Mechanical
Adventurer
Follow along as two dumb kids (and one superhero) from Wyoming go on their first 2UP motorcycle adventure in Colorado and Utah.
With longer motorcycle trips planned for this summer, we wanted to take a ride over a long weekend to provide a sandbox to test our gear and ourselves in a 2UP backcountry motorcycle setting. While we had done some 2UP in the mountains before, we have never done a trip with a fully loaded bike. We needed to get a feel of what we would be capable of. We chose to run what I would call the Kokopelli Light, running between Grand Junction, CO and Moab, UT. We rode the 4x4 version of the trail avoiding most of the steeper, narrow single track sections. I didn't feel comfortable trying to ride the big KTM down Rose Garden Hill, so we bypassed the roughest section of the Kokopelli via Onion Creek. I had driven the trail in my Tacoma, and felt fairly confident that we could conquer the mildly technical terrain 2UP without hurting ourselves or seriously damaging any of our gear.
Our tentative itinerary was:
4/3 - Load the bike into the Tacoma and drive to Grand Junction, CO. My mom and Stepdad live in Grand Junction and we would use their house as a staging area.
4/4 - Ride the bike from Grand Junction to a good camping spot on the Kokopelli.
4/5 - Ride from camping spot to Moab, UT. Once in Moab, we would meet my mom and the dogs who had driven the Tacoma from Grand Junction. We would run a short trail if we have time, then camp near Moab.
4/6 - Trails in the morning in the Tacoma with Mom, Kelcy and Dogs. Drive back to grand Junction in the PM.
4/7 - Visit the Colorado National Monument, load the bike, then drive back to Wyo.
4/4/2013 (Part 1)
Grand Junction, CO - Hideout Campground, UT
107 Miles
Rabbit Valley
The first section of the trail takes you through Rabbit Valley. This is great motorcycling, and I really want to go back for a day when we aren't carrying all of our of gear.
Here is our bike, my KTM 990 loaded to the brim. This was too much gear for just a weekend trip, but we wanted to see what we could do with a fully loaded bike.
Kelcy gearing up in Rabbit Valley.
And Dredd, no one really likes him, but he comes along on all of our moto trips.
How she thinks she looks:
I'm the ugly dude. Taken in the lower section of the valley.
Rabbit Valley started off pretty slow. I was amazed at how heavy the bike felt with the extra gear. So we took our time, trying to get a feel for the new weight.
These guys are much tougher than we are.
Rougher section of the trail.
We had one slow getoff, but nothing relationship ending.
Taking a break before the climb out of the valley. Kelcy got hot, so she took her pants off.
Some decent dents had already accumulated.
We met these nice guys from Grand Junction just before the climb. I think they were slightly skeptical that we would make it out of the valley.
Video Summary of Rabbit Valley
Should be available in HD. My apologies that the camera is aimed down a little bit. Apparently I like to look right under the visor while riding.
It's pretty funny to listen to Kelcy squeak and sequel throughout the whole video.
We found this little guy at Cisco Crossing.
Dredd was very amused.
With longer motorcycle trips planned for this summer, we wanted to take a ride over a long weekend to provide a sandbox to test our gear and ourselves in a 2UP backcountry motorcycle setting. While we had done some 2UP in the mountains before, we have never done a trip with a fully loaded bike. We needed to get a feel of what we would be capable of. We chose to run what I would call the Kokopelli Light, running between Grand Junction, CO and Moab, UT. We rode the 4x4 version of the trail avoiding most of the steeper, narrow single track sections. I didn't feel comfortable trying to ride the big KTM down Rose Garden Hill, so we bypassed the roughest section of the Kokopelli via Onion Creek. I had driven the trail in my Tacoma, and felt fairly confident that we could conquer the mildly technical terrain 2UP without hurting ourselves or seriously damaging any of our gear.
Our tentative itinerary was:
4/3 - Load the bike into the Tacoma and drive to Grand Junction, CO. My mom and Stepdad live in Grand Junction and we would use their house as a staging area.
4/4 - Ride the bike from Grand Junction to a good camping spot on the Kokopelli.
4/5 - Ride from camping spot to Moab, UT. Once in Moab, we would meet my mom and the dogs who had driven the Tacoma from Grand Junction. We would run a short trail if we have time, then camp near Moab.
4/6 - Trails in the morning in the Tacoma with Mom, Kelcy and Dogs. Drive back to grand Junction in the PM.
4/7 - Visit the Colorado National Monument, load the bike, then drive back to Wyo.
4/4/2013 (Part 1)
Grand Junction, CO - Hideout Campground, UT
107 Miles
Rabbit Valley
The first section of the trail takes you through Rabbit Valley. This is great motorcycling, and I really want to go back for a day when we aren't carrying all of our of gear.
Here is our bike, my KTM 990 loaded to the brim. This was too much gear for just a weekend trip, but we wanted to see what we could do with a fully loaded bike.
Kelcy gearing up in Rabbit Valley.
And Dredd, no one really likes him, but he comes along on all of our moto trips.
How she thinks she looks:
I'm the ugly dude. Taken in the lower section of the valley.
Rabbit Valley started off pretty slow. I was amazed at how heavy the bike felt with the extra gear. So we took our time, trying to get a feel for the new weight.
These guys are much tougher than we are.
Rougher section of the trail.
We had one slow getoff, but nothing relationship ending.
Taking a break before the climb out of the valley. Kelcy got hot, so she took her pants off.
Some decent dents had already accumulated.
We met these nice guys from Grand Junction just before the climb. I think they were slightly skeptical that we would make it out of the valley.
Video Summary of Rabbit Valley
Should be available in HD. My apologies that the camera is aimed down a little bit. Apparently I like to look right under the visor while riding.
It's pretty funny to listen to Kelcy squeak and sequel throughout the whole video.
We found this little guy at Cisco Crossing.
Dredd was very amused.
