Identity Crisis II, The White Rim Trail, Utah Rocks!

[dave6253]

Originally Posted by Boj

Hey Dave,

Great meeting you on the trail. Thanks for my picture in the other Moab thread. Yeah, I made it home fine....drinking a beer by the campfire by 6:30. I even went looking for you to invite you to join me. My desire for a beer overcame my desire to be social after I checked out the first two campgrounds and did not find you

There are enough Moab RRs goin on now...I will throw out my best pixs here:

Nice to meet you as well. You were the only other motorcyclist I saw out there all day. You must've been moving pretty quickly to finish so early. I was a little.... uh, delayed in getting back to camp....

Feel free to take the full size photo of yourself off my smugmug page. Thanks for sharing your photos. I'd like to return and check out that Needles Loop someday.

I checked out your travel blog as well. I'm insanely jealous!

[dave6253]

Originally Posted by motojedi

Great pics. Did I see you on the White Rim on Wednesday? I was going counter-clockwise on the SE-R.

http://gallery.me.com/motojedi/10014...12405846310001

Sweet Super Enduro R! Wasn't me mate. I was there last Sunday. Beautiful place to ride, huh? Post up some photos if you've got 'em.
Edit; I checked out your photo gallery. Excellent!

[dave6253]

After completing Hardscrabble I felt as though I had licked 2 of the three tricky sections. However; there were lot's of short steep and rough sections besides Hardscrabble and Murphy's Hogback. I'm sure these would be no problem for you guys that grew up on dirt bikes, but there was plenty to keep this converted street rider busy.




The scenery never ends.




A little sandy.




A little rocky.


A little sandy.


A little rocky.


A lot of FUN!



A little scenery.


A little steep down.


A little steep up.

[motojedi]

Looking back from "Chickens Corner".



At the bottom of Rose Garden Hill.



Defying death on the La Salle Mnt. loop.



Overlooking the White Rim.



Taking a breather on Lockhart Basin. The first half of which was the toughest riding I've ever done.



Fueling-up at the Outpost about 5 miles south of Lockhart Basin. Regular was $5/gal. but ya know what they say....location......

[dave6253]

I stopped for a break and walked out to the rim. I was unsure if I should continue when I saw this long crack running to the right...


...and the left. I do know it would be bad luck to step on it.


Evidence of last week's rain.










There were some long sections across the rock. They appear to be smooth, but there were tons of bumps that were hard to see until your front wheel was dropping in...


I stopped near a couple 4x4s to check out the view. A guy hobbled over on crutches and offered to take my photo. I asked how he injured his swollen and bruised ankle. I thought he would say he was designated as the support truck driver after crashing his mountain bike. Nope, Motocross.








The ascent up this section of Murphy's Hogback was the most technical section of this trail in my opinion.


It's steeper than it looks in the photo. This mountain biker attempted it at least three times while I was there and failed each time to get all the way up.


I walked back down to get these photos. When I was on the bike I decided to pin it to win it. I knew I had to clear this section, because returning the way I had come was no longer an option due to fuel range.


This is a look at the ledge near the top AFTER the mountain bikers had stacked rocks in the holes to assist their support truck. As I was hauling ass up the hill I could see the mountain bikers runing to the ledge to get a good look at the out of control motorcycle. I carried plenty of momentum and fought the instinct to slow down for the ledge. I took the line near the center of the ledge just below the guy standing on the right. My front tire saw a little air and the rear was hopping side to side as it clawed it's way to the top. Once I made it up the mountain bikers began cheering. I couldn't help myself and let out a triumphant yell! (Or was it relief?)


Now to make it down the other side.








Only the last little bit of this before the right turn was really steep. The surface was deep sand with several large sharp rocks in the steepest section requiring me to get off the brakes. I made it down okay and was relieved I had conquered all of the toughest sections of the WRT.


Too Many Photos?

[larryboy]

Photos good, too many is just right!!!

Nice job on the step section.


Nice report, Dave!!!

[GB]

Too many photos?? Absolutely not.. more please!!

Absolutely breathtaking!!

[Seattle Jimmy]

[dave6253]

Looking back at Murphy's Hogback


The rocks keep coming.








I rounded a corner and found this guy jogging off the road. He stopped about 30 yards away and didn't seem bothered by my presence at all.
It took several minutes to get a photo with his head up as he was more interested in eating. He was pretty big.

[AdvRonski]

Originally Posted by motojedi

At the bottom of Rose Garden Hill.

http://gallery.me.com/motojedi/10014...12405841110001

Well, as long as we're doing a little hijacking, that's not Rose Garden Hill.
This is-



It looks like you're somewhere along Onion Creek in that shot.

Very nice RR, Dave. Props for pushing the envelope a little out there, and great pics!

[dave6253]

A sandy stretch here and there. Stay off the center hump.






The bumps never stop. The scenery keeps improving as the snow-capped La Sals come into view on the Colorado River side of the trail.









I met the only other biker on the trail. What do you know? Another big KTM Adventure bike! Nice meeting you Boj! While we were talking a mountain biker came zipping by in the same direction I had come. He was moving pretty quick and I didn't remember ever passing him. WTF?



We discussed our fuel situation. At the time I thought I was okay on fuel, but soon after we departed in opposite directions my fuel light came on. I began to worry...

A short time later I caught up with the mountain biker. He was pedaling hard at over 20 mph in a flat and bumpy section of trail. We rode side by side and chatted a few minutes. I asked how many days he was taking to do this trail. I expected the same response as every other cyclist I met (3 days). "Oh I'm doing the one day" he says nonchalantly! My response was WHAT?!? He went on to say he parked his truck at the bottom of Shaffer Canyon, climbed up the switchbacks, and dropped into Mineral Bottom. He said he started at 5 AM! It was about 3 pm and he had about 10 miles left! He had probably covered more than 100 miles already! He looked about 50 years old and was carrying a large pack. He obviously had no support truck. He asked if I could spare some water. He had only 1.5 bottles left and was starting to worry. I had less than a half bottle left and was worrying about running out of fuel. I had much further to go and couldn't spare any for him. I really felt bad when I twisted the throttle and left him behind. I wish I had brought more water.

Just when I had started to feel pretty studly for conquering this trail solo this mountain biker has to put me in my place.

[viola-tor]

Oh

my

god.


I

want

that.



Kick ass!!!

[dave6253]

Originally Posted by xdbx

Tell us a bit more about your feelings towards re-riding a route.

To me, a great motorcycle ride is about enjoying great scenery on some fun twisty road, but most of all about wondering what unexpected surprise I may find around the next corner. Riding the same roads over and over, no matter how fun the road is, becomes boring for me real quick. For this reason riding around Arizona, especially on a day that starts or ends in Phoenix, has become exceedingly boring. I'm hoping the purchase of the KTM will allow me to again enjoy day trips closer to home now that new roads are open for riding, but I will always prefer multiple day rides with primitive camping.

I initially intended to repeat the same exact route as I did in October on the new bike. It is afterall a wonderful ride! I thought it would be an oportunity to really compare both bikes. However; the White Rim Trail has been on my Bucket List since I first laid eyes on it 3 years ago.

I believe I will return to Utah at least once each year as there is much left to explore. I think Utah is the most scenic state with some of the best backcountry roads. It may take the rest of my life before it begins to bore me. Maybe I'll move there when I retire to spend my remaining days kicking up clouds of red dust. If Adventure Rider is still around then, maybe I'll share...

[dave6253]

Originally Posted by viola-tor

Oh

my

god.


I

want

that.



Kick ass!!!

Patience Viola-tor.

I'm a little concerned about your plans to run the WRT this summer. It's gonna be HOT! But if you want the company, and I can get out of work, I'd be glad to tag along!

[Boj]

Originally Posted by dave6253

We discussed our fuel situation. At the time I thought I was okay on fuel, but soon after we departed in opposite directions my fuel light came on. I began to worry...

uh oh... I can see where this is going..... I had the same issue on 2 of my 3 rides. Done the flapendectomy yet? Mine came at the 100 mile mark on the WRT somewhere near Hardscrabble. Freaked me out a bit. It then went off and on 2 more times before I got to the Shell station. Then only took 4.4 gallons

Did the flapendectomy when I got home... still not sure it worked as I almost ran out again last ride at 135 mile Just got done verifying all my vents are clear, we'll see next trip.