- Joined
- Feb 28, 2003
- Messages
- 51,641
- Reaction score
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- Location
- Huntsville
- First Name
- Scott
- Last Name
- Friday
Black Bear is not on the TAT. We discussed diverting to it but chose not with loaded bikes.
A wise decision...
Black Bear is not on the TAT. We discussed diverting to it but chose not with loaded bikes.
Afternoon rush hour. We had to wait for these guys to cross the road.
Defining characteristic of an adventure rider:
"We carried spare levers and tools so it just took a bit of time. I had 12 inches of fuel line that I put on the gas cap and fed through a loop on my tank bag that would work for the tank vent. The hand guard was held in place by a super heavy duty tie wrap. Not that it was back to full duty but it was in place, better than nothing."
Great report!
Great pics of White Rim Road! Rsquared and I ran that back in April, but we ran it counter clockwise so we hit that silt while we were fresh. I got that advice from someone here I think. Shafer Road was incredibly cool. You got a great shot of it! The problem with that place is that no matter how good you are at taking pictures, they fall utterly short of the reality of how HUGE everything is out there!! You are absolutely right about the immense nature of those canyons. The lens just cannot capture the depth and the width of the vistas.
Regarding the barbed wire "gate", we encountered one on Lock Hart Rd, which runs up the East side of the Colorado River back up toward Moab. Rsquared was leading. He came around a corner to find one stretched right across the road. He locked up the front end trying to stop in time, going down in the process. Fortunately he was not hurt and the bike was fine. He was not hauling. There was a sheer drop on the left and a sheer cliff on the right. Why there was a gate there is totally beyond us because there was no other fencing to speak of that we could see anywhere. I guess maybe some cows might wander up the road or something. Like the one you found, no warnings of any kind... Just seems really dangerous given the amount of traffic that road sees.
I couldn't help but notice in your thumb pic that your cuticles are peeling back near the nails. That can be VERY painful and it can get pretty bad out in that dry environment. I have a little tub of Carmex, about 1" dia and maybe 3/4" deep. I have had it for almost 10 years now. I keep it in my tank bag. It is great for rubbing into the area around the finger nails and really helps a LOT with preventing that kind of peeling. I also use it for when my lips start getting chapped. The stuff lasts FOREVER. My little tub looks like it has hardly been used at all. I think the metal screw on lid will wear through from banging around in my bag long before I use all of what is inside. Carmex is good stuff for sure. My nails are pretty much like that all the time so I never noticed. I used lip balm a couple of times before turning in for the night and kept the lips from getting chapped. Perry was better about his personal care as he was always putting on lip balm and using Visine for his eyes. I think we both used Burt's Bees lip balm. Good stuff.
I love the "knee pads" for working on the bike I will have to remember that one. Having a good mat to lay tools and parts on is a great idea. I carry a plastic table cloth for that purpose. Not only does it help keep stuff clean, it also makes it easier to keep track of stuff that you might loose if you just laid it on the ground.Good catch on both items. The mat is a piece I cut from an old waterbed liner. Very thick. I've carried it for years. Keep parts clean and prevents dropping them in the dirt and possibly loosing them.
Blah blah blah... stuff from the quoted post.
More blah blah blah...
And finally and end to the blah blah blah...
I see you are quote challenged...
You are very correct I have never been able to get that right.
We geared up and headed downstairs. The bikes looked ready to go.
I don't know if he was sent to help us or if I was there to help him. Maybe both. The poor man was a wreck. His wife of 20 years had left him a couple days before. As we rode the 25 miles into town he poured his heart out, in tears much of the time as he drove. I just sat and listened and gave a sympathetic ear. As we got into town he started talking about riding and that cheered him up some. He has a KTM 525 EXC that he rides the trails of Nevada on and a 990 Duke for street stuff. Had some good stories of rides in the back country with his friends.
While sitting there three riders came in. One of them said something about seeing Perry's KLR in the lot. Another said something like, I feel sorry for him, and Perry heard him. We figured they were on either KTMs or BMWs after a remark like that. A few minutes later the third guy came over to our table and struck up a conversation. He was on a DR 650 and apologized for the comments made by his KTM buddies. We had a nice chat about the trip.
Wait.... Is that it? That can't be it! I'm in this till its over. I'm invested.