Day 19 Nevada - a doubler ??

So, we were going to attempt a double day again. Why ? Because we wanted to push ourselves :-)

We set off just after 7am, and got cracking - the following sequence shows some great riding across the plains;








Even though we were pushing along - we still had a chance to have a chat to these guys who were out hunting for deer with bows;


We arrived at Battle Mountain on time at 11:30 - after 140 miles leaving us plenty of time to complete the remaining 150 miles to Oregon - things were looking good !!

Unfortunately, we had a fewof issues; 1) the rear brake pads on the KTM were down to the metal 2) all the tyres were nearing the end of their life 3) the auxillary 2 gallon fuel can we were carrying had tried to escape its moorings a couple of times, and had been swinging near the (hot) exhaust pipes 4) Phil had some business to attend to.

So, foiled again !

We are now currently sat in a motel room in Battle Mountain, Nevada phoning around all the motorcyle dealers in Nevada and Idaho trying to locate brake pads. Fun, fun, fun.

At least Caroline managed to rendezvous with the aeroplane, so Margie and Randon could return back home.

Day 18 Double 'em up

Today we planned to double our money - we were going to do 2 days in 1 - 350 miles !!!
The first 30 miles were dual track, with  plenty of washouts - we averaged 30 mph, which was good going:




Then we were very quickly onto single track, which was fab fun, but was having an effect on our average speed. The trees were close together so there was plenty of tree banging with handlebars, upper body and helmets :-)


The trail finally opened up to desert again, which meant we could get cracking.

It was still dual track, which meant concentration was still required due to the washouts and the odd hidden bend....


No harm done ( apart from a bruised knee!)

We were still going well, and on target for getting the 350 miles completed when disaster! Phil ran out of fuel, 15 miles short of the fuel stop - in the middle of nowhere !
In fact we had just crested a summit at 9000 ft, and I'm sure I had checked behind to see he was there ! On the descent, whilst negotating some rolling rock hairpin bends, I checked again - no Phil !
I backtracked to the summit - nope. I descended again, this time checking all the turn offs - nope. I ascended, this time looking over all the cliff edges to see if I could see a tyre mark or remenants of a bike ! At the summit I left my rucksack,  just incase Phil had ventured off and was also trying to locate me !
Within 300 yds I found him !
The plan was then for me to go and get fuel and then return to top him up.


All this messing around wasted almost 2 hours so the double up day was no longer viable :-(

Back on the trail again, we came across a watering hole where some antelope were drinking;


The trail then got really fun - a 6 mile dash across the plains, following only cattle tracks - so this was a case of merely following the GPS heading :-)
Unfortunately, I was having too much fun, and made another navigation/rider error - the cattle track had opened up to a jeep trail, and we were approaching the turn waypoint. I was focusing on the GPS and roadbook, and completely failed to see a barbed wire fence-type gate across the trail - similar to this one:


I'm not sure who won this battle ! The fence took me down, but once Phil had untangled me from the barbed wire,  the majority of the  wire had been broken by the impact - so I'm taking the win :-)

If enough hadn't happened already today, the heavens then opened !!
So another 20 miles across slippy slidy goo whilst trying to avoid bushes and rocks!

All in all, an adventure of a day. The final mileage? 250 to Eureka, Nevada.

And, just to prove that the experience has taught us nothing - we are going to try and double up again today - Eureka, via Battle Mountain to McDermitt - approx 280 miles let's hope it's less dramatic.

Day 17 - Utah to Nevada

This morning, the weather looked a little dodgy;


After the rain last night - the trail was sticky and slimy - but great fun.

Climbing high above Richfield - the views were amazing;


We then entered an ATV park - but this was nothing like an ATV park in the UK - we travelled for almost 30 miles on ATV trails - tight and twisty with great berms on most corners. Much of the trail was on the sides of the hills you can see in the picture above . Fantastic riding !!!

There were no towns between the source and destination, so we met up with the chase truck for a welcome picknik - Bar-b-q steak in the back of a trailer :-)
   

Following the fun of the mornings ATV trail - we then endured 80 miles of straight gravel over the salt lake - I think it proved too much for me;


Eventually we got to the Nevada stateline;


Once in Nevada, we checked out the motel (singular) in Baker, and decided to truck on to Ely.
 
GPS Log

Day 16 Utah Aeroplane rendezvous

Today's ride was the first without a decent lunch stop, so we headed off to the grocery store to stock up, then headed off to Moab airfield to meet Phil, Margie and Caroline. Arriving at the airfield, we couldn't see the aeroplane anywhere - a quick phone call later, and we discovered they had landed at Green River - so we gave chase, and quite quickly found the airfield in the middle of nowhere!!


We very quickly hit some great 2-track through river-beds, and up on top of canyons - awesome riding , and super scenery.




The trail passed under and over the Interestate 70, sometimes through small tunnels (bike room only), and sometimes under spectacular bridges;


The trail then headed away, towards Cat Canyon - awesome.

The trail then dipped into a dry sandy river bed for the next 30 or so miles, very twisty and great fun - the whole time we kept one eye on the weather - there was thunder and lightening in the not too distant - and we were very aware of the flash flood potential.

After meeting up for lunch on the roadside, we had a very leisurely ride on easy trails for the next 100 miles to Richfield.

GPS Log

Day 15 - Moab

Another day off - I guess we are slacking !!
After collecting MIchelle off at Moab airfield and riding the trail to Green River, Phil discovered he had to return to Arizona for some business - so that left Michelle, Randon and I with a day in Moab.
Over a beer, we decided that a skydive would be the best use of a day off (don't all the great ideas appear over a beer?)

The skydive was over Moab, jumping from 11000ft from ground - which is 16000ft above sea level :-)




After lunch we headed off to do some touristy stuff in the arches national park, so here is the obligatory 'Delicate Arch' photo (taken from a distance, cos it was too damn hot to walk far)

Day 14 Into Utah

Last night we had dinner with a few of Phils friends from the area (well one drove 4 hours for dinner!!) which was a real laugh but also quite surreal - "Are you doing the X-Games this year?", "Nah - they've asked me to race XYZ instead" :-)

This morning we left Monticello, and nipped back into Colorado before heading towards Utah for real. The approach was via a wooded hill, which seemed to be a fairly small climb to around 10,000 feet. Then on the descent we got our first glimpse of the amazing sandstone synonymous with Moab.

Today was our first rendezvous with the airplane, to pick up Michelle from New Mexico, and drop John off.
Whilst at the airport, I had an interesting conversation with a chap who was boarding the aeroplane in the background;


He started by complimenting the array of bikes that we had, he also mentioned he was a dirtbiker, and had a Honda CRF. Then he happened to mention he was the the Governor of the State of Utah.
We had a bit more of a chat, then he disappeared on his way. After relaying the story, I was suitably chastised by the others for not getting a 'thumbs up photo' for Phils website

I have since tried to recover the situatiuon by emailing Jon Huntsman Jr at the Utah Governers Office.

After a tasty Italian lunch, we then disappeared off to Green River - with Michelle and Phil 2-up !!


GPS Log

Day 13 Colorado - dicing with the Colorado 500, and riding with the Pro'

Stayed in Lake City, Colorado - a very strange little town - up-and-coming, but currently not quite there !
There was no WiFi in the motel, so we ended up camped out in the local gas station with an ice cream, whilst on t'internet.
Whilst there the owner was telling us about a break-in he had recently had - a bear had broken into the store and gorged itself on sugar, pancake batter, and soda ! He was saying that a late frost had reduced the amount of berries available in the forests, hence the reason the bears were venturing into town. He also mentioned a guy had recently been chased down an alley be a bear, and had escaped by getting into an unlocked car !
Whilst wandering around town (we had arrived early after the ride from Salida), we spotted the visitor centre, which gave advise on dealing with bears - one note was not to sleep in the same clothes you cooked dinner in !!!

Today we were due to meet a friend of Phils in Rico (80 miles away) between 9 and 10am, so it was an early start - we left just before 7am. It was cold - Randon (from Hawaii) was acting like an extra from 'Cool Runnings' (the Jamaican Bosleigh team at the winter olympics).

Within about 3 miles we stopped to put on some extra layers of clothes, and a quick warm of the hands;


We were soon out of the shade of the rockies, and starting to get warmed up on climb to the Cinnamon Pass. On route we decided to head into the America Basin - the trail said it was closed, but as before we ignored this helpful advice and continued on....onto a goat track - a steep, switchback goat track.
This proved a little too much for the bikes - we were at 12500ft and my bike wouldn't rev due to the altitude. Phils worked ok, but the 400lb bike was a bit of a handful ;


Unfortunately he was pinned under the bike after this fall - and I selfishly dropped my bike to run to the rescue (I wish I'd got the camera out first !!). It was only 20m or so uphill, but at 12500ft and wearing offroad gear it felt like a mile run !!


So, we retreated and headed for Cinnamon Pass instead - fantastic scenery.
Here we bumped into the first of the "Colorado 500" riders - some sort of 5 day trail ride in the Colorado Rockies.
We then headed over some amazing mountain side trails, towards this Ghost Town (California Glutch)


Then over another 12000ft pass - California Pass;


After 80 miles of the above amazing trails we finally made it Rico a little late (10:30) to meet Steve and Denise - had a quick bite to eat (somehow took a couple of hours!!), and then continued on the trail - a couple of great passes, and some fun in the woods:


On route into Utah, Steve decided that he'd have a play off trail;

He managed to burst both front and rear tyres in this little playpen :-)
We then continued into Utah - Steve riding behind me on two flat tyres and pulling endless wheelies. He may be a pro-rider, but I'm sure he must have learnt something from me - I'm just not sure what ;-)

Perhaps I'll teach him this trick;


GPS Log

Day 12 Mountain Lion Ahoy !!!!!!

We finally left Salida - it seems like we have been there for a week !
Last night Jon kindly invited us around to his house for steak and beer - oh and a game of shoes (flinging horse shoes at a pole in the ground)

We left Salida and headed back into the mountains.
It was cold, very cold;



First stop was a rather poor ghost town called St Elmo;



We headed upward towards Hancock Pass (12125ft) - an interesting rocky trail;



then across to Tomichi Pass (you can just see it on the side of the mountain)


One route down from Tomichi Pass, we stumbled across a Mountain Lion crossing the trail !! I must have been around 20m from it. It was about the size of a small alsation dog, so I guess it was fairly young.

Looking at the GPS route, I attempted a short cut, following an interesting trail. The short cut got us very close to the trail we wanted to be on - it's just that we were about 500ft to high ;




GPS log

Day 11 Colorado single track

Another day off !!
The mileage had played havoc on the tyres, and we were due for a day in the mountains on single track, so at 6am we started  changing tyres - and a result - not one pinched tube!!



If you were wondering what single track is, here are a couple of photos of the climb up the mountain.




The climb was pretty difficult, for three main reasons; 1) the altititude meant the bike didn't carburate cleanly, which meant it either chugged or rev'd - ie the throttle was like a switch, 2) the alititude meant I got tired quickly, 3) I'm crap at riding - the two photos don't do the climb justice, the certainly don't call this the Rockies for no reason !! The climb was certainly rocky - and it was a long climb!

As we were on single track for the day, Phil took out his new KTM 450 for a play, unfortunately, it wasn't jetted for the alititude, and it behaved badly. First we tried adjusting the airscrew;


The view from the top;


After adjusting the airscrew, the KTM still wasn't happy, and the constant clutch slipping burnt the clutch out - so what followed was an enjoyable 2 hour tow over single track to get to the highway.
Here Jon shows an alternative strap tieing method:


The _looooong_ tow:




and it wasn't easy


After 2 hours, we got to the highway - to find a locked gate! This was chained at both ends, so we couldn't even lift the gate of the hinges. So,,,


Anyway, and awesome day out - fantastic trails and amazing scenery - thanks Jon for taking 2 strangers out for a days riding.

Now we rejoin the TransAmTrail - we continue west towards Utah