Anyone that has planned a extended ride with a few guys knows the amount of work that goes into it. It's seldom easy. But it's usually worth it. Such was the case again this year for team 5150 (with the exception of Jeff, "justtwobeers", who couldn't make it) as we took on the Utah BDR. The planning started at the end of our Arizona BDR ride last June and continued right up to our departure day, Monday September 11th (Never forget, never surrender). The month or two leading up to the ride got a little complicated at times, per usual, because of schedules, but we managed to plan 8 days in September when we could all get away. And so it was set in stone. Until we found out about the passing of our friend, riding buddy, and fellow SDAR member, Arnie Fry. None of us wanted to chance missing his memorial service but after discussing it as a team, we knew deep down that Arnie would not want us to cancel a trip like this...so we decided to ride on and dedicate the ride Arnie. We were originally planning 8 days to cover the Utah BDR. One day to drive out to Mexican Hat, Utah, where we would park the truck, 5 days to complete the ride, and 2 days to get back to the truck and eventually home. We didn't know it then, but it wouldn't quite work out that way. It seldom does when planning a trip like this that starts in the desert and ends in 11,000' mountains and covers 8 days in September. Too much can happen. Too much can change. But that it one of the challenges that attracts me to these types of rides. It's a challenge to figure out the minimal amount of stuff you can pack on a small bike to keep you alive while encountering variable terrain and conditions. And believe me, we experienced that. From 95 degrees and sunny in the Lockhart basin to mid 30's and raining in the "Strawberry" mountains. At times we were hot and almost out of water and at other times we were freezing and wet to the core (at least I was...Frog Togs are on my short list). But we survived. We made it home and have memories for a life time. Day 1 and 2: Monday, September 11th, CID was already out in Lake Havasu and Mikey and I were in San Diego. Mikey picked me up at my house around 2pm and we headed for Havasu to meet up with CID. We pulled into town around 6:30 pm. We went out to dinner and made a last minute stop at Walmart for essential camping supplies...i.e. beer and Mountain House creme brule. We crashed out at CID's place and got up and on the road by 6am. Around 2pm on day two, we pulled into the small town of Mexican Hat, Utah. We asked around about a place to park the truck for a week and were directed to a nearby dirt parking lot used by local rafting enthusiast to park their trucks after launching their rafts. It wasn't exactly secure and it was unknown at the time if the truck would be okay there while we were gone. But we were too excited about getting on the trail to be too concerned about it at the time. So we unloaded the truck, geared up, and hit the trail. We started by riding north on 191 and exited at Valley of the Gods trail head. We rode through there (see pics below) with our ultimate destination of Muley Point in the distance (3rd pic), where we had planned on camping for the night.   It only took 1 1/2 hours or so to get to Muley point and there was a couple hours of sunlight left we decided to carry on. We rode for another hour or so and decided to camp at a secrete spot CID had scouted out last time he was in the area. We pulled in there and set up camp for our first night on the trail. It was a very amazing spot, very private, and no other humans could be seen or heard....that's my kind of place. We set up camp, cranked out some Mountain House meals, cracked a beer, and made a toast to Arnie. It's definitely part of the trip I'll never forget.  First day camp:  To be continued.....