CA to UT. Dirt, desert, and dead cows

[PackMule]

Top notch, guys. Keep it coming!

[Luke]

Here's the GPX file. It's got the route and waypoints we started with. It's more useful than the track because it has a couple of alternate routes and fuel/camping marked on it. As you can see by the track we ended up following it pretty closely. It's hard for me to read though, so you might want to save different copies and delete the things you don't want to see.

Here's the track on GPS exchange- it's pretty neat overlaid on the arial images. http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1017
It's off Tom's GPS, so it has all the day trip tracks as well.

[contacterich]

- awesome ride and photography!

[Luke]

The end.
It's 800 and some miles from Torrey to home. We have a couple of days to do it in, and the combination of my homemade luggage and repeated bottoming of the suspension has done a number on my subframe. Tom's bike is fine even though he's carried more weight- the HB rack braces on the footpeg mounts to take the leverage off the end of the subframe, my rack doesn't. I'll buy one of those, even if I don't use it for hard bags.
All this adds up to a lot of slab. I've done this before- my first ride on this bike was home to CA from Seattle where I bought it. The planned route is Highways 50, 80, 12. In anticipation of this Tom bought some o-rings which we jammed between the throttle grips and handguards. This opens up a whole new world of rested wrists, understandings of bike dynamics and unsafe photography.

Let's set the scene:


The bike vibrates excessively above 70mph, so we don't go 70. Our sight distance is measured in minutes, there is no traffic and the roads are as straight as can be. Every couple of hours, we get to a mountain range with turns and stuff, but basically we have a lot of empty time.

Riding no-handed in a crosswind is interesting. The bike actually falls into the wind. Riding no-hands, this is not subtle at all. I have to lean all the way to the left when a strong wind comes from the right. I figure it's because the wind catches the mudguard and countersteering tips the bike.

Like I said, lots of empty time. I also found that the seat's tall enough that I can do the chicken dance in my seat without dragging my feet on the pavement.

To cut down on wind noise, we removed the visors from our helmets (Arai XD's) Big improvement, although with the wrong visor sideplates they make an awful whistle that is fortunately completely masked with earplugs.


At the motel in Austin, NV. Do you suppose it's running a little rich?



The rest of the ride home was interrupted by a small forest fire on the CA/NV boarder. Traffic on I80 was sent back to Reno. We wanted none of this, so Tom took a look at the GPS and pointed up the hill. Excellent. From Verdi, we went up over the hill to the west, then south to Boca Lake.

Scenic I-80 detour:





Then it was back to I80. Traffic was pleasent all the way to Auburn thanks to the closure. The rest- well, lets just say the most dangerous part of the trip (and probably any trip) passed safely with no surprises.

[Luke]

Originally Posted by Kaneman

Great job man!! You guys are hardcore for sure, it was great hanging out with you in Torrey. Perhaps our paths will cross again one day...

Pretty soon, I'd expect, if your little ride takes you out to the west coast.
Good meeting you too!

[Doug Matson]

Great report Luke, made me wish I would have taken the 950 to Torrey the way you guys did it. You guys going to Torrey in September?

[Luke]

Originally Posted by Doug Matson

Great report Luke, made me wish I would have taken the 950 to Torrey the way you guys did it. You guys going to Torrey in September?

The 950 would have worked fine for this trip. Maybe carry a little extra gas for the one long stretch.

I don't know what's up in the fall. Tom was talking about taking his RT, but I don't know if I'll still be in the state at that point.

[Doug Matson]

Thanks again for the report I know they are a lot of work. Again, it was good to meet you guys in Torrey.

[Hayduke]

Originally Posted by boney

Having been raised to look after the environment I am a bit torn over my latest choice in recration. While I enjoy the ability to openly ride in many places, I am opposed to "free riding" across untracked expanses in the name of fun. Mind you, I do beleive we should have places set aside for "tearing it up," I just don't beleive in doing that everywhere.

I know exactly where you are coming from.

First class report. Thanks!

[GillaFunk]

Now I want a smaller dirt bike so I can do that toooo.

What an AWESOME report. Kudos!

Luke, your local. We should meet up sometime. However....you obviously WAY better in the dirt that I

[Luke]

Gilla;

Maybe I forget what a big bike is like in the dirt, but I think any bike could have done the entire route with a good rider, and 95% of it with a modestly experienced one. The catch is that we didn't know that starting out.

I've been doing a bit of exploring up in the Mendocino NF. I'll ping you next time if you're interested. It's all FS roads, and they should all be pretty dry by now.

[boney]

Thanks for finishing that up Luke. I just came back last night and I'm trying to catch up in the regular places. I've got some you-tube stuff to share and a few pics for the sake of it.

But first, scooter rentals in Antigua:

Notice the high quality Carribean safety gear. I'm sure the Pro-Tec skateboard helmet would go a long way while dodging the potholes as we were simultaneously passed (sometimes 3 wide!) on one lane roads in blind corners where they drive on the left in left-hand-drive cars.

Gabby hadn't ridden since her get-off about a year ago, and she picks this place- "Hey! Let's rent scooters!"

I suppose it's better than sitting in the back of the Taxis getting car sick (her, not me.)

[boney]

So, we're out in the middle of "nowhere" on this little two track road following the GPS because we went off the planned route. Luke takes the blame for getting us off the route twice, but in reality it was both of us not paying close enough attention. Blink, look, or otherwise actually enjoy what you're doing out there and the waypoints go past in a flash.

Here we are picking our way among the two-tracks, not really "lost" but trying to find the "right" road that will take us back to our plan:

[boney]

Eagle Pass, the full version. Only 3 minutes of riding and it seemed so much longer. Notice the Scotts Damper Ad at 37 seconds. (2:54 since the thing counts backwards)

[RxRick]

This is loads of fun to watch. Thanks for posting.

--RxRick