here, the place was definately creepy and I wanted to leave asap.

We had a very lively dinner with some great microbrews and story swapping. Nathan, a friend of theirs told me about his ride through Mongolia. Maybe one day...

The route takes me East to Canon City. I bought a butler map at the dealership that changed my tire, and decided that Skyline Drive was worth a short detour. In short, hell yea it was!







Tonight I was staying in Woodland Park with inmate Pablo83, so I decided to slab straight there, unload my bags, and have time to ride Pikes Peak. After a quick hello, and some fine tuning my route, I was off to Pikes Peak on an unladen superduke. Now thatsa spicy meatball! I got back all my ponies, and the bike actually handles for once!

I'm pumped to ride the hill climb. As a bonus, the race was coming up just days after, so the entire course was laid out with start/finish line and crash barriers. "Watch your speed" the guy at the toll booth warned me. I put on a straight face and said "I will." *fingers crossed*



Soon after, the gopro was rolling and I was flogging the crap out of the KTM up the hill. Most people heard me coming and pulled over to let me by. There were a few naughty passes here and there. As I came up behind a VW car behind a hairpin, a little voice told me to wait. As we round the corner, there is the sheriff ready to pull me over. He heard me coming up the hill, and he knew by the way I was running it to the limiter I was being bad. Bet he was expecting me to come around the corner with my knee down. I literally yelled "HA!" as me and the Volkswagen chug past him at 15mph.

My common sense prevailed again near the top, where I was about to pass a SUV. Wait a sec.. why does he have a light bar on the roof. Doh!

The hillclimb itself is breathtaking. Just when you think you've reached the peak, it keeps going and going some more. It feels impossibly high at the top. Your engine is wheezing for air. You look over the edge of a curve, a sheer drop, and suddenly your balls shrink. I've spent lots of time on the race track, and I'm pretty confident on a bike. Something about being past 12,000' took away my desire to rail each corner as hard. The course is now entirely paved to the summit, a few years ago the last stretch was on gravel. :eek1






Skip the tourist trap at the top, jam packed with people who ride the rail car up to buy trinkets. One other biker was at the top, a harley rider who helped me snap this pic.



Nice hair..








After coasting down the mountain with the engine off (very cool feeling), I did a loop down 67 to Cripple Creek, with some more fantastic twisty roads along the way.

Cripple Creek welcomes me:


Up on Cripple Creek... it's actually a mining town turned casino spot. Not much going on here.




Got back to Paul's for a bite to eat, and spent the night in his massive toy hauler. Thanks dude!

I inadvertently stalked you, pne...

Thought I'd do you a favour and peek through my local classifieds site for an 500 EXC knowing you were in Alberta... and instead stumbled upon your SuperDuke.

Muwahaha

I want one of those badly... I think I drank too much orange koolaid

What a great rr, can´t wait for the next update!

Great rr. Its giving me the itch...

I was in Salida and I saw you pass us ( group of ktm ). I thought to myself I wonder if that was PNE, nah but guess i was right. Went thru manitou, what a mess the landslides and rain did there. Thanks for the RR

^ Cool, whenever I see a KTM adventure coming up I recognize the headlight, and for a split second think it's a superduke. Only saw one other on the road in san fran as he pulled up alongside me and yelled COOL BIKE!!