Just found out 2 hours ago Im going to Moab for 6 days of Dirtbiking.

The beginning of this year, I had planned to ride in Utah for a friends big birthday gathering. My employer scared me with possible layoffs days before, so I canceled. Having my job semi secure, and needing a riding vacation, I set my sights for another vacation, to visit and ride with a friend in Farmington in mid May, at one point I had 4-5 people interested, and one by one attrition hit them, everything from broken bones, to not enough vacation to a change of plans to going on a different trip, longer than I should really be taking off from work. Especially when my tenure is so tentative.

Either way two other friends, (which I had invited on my Farmington trip) had been planning Moab and the surrounding area and had always extended the offer for me to join them. When the last guy that was planning on going with me bailed. It turned out he was really planning a family trip, but he wanted to fit in some moto if he could, with me. So I made a few calls and joined the Moab guys on their expedition.

Enter Chad and Kyle. So at 1:30 Tuesday, I decide I should take Wednesday to Monday off of work and we will try to ride, Monticello, Moab, 5 miles of hell, Green river and (hopefully) Farmington New Mexico.

Hope I have a job when I get back. LOL Plus I gotta figure out how to post photos to ADV from my phone, or if that's even possible. Ill try to keep this as up to date as possible over the next few days, to see if I can do a REAL-TIME vacation thread.

Plus the wife is none too happy. Hence the signature.

Ride safe ! waiting for the ride log and pics

Good for you man - no one ever regrets taking too much vacation. Having been there myself, get ready for the time of your life. Moab is epic.

Just got back from Moab. My first trip there. The place is unbelievaible. Went for a 9 day trip and just scratched the surface of what is there to ride. Have fun.

LaPorte

I wanna go this summer,bad,have fun,u will.

Man I suck at wheelies with a bald tire. Chad titled this "Andy chasing the Utah girls."

We started with 3 and Kyle hurt his wrist in the first few miles. His wife (i mean significant other) camped with us Thursday night they went home at noon we rode Amasa back out and back and some other cool singletrack then Cane creek to the hole in the rock. Then the slab back and saw Kyle and SO driving home, we went for pizza at Eddie McStiffs. Chad screwed up our takehome pizza I'll let him tell the story. Its funny as hell except for the fact that we don't have any manifold pizza for lunch tomorrow.

We were able to download this photo of tonight's camping spot near the Sovereign trails.

Please excuse the large photos cause we r drunk posting in the middle of the desert

Success! Pulled into PHX tonight from the 8 hour drive home from Green River. Still amped on sugar, caffeine, and Van Halen tunes on the radio. Feel lucky to have ridden 6 days in a row with no injuries from the trip. I broke a rib a month ago in a MTB crash so I was always worried about falling on it this trip. Andy (ARZ) ended up being a great last minute riding partner on this trip, and since Kyle hurt his hand early on day 1, Andy saved me from having to ride alone! Not to mention the fact we showed each other new trails that we'd never ridden.

I'm physically exhausted from 6 straight days of riding technical trails(hands arms and knees feel cooked as of today). Probably need to cut it down to 4 days and add some downtime into the trip next time. We started in Monticello, worked our way north to Moab, then off to Sovereign, over to Temple Mountain, then back into Green River. Saw some amazing terrain at each location! Will post up pics, video, and full ride report later.

Remember my motto: If your wife or boss is pissed off about your trip, your doing it right!

4 days??? Man I thought 6 was awesome!!! I actually want to do more. My left knee has a slight twinge, this am, Maybe a .5 on a 1-10 scale. But that may be related to my welcome home last night.

I had a total blast, and I thought we got along great for 6 days of close quarters travel. Except I'm sure I got on Chads nerves with some unsolicited advise on 5 MOH when he was pissed and tired. Oh and when I wanted him to push a little harder on that tall pedal on the right, on the way home. I wanted to get home a couple seconds earlier, but all worked out in the end since we got home safe.

BIG THANKS to Chad for doing all the driving, and waiting for me to get ready every morning (I'm slow like that). At least you didn't have to wait for me on the trail.

Back to work, yawn.

Day 1 Shenanigans! Andy knows of some good trails in Monticello, just outside of Moab. I've been begging him to show me some for two years now. 5 minutes into the ride I'm not having much fun.


The further we went up the hill, the deeper the snow and ice got! We stopped and fiddled with Kyle's new ride, a inferior 2011 KTM 250cc 2-Stroke. Andy and I both believe in the reliability, smooth power, and quiet sound of a 4-Stroke. Kyle has a nice Beta 4-Stroker but switched to the dark side 2-Days before this trip! NOT EVEN ONE TRAIL RIDE ON HIS NEW BIKE and he wants to ride 6 days on technical shit. :eek1 I know what your thinking, I was thinking the same thing! :huh

"How do we get this bike to run?"-say's Andy


Deer were everywhere that evening. I stopped counting after I saw 100 or so. We ended up exploring some other roads and I find this sweet piece of ST pie.



We are having fun now! The sun was going down, temps were perfect, and trails were fun....at least they were fun when we weren't working on Kyle's bike.


Kyle ended up falling while trying to climb a hill and tweaked his throttle hand. The bike fell over hard and messed up some ligaments/tendons in his thumb! *SHIT HAPPENS*, so we load him up on anti-inflammatory drugs, beer, and ice.... then cruise into Moab later that night. The town of MOAB is JAM-PACKED with golf carts! There is some huge side-by-side rally going on this weekend and everything is booked solid! I should of called ahead to reserve a camp site, but it's hardly ever booked solid during a Wednesday in May! Doh! About midnight we find an empty parking lot across from Pritchett Canyon. The Sheriff drives by in his Chevy Truck, see's my Dura-Max and gives us a friendly wave. Hell yeah, free camping!

Next morning I wake up at 6AM....and I'm ready to ride! Kyle has been up since 5:30 gearing up, seeing if his hand has miraculously healed overnight. Andy is still asleep, dreaming of his beautiful and very understanding wife at home. It's apparent that Kyle's injury is trip ending for him. It hurts to grab the bars let alone twist a throttle. We convince him to ride up and see Slickrock Trail since he has never been here. He is in pain but saddles up anyway: he is not a happy camper with the injury


Andy and I decide to ride Slickrock and meet him later for lunch. We blast through the trail and explore all the side routes and view spots. Andy is like me, he likes living life on the edge!




I never get tired of Moab scenery!



Andy can ride a bike! It was fun watching him flow over the sandstone and have some fun on the trail:




After we played on Slickrock and Hell's Revenge trails, we cruised back down and did Potato Salad Hill. Andy made it up and I stalled my bike 12 inches from the top! He rubbed it in the entire way down the hill by showing off his mad skillz



We picked up our 3rd-wheel 2-Choke Friend and cruised around town checking out the sites.


We let the mtn bikers know who was boss!


Then we had some beers and sat by the Colorado River telling stories. And that is all I remember after Day 2:

Day 3. Kyle has got a ride home to Flagstaff and I have to wake up Andy an hour early to get him prepped to ride. "Be ready by 7AM or I'm leaving you!" We didn't roll out until 8AM, and we hit Amasaback. The last time we both did this trail was on mtn bikes ten years ago. This out-n-back trail was fun! Lot's of ledges and rock formations to climb and drop off. Trail was tough in a couple spots with little room for error.


The end of Amasaback has nice views:





We found this cool window in the slickrock that I was able to climb up and take a poser shot:


Andy struggled with his short legs and 50lbs pack! "Hey Andy! Your ass looks like it was sweatin!"



I shouldn't make fun of Andy. On this trip I found out he is always prepared and carry's a pack full of spares. He carries two spare tubes in-case he flats:


two master links and spare bolts in-case he rips off his chain and chain guide:


Extra jets and tools to completely re-do his carb:


ANDY is the MAN! Always prepared! He doesn't even waste water when brushing his teeth:





Okay!......back to day 3 action. After Amasaback we did the Kane Creek Loop. It was more of a scenic dual-sport ride that crossed thru water and came out near Hole in the Rock/Behind the Rocks. Kane Creek has a few technical spots on the end, but nuthing a 4-Stroke can't handle. I recommend this loop for people looking for a 'warm up' trail to start off their moto vacation. After we got back into town, Andy and I went to Eddy McStiff's to get a pizza for lunch. We both ordered the ham and pineapple pizza's and enjoyed the atmosphere.


Riding the motorcycles back to camp with his Pizza in-hand, Andy stops at Moab Rim Trail and wants to try it. I offer to take the pizza the rest of the way back to camp, promissing to take gentle loving care of his leftovers so he can enjoy them later that night. Off I go up Kane Creek Rd....only 2 miles back to camp....I jump in with a group of two dozen Polaris Razors going 40mph. Suddenly the RZR next to me is waving and getting my attention. It's my friends from Jagged-X Racing going out on a group ride. I wave and......BOOM! The pizza box caught some air and flew out of my hand like like a frisbee, except it crashed back down to earth and got ran over by half a dozen RZR's. The group got a huge laugh out of seeing the pizza box explode all over the road and offered some sandwiches but I assured them Andy and I had more food back at camp. 20 minutes later, Andy comes past the pizza massacre on the road and stops to grab one final slice(probably had a few tears rolling down his eyes). He rolls into camp, shaking is head, pissed off that I couldn't handle the one job he gave me; Get The Pizza Back To Camp Safely! Sorry Andy, it won't happen again.


After Moab, we packed up and drove to Sovereign trails that afternoon. I'd ridden here several times before and this was Andy's virgin visit. He likes rainbow colors so of course he loved Sovereign:




Showing perfect form climbing Sovereign Trail, which he would later use on 5MOH:



He is also good at dropping in:




He also has developed a taste for the Lime-A-Rita on this trip. "Damn! These things taste pretty good!"




Time to go to bed, Day 4 and 5 Miles of Hell (8.4 actually) will happen tomorrow!

Videos of the first day climbing the road to the top of Monticello, before Kyle jacked his wrist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_-eb3pFhBo

Some Sweet little singletrack we found that was not snowed in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ck57q_T4ZQ

The start of Moab Slickrock trail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD8Xh1ftYSw

[Took my grandma to dinner tonight for her 84th Birthday and showed her a photo of 5MOH Trail. She said, "Who painted all those red rocks?" ]

So day 4 we wake up to a crisp 60 degree morning...perfect weather for 5MOH located in the Temple Mountain/Dick Brass Trail System. Had a nice breakfast and took our time suiting up for one of the most technical trails in the state. From the plain looking terrain around the trail head, we ripped down 4-5 miles of whooped out sage brush terrain, turned right onto the 'RED' trail for another mile or two and came to the 5MOH trail that had a large post and great signage with scattered bike parts donated by others who had attempted the trail. This was my 2nd time on the trail and Andy's first.
We signed in and laughed at the last guy's plate from CO that tried this trail:



The trail is actually 8.4 miles and has white paint stripes you follow that zig-zag through un-friendly dirt biking terrain. Andy here in attack mode:



Andy and I made great time on the first part of the trail. We made it to the first escape route quickly (45 min) and kept attacking the trail in 1st gear. I kept looking for a lower gear on my shift lever but never found it. I ran a 13/52 and I think Andy is on a 14/53. We both had Rekluse clutches in the 450cc KTM's, which came in handy! Lots of clutch work and seat bumping on the trail made for tired hands/arms and not much airflow on the bike or helmet. Andy and I both dropped the bikes a couple of times at slow speed since most of the turns are 90 degree slow-speed off-camber ledgy shit like this:



Here we are taking a much needed snack break. I had a Hammer Gel which brought me back to life a little. The rock and sky was awesome! (My video should show a lot more of the trail)


We are finished!


We finished the trail with no issues in about 1:08 of ride time. We still had to ride another 6 miles of whoops and rocks back to the truck.....which really hurt! I was tired, Andy was much fresher/faster back to the parking lot. We were tired but decided to load up before a storm hit and head to Green River area.



My rear tires was used before we started, but by now it is looking hashed!:eek1 Every outside lug was ripping off this Dunlop Gmax M51 tire.



GREEN RIVER:
Andy has ridden here before and shows me some singletrack trails right out of the campsite! I love it:





We ended up doing a nice loop with a mix of technical terrain and some fast flow sections. I'd never ridden in terrain like this before. It was awesome:

We got back to camp that night with some daylight to spare! We were both pretty exhausted and on a great euphoria high from riding all this cool terrain. We made ourselves a few drinks and sat around the fire.







Andy even hiked up this big hill to see if he could get cell phone reception to check-in with his lovely wife. Unfortunately, he hiked up there for nuthing.



We slept like babies that night! The two trails and traveling that day just wiped us out. I don't remember hitting the pillow, but I remember waking up the next day and Andy was already up and about. He wanted to ride one more trail before we had to pack up and go home. He promised me it would be 'good'.

Day 6: We decided to stick around and ride one more trail before heading home.

I made some eggs and left over pork chops for breakfast.



The trails were fast and fun. Lots of sand mixed in with some rock ledges and views like you were riding in a national park:



Andy called this the 'big toilet bowl' that would flush you down the shitter with one mistake:






For our snack spot, Andy found this awesome little plateau to rest at with incredible views of the valley:



I was a great area to ride; lots of ridges and washes to drop in and out of. I didn't care for the sand much, but the views made up for it.



After six days of riding, I was ready to go home! We made it back to the truck with no problems. A few of the mountains on the way back looked like chocolate wafers with vanilla icing....or I was just hungry.


The drive home was also scenic along the Swell:




A final shot of Monument Valley area:



Okay, one more shot of Andy for good measure.



This was a damn good trip! Except for Kyle's injury, everything went as planned and we rode the crap out of those trails! Can't wait to go back and explore some of the other hundreds of miles of trails I missed.


Now off to work on video...

Awesome !

Chad - guess my invite got lost in the mail.. I do miss the small bike every once in a while. I am riding a bmw f800gs now.

Looks like a great riding vacation! Your documentation of rides is right up there with nightstand.

I never take enough photos, I am always fighting with my helmet camera.

Here are a few Slickrock videos.
almost 12 min.
http://youtu.be/6cCY8x84p3s

3+ min, Huge Cliff
http://youtu.be/k6RBI1Qjf-w

Chads wheelie Drop,
Very short.
http://youtu.be/IMudD-G6X3A

Slickrock Bath Tubs, 6 min
http://youtu.be/oyb8wex7X-M

Looks like an epic trip. I'd love to go ride the trail in Moab, I spent 8 summers there on the water but never did much on wheels.

So Rad! Looks like a sweet adventure to say the least!
Moab is on my list even more so now. See ya in Maui!

Spectacular - missed a trip down there last month. Your pics are rubbing it in! Well done