Two days in Moab, UT

Day 6 was our first easy going day. We met up with Joe for some breakfast, and then headed off to Arches national park, which is only a 10-15 minutes outside of town. We were back at the hotel around 4 PM, and then just hung out for a while with our hotel neighbours (guys, if you're reading this, could you email me the photo you took that night, address is tarnowski.pawel AT gmail.com. Thanks.), sitting on the porch on some patio chairs, chatting and sipping on some local whiskey. Life was good.



The three DR's at the Balanced Rock in the Arches national park

 

 

 

 

 

 

On day 2 in Moab, we went to ride the famous White Rim trail. I had ridden this trail back in 2001 when touring the US on KLR's with my friend Raz, and this place completely blew us away. The scenery is just amazing, and until now it is the most beautiful place I've seen in my life. Being in the area once again 11 years later, I just had to ride it again. We actually hauled dirt tires all the way from Montreal just for that purpose.

 

It took us 6 hours to cover the 100 miles of the trail, and we had a blast. I actually enjoyed the riding more than in 2001, since I was on a lighter bike with better tires, and my dirt riding skills have also improved a little since then. Joe shot some really good riding videos on his GoPro helmet camera, so I'll eventually upload some clips here. Also, funny coincidence, at some point we encountered a Toyota Land Cruiser on the trail, and what do I see? A licence plate from my hometown back in Poland, Gdansk. I waved the truck down, and had a brief chat with the driver. They are heading to Argentina as well. For some reason it didn't occur to me to ask them for their contact info. I hope we'll run into them later again. I'd be curious to find out more about their adventure.

 



Installing dirt tires in the parking lot of our hotel, prior to riding the White Rim trail

 

Raz and I with one of the KLR's back in 2001. 11 years already...

 

Kicking tires during a break

 

HUNGRY Mihai

 

My favorite photo of the day

 

 This self-shot came out pretty good too

 

 White Rim trail scenery

 

Colors were particulartly stunning in late afternoon

 

 



Random thoughts:

 

For those riding dual sport motorcycles: the Shinko 244 tire is garbage. Mihai put a rear one on in Montreal, and 2 days later it lost all of its center knobs. Once again the ''you get what you pay for'' rule prevails, as that piece of shit was only 45$. Yes, it's a 50/50 tire not really intended for long high speed runs, but I would have expected accelerated wear, and not self-destruction.

 

We realized within the first few days of the trip that we just have too much luggage, even though we tried to optimize the packing before leaving. Some stuff will be shipped back home from San Diego before we cross the border into Mexico.

 

After a second visit in Moab, I just came to the conclusion that I eventually have to go back there for at least a week, with a lighter dirt bike. There is just so much awesome riding in the area... It left us wishing we had more time there, but the show must go on.