TDM850
DUAL SPORT OF COURSE
ADVENTURE TOURING IN MOAB, UTAH

BY STEVEN "SCOOTER SCUM" JOHNSON
Originally Published in the Tedious Quarterly, Third Quarter 1995

What is adventure touring?

I will venture to provide my own definition of combining touring with a little dual sport riding in a slightly dangerous environment. Your standard magazines will discuss adventure touring across Africa. Unfortunately the majority of us are of modest means. A trip of that caliber would require $10,000 plus and months of planning. Adventure touring can include trips to Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. I chose Utah for it's beautiful landscapes and proximity to Colorado.

There are an amazing number of trails in the Moab area. Years ago we would travel to Utah to start our motorcycle season. It would take several months to thaw out the trails in Colorado and we would trek to Utah for warm riding.

This year I decided to do it on a TDM. I am mostly unfamiliar with the area so I went with a friend that was very knowledgeable about it. He, too, is an avid dirt biker and rides a 1983 Honda XR350. We needed to trailer his bike out and we took his father's new Ford F250 4x4 turbo diesel with the new Power Stroke motor from International Corp. He also had a large camper on the back that we planned to camp in for the four days that we would be in Utah.

April 21 5:00 AM

The alarm went off on NPR. The first words I heard were "I-70 closed in both directions due to multiple accidents outside Georgetown Colorado." My first thought was this is a bad omen and I should listen. I had waited for this trip for one and a half years, I hated to push it off any longer. Denver's weather was not great. It continued to snow flakes the size of chipmunks.

We delayed our takeoff to noon in hopes the weather would settle out. The trip over the passes were uneventful. The turbo diesel flew over the mountains. The weather rained and snowed. We filled up at the Colorado/Utah border. The Utah border came and went. We headed South to Moab and turned towards Canyonlands parks. Half way to the park, the engine lost power and died! The adversity begins. We were in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately we had a cellular phone and the truck was covered with road side service. Three hours later we were parked in the Moab Ford dealership on Main Street were it appeared we would camp the night.

April 22

Burning the better part of the day trying to breath life back into the truck and then trying to rent another vehicle with a hitch, we decided to change our plans and ride a trail closer to Moab. We chatted with one of Moab's city councilmen and he suggested a quick ride over Hurrah Pass. We headed down the main street of Moab and turned west at the McDonnalds. We rode a mile or so to Cane Creek Road. The pass is popular with mountain bikers. They were thick as mosquitoes in Minnesota.

A long dirt road up the canyon was a perfect warm-up ride. The first 10 miles or so are simple two wheel drive type dirt roads to the top of the pass. Over the top of the pass the road turns into a true 4x4 road. Riding a TDM on 4x4 roads requires patience. Certain sections of the road were steep and not visible when cresting a hill or ridge.

I found myself stopping and walking sections to find the right line that would get me safely over the stretch of road. If I found a large drop-off, I would build up the drop-off with rocks, dirt, or logs to minimize the exposure to my engine. Another technique for riding rough roads is to roll over large obstacles slowly. This will minimize the compression of your suspension and maximize ground clearance. At the same time stand up on the pegs and use your legs to give added suspension to your body. Sitting on the seat adds to the dead weight of the bike causing the suspension to work much harder. Using your knees like a skier over moguls on a ski slope will help keep the suspension from bottoming out. Another important reason to use your knees is to minimize the stress of the tire rolling over sharp objects. A flat tire means a long walk home.

Coming down Hurrah pass we could have ridden down to the southern end of Canyonlands, but that was not our objective that day. We had maybe 4 hours of daylight left. We rode down the South side of the pass into the valley where we encountered several sandy washes. We headed West off Lockhart Basin Trail to a trail marked Dripping Spring. We rode until the 4 wheel drive trail started up the side of a mesa. It was steep, loose, and rocky. I was going to give it a shot, but it appeared to have a rock slide across the road some 200 yards up the trail. Our tripdometer read 25 miles and it seemed to be an adequate afternoon ride. We headed back to town taking the same route back.

April 23

Woke up at 7 AM to find that it rained all night. The mud of the White Rim Trail is legendary thick, sticky, gooey mud. This was the last day of our trip so it was now or never. We both had a quick breakfast and headed out to Canyonlands. At the turn off up Utah 313 is an RV park with a Texaco station. I topped off my tank with premium and reset my tripdometer.

The ride to the ranger station was quite magical. The canyon we were about to ride was filled with clouds to the rim of the canyon. It almost gave you the feel that you were flying at 37,000 feet in a Boeing 757. We arrived at the Canyonlands ranger station 22.8 miles later. We checked in with the rangers for the conditions of the White Rim Trail. The rangers were recommending chains for 4x4's on Shafer Hill. The adversity continued.

We debated whether to run the trail clockwise or counter clockwise. Clockwise would have the benefit of running the muddy section of Shafer hill going down hill and was the direction my guide was familiar. Counter-clockwise we would hit Shafer hill last and could be dry by then, but would be a steep uphill. The other start of the White Rim was steep and was also probably muddy, but to what degree, we did not know. We decided to run it clockwise and get the muddy section over early and while we were fresh. If it did not work out, we would have time to try the other direction.

We untrailered Randy's XR with fresh knobby tires. We headed down the trail at 9 AM. The road was a red clay based and there was no road base to help firm up the road. The road had a fresh car track which help identify the soft portions of the road. As we headed down, the further we traveled, the muddier the road. As I followed the car tracks, I watched them slide into the ditch and then back out.

My poor Pirellis self-cleaning tread required some amount of speed to clean itself. Speed was not in my near future. My front tire seemed to become a huge mud magnet. Keeping the weight of the TDM up was becoming more and more difficult. I stopped and let my friend scout ahead on his XR. He returned after a few minutes stating it appeared to be dryer around the corner.

Generating forward momentum stressed the 850 power plant. Steering the TDM was nearly impossible. As I continued, I violated one of the first rules of adventure touring, I dumped the bike. My friend came back quickly to help pick up the bike and let me know my front tire was not turning. The mud was wedged under the low front fender and traction was not sufficient to turn the wheel.

Now we were stuck with a dilemma. There were no sticks to dig out the mud, Randy recommended we take off the front fender for the remainder of the trip. To remove the front fender we had to move it down and then away from the front fork. With all the mud, moving it down was impossible. Then Randy suggested a big rock and smash the front fender to remove it. Oh the joys of problem solving on the trail. I decided to try something less damaging, I would try to ride the bike to hard ground and then hope it would free itself.

Knowing the front tire was not turning made it easier to understand how to control the bike. By weighting and unweighting the left and right foot pegs, I was able to ride it 50 feet or so to dry ground. On the dry road I had enough friction to turn the wheel and dislodge the mud.

We stopped and took a break and re-asses our sanity. Looking over the edge we could see the car that preceded us a 1957 4 door Chevy with California plates and I thought we were nuts.

The road improved as we continued down. As we exited Shafer hill, we were able to pick up some speed. My self-cleaning tread finally started to do it's job and I was pelted with little mud balls. Ah... sweet pain.

At the bottom of Shafer hill is an outhouse and the junction with Potash road. Potash road from Moab is another way to start the White Rim Trail. My feet kept slipping off the pegs so we took a quick break to remove the thick red mud that had gathered on our boots. We picked up the pace. The road was straight, flat, and wet and the soil had changed from the thick clay mud to more porous sand and rocks.

One of the first sights on the trail is Muscleman Arch. It is an arch that is easily accessible and you can walk out on it for pictures. It is so accessible that I have heard of people riding their bikes across the arch in a wheelie! I figured my day would have sufficient challenges without adding more.

The trail turns into a fairly simple ride for he next 20 miles or so. Due to the rain the previous night, the trail had large puddles and could be described as greasy in spots. I would ride along in full control then the front tire would slide for no apparent reason. I found myself riding through "phantom" puddles. I pride myself on being very aware of trail conditions then suddenly, without warning, I would feel the gush of water and mud hitting my boot and Gortex pants. This really keeps you on your toes.

The weather looked iffy at best. The skies were mostly cloudy with occasional dark blue cell. It rained, then hailed briefly, then cleared up. The sights on the ride are truly spectacular. I have always love Utah landscape and this is one of the best I have ever seen. The trail takes you off one high mesa down below blood red cliffs that are 1000 feet high. The White Rim Trail takes you along another mesa with 500-800 foot cliffs below you. The views off into the distance are of the Canyonlands with it's multicolored landscape all looking like the inspiration for Uzilesky drawing.

View from the top of shafer hill.

Traveling to Moab in the Spring is always somewhat risky. Spring is when the desert receives the majority of the moisture. This makes traveling difficult, but having the opportunity to see the desert in full bloom makes the effort worth while. I love the multitude of colors from the deep blue thunder clouds over the orange and red cliffs with green sage brush growing in the deep red sandy soil.

I really appreciate the patience of my friend Randy. The TDM is no match for the XR on the trail. Randy with his knobby tires could fly down the trail at most any speed the bike was capable. The TDM on the other hand had to poke along 20-30 MPH being very careful of my line and available traction on the trail. Riding the TDM off-road is very much a thinking man's game. I would find myself being distracted by the amazing landscape and then hitting something that would completely throw we me off my intended line. As the soil dried I was able to pick up a little more speed to move along 35-45 MPH.

We mostly had the trail to ourselves. I found myself feeling pretty good about my trip and that I was doing something significant and then we would run along and find large packs of mountain bikers. I figure it would take the average rider 3 days to do the trail on a mountain bike. Shortly after the mountain bikers you would find a pickup truck filled with camping supplies and bike parts.

The closer we moved to the mid-point of the White Rim Trail, Randy got more nervous about his bike. He kept hearing more rattles, pings, and groans from his XR. Being an aerospace engineer he starts to get concerned about the reliability of his bike. I on the other hand was focused on keeping my bike on the trail. I was completely oblivious to the sounds of the TDM other than the smooth hum of the big twin.

A break looking up at 800 foot sand cliffs.

At approximately 67 miles on my tripdometer, we ran into a steep hill. This hill sneaks up on you because the trail banks around a corner and heads up a rutted hill with a few rocks. The hill caught me by surprise and I was in the wrong gear, there were two people walking the hill scouting it for the Jeep Cherokee that was parked at the top of the hill. Between dodging the people, looking at what the people were looking at, and picking a line to minimize the number of rocks and avoiding the Jeep parked at the top gave me a less than welcome adrenaline rush.

A few feet after the hill we stopped and took a water and pee break. The break gave me an opportunity to regain my composure. I know talking about a pee break might sound gross but it is important. As you ride the trail you need lots of water for the trip. A good measure of how well you are hydrated is the color of your pee. The more yellow the pee the more dehydrated the body. Dehydration will cause increased muscle fatigue and increase risk of crashing. After downing a quart of water and candy bar we were off again. The rangers recommend drinking 1 gallon of water each day.

The trail had changed from flat sandy mesa to sharp up and down hills. We had some fun loose rocky hill climbs the provided the TDM with just the right amount of riding challenge. Prior to riding the trail my research turned up an article about a guy on the new Kawasaki ZX-9R riding the White Rim Trail. I kept wondering how this guy survived this section and the poor slob that bought the bike after the test ride. I sure the story went something like, ridden by a little old lady to and from the race track, very low miles, ignore the thick gooey red mud around the front brakes.

The trail eventually drops off to run along the Green River. The lowest point on the trail is around 4000 feet. We stopped just past Potato Bottom on a ridge overlooking the Green River. We had lunch and watched the kayaks and canoes float by. We drank lots of water and hit the last bit of the trail. The remaining section of the trail was narrow twotracker type roads, but was fairly simple riding. The roads were easily passable by most any car with reasonable ground clearance. We climbed up the side of a mesa to exit the canyon and down a wide two lane dirt road back to highway 313.

We headed back to the visitor center and stopped at the entrance to the park to show the ranger our park passes. The ranger was rather young, maybe 20, and asked where we had been. I told him we had just finished the White Rim Trail. He seemed a little surprised and stated I don't think I have ever seen a bike like that on the White Rim. I hoped it would not be the last time.

At the ranger station, we trailered Randy's XR. Randy took the rental car and trailer back to Moab and I decided to return down Shafer Hill and out Potash road. I figured I needed to try the hill again to prove I could ride down it shiny side up this time. My tripdometer read 128 miles. Shafer Hill was a breeze. The mud was mostly gone and the only difficulty was dodging all the mountain bikers. I had one flag me down to stop. It turned out to be a park ranger on a bicycle. He stopped me to see if I was street legal silly ranger I was on a TDM!

I turned off down Potash Road which was a nice warm down. My TDM went on reserve at 141 and back to town at 171 miles. I should have taken some time to see the sites on Potash, they have old Indian petroglyphs and dinosaur fossils, but I tired and worried about me making back to town. I pulled into the Texaco in town hoping to see our friend Jesse, he towed the truck twice now. I topped off the tank with 4.6 gallons of gas... 2 tenths of a gallon to spare. I had a blast looking at Jesse's pictures of people he has towed. Some rather amazing roll-overs and submarined 4x4s. If you get the chance, it is worth the price of gas!

Randy and I celebrated our conquering of the White Rim Trail by barbecuing steaks in the parking lot of the Ford dealership. It seemed a bit odd, but about par for the trip. We finished the evening by taking a walk down to the local micro-brewery called Eddy McStiffs and had several brews.

April 24

We got up the next morning and were anxious to see the Ford mechanic so we might return home. The mechanics looked at our dead engine and determined that it needed a new fuel pump. Of course they did not have one in stock, but they arranged for it to be sent night. I decided to head home on my bike. I called for road condition in Colorado, and they were recommending chains for large truck on Vail Pass. The adventure continues.

I took the scenic route out of Moab up highway 128. It runs along the Colorado river in a deep canyon with red sand stone cliffs. It is a beautiful windy road out to I-70. The weather was a cool 60 degrees, but clear skies. I blazed back to Colorado about 80 MPH. The weather ahead continued to be relatively clear with nice white fluffy clouds. I stopped for gas once and broke out my rain gear for wind protection. I figured it would get pretty cold over Vail and Eisenhower pass.

When I reached Vail, the roads were dry. The pass has the "Icy" sign out, but I only found melting snow running over the highway. The snow along the road was 2 feet or more and I kept thinking that if I fell, I would have a nice soft landing.

At the top of the pass the temperature dropped down to 34 degrees and I was feeling the cold. I thought about stopping to put on more winter gear, but the weather was clear and I hated to have that change. So I pressed on.

At the bottom of Vail pass I found a nice icy stretch of about 20 feet under a bridge. I was able to see it in time and pull in the clutch and coast over the slippery stretch. Eisenhower pass was dry and traffic condition allowed speeds of 75 MPH.

At the top of the pass it was wet going into the tunnel. The tunnel was scary! It had gotten dark, the tunnel was filled with diesel exhaust that restricted visibility. I had no idea what was the condition of the road. I pressed on fearing that the other side of the tunnel would be engulfed in a snow storm and I would have to spend the night in a hotel. I came out the other side to be greeted with continuing blue skies. Again the "Icy" sign was on, but it was 3 PM and the weather was above freezing.

The remainder of the ride gave me a chance to warm up. As I dropped in altitude, the air continued to warm up. I truly hate riding in the mountains during the Spring. The cold weather combined with the sand being kick up by passing cars feels like little bees stinging your shins.

I got home and assessed the damage of the trip. One very muddy bike, scratches on the left fairing, one cracked turn signal lens, and a gash in the side wall of the rear tire. All in all not a bad trip. I debated on washing the bike. I decided washing the bike would leave be with one less reminder of a most wonderful weekend in Moab so it looks like I will be riding a dirty TDM for the next few weeks.

This article was originally published in the Tedious Quarterly. For more information, questions, comments or suggestions regarding this article or the Tedious Quarterly, please feel free to contact Steve Johnson by e-mail at scum@uswest.net.