Day5, going home

We were up at dark:30 in the morning to get an early start. We had packed everything the night before and I had reinstalled my street windshield for the trip home. It was 28 degrees and dark when we left for town to get breakfast. After breakfast it was starting to get light and we started south. I had my electric jacket and gloves but my feet were still cold and numb however the biggest problem was my chin. The cold air coming under my helmet felt like it was freezing my chin and was getting painful. Luckily Daren had another face cover which he gave me and it saved the day for me. Farther down the road were 2 different places that Daren and I had seen signs for in previous trips through the area. One was for Newspaper Rock. We had time to go there and it was worth the side trip. It is a large rock face with petroglyphs all over it. It was quite impressive and really makes one wonder if the early inhabitants were trying to leave messages, tell a story or were just drawing pictures.

A small part of Newspaper Rock

After that side trip we did not have time for others so we continued on for home. It is a 360 mile trip which along with the trip up gave us a feel for how the Triumphs were as street bikes. We had already determined on the White Rim Trail that we were happy with the bikes for our off road purposes which is poor dirt roads and not overly technical single track trails. We both agreed that a different handlebar position or different bars were desired for both on and off road. We also agreed that a throttle lock would be a nice addition so that we could give our right wrist and arm a break. And it was unanimous that the optional low seat was great for short trips and off road but something more comfortable was needed for road trips of over 200 miles. We decided that the next trip to Moab would be longer and in a slightly warmer time of year.

Horseshoe Canyon, No Petroglyphs Today

Because we planned to do some hiking we had the saddlebags on our bikes so we could store our jackets, helmets and boots while on our hike. Our 50 mile trip to the dirt road turned out to be 90 miles. However the 30 mile trip to the parking area was accurate. But the easy 3.5 mile hike to the petroglyphs was listed in the parking area as strenuous and one should allow 5-6 hours for the round trip. This would have us arriving back at the parking area at sunset so we passed on doing the hike although we did walk a little ways down toward the canyon. About 7 miles before the parking area we had seen a sign telling us which way to turn and it also noted that this direction would also take us to Green River in 54 miles. Green River is 50 miles from where we are staying so naturally we will take the "short cut" and the dirt road to Green River. The road in was nice but washboarded. There were a couple of mud crossings that were trying and lots of great views. We could tell immediately though that the road out was going to be more technical. Unfortunately for me I did not notice one of the most "technical" obstacles, a 30" wide ditch, until the last moment. I was going 40-50 mph and suddenly there it was. I just had time to stand and hang on. Off-road motorcycle riders in time develop a nerve that connects legs, arms, jaw, eyes and sphincter so that the brain can fire a message to all these items at one time. The knees grip the gas tank, the elbows lock, the jaw drops, the eyes dilate and the sphincter tightens, all at once. This nerve is a fine example of rapid evolution. My body received the signal and activated all of these functions immediately as well as an instant prayer to my maker requesting survival. It evidently worked as the front wheel just hit the far side of the ditch, the back wheel clobbered it  but I did not endo or otherwise crash. However a sacrifice was demanded and my right hand saddlebag paid the price. An internal latch broke and the poor bag went cartwheeling down the road. Better it than me. I did manage to signal Daren of impending disaster so he slowed down and took the left side of the road where the road had not yet washed out.

The glove is 11" long.

A reduced speed seemed to be a wise choice for the rest of the dirt road so we implemented the new plan and continued on to Green River. Then it was back to Moab for a buffalo burger and a tall, cool beer. Tomorrow we would head for home as Daren had received a call that he needed to be home by 4 PM.

Reviewing the previous day

Today was supposed to be the day for exploring a different area but it rained all night long. We needed to take a downhill twisty road to the area we wanted to explore but the road was extremely slippery so it was certain that we would be picking at least one of the motorcycles up before the day was done. So we elected to go to the Canyonlands National Park Visitor Center and get some information about the canyon's history. On the way there we passed the entrance to the road we descended yesterday to get into the canyon. It was quite muddy with ruts in the mud from the jeeps that had tried the road. We continued on to the visitor center which was very informative. The roads down in the canyon were made by uranium miners as a way to get their ore up out of the canyon. The value of uranium dropped and all of the mining operations shut down. Finally the area was made into a national park. The real appeal of the area is using 4 wheel drive vehicles, motorcycles or mountain bikes to get down into the canyon. The area is too large and remote for the average hiker. The whole town of Moab basically exists to accommodate the tourists who come here to explore the area in their vehicles. So naturally a congressman from New York, IIRC,  introduced a bill to outlaw vehicles from the area. The bill was defeated and now states like Utah have passed legislation preventing the federal government making laws on how states can use their land. Needless to say this congressman is not popular among the citizens of Moab. The ranger at the visitor center told us about some unique pictoglyphs that we could hike to. (Petroglyphs are drawings scratched into the varnish like coating of some rock types, pictoglyphs are actually painted on the rocks) The parking area where the hike begins was 50 miles away on paved roads and then another 30 miles of dirt roads. Then it is an easy hike to the site. We decided to go there tomorrow. The painted figures there are about 6 feet tall so they sound like something worth seeing. After seeing the visitor center we went to a scenic overlook and could look down on the road we took up the canyon wall when leaving yesterday. We could also see the white rim of the canyon that we rode around. It was very impressive to see how big the area is. I told Daren that everybody should see this view both before and after riding down below. By now it is raining and we head on back to our cabin.

The white rim around the canyon in a canyon

The road out of the main canyon

White Rim Trail

Tuesday 10-25-11
Today we dropped into the canyon of Canyon Lands National Park to ride the White Rim Trail. This trail goes around a canyon that is in the canyon we dropped into. The entire second canyon has a white rim around it which is Navajo sandstone. The White Rim Trail is an unimproved road that goes along the edge of this canyon in various places. It was originally built for uranium mining. We descended into the main canyon at Mineral Springs Road. It is approximately a 4 mile descent with several switchback corners.It reminds me of the Moki Dugway only a little longer.

Daren riding down into the canyon

At the bottom you are close to Green River and the trail does go alongside the river for awhile.

Green River

Unfortunately the road section that parallels the river was 20 feet under water this winter and had become a mile long sand wash which is not the preferred medium upon which one rides a 500 pound bike. I saw an area that looked to be packed harder than the main trail so I gave it a try. It was not any better so I went back into the tracks left by others and wrestled the bike through to the other end.

The area to the left was not any firmer than the sandy part

Once out of the sand the trail turned into a two track road which did not have many smooth sections. The trail is not difficult for motorcycles or 4 wheel drive vehicles but it is rough and gives the suspension a workout. Of course this would be the time that my bikes started dieing whenever the engine speed dropped below 2000 rpm. This made the ride a little more challenging. I really should have had that firmware upgrade done.The only other sections that were somewhat difficult were 2 steep hills that had been churned into sand by jeeps spinning their wheels. We went up one and down the other. On the uphill section I needed to go up a step and just as I hit the step the rear wheel went into a hidden hole and over I went onto my right side. This was the only fall of the day.

My bike takes a rest. This is actually an uphill section but the picture does not  show the grade,

There are a few primitive campsites along the trail and each one has a pit toilet. These toilets are stocked with paper and we met the man whose job was to maintain these. He drove a 4 wheel drive flat bed truck and said that he camped in the canyon as it took him a few days to make the trip and service the toilets. He seemed to like being alone. The weather forecast was for thunder showers and a little over halfway along the trail we saw lightning in the distance. Then the wind came and finally a light rain. About 10 miles from the end we met several mountain bike riders. I felt sorry for them as the wind was quite strong. We climbed out of the canyon on Schaffer road which was getting wet and looked like the type of soil that is really slippery when wet. It started raining harder and we had about 25 miles of highway back into town. I rode all the way into town with my left hand over my face to protect me from the rain drops hitting my face which hurts at 60 miles an hour. We had a good meal in town along with a cold beer. Back at the cabin Daren brewed some bedtime tea to put us to sleep. It rained hard all night long and we were glad that it was not us out camping in the canyon.

Day 1, getting there

Daren Hammonds who has a 2011 Triumph 800XC invited me to go with him to Moab, Utah to give our new Triumphs a shakedown. We left Albuquerque at 8 AM for the 360 mile road trip. We did take a side trip on a dirt road to see just what Angel Rock is. We have both been by the sign several times and have always said that someday we will check it out. It is a shaped rock on the top of a hill in the badlands area just outside of Bloomfield, New Mexico. We searched for a way down into the badlands but did not have any luck. It's a good subject for a future ride.

The badlands by Bloomfield

Our Moab home for the next few days

We arrived at our campsite, actually a small cabin at 4:30 and then took off for a short ride on a 4 wheel drive road that goes into Arches National Park. We saw a sign for Balancing Rock and took off in that direction. When we arrived we found out it was one of the park attractions and was on the main paved road of the park.

Why is it called Balancing Rock?

 So we took the paved road out of the park and into town for dinner. Fortunately we were not stopped at the exit as we had no pass because we had come in across country. I did drop my shiny new Triumph while going down some rock steps in too high a gear. The engine suddenly stopped and I had no place to put my foot so the bike was laid down on the right side in a somewhat gentle manner. In hindsight I believe that the engine probably died because the firmware in the ECU had not been updated and that is the problem that the firmware update is supposed to fix. Tomorrow it's the White Rim Trail which is 130 miles of not too difficult 4 wheel drive road.

BIKE SETUP
DAREN
Triumph panniers, tailbag, tankbag, adjustable windshield, centerstand, engine bars and skidplate. Stock gearing, Touratech handlebar risers and Arrow pipe. Recall firmware and centerstand update done.

JACK
Givi panniers and tail bag on homemade mounts. Givi windshield which was removed for off road riding. Small magnetic Cortech tankbag, stock gearing and exhaust. No centerstand, recall firmware not yet done.