Ride Report: Dual Sport Utah 500

[Every Miles A Memory]

A ride report from the Photographers eyes, or lens, since we're all so into photography. If the Moderators have a problem with me posting so many photos, I understand if you need to delete the thread.

My reports might not be the best since I havent posted that many of them, but let me know what you think.

Thursday October 15th- The Start of the Dual Sport Utah 500

The last few days have been spent getting things packed up for this weekends Charity Motorcycle ride here in Moab that I'd be shooting for the charities involved.

I've never been involved with a multiple day ride unless it was Mountain Biking, Snowmobiling or Four Wheeling on ATV's, and those rides were always with good friends. If we got too tired or wanted to slow down, I knew all involved well enough that I could just say I needed to turn around or the group needed to slow down.

Usually this never happened as these rides were when I was in very good shape and I was usually the one keeping the pace up.

When riding with a bunch of guys I've never met before, all of which are accomplished motorcycle riders and at riding levels way beyond mine, I was a little worried I'd be the one holding everyone up this time. Especially since I was there to photograph and document the entire thing, I was riding more for a job than just out to have fun.

The first to arrive was Len and Gary. These two guys were older than I expected the group to be (Late 60's to early 70's!), but right away I was even more worried after listening to them talk about past rides, events they've done around the country and their riding abilities

Something in a mans pride usually allows himself to understand when a younger, stronger guy can whip his butt, but if a guy old enough to be his grand father can outride him, that's much harder to swallow

Needless to say, the rest of the weekend would be spent with me getting my tired, sore and worn out butt handed to me by men twice my age

By late Thursday afternoon, Jim Ryan was finally ready to go. For those that dont know this guy or have yet to meet him, getting him out the door is a task in and of itself. His phone is always ringing non-stop with his multiple businesses he operates and he's usually buzzing around in the middle of multiple tasks like some kid who suffers from A.D.D. and has drank a few Red Bull energy drinks.

Our goal was to pull out of Moab by 5pm.....around 8pm, we were finally rolling. Jim would be towing his toyhauler for riders to use as a dressing room/bathroom or a place to rest if they needed it. I was helping out by towing his cargo trailer loaded down with fresh dual sport bikes we'd be using this weekend

Jim has 8 KTM 4-stroke, street legal bikes for his rental business, and we'd be using 7 of them this weekend. A group of guys were flying in from Michigan that we were picking up in Grand Junction Colorado tonight. Len had driven up from Texas and Larry had driven down from Washington.

Tomorrow we'd be meeting a few more guys who would be coming over from various places in Colorado and one other rider was driving in to Utah, but I'm not sure where his home base is because he talked of fulltiming in an RV like my wife Cindy and I do.

I thought it was funny when Jim asked me where the Red Dog Saloon was located in Michigan. This was the bar/restaurant my wife and I used to own before we sold everything to go out on the road fulltime. When I told him where it was, he told me the guys we would be picking up from the airport said they knew of it and lived close by.

Little did I know they'd be from the next town over (Highland) and I'd be able to talk about places from Michigan and have people know exactly what I was talking about. I swear that the more we travel, the smaller this Earth becomes.


Once in Grand Junction, we dropped off Gary at a local motel, picked up the guys from Sicass Racing at the Airport and headed to another motel where they'd be staying.

I thought it was strange to see 3 guys walking out of the airport with motorcycle seats strapped to the top of their carry on luggage, but soon found out that one of the products they make is custom seats that are much more comfortable than the stock seats manufacturers put on their bikes.

It makes sense to bring your own seat which would make any rental bike feel more like your own, but I still laughed that they were carrying them through the airport. Since I'm not one to fly around the country to ride motorcycles, I'll learn alot this weekend on ways to travel to new destinations and still enjoy the freedom to explore.

Jim's Dual Sport Utah rental business allows riders to do just that. Fly in from anywhere in the world, have a high quality, street legal bike at their disposal and have access to some of the best terrain in the world. I guess before this weekend, I hadn't realized how cool this really was

L to R - Len, Mike, Steve, Jim and Jack hanging in the Parking Lot Michigan Style

Once the boys from Sicass Racing were checked in, we had planned to head out and get to know one another at a local bar. By this point it was getting pretty late in the evening and the bar in the hotel had already closed. Luckily, I rarely travel without a cooler full of iced down Silver Bullets in the bed of the truck, soo true to our Michigan roots (Rednecks), we all spent the evening standing around in a parking lot drinking beers and swapping stories of past rides.

During our BS'ing, Mike who is in charge of designing the catalog and website for Sicass Racing told me that he had bought some of my photos from a supermoto race I covered in Michigan last summer. Mike had raced in the event and I snapped a couple of shots of him jumping his bike with the full moon rising right behind him.

I remember thinking it was cool when someone had bought the photos with digital rights, but never knew they would be used in a catalog that does business all over the world.

Mike Racing in Clio Michigan and my Shot that's in the Sicass Catalog

Another piece to artwork to add to the always growing portfolio I guess.

When the cool Colorado air finally had us all shivering, they headed into bed and Jim and I snuck into the toyhauler and camped right in the hotel parking lot. So even though it would be my first night in a LONG time away from my wife Cindy and the camper we live in fulltime, I still slept in an RV

My Comfy Couch and sleeping bag with Dreams of Motorcycles all around me - Dreams can come true in Utah

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Day 2 : Dual Sport Utah 500

Friday October 16th - Dual Sport Utah 500 Begins

We were up early this morning with a huge day ahead of us.

Breakfast in the hotel. Meeting a bunch of new riders in the parking lot. Fueling up the bikes, the gas cans and grabbing some coffee before we headed out for the Kokopelli Trail.

Today's ride would lead the guys along one of the West's most sought after trails, some 142 miles of rough Jeep roads, narrow single track and rock gardens that had me wondering how anyone could ride up and over them.

The purpose of this weekends ride would be to raise money for the Rider Down Foundation. This is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping responsible off road motorcyclists and ATV racers who have been injured while riding. Proceeds are used to provide assistance to the riders and their families when faced with medical expenses and related issues

Everyone involved with this weekends ride had paid their entrance fee which would go towards the guided riding, the lunches and dinners Jim would provide, the 2 nights stay at the Red Cliffs Lodge and the bike rental. Proceeds raised from the weekend would be donated to the Rider Down Foundation.

I've always heard of events like this and was never sure if I'd like spending multiple days with a bunch of guys I had never met before. After this weekend with this group of men, I'd have to say that I've been missing out

Back to our day and the story.

We pulled the trucks up to the trailhead and started the unloading process. This is a process Jim and I can now do with our eyes closed after a long weekend of loading and unloading them so many times.

At the trail head, we met Bruce who is the main guy with the Rider Down Foundation. We met Grant who is a guy in his Golden Years that still rides like a young pup and Doug Hayduk from Wicked Gravity Video who would be the videographer for the ride.

The riders suited up and made adjustments to their bikes to personalize them to their riding styles. It didn't take long before Steve, the guide for today, was ready to lead these men for their introduction to the first Dual Sport Utah 500.

The Start of the Dual Sport Utah 500 2009

Jim and I wouldn't be riding this section of trail with the rest of the gang. We had to go back into Grand Junction and get lunch for the riders, then take the trucks to a section of the trail where we could get our big trucks into.

We picked up BBQ from a local restaurant and grabbed water, ice and drinks . By the time the rest of the group caught up, we had tables, chairs and food set up for them.

They pulled up to our makeshift picnic and dug in like they'd never seen BBQ before. Everyone sat around talking about sections of trial they liked and the past few hours of riding.

While they ate, Jim and I topped off all the bikes with fresh fuel and made any repairs that needed to be made. With full bellies and rehydrated systems, as quick as the group pulled in, they roared back up the trail headed towards Moab via the Kokopelli trail.

Jim and I loaded everything back into the trucks and headed for the Onion Creek trailhead where we'd race up the trail to meet the rest of the group at one of the gnarliest sections of the trail, the Rose Garden.

Racing up Onion Creek to Meet up with the Rest of the Riders

A few riders had followed us down the main road from the lunch spot to avoid this nasty section of the trail.

At the Trailhead, Jim and I suited up, unloaded our bikes and headed up the road to find the rest of the gang.

I'm not sure how Jim had this timed so well, but as we pulled up to the backside of Rose Garden, we watched as the first rider in the group came down the near vertical descent

Doug and I stayed at the top of the hill to try and get some pictures of them coming up and out of the canyon

We thought this would take a few minutes, but ended up sitting on a giant boulder talking for about 45 minutes. As we sat there talking about photography, riding and travel, we could hear voices echoing off the canyon walls and kept hearing the sounds of screaming, metal grinding on rock and crashing sounds

We had no idea what was going on and kept contemplating about going down to see if they needed any help. We both kept saying by the time we suit back up, ride down the very narrow, steep hill we'd more than likely come face to face with the group coming up the mountain. And there was 10 guys down there, so adding more people to the problem would probably only make it worse.

So we just sat there wondering what the hell was going on? The outcome of the situation would be something that will stick in my brain for the rest of my life and be laughed about over beers for the rest of the weekend. It would also prove that stupidity should be painful and might even win an award in this years Darwin Awards Contest.

After the 45 minute mark hit, I stood up and said to Doug, "Watch, if I start to walk down the hill, they'll start riding up."

I didn't make it 100' before we could hear the bikes revving up and the sounds of metal scraping rocks getting closer. We had no idea what was going on and figured a bike had broke down and they were trying to tow it up the hill.

When the first two bikes came around the corner, I was relieved to see them pumping their fists and riding wheelies up the hill.

You'll have to wait till Doug gets the video edited and I can post a link to it, but when the Toyota Yaris car came around the corner with the rest of the group all riding around it like they were escorting the "Idiot of the Year" off the mountain, my voice squeals about 10 octaves higher and you hear me say "Is that a **************** Car!?!?"

I'm not sure if I was even taking pictures at this point. I mean the trails we were riding are some of the roughest Jeep roads in the United States. This trail, and specifically this section is one that even a custom built Jeep like the ones we were riding in last weekend would be hard pressed to be attempting this section

When I finally remembered that I was supposed to be taking photos of this event, I picked my jaw up off the ground and snapped a few shots of the very small, very low clearance vehicle bounce past us scraping his undercarriage off every rock he drove over

Hub caps were missing, the front end was barely holding on and the idiot in the drivers seat had a huge smile on his face like he was out for a Sunday drive. I had to find out what kind of drugs this guy was on.

The rest of the group rode up and over the hill and kept going as Doug and I suited back up and climbed on our bikes. The next 1/4 mile had at least 3 drop-off's that were over 3' tall and they were a blast to ride on the KTM.

I was having a riot jumping off the rocks, climbing back up rough sections and getting comfortable on Jim's bike

We rounded a turn to see the Yaris stopped in the middle of the trail with the owner of the now trashed car trying to pull the front end out from underneath the wheels

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Doug and I pulled up to him and the first words out of Doug's mouth were "Is this thing a rental?"

The guys laughs sheepishly and says "Yeah, its a rental. Do you think my insurance is going to cover this? I never got the rental insurance and I'm worried my normal insurance wont cover this damage."

Idiot of the Year - Now that I look at him, he actually looks like Wolverine

First and foremost, I couldn't believe the dumba$$ was from America. I was expecting some foreigner who had gotten lost not knowing anything about this trail. But someone from the States, and someone from the North West who should know that this entire area is a Jeep testing grounds....Come On

Doug's next question was "Where are you from?"

They guy said "Portland Oregon."

"Where were you trying to go?" Doug asks.

"I had left camp early this morning trying to find the highway and when I got to the bottom of that hill, I figured there was no way I could climb up the other side, so I've been sitting there since 6am." He told us.

Doug Hayduk questioning the Idiot of the Year[/COLOR]

"Are you on Mushrooms?" Doug asked
The guy laughed and replied "No I wish, I kept thinking the trail was getting rougher, but thought I'd find the highway soon enough."

The rest of the group would later tell us he had been sitting there reading a book when they pulled up because he was so stuck. The group was able to basically pick the car up and turn it around to head back out. Numerous times they would stop to push him up and over big rock sections.

This had been the metal scraping that Doug and I had kept hearing while we were waiting for them to come back up the hill.

When we met back up with the rest of the group, we all sat talking about this 'Idiot of the Year' and all of us were having a pretty good laugh waiting for him to come rolling up.

Waiting at the Fork in the Trail deciding what to do

We waited at the fork in the trail for about 20 minutes for the guy to pull up so we could point him in the right direction, but he never pulled up. One person questioned whether we should go back to see if he needed more help, but the majority of us all agreed that we'd call the BLM Rangers when we got back to the trucks and he deserved to sit out here and contemplate his actions for a while longer.

By this point, their helping him for so long would mean most of the riders would be coming back to the lodge after dark, which is something you dont want to be doing with how technical this trail is.

Half the riders split up with the majority of us heading down the easy route to get back to the trucks, the lodge and the cold beers before the sun set

Mike from Sicass Racing heading back to the Lodge in a Hurry

Once back at the trail head, Jim and I loaded back up our bikes and with street legal bikes, the rest of the group was able to ride down the roads to the Red Cliffs Lodge where we'd be spending the night.

Once back at the lodge, the cooler was broken out of the truck and beers were toasted to a beautiful day of riding. Jim and I had only logged some 30 miles where the rest of the group had put in close to 150 rough miles on their bikes!!

If you're ever visiting the Moab area, do yourself a favor and spend a night, or 5 at the Red Cliffs Lodge.

This place is beautiful and the views are amazing any direction you look. It was once owned by the Original Marlboro Man and houses the The Moab Museum of Film and Western Heritage, paying tribute to the tons of Westerns, Cowboy films and tons of other Hollywood movies that have been filmed in this area.

The group had 3 different rooms, so showers were taken and riding clothes were donned for more comfortable street attire. Just after dark, the rest of the riders pulled into the resort and as soon as they were showered and changed, we all headed to the Lodge for dinner

Over scrumptious food, laughs were heard about different spills, wipeouts and fun times had during the long day of riding. The main topic was the Toyota Yaris, which is now known as 4x4 of the Year amongst our group

Jim called the BLM Ranger office during dinner to let them know about the guy and they said they had a few other calls from concerned bikers that had passed by the idiot. They told Jim they were going to send out a ranger in the morning to see if he had made it out, but when Jim let them know he had been down there since 6am, and refused water or food from riders in our group even though he had none with him, the dispatch said they'd send out Search & Rescue tonight just to be on the safe side.

After dinner, we toured the Film Museum in the basement of the lodge before heading back to the cozy rooms. Between the food and drinks, riders were dropping like flies and we had another long day planned for tomorrow.

Rather than stay out at the ranch and bed down with a bunch of sore and tired riders, Jim and I opted to drive the 14 miles back into Moab and sleep with our wives in our own beds.

One of the older guys asked me if I was sleeping in their room and told me the couch folded out into a bed. I thanked him for the offer but told him my wife was only a half hour drive away and if I had to choose between the feel of a naked woman's body or a soft couch in a nice resort, I'd take the chances of the narrow curvy road in the dark for the first option.

Touring the Moab Museum of Film and Western Heritage

When I walked in the door of the camper, my wife was shocked and asked what I was doing home? She was worried that something had happened and we had come home early

I simply told her I came home to see her and we both hit the sack

My shoulders, back and legs were sore from my very light 30 some odd miles of riding today. I cant imagine the guys that rode over 150 miles of that stuff. Those are real riders!

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Saturday October 17th - 2nd Day of Dual Sport Utah 500

Jim and I were up bright and early before the sunrise this morning moving slowly till the Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) kicked in. We had to get fuel to top the bikes off and bring some parts out for today's ride.

Day 2 of the Dual Sport Utah 500

We got out to the Lodge and the group had already eaten breakfast and was in the process of suiting up while we topped off the bikes with fuel.

Adjustments were made to bikes, and riders were all ready to go by 9am.

Today would be a big day with more miles put on a bike in one day than I've ever done before, let alone this rough of riding, but it was amazing to say the least.

We rode out of the Red Cliffs Lodge into Moab and out the Kane Creek Canyon trail towards Hurrah Pass. Our first 14 miles of road was paved, then its basically a dirt road as it climbs up the mountain and one I'd recommend to anyone visiting this area.

The road coming out of downtown Moab has the Colorado river on one side with a towering sandstone wall as a backdrop. The left side of the road where we were on has another sandstone canyon with homes built right into the walls, out of caves and tucked under overhangs.

I had to keep reminding myself that this ride didn't have anything to do with sightseeing and I couldn't stop to take photos of interesting things like the ones we were passing by. If one rider stopped, the entire group stopped and we had serious miles to cover today, so stopping wasn't an option unless you fell or the bike broke.

I did make it a point to promise myself that I'd come back to visit this area with Cindy and take photos of the amazing architecture Mother Nature has provided for these homes on a much slower schedule us photographers like to crawl around at.

Then the climbing started. As you climb higher, the road goes from being a nicely graveled dirt road to a narrow Jeep road. It soon becomes a rough trail with 1000' drop-offs hugging the tight switchbacks

It was so hard to keep your eyes on the trail in front of you with the breathtaking views spreading out over the valley below us. This is amazing

country and we were coming into the backside of Canyonlands National Park if you were to look at it on a map. We were basically shadowing the western most border of the park and following it the entire way around that edge.

As fun as it was to try and keep up with the group, I had to keep reminding myself that these guys were all very experienced riders and racers and a mistake around one of these switchbacks wouldn't just mean injury, it would probably mean death.

Too many times I would come racing into a turn noticing that if I was to slide past the apex, I'd have a long fall to the bottom of the canyon. This slowed me down a bit, but as the day grew on, my confidence raised and I was soon trying my hardest to stay with the pack at their higher speed

Once at the peak of Hurrah Pass, we stopped to take in the view and do some video interviews for the Charity Ride video that Doug was putting together

The main players in the ride each gave little speeches and one in particular struck a cord with me. Len is 72 years old and one of the riders I was having trouble keeping up with the entire time.

Interviews being done atop Hurrah Pass - Dual Sport Utah 500

When he told Doug "I'd like to say something to the camera." Doug pointed it at him and said "Go ahead, the things rolling."

Len looked into the camera and said "For any of you who gave some reason why you couldn't come on this ride to support the Rider Down Foundation, I've got something to say to you. I'm 72 years old and if there is one thing I've learned, you only get one ride in this life, so get out and take it! Dont pass up the opportunities when they pass by, go out and ride because you might not have another chance. If I can ride this at my age, what is your excuse?"

That might not be word for word, but it was something like that and like I said before, as soon as Doug gets the video posted, I'll make sure I add a link to it. But what I'm getting at is when Len said this speech, both Doug and I sat listening and just said "WOW!! How do you top a speech like that?!"

If this guy can be out here at 72, riding like a mad man, what is my excuse for being sore, not being able to keep up or complaining about aching arms and legs? I swore that I wouldn't comment for the rest of the weekend about any aches or pains I felt, no matter how bad they hurt.

Arrow pointing to the rider coming around the bend in the trail

Len's speech gave me a boost of energy and I was eager to get out and ride some more

Jim took a turnoff down the backside of Hurrah Pass and down a two track that read 'Base Camp'. I wondered what this new route was going to show us. Jim is the Master at taking unplanned routes to show you some out of the way thing that most would just pass by not even noticing.

We pulled up to an Adobe structure that had a huge array of solar panels in the back yard. Jim told us this was a friend of his that owned this Lodge and offered services for people interested in using it as Base Camp to explore the desert.[

In a world of security alarms, locks, video surveillance and people who are way too worried about getting robbed, it felt good to read a note on the door that read

Welcome to Base Camp Adventure Lodge
We are away from the lodge right now. If you need to contact us, please use the walkie talkie on the porch. If you are in need of water, the orange cooler has filtered water for your use. Please help yourself.
If you need gas or oil, there is gas and pre-mixed fuel (marked) on the side of the house.
If you need to use a phone, Verizon service will give you two full bars at the top of Hurrah Pass. There are no short cuts out.
We spend much valuable time and energy to provide you with these services. If you feel we helped you, feel free to leave a donation in the mailbox.
Be Safe, Have Fun....Dont Die​

We were all amazed that in this day in age, these things would all be left out and the house would be left unlocked and open for people to use who might be in risk of dehydration or injury out in the desert.

Jim had wanted to stop here to show us how nice it was, and show us Tom (The Owners) pet tortoise.

I just passed the tortoise thing off as one of Jim's many stories when he said "Oh the tortoise isn't here, Tom must be out waking him right now."

We were burning daylight just sitting here admiring the Basecamp, so we pushed on through the desert

A few turns up the trail, the group came to a screeching halt when we spotted Tom and his giant tortoise. Jim wasn't joking and Tom told us he was simply taking his pet for a walk which he does daily.

Tom's Tortoise he was taking for a walk from the Base Camp Resort

Questions were flying from every one of us and I dont even think he could answer them fast enough.

What does it eat?" - About $100 worth of fruit and vegetables each week.

"How old is it?" - 3 years old and it gains about 20 some odd pounds each year.

"Are you seriously taking it for a walk?" - Yep, I take it for a walk every day. We usually walk for about 4 hours each day. He told us he's learned to read and walk at the same time and has probably read more books than anyone he knows because of how much time he spends walking the tortoise.

"What happens when you get far away from the Basecamp? Do you carry it home?" - Nope, at 85lbs, he's now to heavy for me to carry for long distances. When I know he's done walking, he starts to kick sand up on his back which tells me he's going to sleep for the night. I then leave him there and walk back and get my truck and load him up for a drive home

Len and the Tortoise squaring off in the desert

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

This thing was so cool and big. I've seen a few tortoises before, but they were all pretty small. I guess this desert lifestyle is just perfect for him. He told us it was an African Tortoise and it cant swim. But he said when he brings him down by the water, he gets in it every time. He has to watch him because he likes the water so much but doesn't know that he cant swim...LOL

We thanked Tom for all the information and once again, headed on down the trail.

From the Basecamp on, the trail got real nasty real fast. Rock sections that had a line of bikers at the base waiting for the few who couldn't make it up to move or get their bikes pulled up for them by fellow riders.

Doug Clearing the Steep Rock Section like its Nothing

Everyone in our group rode up the steep, nasty sections just fine, but we stopped and helped the other riders just to be nice and show them that's what its all about.

A few miles up the trail, we pulled over one more time to split the group up. Doug and a few of the older guys were going to go on a separate route that wouldn't be as long as our intended ride was planned for.

I contemplated going on that route, but like I said, if these guys are out riding at their age, then what is my excuse? So I rode with the die-hards and went for the butt buster route.

The rest of the day was spent racing across the desert at a high rate of speed. Its amazing to me that we didn't have more break downs than we did. These bikes take a serious beating and all the more reason to be renting a bike rather than beating up your own steed. I'd never ride my DRZ as hard as I was riding this KTM.

Plus, the KTM is made for this type of rough terrain where my DRZ is more for a groomed track and the road.

When we finally made it to our lunch spot, we had logged 84 miles of rough dirt riding. I was so damn hungry at this point, I was reminding myself of the old Looney Tunes when the character would be hungry and anything it looked at it was a juicy piece of meat.

Our lunch spot was the Needles Outpost. This is a little General Store that will also cook you some big, juicy burgers on a grill out on the covered porch. The place is run off of solar panels and its little, rustic and the prefect setting for a ride like we'd just ridden.

Pulling into the Outpost, we found one of the bikes had a flat front tire and one of the bikes was smoking terrible from a bad water pump seal that had caused it to overheat.

We figured we'd take care of the bikes after lunch and let them cool down while we replenished ourselves with food and drink.

While we were eating lunch, Steve looked out into the dirt lot and said "look at those 4x4's heading out to go explore the backcountry."

I sat looking around and couldn't see a single 4 wheeler anywhere?

I finally asked him what he was talking about and he pointed to the two sub-compact cars in the parking lot. DUH!!

He was making a joke referring to yesterdays Yaris incident and the Toyota Prius and the Honda Accord were the two 4x4's he was talking about....********

After lunch, while Steve from Sicass Racing fixed the flat tire on his bike, Jim worked on the overheated bike till he found that it wouldn't hold water anymore. This wasn't good since we had another 80 something miles to get back to the Red Cliffs Lodge

This is where Jim put the Dual Sport in Dual Sport Utah. He gave up his bike so the rider who's bike had overheated would still be able to ride and he climbed on the back of Steve's Honda 650. These bikes aren't really made for two people, especially two fully grown men both laden down with heavy back pack

Steve and Jim putting the Dual Sport in Dual Sport Utah - 80 Some odd miles like this!

Jim found that he couldn't get on the bike with Steve wearing his backpack, and Steve couldn't wear the pack backwards on his chest because of the height of his gas tank.

So Jim threw his backpack on, then threw Steve's backpack on top of that one. This looked like some guy about to climb Mount Everest and when he climbed on the back of the bike, the rear fender was only inches away from the rear tire.

Of course there were no rear pegs for Jim to put his feet on, so they dangled inches from the ground. Due to the extra weight on the back of the bike, any time Steve would twist the throttle with any vigor on his XR650, the bike would start to stand up on its end making the entire scene look like some sort of circus act.

Bruce with the Rider Down Foundation saying "See Ya" to Canyonlands

Mike and I who were riding right behind these two, and both kept laughing so hard at the dangling feet, the bobbing of the bike and the mile high backpack that I was worried I was going to wreck from the tears rolling down my face.

The ride out HWY 211 was long but beautiful. If you ever visit Canyonlands, make the time to come down this far south to see this route, and if you can time it right, do it in the fall.

The Ride home was as picture perfect as the ride there!

The Cottonwoods are ablaze with their fall color right now and heading out of the park, the sun was setting behind us only adding to the perfect light. Again, it was all I could do not to stop every few miles to get off the bike and take pictures, but we were way behind schedule now and would be lucky if we made it back before dark

When we finally rolled into Moab, we had only stopped one more time because another bike had broke, but that was a simple spring holding the kickstand up and was fixed with a zip tie in no time. Once back at Jim's shop, he replaced the spring and grabbed another bike so he wouldn't have to ride that last 14 miles on the back of Steve's bike.

I ran into the camper and grabbed Cindy and she jumped on the back of my personal bike. I figured since we were this close, she could come out and hang with the boys so I wouldn't have to re-tell all the stories about our weekend.

We stopped and fueled the bikes up one last time while in Moab, and Steve from Sicass told Jim "You'd better throw some fuel in that 2 Stroke of yours, I dont think you'll make it back out to the lodge with how low it is."

Jim said he didn't feel like breaking out all the mixing stuff to add fuel to his 2 stroke KTM and he'd be fine with the fuel level.

Mid way there, while we were all having a blast playing tag and racing down the narrow canyon roads, Jim's bike ran out of fuel. He stopped real quick, threw on the reserve and caught back up to us only to run out another few miles down the road. This was within the last few miles from the lodge and we were in the home stretch.

Luckily Bruce from the Rider Down Foundation had a tow strap in his fanny pack and our last few miles of the over 180 mile day was spent towing the bike back into the camp.

Bruce Towing Jim Back to the Red Cliffs Lodge

By the time I got off the bike, my butt felt like I had been sitting in battery acid and my legs were almost completely numb. The blisters on my hands looked like I had been digging a ditch all day and I've never been so ready for a cold beer in all my life.

The rest of the night was spent telling stories, hearing how the other guys made their way back from Hurrah Pass and telling them of our adventure down to the Needles Outpost

There was a big wedding party at the Red Cliffs Lodge that included fireworks that lit up the surrounding sandstone canyons and echoed off the walls for a few minutes after each explosion. It was a great way to end the night

Its days like today when Every Mile is Truly a Fantastic Memory!

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Sunday October 18th - Last day of the Dual Sport Utah 500

Getting out of bed this morning was a lesson in self will. I sat up, laid back down, sat up again remembering I'm the youngest guy in this group and willed myself to get dressed despite how tired I was.

Cindy was laughing at the sounds my body was making. Snaps, pops, squeaks all followed by a few groans and moans. 800mgs of Ibuprofen washed down with a cup of coffee and I was ready to go.

The guys were all meeting at the shop this morning and we were leaving right from here to ride Moab's Sovereign Trail.

This is the beauty of having the plated, street legal dual sport bikes. We can jump right on the road, ride to the trail head and keep going rather than have to trailer the bikes to and from our riding destination

Plus, if at any point we want to take a detour or find a different route to explore, we can jump back off the trail we're on and ride down the road to a new destination. Its really the best of both worlds with having a plated dirt bike

The group of riders grew a bit smaller today with Grant and Len opting out of today's very tight, very technical single track. I think I would have had trouble riding much of this route on my mountain bike, let alone muscling around a few hundred pounds of orange Austrian metal.

I learned today that I have trouble making left hand turns on the 180° switchbacks. It seemed almost every time I found one of these turns, which seemed like every few hundred feet, the bike would be laid down on the rocks with me cussing gravity and my short stature....Sorry Jim!

Can you find all 5 Riders in this Shot? - Jim is in the lead and just about to make another 180° to go around the top of the hill

With my 30" inseam, being able to touch the ground even with my tippy toes is a task on these KTM 450's. Try and get enough leverage to plant a foot as the bike starts to go down and you end up muscling the bike alot more than you need to. At least a lot more than I wanted to, that's for sure

I finally had to stop, evaluate what I was doing wrong and mentally just tell myself "Just pretend you're on your mountain bike, ride the thing like you would the bike you can whip around like its nothing."

This really helped and I was soon riding over obstacles that I was falling down on earlier. I guess its more mental than it is physical strength and I was starting to really enjoy this trail

If someone was to come up with a bike that had a lower seat height, yet still retained the grunt and low end horsepower of these bigger 4-strokes, I'd love to try it out. Not necessarily a Trails Bike, because those are too specific for only one type of riding, but one you could ride on all day long and tackle various forms of terrain like we've been riding for the last few days. But built for short people like me.

My DRZ-SM 400 is perfect for the type of riding Cindy and I normally go out exploring on. The majority of which are twisty back roads, lots of dirt roads and the occasional two track or fire road. I dont think my bike could handle much of the terrain we've been exploring on the past few days without a lot of add-on's or aftermarket items to make it more trail worthy.

I'm starting to think that one of these KTM's with a less aggressive set of tires might be the perfect bike to switch to.

The past few days of riding one has me falling in love with everything Austrian. If our group of riders can put these bikes through this hard core abuse from sun up to sun down day after day, I'm thinking my 3000 average miles of wimpy riding per year on pavement and occasional dirt would leave the bike angry with my mellow riding tendencies.

The Sovereign Trail is everything it is touted to be and more. Moon like slick rock, singletrack that is as tight as anything I've ever ridden on a mountain bike, and way beyond anything I've ridden on a motorcycle. Deep sand washes that made me glad for a motor while we whizzed by the mountain bikers pushing their skinny wheeled bikes through the deep sugar sand, and steep, nasty descents that left my knees bruised from gripping the bike so hard while we dropped down the backsides of some of the steepest climbs I've ever ridden in my life.

I'm proud to say that the Dual Sport Utah 500 helped me tackle a lot of firsts in my career of riding motorcycles. I cant think of a better way to get introduced to the Moab area and its extensive array of riding terrain than by a knowledgeable guide that knows the area and its extensive network of trails. Knows the various rocks you ride past, the geology of the formations, stops to show you hidden dinosaur bones or foot prints left in the sandstone millions of years ago, and lets you trash a bike that's not yours....Sorry again Jim!

Today would be an early day as it was Sunday and a bunch of the guys needed to start heading home to go back to the real world and that nasty four letter word WORK...even typing it makes me shutter.

Singletrack through Boulder Fields on the Dual Sport Utah 500

We jumped back on the road and headed back into Downtown Moab. Once back at the Dual Sport Utah shop, everyone changed out of their riding apparel and into more comfortable street clothes.

Being as Jim's shop is right in the heart of Moab, we walked a few blocks up the street to Eddie McStiff's restaurant for lunch and beers.

Spicy Hot Wings, juicy burgers, thin crust pizza and microbrew's were delivered to the table as the group all sat around sharing more stories and laughs.

From lunch, the group would split up as Jim would bring some of the guys back to Grand Junction, some back to their trucks left in Colorado at the Kokopelli Trail Head, and leave me with time to lie down and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Another Vitamin I, a cold shower and my bed was like something out of a infomercial for mattresses. Its never felt so comfortable in all my life

I woke up a few hours later feeling refreshed and excited to start the laborious task of sifting through the weekends pile of digital images I had snapped. There would be much editing involved with this batch of photos due to having the camera dangling from my chest harness all weekend and the majority of the shots snapped without looking through the viewfinder. Just sort of a spray and pray technique....I know, not that professional, but how else do you ride and take pictures without getting the entire group to stop and wait for you to position yourself in the most picturesque of locations?

I had brought along a few of my ThinkTank Lens Pouches, but once I saw how dirty and dusty the camera and lens was, I thought twice about swapping lenses and just left the one lens on all weekend.

I've got a few ideas on how to get better photos next year which would involve me pre-riding many of the routes, finding the locations I want to set up and going out way in advance of the rest of the group to be ready for when they pass by.

That or drive the truck which could also carry supplies and extra fuel which would make it much easier for the rest of the riders in the long run, but would suck for me since this would mean I wouldnt have the fun of riding it on a motorcycle.

In a perfect world, a Polaris RZR or Yamaha Rhino would be the ideal chase vehicle that would allow me to carry camera gear, fuel, parts and get into many of the nasty locations a truck could never make it without thousands of dollars of suspension work.

The weekend of riding with a camera strapped to my chest left me with my Canon 28-105 lens broken and a camera that is in serious need of a deep cleaning. Even though I had it wrapped up in a Ziploc bag, it still looks like it was dragged behind the bike for miles upon miles. I guess falling to the dirt, or riding behind a group of 10 riders all kicking up dirt and dust isn't that good for electronics.

There were a few other things I've learned over the past few weekends here in Utah. Outdoor enthusiasts hate ATV riders. When Jeeping with the guys in the San Rafael Swell (Dr. Moab and XJ Banker from this forum), they all talked about how the ATV riders come out to the backcountry areas and tear everything up, dont help out with the trail maintenance and trash the areas they ride in. This gives all off-road users a black eye and gets trails and backcountry areas closed down faster than anything

In Moab, everyone we we talk to says the same things. The ATV riders are the ones that do the most damage to the trails and get them closed down faster than any other group

It seems there are too many groups that are all trying to accomplish the same task of keeping the trails open to outdoor enthusiasts and rather than combining their power and working as one powerful group with everyone involved, they all seem to be fighting the same task with limited power and resources.

Motorcyclists and Mountain Bikers all Sharing Trails in Moab

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

One thing that is unanimous is the hatred towards the environmentalists who are trying to get the trails closed off to all forms of motorized traffic. I've never thought about this too much till after I have spent days and long hours riding these areas in both Jeeps, Motorcycles and Bikes.

Many of the areas they want to close off to motorized or any mechanized transportation are barren desert landscapes. Except for a few tufts of desert grass, there isn't much in the way of vegetation. I honestly dont see how you could ruin any of this area with a vehicle, any type of vehicle for that matter.

Unless you were to bring a bulldozer out here, there is nothing but dirt, sand rock and....and....and, Hold on, I'm trying to think if there is anything else? Nope! Just dirt, rock and sand.

I can completely understand the environmentalists viewpoint when it comes to saving or protecting a delicate area that is home to groves of giant redwoods, unique cactus, endangered sea oats along coastal beaches or areas that might have native wildlife in need of protection. But this is pretty barren desert we're talking about.

What are you going to ruin out here with these little tires?

If you closed any of these areas down to mechanized traffic, it would be impossible to see much of it. On Saturday we rode for hours upon hours into the middle of the desert at speeds that made it possible to cross these remote areas in a short time frame.

If you had to hike into the middle of this landscape, unless you had supplies air dropped in for you, it would be impossible to hike and see the inner most depths of these areas.

Not that my measly rants will do either side of the argument much good, I just felt I should mention something I've noticed in the past few weeks and needed to get it off my chest.

With 8 bikes to tend to, I think Jim was a bit crazy by the end of the weekend!

All in all, the Dual Sport Utah 500 inaugural run is something I'll never forget. Hopefully next years will bring in more riders which in return will bring in more money for the Rider Down Foundation.

The fella's I met this weekend were some great guys from all walks of life. We all had one thing in common, the love of riding. I learned that age shouldn't be a factor in anything you do, and all the more reason you should be out enjoying what ever it is that makes you happy.

For me, mixing motorcycles with exploring new areas is about as good as it gets. My only thing I'd like to have added was being able to bring Cindy along with me so she could experience the amazing beauty this desert has to offer.

Getting her to learn to ride a bike, let alone getting her to ride one well enough to follow us on these trials is something I'm thinking isn't going to happen any time soon, so I guess she's the one missing out.

So that's the end of my Ride Report! Hope you enjoyed it and if any of you are into Adventure Riding, this is one amazing event with all proceeds going to a goodd cause. Make sure you check out next years event and the photo opportunites being this far out into the desert are out of this world!

 

[Purple People Eater]

Idiot of the year?! No way, man. He's having a blast.

Awesome pictures. Tortoises are rare to come by, and they're so cool. Thanks for posting up! :victory:

 

[rctr03]

great write up, thanks

jimmy

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Idiot of the year?! No way, man. He's having a blast.

Awesome pictures. Tortoises are rare to come by, and they're so cool. Thanks for posting up! :victory:

Who Knew the Toyota Yaris was the New Overland Vehicle? I'm not lying when I say this was one rough area!!

Tortoise was way cool! If we ever settle down and find a house, I'm getting one for the house. Quite the garbage disposal from what the guy was telling us it eats

 

[adventureduo]

EPIC write up!!! Thank you for taking the time to do it and snap such amazing shots. I wil read this more than once.

 

[SOAZ]

Now thats my kind of trip.
Great photos, great story. :sombrero:

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Thanks Dave and Huber! It was a blast to ride and write!

 

[DrMoab]

Man, I had tears in my eyes. Some of the best writing I've seen in awhile. The story of the idiot in the Toyota brings back memories of one of the first Moab trips I took Nanette on. We did the Golden Spike trail and about half way through we were working on someone's Jeep that broke down when we hear another Jeep come up behind us. We turn around to see a brand new BONE STOCK cherokee on the trail with us.

I don't know if you know about Golden Spike but it is considered to be one of the hardest Jeep trails in the area. It's a trail that I would hesitate before taking my yellow jeep on. Anyway we ask the dude what he was doing there and a lot like your guy, he was in a rental and he was lost. This Jeep only had 2000 miles on it.

After sitting and thinking about it for awhile we decided that it would be better to take him out with us instead of turning him around. By the time we got to the end of the trail he had ripped most of the fender flares off, none of the doors would open right because the rocker panels were smashed so bad and the paint had been ruined from running into rocks. After one paticular hard hit on the rocker panel he turned to his wife and said "we did get insurance right?"

So anyway, just had to tell you thanks for bringing back the memories. That was an awsome story. I would like to be a fly on the wall of the rental company when he goes to turn that car in.

 

[T.Low]

Thanks for the great read, Pat. Perfect combination of pics and text, and excellent pics at that. What a great time you must of had. Awesome to be a part of something like that.

I'm not sure I realised you were from Michigan. I'm a Walled Lake Central grad.(and UMFlint)

I'll bookmark this thread as I have ideas of a multi sport trip in Moab. (paddling, riding, 4x4, mountain bike) My Gas Gas fse 450 is in the same category as those KTM's. And with my 31" inseam I feel your pain. On a night ride last Wednesday I went to put my foot down at a stop and couldn't see in the dark that the ground sloped away until I was picking my bike back up from it.

Shoot me a PM if you're ever going to be out between Seattle and the Canadian border.

Thanks, again. You're a great photo journalist!