10/6/13 Moab, Utah & Idaho Trip

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10/6/13 Moab, Utah & Idaho Trip

Postby Tawmass » Mon Oct 14, 2013 5:33 pm

Getting There
Five guys in one truck for 1000 miles and 16+ hours. Yep, that was our situation. We could’ve taken a second car, but it would’ve been double the driving, double the gas mileage, yadda, yadda. But after the smoke cleared, it was agreed to take Keith Reams’ island-sized pickup and Kerry Owens’ enclosed bike trailer. Kerry Owens was supposed to go, however he had the opportunity of a lifetime for a firefighter position conflict, so he had to regrettably forego the ride for the job. Turns out he DID get the job, which is awesome, however he was missed during out trip!

We all met up at Keith’s place at 9pm Friday for the marathon rip over to Moab, Utah. The crew consisted of Scott "Scooter" Wilson, Doug "Dugly" White, Keith "KR" Reams, "Big John" Kaufman and yours truly. We eagerly loaded up and pointed the cruise control eastward.
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For some trip humor, Scott found out it was John’s Birthday, so he created a custom ‘gift’ for John, with loving pix of all of us.
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Now you get an idea of the group – tough crowd! Along the way the weather was nice as we droned on through Idaho and into Utah, with occasional pieces of excitement. Somewhere in Idaho a fully-loaded big rig had just gone onto its side – yikes!
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We finally rolled into the town of Moab and it was such a relief. And it was time to get the party started!
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Options for dinner were considered for $1.75/scoop, but we settled for the Mexican food across the parking lot. Dugly wasn’t too impressed with my bodily response of the said food.
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Day 1:
Sunday morn, we’re up early, amped and ready to go! For some reason, Dugly had Marty Robbins on the brain, which became contagious. All I can figure it that it started per our discussion of the last episode of Breaking Bad where they played the song El Paso, where I lost a $5 bet with Dugly about the girl's name. Turns out I lost - it was Felina, not Helina. Anyway, we took off in beautiful sunshine – straight from the hotel (we all had plates)!
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We loaded up and took off straight out of the hotel parking lot and go into the Slick Rock Park. The guy at the entrance gate looked like he had a VERY rough night and charged us for four entries(?). We stopped for a moment to use the facilities and then took off into slick rock. Keith had been here the year prior, so he took the lead and gave us tips, however he was handicapped since everyone had radios except him. Slick rock riding was one of the most bizarre things I’ve done – round boulders everywhere that you simply follow the painted symbols on the rocks (or tire tracks). And if you did NOT follow the symbols, you could pay dearly as there were cliffs, “hot tubs” and drop offs everywhere! We would be sharing these routes with other users such as mountain bikers, four wheelers and hikers.
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It was almost a surreal environment: nothing but rolling rock, peppered with small, thorny cactus and hazards.
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It took awhile to get used to riding on the slick rocks. You had to have faith in your traction, both going uphill and downhill. There was some difficulty on one uphill ledge. We came across one, hearty local that was riding a motorized trials bicycle. His name was Tom and the bike had suspension, a 70cc motor and looked like a blast!
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After doing various loops and routes, we came upon a “Lion’s Back” piece of narrow rock that overlooked the panoramic Colorado River over 1000 feet below – beautiful!
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We then headed onto the southern side of the Slick Rock Area, where there was more sand, dirt and yes, rocks. How that fertilizer ended up on TOP of that rock, I don’t know. And it’s a good thing Scooter and KR were using their turn signals.
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Suddenly John’s bike stopped just as we were starting up another massive boulder. WTF? We stopped and field stripped his bike, thinking it was a broken throttle cable, but how can that happen since his bike was new in May? We finally narrowed it down to the throttle spring not being installed properly when he updated his jetting. Evidently the white, plastic tube was not seated properly onto the needle keeper. After a flurry of wrenches and KR finding what looked to be a diamond (yes, a diamond!), we had John’s 300 back like new again. Hope KR found a bonafide diamond instead of a cubic zirconium!
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At the end of the day, we’d only done just under 40 miles, but it was all in second and third gear rock crawling. We were ready to get cleaned up and get some chow and cocktails.
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What an awesome day, stunning scenery, great riding buds, and it was only our first day!
-Tom
<<<<Insert video here
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You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.
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Tawmass
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Re: 10/6/13 Moab, Utah & Idaho Trip

Postby Tawmass » Mon Oct 14, 2013 5:33 pm

Day 2:
You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.

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Re: 10/6/13 Moab, Utah & Idaho Trip

Postby Tawmass » Mon Oct 14, 2013 5:33 pm

Day 3:
You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.

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Tawmass
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Re: 10/6/13 Moab, Utah & Idaho Trip

Postby Tawmass » Mon Oct 14, 2013 5:33 pm

Day 4:
You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.

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Re: 10/6/13 Moab, Utah & Idaho Trip

Postby Tawmass » Mon Oct 14, 2013 5:33 pm

Day 5:
You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.

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Re: 10/6/13 Moab, Utah & Idaho Trip

Postby Dusty Sphincter » Mon Oct 28, 2013 12:05 pm

I'd go back today, if it was not 16+ hours away!
=D>


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