PHX - Blessed Hellride

[Nightstalker]

One of my favorite Phoenix ADVRider buddies, DirtyDog, put this 3 day ride together. I joined the adventurers for Day 1.

It all started like this...

Background:
I'm [DirtyDog] departing the beautiful Arizona- the wide-open spaces that are a dual-sport motorcyclist's paradise.

Therefore I require a kick ass 3-day ride before I move to Tulsa, OK and get a real job.

This will be a planning thread for what I shall call the "Blessed Hellride".

The dates will be Sept. 12-14 (Friday - Sunday), 2008.

The goal is to pack as many rocky, dirty, soggy, and nasty dual-sport miles as possible into three solid days.

I'm working on the general route, but it will basically be a loop that begins and ends in Phoenix.

Preliminarily, I'm thinking that the two overnighters will be spent in cheap motels (Motel6?) in Prescott and Payson.
1) So we won't be weighed down by camp gear
2) So we can celebrate each ride in style afterwards and wake up rested, showered, refreshed, and sober(?) for days 2 and 3
3) So each day will have a predetermined start and end point to open up partial participation options

I have some nice standby route options for Phx to Prescott and Payson to Phx, but the middle third is still up in the air. (As is the whole concept, but we'll assume it's a go.)

The ride is open to anyone willing and able to join me. I'd like to keep my riding groups to just a few riders, so maybe a rally style may be warranted depending on how many riders get involved. You'll recall that the Chiricahua weekend turned into a 15-rider convoy.

I'm gonna try to plan a difficult route, but alternate routes will likely be plentiful for the wary.

It WILL contain the following, if possible:
1) moderate to dangerous water crossings example 1, 2
2) steep grades example 1, 2
3) technical bouldering example 1, 2
4) sand example 1, 2
5) mud example 1
Summing to a couple hundred miles of glorious filth per day.

Big bike friendly? Depends on the rider. Your call.

Ooh, sounds scary, doesn't it!? I'm just trying to plan a real challenge. Take it or leave it.

It doesn't have to be any more organized than this, but if anyone has any route suggestions, feel free to do so.

It's still 2 months away, but some people need notice to get a day off work. And besides I thought this up yesterday and I'm too psyched already.

Who's with me?

EDIT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
FYI- "Blessed Hellride" is a song/album by Black Label Society and goes something like this- (sounds better than it reads)

break me down and roll me once again
got no time to think of now and then
catch my breath pick myself up off the floor
one more drink, a nervous breakdown, then another war

oh, you can never get too low,
when youre so damn high
oh, been out rolling
on the blessed hellride

Through the lines, aint no in betweens
Gardens of filth, the obscure and the obscene
catch my breath, pick myself up off the floor
one more drink, a nervous breakdown, then another war

oh, you can never get too low when you're so damn high
oh, been out rolling, on the blessed hellride
you can never get too low when youre so damn high,
on the blessed hellride
__________________
JD 1999 KLR650 A13 Mesa, AZ

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Day 1 was probably one of the tough days. Here's a teaser:

[Loud Al]

Looks good so far, I always enjoy your RRs

[Nightstalker]

I just moved into a new house last weekend and, unfortunately, couldn't commit to the whole weekend. I did hook up with the crew for the day 1 adventure.

I met up with the guys on the Carefree Highway, a fitting start to an excellent journey. The day 1 crew included:

DirtyDog - KLR650
glnn313 - KLR650
ChopperCopper - KTM 640 Adventure
AZBerg/Matt - KLR650
Nightstalker - KTM 950 Adventure



Airing down at New River.



Here's Glenn navigating through our first minor obsticle of the day, about a 1/4 mile in. Not much of a hang up, but I did manage to sandwich my foot between a rock and the bike frame. Advil managed to keep the swelling down throughout the day.

[Nightstalker]

A new pipeline was just installed from Phoenix to ?points north?, I don't know where the other end is, but anyway, who cares? The construction leveled part of the trail and we had to make do.

DirtyDog and ChopperCopper


Matt action sequence







SUCCESS!!

[Nightstalker]

And then we got to the tunnel...

glnn313



Matt was real nervous, but it made it up no sweat!



Sorry I cut off your head JD.

[Nightstalker]

Some great trail side photos

[GB]

What fun you're having

The Smugmug embedded videos are so much better than videos from other sites too.. must be the larger size.

[dave6253]

Local boys tearing it up! Sweet!

[Nightstalker]

Back on the pipeline.



Speedbump on the pipeline superhighway.

[Nightstalker]

Another big hill







Ouch!



The easy way up? Not really.

[azkiwi]

Hmm - seems like I saw you guys today - on Control Road heading towards Tonto Village?

[Nightstalker]

Pipeline rocks

[Nightstalker]

In Arizona, if you see a puddle, you take a picture and frame it.



Matt's making some suspension adjustments. Little did he know how much he'd need it.



Glenn and I took the shortcut down to the river.



Looking back up.

[Nightstalker]

We got to the first creek crossing. Oh my! That mud looks pretty nasty.



I took a walk out to see how bad it was. It was BAD! I sank half way up to my knee!



We made it across just a ways downstream.



Except, now we had another big hill to climb. Glenn shows the proper technique.

[Nightstalker]

More trail photos