fudgypup 4 Posted September 27, 2012 I decided to take the plunge and do this "branded" riding event. I guess it's similar to the KTM rally, but pretty much all BMW. I did see a few KTMs and Hondas but to do the ARC and GS Trophy events, you can only ride a BMW enduro bike (450 X Challenge excluded). I was going to ride all 722 miles out to Moab in one day but luckily a friend, Bruce, said he also wanted to go and was trailering. He asked if I'd go with him and I said sure. I guess that makes me a trailer queen. We got into town about 11:00 pm local time and set up tents in the dark. Woke up at around 7:00, ate and went riding. This new guy, Mats, asked Bruce if he could ride with us and Bruce said yes. I pulled him aside and said dude, be carefull who you agree to ride with; we could be lifting this guy's bike all day. Mats Sure enough we get into some shallow sand and he starts freaking out. He says this is only the fourth time he's had it off road! I was just about to tell him to turn around and go back but we decided to give him some pointers and damned if he didn't actually listen, put it in practice and soon he was keeping up with no problem! The guy must be a natural. Great views at the end of Behind the Rocks Rd Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fudgypup 4 Posted September 27, 2012 Friday was the "Adventure Rider Challenge." Basically, it's 10 skills tests with about four extra credit sections. Here's their promo vid: A vid I took of the first and third sections Here are the challenges before I forget them: 1: Loose rocky uphill. This guy on a Dakar who scored 1270 fell on this right in front of me! 2: Loose traction uphill between cones 3: Rocky downhill with rock steps Extra Credit 1: Sand extra credit section. 150 points for deep sand; 200 for REALLY deep soft sand like dune type sand. 4: Uphill step. Basically a really steep uphill with a large step to get over 5: Uphill start. Have to start on an incline, have both feet on pegs and accelerate up w/o slipping Extra Credit 2: Bull Canyon sand and rock section. Make it to a waypoint, take a pic and return. 6: Slick rock slow maneuver section. 7: Gemini Bridges waypoint, take a pic and continue 8: Figure 8's. Uphill cones, downhill to cones in figure 8 fashion twice 9: Silty rocky down/up hill 10: Sandy turnaround (at bottom of hill on #9) Extra credit 3: Reset odometer at big rock after #10, go 1 mile, see cairn, look left and take pic of "mini arch." I did a lot better than I thought I would. I came in 17th out of 46. Not bad for starting 18 months ago. I think I was probably 7th or 8th among the 1200's. There were quite a few 800's and 650 Dakars ahead of me. At #3 downhill w/Owen of Riv BMW At the start of the sand test. 200 points for the deep dune type sand to the left; 150 for the deep sandwash sand to the right. I went right. Bull Canyon sand and rocks Gemini Bridges Start of #9 with #10 tight turn at the bottom Right before I fell too much wheel spin Back up but not done... last few feet... We had to reset our odo at a "big rock" and ride a mile, look for a cairn of rocks then look left and take a picture of the "mini arch." It was mini alright I was the first one done but it's not a race. I just didn't eat my lunch they gave me. Nice ride back Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goofy Footer 539 Posted September 27, 2012 Great views at the end of Behind the Rocks Rd Awesome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CL300CAPT 0 Posted September 27, 2012 Wow, that's amazing! Congratulations, great job! I can't imagine doing that stuff on a big bike like that. I'm impressed! CL300CAPT Romney/Ryan 2012 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Afry 1 Posted September 27, 2012 Very cool, great scenery! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fudgypup 4 Posted September 27, 2012 Spring Canyon was something else I gotta tell you. About 600' sharp drop all the way down. No guardrails. Time to pucker up! The road out there was boring as hell but once you got there, a totally different story. This crazy f*cker Gunter wanted me to take his pic right on the edge. I nearly sharted. looking down coming back up Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fudgypup 4 Posted September 28, 2012 Saturday was the GS Trophy challenge. They had to make the course the same as the others around the world so they did it at an mx track near Moab. We got out there at 8:45 but by 11:30 they'd only had three guys do the course so far! I was 17th so I figured I had at least another 4 hours of waiting in the hot sun for my turn. You had to ride it on an f800gs and I'd never touched one so I figured what kind of test is that really? Was I likely to get any better than 17th today? Not likely. I came to ride so I bailed with quite a few others and went riding. I didn't regret it. I found out the top three riders that night and there's already some controversy. Jason Houle was dq'd by BMW, probably because he's done a few RawHyde sessions as a paid instructor. However, the US rules said that all riders are welcome regardless of expertise and that only racers or previous racers were prohitibed. Jason's not now nor ever has been a racer. So I see how they want to keep it amateur and the UK rules are explicit enough that he would have been excluded there, but this aint the UK. I feel bad for him. Winners then are Ryan Frazier of Peoria, AZ, Chad Yoshitomi of Alaska and Michael Drew of Hartland, MI. All are great guys and phenomenal riders. That night I rode out to Onion Creek on this "mad max" shop bike belonging to Woody's Wheel Works. It's a GS with 21/18's, Ohlins shocks, etc... Let's just say the front wheel never got wet. Great time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FuzzyNugs 0 Posted September 28, 2012 Great looking place to ride. Thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHunter 15 Posted September 28, 2012 Outstanding!! Great job on the challenges. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkug 146 Posted September 28, 2012 Good Job--thanks for posting Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WARP9 0 Posted September 28, 2012 Amazing! and Amazing pics Thanks for sharing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fudgypup 4 Posted September 28, 2012 Thanks for all the nice comments. It was a great place to go on a big bike. Lots of great scenery and trails. I only scratched the surface too. I attached the gps tracks they gave us but they're kind of lame. One is the Adventure Rider Course, which isn't a bad route to take. Very easy save for Bull Canyon portion but that's a spur you don't have to take. The Behind the Rocks Rd one to the Kane overlook is pretty good. The other one is a useless track that leads to the motocross track. I augmented my gps with some tracks I found on dualsportmaps.com. Onion Creek Road is also fun and easy too. I was wanting some more challenging stuff but the guy I went with is more beginner and since he wouldn't take any gas money, I went everywhere he wanted with no complaints and turned around at any hard sections. There's a group from CaliforniaAdventureRider going Oct 7-13. You can go there and find more or pm GalacticGS (Larry) on advrider. Moab Valley RV resort is really nice too. They have hot showers, bathrooms, a pool, cabins, RV spots and tent sites. Here's a pic of the RV park Mo with his badass Raptor pickup (not pictured) I wish I had. This guy was funny River view Kevan Harder of RawHyde. Great guy, great rider. He set up much of the course I guess. I could tell they were really having a good time. You figure they hang out a lot with the total n00bs who might never come to an event like that. They seemed happy to be with people who actually knew how to ride their bikes for a change. There were just two women there solo and they were quite popular! I'm telling you, these events are a great way for a single lady to meet guys. Not all of us are married. This is Colleen. She is from the south bay area near LA and rides a really nice GS Rallye edition. Very cool gal. I don't think this truck is quite big enough A bit too early for the In N Out in Vegas Miko is from Finland The newer guys insisted we not try this. I showed them it wasn't hard but didn't convince them Early morning or late afternoon is the best time to take pictures Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
