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Canada to Mexico Dual Sport Mortorcycle Adventure Leg
2 - Riding Dual Sport motorcycles from Denver Colorado to Phoenix Arizona
over the Great Divide with a side trip to Moab Utah We
arrived in Denver Colorado on September 16, 2006 to start the second
leg of our Canada to Mexico dual sport motorcycle adventure following
the Great Divide. We figured this would be the perfect time of year
to ride dual sport motorcycles through the southern half of the Great
Divide Mountain Bike Route and around Moab Utah. The aspens should be
in full color and the New Mexico and Moab desert not too hot. Arnie
arrived in the early afternoon and shuttled the motorcycles over to
Mona & Kim Bakers from the KTM dealer. I
arrived just in time to Over dinner Arnie mentioned that during the afternoon while running around he had turned my motorcycle off and it would not start. A few minutes later it started fine. He shut it off a number of times to test it and it started each time without problem. The other topic for consideration was the forecast of snow in the mountain passes. We were riding our dual sport motorcycles to Moab Utah crossing the Great Divide utilizing non paved and secondary paved roads. Including he Great Divide, our dual sport motorcycle route would cross 3 mountain passes in and around 10,000 ft elevation, so we figured it might be an interesting ride. We had not anticipated the cold being quite as brutal as it was. Having lived in hot climates for 10 years, I am somewhat of a wimp when it comes to cold weather. In no time I was in 5 layers of clothes and would of made it 6 except I thought I was going to loose circulation in my arms from the restriction caused by all of the clothing. Rain turned to light snow as we crossed Cottonwood Pass. Although cold, it was not raining or snowing heavy enough to slow us down so we pressed on. The next pass was Kebler. There we ran into heavy, wet snow that made seeing very difficult. It was melting as it hit the road so traction was still good. |
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We soldiered on and got down into lower elevations and a dryer part of the state. We even had some very welcome sunny breaks with views of those sparkling aspens that we had anticipated. We pushed hard on the motorcycles all day and made it in to a motel in Grand Junction by headlight. |
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Upon
Arnie's return to the shop, he learned that Phil was away on vacation
but had left us a map of the Kokopelli Mountain Bike Trail. There was
no note with the map, but we assumed he was recommending we ride it.
We studied the map and noted that it starts just west of Grand Junction.
The trail runs 147 miles and ends in Moab Utah. The trail was marked
as a collection of single track and 4WD trails. Although the map was
flat, the trail had lots of squiggles so we assumed it would be hilly
and twisty. Since Grand Junction was not too far off of our planned
route to Moab, we figured why not give it a go? Riding fully loaded
KTM 640 adventure touring motorcycles on the Kokopelli Mountain Our original intention was to get to Moab, find a motel to use as a base, strip down the bikes and then do a couple of day rides in the area. Riding a serious mountain bike trail with over loaded dual sport motorcycles was not exactly what we had in mind, but the Kokopelli Trail map looked very inviting and showed a number of places to bail out to roads in case we found it too difficult. Arnie brought his laptop along on this leg to keep up with business. We had it loaded with the Garmin Mapsource program so I was able to build a route and down load the way points into our GPS units. The
morning we were to ride our dual sport motorcycles on the Kokopelli
Trail we dropped by a local motorcycle shop looking for a couple of
items. The snickers and muffled comments from staff seemed to be a consensus
that we had no idea what we were getting in to. They were correct but
hey... we had the bail out plan so we weren't too worried that we would
get into any trouble we couldn't handle. We just might not make it through.
After some difficulty finding the Kokopelli trailhead we finally got onto a serious 4WD trail that was rocky, narrow and steep in places. The mesas and canyon structures were very impressive. You could not wipe the smiles off of our faces. This didn't last long.
After some debate between Arnie and I as to whether we could get down in one piece and as importantly, back up should we not get through, we decided to go over and introduce ourselves to the mountain bike guide and see if he could provide some first hand advise on the trail. When he learned that we were fairly respectable guys and what we were doing, he became friendly and helpful. He didn't think we could get through but was not sure. We could see what looked like a road at the bottom near the river and decided that we could get back up the hill so we took off to see what the canyon bottom had to offer. We got down without incident but later learned that the road we could see, wasn't really. So we back tracked and headed off on the single track. We didn't get very far down that trail before it got too narrow for our dual sport motorcycles due to the panniers. OK, back up the hill and out to the road to detour this section... |
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When
we came to our next section of single track we were once again turned
around. This time it was simply too steep for our heavily loaded motorcycles.
The KTM LC4 had the power and suspension to climb the short hill,
but we couldn't keep the front wheels on the ground due to the weight
at the back. We were also a little nervous about this second single
track because it hugged a canyon wall above the Colorado River. The
idea of getting to a no pass zone on a narrow cliff shelf and then
trying to turn these big wagons around seemed impossible to consider.
Back to the road and our second detour around another short section
of the Kokopelli Trail that we could not get through. |
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The landscape was interesting and the riding was enjoyable but we weren't making much progress with all of the back tracking. It was going to be another full day of riding. Then it snuck right up on us. We rode down a very steep narrow section littered with boulders and started up an equally steep, rock infested section. We were making progress but it was getting more and more technical with no place to let off or turn around. WOW... we were in the thick of it now. Deep in a canyon hanging on what loosely could be described as a trail. We were paddling with both legs like a couple of squids. Fighting to keep the front tires in contact with terra firma and in control of all that weight. Finally a relatively level ledge to stop and re-group. We had most certainly just taken these bikes to the limit of what they could do with the loads we were carrying and we were both VERY impressed with their ability. Was it going to let up, stay the same or get worse? Should we turn around? It would be no easier going back then it had been getting to this point. It was late in the afternoon and thoughts of camping were running through our minds. Moab was our destination and getting closer so we carried on forward. Things Then we hit 'The Rose Garden'. We approached it as a slippery rock face and sand downhill with a scattering of boulders and nasty big step offs. The rocks and step downs were stained black with rubber from real dirt bikes that had made it an uphill. It was evident from the spin marks and trenches that most motorcycles didn't make it up. This is a mountain bike trail?? Man those men and women have my respect. We got beyond the Rose Garden with nothing more than a little tip over. The trail got slightly easier and we started to relax somewhat. Then I dropped rather hard over one of the many rock ledge step offs on the trail. The impact caused my bike to die instantly. I lost all of the electrics just as Arnie had described. I started checking the wiring out and finally after about 10 minutes it started again. That was disturbing. No apparent reason for the failure and it was intermittent.Arnie was leading this section. When he realized that I was not coming he parked his bike and started walking back since the trail was too narrow to turn his bike around. We met up and discussed trying to find a road out as the sun was very low in the sky and we had lots of way points to eat up on the Garmins' before we finished the trail. We pushed hard and made it to a good gravel road as it was getting dark. About the time it got so black out that we could only see with our headlights, we hit some pavement that we were able to follow in to Moab. My little Enduro headlight was not exactly meant for night riding. The intention was to avoid riding at night but perhaps I might need an upgrade. What a day. Steak and cold beer was in order.. |
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The following morning we were off to ride our now much lighter, KTM 640 dual sport motorcycles on the White Rim Trail. This is a 320 Km. (200 mile) day trip loop from Moab. The actual trail is a 171 Km. (107 mile) loop around the perimeter of the 'Island in the Sky' district of Canyonlands National Park. The White Rim Trail borders the Colorado and Green Rivers mostly following a white rimmed mesa of hard sandstone. The different erosion rates of the various rock structures, creates dramatic formations of spectacular earth tone reds and browns.  It
is a relatively easy 4x4 or dual sport motorcycle track. There are a
number of steep switchbacks with rocky and sandy sections thrown in
to keep it interesting. Much of the trail is fairly flat as it follows
the white rim of an impressive canyon. This is a very popular trail
for mountain bikes and 4WD enthusiasts, as well as dirt bikers on motorcycles.
Most mountain bikers run the route clockwise however pedal bikes can
be encountered coming in both directions. We rode our motorcycles counter
clockwise. There are a number of side trails leading off of the main
route which are well worth exploring, but we did not have time to visit
these because we wanted to get back to Moab in the daylight. There are
designated camping areas on the route but reservations must be made
in advance. Bring a big memory chip for your digital camera. You will
need it as the photo ops are endless. |
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There
is a rider and a trail in the above photo |
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 After
two excellent days of riding our dual sport motorcycles around Moab
Utah, we were ready to head east into Colorado and hook back up with
the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. It would be another very long
day to get all the way back on that trail. With an interesting route
plotted we were off early to continue our dual sport adventure.
By the time we got to Monticello Utah we had gained some elevation and it was getting cold again. Worse, there was a menacing black wall of clouds moving rapidly toward us. We started to ride hard and not stop for photos or to stretch our legs. We stopped only long enough to consider abandoning our off pavement route in favor of a highway. We certainly did not want to be riding in really rough or flood prone terrain if that rain hit us and it looked to be only about 15 minutes behind us. Ri I convinced Arnie that the highway was going to be longer and more likely to get us wet since it veered toward the clouds as it bypassed around a mountain range that we would go more directly over. Reluctantly he said 'your the navigator' which meant it would be my fault if we got in a pickle, then we started to haul and hope that the route would not be too bad. We were making great time and watching the black clouds recede in our rearview mirrors. We were actually starting to feel relaxed again. After about an hour and a half and no sight of the clouds we even considered stopping for a beer and snack in celebration, but it was so cold and we had so many miles to make that we pushed on. As
Finally we got over the pass and onto a highway. However it was snowing even harder and our route only took us a short way down the highway before we were to cross an even higher pass. Uhmmm time for plan B. Telluride Colorado was not too far away so we precariously made our way there. I have wanted to visit Telluride for a number of years now. I always envisioned it would be white and wonderful just like this, but my vision was to have skis under me, not a motorcycle. Things
were looking better. We found a hotel with a hot tub and a very good
Thai restaurant only a short walk away. We spread our soaked belongings
out all over the room and went off to celebrate being warm and dry again. |
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We woke up to good news. It wasn't raining or snowing. However, that is where the good news ended. Every vehicle in the parking lot was covered in snow. The ski hill was a beautiful blanket of white. Maybe my desire to ski Telluride was going to come true sooner than I thought. |
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The
ski rental shops were closed so we decided it was time to get ourselves
and motorcycles south and out of this weather system. The plan was to
try and take the 4x4 trail over Ophir Pass to highway 550. If that was
not too bad then we would carry on to Silverton and then east toward
the Great Divide route.
The potential problem with this plan was that we knew we would have to exceed 10,000 feet on Ophir Pass and the route that we laid out from there back to the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail, sandwiched between three 14,000 foot peaks (Handles Peak, Sunshine Peak & Redcloud Peak). It was going to be relatively remote and an even higher elevation pass.
We got to the edge of town, fuelled up and then Arnie's clutch cable snapped. We had a spare with us and were in the relative comfort of the gas station parking lot so not in bad shape. We had to pull the seat, fuel tank (that we had just filled) and most of the fairing off of the bike in order to get it routed properly, so it became a bit of a time set back but nothing serious. As soon as we got off of the highway and started up Ophir Pass we encountered snow on the trail. Previous to this nearly all of the snow that we had run into was melting on the road surfaces so while it made riding miserable and the roads wet, it was not too difficult to deal with. Being
a couple of Canadian off road motorcycle enthusiasts, we had ridden
in lots of snow. In fact many winters or early spring I would take the
central carcass of a street tire, put it inside my knobby tire and screw
sheet metal screws through the knobs and into the carcass in order to
ride on snow and ice. Our Canadian Cross Country races are rarely cancelled
due to weather so we had seen our fair share of snow and ice there too.
Admittedly though, we would normally be riding full on dirt bike motorcycles
that we could pull out of a snow drift, or pick up and turn around if
need be. Riding these cargo trucks through a snowy pass at 10.000 plus
feet would be a new experience, but one we decided to try.
We
made it to within a few miles of highway 550 when we had to give up
and turn around. It was now time for plan C. The trip in was mostly
up hill. The trip back out was mostly downhill and a new challenge.
We did make it back out to highway 145 with only one tip over and
nothing damaged beyond our pride at having to give up. |
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| We rode all day southeast to the 4 corners area where Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico meet. It was a pretty ride on a nice curvy highway, but much more suited to a street bike on a warm summer or fall day. Sitting relatively motionless for miles in cold weather wrapped up like the Michelin Man took something away from the beautiful scenery. Eventually we made it into New Mexico and it warmed up. In fact it was getting so nice out that we decided to stop at a car wash and clean things up.
Convinced that we had skirted the snow, we headed east again to re-connect with the Great Divide Bicycle Route. We rode hard for the remainder of the day and pulled into Chama New Mexico just as it was getting dark and looking like it might rain. The good news was that our GPS showed we were 5 miles (8 Km.) from the route. The bad news was that we could see snow in the mountains right about where we wanted to go. We woke up in the morning to another cold day. It was raining where we were, which meant snow likely around 8,000 feet. Time to re-group Highway 84 more or less ran south and parallel to the Great Divide Bike Route for a ways so we would follow it. There were 3 opportunities to get off of highway 84 and onto our route. We decided to check each one out as we passed. If we saw snow in the mountains, we would continue south. We arrived at the 3rd. and had to either join the trail or find another highway. We decided to join the trail and hope for the best. Yep... it was snowing at 9000 feet. However this time there were only short patches where the snow was accumulating on the road so it didn't really slow us down too much. |
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We dropped down from the forest into Cuba New Mexico and things changed. South of town began a very long desolate section of country that the mountain bike book gave many warnings about. It was mostly single 4x4 trail with many ruts and washouts from flash floods. The book warned not to enter this area when wet, (oops, I forgot to mention that to you Arnie) but I reckon had the author figured there might be snow on the trail, he likely would of warned the mountain bikers not to enter the high mountain passes either. Besides, we had a Plan B or at least would come up with one if need be. This was a section where we could not stay in one tire track due to all of the damage to the trail so it dictated that we ride single file. However with the road wet there was no dust so chasing each other and trying to pass the other at the slightest bobble was in order. This turned out to be a very fun section and another time when we commented just how much we liked these KTM 640 LC4's. It required keen concentration to avoid the washouts, but we could make good speed. By now we were so used to throwing the weight around (or having it throw us), that it was not even noticeable through here. Arnie was a motorcycle road racer before he got into Cross Country and Hare Scramble motorcycle races so he loves to slide and it showed as he ate up the section. As we got close to Grants New Mexico we climbed back up into forested mountains and YES, more snow, which stayed with us almost into the town. At
our hotel in Grants and previously in Chama, there were a number of
motorcyclists who we met. All had come to the area to ride the mountain
highways and enjoy the fall colors. Everyone we spoke to including the
locals were surprised by the early storm and cold weather. |
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South of Grants it dried up considerably and began to look like one imagines New Mexico should look. We had some fast sections and made good time all the way to Pie Town New Mexico where of course we stopped for coffee, pie and some interesting conversation with the owner, staff and other travelers. |
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Off
we went following our GPS screens not really knowing what the trails
would be like. The first section was a well used 4WD trail that we could
make good time on. Being behind schedule due to weather, getting to
San Diego was going to be a stretch so we needed some good trail all
of the way. What we started to find was a mixed bag that made for enjoyable
dual sport motorcycle riding but no speed records. The decision was
made that we should simply enjoy the ride and make Phoenix the end of
the leg. There was a large airport there and we could enter Baja Mexico
further east which would be nicer anyway. Now that we were not in a
rush, we could stop in Alpine Arizona for a beer and a late lunch.
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If you are a street motorcycle rider than you may very well of heard of Alpine and/or Morenci Arizona. It is between these two small towns that riders from around the world make their way in order to ride the famed 'Devil's Highway'. This section of route 666 (now badged highway 191 in Arizona) is a non stop chicane on some gorgeously smooth pavement. It is one beautiful piece of road that we even appreciated on the KTM 640 LC4 dual sport with nearly worn out knobby tires. (We can't say enough about the versatility of our motorcycles or the tires. Both are happy on and off road) About
3/4 of the way down the Devil's Highway our planned route was to leave
the pavement and take off across some wild, We got just past Morenci to Clifton where we stopped to stretch and take a photo. That is when my bike's electrics died again. However this time they would not come back. We messed around with it for about an hour until it got dark. Good fortune was that we had passed a motel only a short way back. Arnie towed me back and we got the last room they had. The parking lot was chocker block full of Harleys so we were hopeful we might find someone with a better understanding of motorcycle electrics than we did. Turns out that they were all from Sweden and here to ride the 'Devil's Highway'. They were not much help but very friendly and excited to be there. The following morning I got up extra early and started working on the bike. For no apparent reason, it came live again. We were once again on our way but not feeling too confident in my bike. The idea of heading into Mexico and points south with an intermittent electrical problem gave me the first sting of nervousness for this trip. We
rode until we needed gas and sure enough, when I turned off my bike
it would not start again. This time we could not get it started. Although
not pleased to have a broken bike that I was not capableof repairing
myself, I
was glad that it no longer seemed to be intermittent and that we were
close to a major KTM dealer where a properly trained technician should
be able to sort it out. Arnie towed me back to a restaurant and we went in for brunch and to try and figure out what to do. A very helpful waitress put us in touch with her brother, who had a car carrier and agreed to haul me and my bike the 175 miles into Phoenix. It wasn't pretty but we made it to Phoenix. Best of all .... I was warm again. The second leg was finished. 3215 Km. (2011 miles) since we left Denver. 6375 Km. (3986 miles) since we left Calgary. The next day we dropped both bikes off with a KTM dealer. In addition to my electric problem we wanted to have them serviced, new knobby tires mounted front & rear, and we decided to upgrade to the KTM adventure plastic touring bags. We were happy with our soft sided bags but felt the extra security of the locking plastic bags would be useful south of the border. Arnie's
friend Dave Kasper lives close to the KTM shop and agreed to store the
bikes at his house until we return Jan. 9, 2007. We had an enjoyable
evening with him sharing beer and watching Monday night football. |
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| For the next stage 'Leg 3' CLICK HERE |
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enjoy
a very special dinner with everyone. Kim is an excellent cook and has
a fine taste in wine so being treated to a meal is always a pleasure.
Bike
Trail might be fun. Or... Phil might have a sick sense of humor. 
The
trail soon dropped down off of a mesa and into a canyon bottom. The
view from the rim was spectacular. Here the trail narrowed with large,
loose, rocks, on a very steep slope, with some step offs. A heavy duty
4x4 from a mountain bike tour company was parked on the top. The driver,
who was setting up a lunch for a group that he was waiting for, gave
us the evil eye when we rode up.
did settle down to where it was no longer extreme but it was most certainly
very technical for the motorcycles we were riding. We were rarely getting
out of first gear and when we did, it was not for long. However the
bikes were handling it well and we had a good rhythm going. Other than
the prospect of sleeping beside my bike, I was really enjoying this.
This is what I wanted to experience in Moab. Great dual sport riding
in new terrain with even better vistas. 
ding
dual sport motorcycles over a route that was picked by connecting back
roads and trails on a map and GPS screen that headed in the general
direction that we were going, always proved to be interesting. Unless
we got some first hand feed back, it is very hard to know what is a
well traveled route and what has become completely grown over, washed
away or otherwise in some state of disrepair. Normally those unforeseen
obstacles were appreciated as they served to ramp up the challenge level
and make for good photo ops. However at this moment we didn't crave
challenges or more photos. We wanted to make miles and stay dry.
we
gained more elevation it got colder and then started to rain. We climbed
into our wet weather gear and pushed on and up. Before long we were
in a major snow storm and fighting to see 20 feet in front of our front
wheels. We crawled along and stopped often to clear our vision. This
was ugly. 
Plan
B was if we made Ophir Pass but it was very difficult, then we would
take highway 550 south until out of the weather. A day like this called
for a plan C. That was if we could not make it across Ophir Pass then
we would back track and head southeast towards the 4 corners area on
highway 145. This would take us further away from the Great Divide Mountain
Bike Route so not ideal.
Our
goal for this leg was to get to San Diego and then ride Baja on the
third leg. Our route from here was a collection of 4x4 trails, gravel
roads and the odd secondary
paved road that we knew little to nothing about other than they hooked
together and took us in the general south westerly direction we needed
to go. They were simply chosen as an exercise of trying to get to San
Diego touching as little pavement as possible. When putting the route
together I noticed that we passed fairly close to Phoenix Arizona. I
stored this away as another one of those potentially valuable Plan B's.
wide open country with no real civilization for 175 miles. Since it
was getting late in the day and we had already found one of our planned
sections as impassable, we decided the smart thing to do was keep on
enjoying playing cafe racer with the KTM's.