Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 7:00 PM in 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride
We were hoping to sleep in a bit this morning but between crows squawking, the sun blasting into our tents and other people getting up we woke up around 7. We tried to quickly eat and get ready while it was still a little cooler outside.
We set off to see some of the sights in Arches. The first stop was Landscape Arch. We weren't sure how far away it was from the parking spot so we set off with our full gear on (aside from helmets and gloves) and immediately started to regret that decision. Turns out the arch is a 1.6 mile round trip. It was cool to see it though. We made it back to the bikes and set off to see Delicate Arch. Instead of hiking the distance up to it we opted for the lower viewing area where we could see it from a distance.
While there we ran into another biker and his passenger who had a Victoria, BC patch on his riding vest. We got to talking and it sounded like they were doing a really similar loop to ours, as they were just in Albuquerque a few days ago.
Next to the parking lot for the Delicate Arch viewing area we saw an unmaintained road that said 4x4's only and decided we should go and explore it. The trail was a mix of sandy spots and rocky areas. After a mile or so we decided this isn't the kind of riding we were looking for and turned around. It was a little too rough for our bikes, especially mine with relatively smooth tires.
We headed down into Moab to fuel up and find some food and figure out where to ride next. The couple on the motorcycle we ran into at Delicate Arch had mentioned the Blue Pig as a good BBQ place to eat at so we figured we would try that. We got there and found out they were only open for dinner so we ended up at the Moab Grill instead. The service and food were really good. Both of us got Patty Melts on Texas Toast. We took our time drinking as much water and tea as we could before setting out into the extreme heat again and exploring some dirt roads.
We decided our route would be Cotter Mine Road to Blue Hills road and ride that all the way back to 191. When we got onto Cotter Mine Road we immediately started climbing some really steep and rocky hills. We both looked at each other and though… not this again. Things got better after that initial climb though and we had fun riding around. All in all we spent about 2 hours out there riding around. Neither of us dropped our bikes but both of us had some close calls. Ryan almost went over his handle bars when riding pretty quickly through a dip in the road and hit a hole larger than he was expecting. I had some close calls going through some sand. I also started having issues again with my bike overheating. It seems like when this happens it won't idle and instead the engine simply cuts off. It made it pretty annoying trying to navigate some of the trails to get back to 191. I'll have to look into it when I get home to see what the deal is.
We eventually made it back to 191 and then stopped at a Shell station for something cold to drink and to relax in the shade before heading back to our campsite. We talked to the cashier for a bit about some of his journeys on an old BMW and told him about our ride so far. We finished our drinks and set off for the campground. Riding through the park took a lot longer this time because we got stuck behind an RV that simply wouldn't pull over. We were stuck behind them all the way to our campsite.
We got back and doused ourselves with water and are now just relaxing in the shade waiting for it to cool down. All of our booze is extremely hot so we'll probably pass on that tonight and wait until tomorrow night in Aspen where it's supposed to be a lot colder.
Teaser photos:
Tags: motorcycle
Posted from: United States