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jwaller
0
- Joined
- May 2, 2012
- Messages
- 362
- Reaction score
- 277
- Location
- Cibolo, TX
- First Name
- Justin
- Last Name
- Waller
I've been watching the videos on the eveRide channel on Youtube since around 2012, shortly after it began and before Tyler started hosting rides. So whenever he started his business, I wanted to go to one of his events. However, he hasn't done events in the summer time due to the heat where he typically rides. I'm a school teacher so I am always working whenever the rides are scheduled. So it seemed like a bucket list item I'd never get around to.
My mom had a stroke in January during open heart surgery. She was left paralyzed and unable to speak. For three months we watched her decline further and further even though the doctors were saying not to give up, that there was some chance for a recovery. That wasn't to be. She finally passed away on May 2. I was there. So since the last weekend in January, I had been in a funk. My mom's passing was extremely difficult. I became depressed. I lost all interest in the things that usually motivated me.
A few weeks ago I was forcing myself to go to Youtube to watch some motorcycle content, trying to return my mind to some sort of normal. I saw this video:
My wife heard that he said something about adventure riding in the summer and said, "You're going!"
I paid for the rally and then saw this video:
I left Texas last Saturday and made my way to Utah and got to the Moto Mansion last Sunday. The place really is nice. Tyler and his wife do a great job of making their guests feel incredibly welcome. There's nothing pretentious about them: they are in real life exactly like they seem on video.
On the Sunday I got there, this video dropped:
We headed out on our adventure on Monday morning. We weren't on pavement for very long before getting to well groomed forest roads in the mountains. Most of the riding on Monday was on the forest roads, just trying to get towards our destination, the Capitol Reef area. The elevation got up to over 9,500 feet, with snow still off the sides of the road. We did get into some really great double track on Monday. It was absolutely awesome riding. We stopped for the night in Panguitch. I called my wife, who had gotten ill. I told her that I was in no position to help from where I was at and that most of my gear was on the recovery vehicle and that we wouldn't meet up with them until Tuesday night. We hoped that she would get better so that I would be able to continue riding for the week.
Tuesday was fantastic! The scenery was outstanding again. As a matter of fact, there wasn't a time in Utah that the scenery wasn't completely fantastic. Look in any direction from any location and you're going to see something stunning. Most of the riding on Tuesday was on trails like these below:
Unfortunately, whenever we arrived at our cabin on Tuesday night, I called my wife and found she was no better. I got up on Wednesday morning, called her again and she was still not doing well. I knew that she'd be okay without me, and that there was other friends and family close by that could take care of her and make sure she was okay, but it was in my head. I knew that I'd have that nagging me in the back of my mind and that I'd not be in the proper headspace to ride in an unfamiliar place, so I made the difficult decision to pack up and head home.
I was on a CRF450L that was loaded down already with stuff I'd need for the trail and an overnight load of clothes. My other gear, to include a bunch of extra tools and a week's worth of clothes were in a backpack in the recovery vehicle. I managed to get all that on the bike and headed towards St. George. I made a gas stop somewhere along the way and found that the backpack I had strapped down on top of the other luggage had slipped down, covering the exhaust. Scratch one backpack and some skivvies. I salvaged what I could and what I could fit in the panniers and continued on my way. The right rear indicator had also melted due to the heat being directed its way from the backpack. Oh well. After seven hours of pavement on an overloaded CRF450L, I got back to St. George, loaded my bike, and made the 20 hour drive back to Bandera, TX.
For me, it was the adventure of a lifetime. Even though it was cut short, the two days of riding in dirt bike heaven made it all worth it. Tyler and his family do a great job of hosting adventures out of their home. I WILL be back, if at all possible. Since I'm a teacher, there's no reason to spend the summers in the Texas heat. I think I will be spending my summers in Utah. And I will try to make another EveRide adventure ride if he still hosts them in the future. He still has open slots in July and August for anyone interested.
As far as bikes go, I think I had the steed of choice for this riding. I was on the CRF450L with an AIM ECU. My bike had a brand new Kenda Trackmaster on the rear and a Shinko MX216 with about half its life left up front. The tires were great for everything except the stretches of pavement. There were a couple guys on KTM 890s and a fellow on a T7. Tyler (Mr. EveRide himself) was on a DRZ400. The fellow on the T7 had some difficulty on the double track and dumped it several times. Tyler made the decision that we should ride the final 60 miles to the cabin on pavement Tuesday night, I think because of how much trouble the guy on the T7 was having. The 60 miles of pavement that night and the 300 mile pavement ride back to St. George on pavement were torture with the bike/tire combination I had. But outside that, the CRF450L or something in its class would be the best bike for this type of riding. The guys on the ADV bikes had to work too hard, in my opinion.
My mom had a stroke in January during open heart surgery. She was left paralyzed and unable to speak. For three months we watched her decline further and further even though the doctors were saying not to give up, that there was some chance for a recovery. That wasn't to be. She finally passed away on May 2. I was there. So since the last weekend in January, I had been in a funk. My mom's passing was extremely difficult. I became depressed. I lost all interest in the things that usually motivated me.
A few weeks ago I was forcing myself to go to Youtube to watch some motorcycle content, trying to return my mind to some sort of normal. I saw this video:
My wife heard that he said something about adventure riding in the summer and said, "You're going!"
I paid for the rally and then saw this video:
I left Texas last Saturday and made my way to Utah and got to the Moto Mansion last Sunday. The place really is nice. Tyler and his wife do a great job of making their guests feel incredibly welcome. There's nothing pretentious about them: they are in real life exactly like they seem on video.
On the Sunday I got there, this video dropped:
We headed out on our adventure on Monday morning. We weren't on pavement for very long before getting to well groomed forest roads in the mountains. Most of the riding on Monday was on the forest roads, just trying to get towards our destination, the Capitol Reef area. The elevation got up to over 9,500 feet, with snow still off the sides of the road. We did get into some really great double track on Monday. It was absolutely awesome riding. We stopped for the night in Panguitch. I called my wife, who had gotten ill. I told her that I was in no position to help from where I was at and that most of my gear was on the recovery vehicle and that we wouldn't meet up with them until Tuesday night. We hoped that she would get better so that I would be able to continue riding for the week.
Tuesday was fantastic! The scenery was outstanding again. As a matter of fact, there wasn't a time in Utah that the scenery wasn't completely fantastic. Look in any direction from any location and you're going to see something stunning. Most of the riding on Tuesday was on trails like these below:
Unfortunately, whenever we arrived at our cabin on Tuesday night, I called my wife and found she was no better. I got up on Wednesday morning, called her again and she was still not doing well. I knew that she'd be okay without me, and that there was other friends and family close by that could take care of her and make sure she was okay, but it was in my head. I knew that I'd have that nagging me in the back of my mind and that I'd not be in the proper headspace to ride in an unfamiliar place, so I made the difficult decision to pack up and head home.
I was on a CRF450L that was loaded down already with stuff I'd need for the trail and an overnight load of clothes. My other gear, to include a bunch of extra tools and a week's worth of clothes were in a backpack in the recovery vehicle. I managed to get all that on the bike and headed towards St. George. I made a gas stop somewhere along the way and found that the backpack I had strapped down on top of the other luggage had slipped down, covering the exhaust. Scratch one backpack and some skivvies. I salvaged what I could and what I could fit in the panniers and continued on my way. The right rear indicator had also melted due to the heat being directed its way from the backpack. Oh well. After seven hours of pavement on an overloaded CRF450L, I got back to St. George, loaded my bike, and made the 20 hour drive back to Bandera, TX.
For me, it was the adventure of a lifetime. Even though it was cut short, the two days of riding in dirt bike heaven made it all worth it. Tyler and his family do a great job of hosting adventures out of their home. I WILL be back, if at all possible. Since I'm a teacher, there's no reason to spend the summers in the Texas heat. I think I will be spending my summers in Utah. And I will try to make another EveRide adventure ride if he still hosts them in the future. He still has open slots in July and August for anyone interested.
As far as bikes go, I think I had the steed of choice for this riding. I was on the CRF450L with an AIM ECU. My bike had a brand new Kenda Trackmaster on the rear and a Shinko MX216 with about half its life left up front. The tires were great for everything except the stretches of pavement. There were a couple guys on KTM 890s and a fellow on a T7. Tyler (Mr. EveRide himself) was on a DRZ400. The fellow on the T7 had some difficulty on the double track and dumped it several times. Tyler made the decision that we should ride the final 60 miles to the cabin on pavement Tuesday night, I think because of how much trouble the guy on the T7 was having. The 60 miles of pavement that night and the 300 mile pavement ride back to St. George on pavement were torture with the bike/tire combination I had. But outside that, the CRF450L or something in its class would be the best bike for this type of riding. The guys on the ADV bikes had to work too hard, in my opinion.
