O'Kokopelli St. Patty's Day Ride

[Bonnie Abbzug]

Our friends Tramontana and Fifinella put on a ride over St. Patty's Day weekend and we decided to attend this year. It took place on the Kokopelli Trail which runs from close to Grand Junction, CO to Moab, UT. Since the weather was once again poopy and we had T-shirts to deliver, we trailered over to Moab. This is how our bikes looked once we got to Blue Mesa just past Gunnison. They had melted a lot by this time.

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The roads weren't nearly as bad as when we went to Death Valley, but it still took about an hour longer than it should have.

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It was such a relief to get to the camp ground where it was snow free and almost warm! We unloaded the bikes to take them for a little test run to make sure they were jetted properly, but as soon as Hayduke started checking his tire pressure he realised his front tire was flat :(: . Our friend Hair had just shown up and happened to have a little bike stand with him, off came the gear and up went the bike to start changing the tube.

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He got the tire off, but we could not break the bead for anything. It was starting to get a bit frustrating and then Duke realised the tube had slime in it and it was plugging up the valve stem. Couldn't let air out and couldn't get air in. That Duke is a pretty smart fella some times and actually had packed a spare stem. He replaced that and it aired right up and held :ecstasy: .

Of course by that time, beer had already been consumed by both of us, so we rode around the parking lot a couple of times, deemed them fit for the next days ride, and went off to drink and socialise some more :cheers:

[Bonnie Abbzug]

We made a bunch of new friends on this trip

This is Jarrod

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266644938_bNhUm-M.jpg

And David

They had gone for a little spin up Onion Creek road, I think they had a good time!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266645189_U2iFw-M.jpg

We had to load our bikes back up on the trailer so we could be ready to head for the trailhead by 6:30am the next morning :omg: . Have I mentioned I'm not much of a morning person :D: .

Our friend Ganshert showed up with a new mirror for Hayduke's bike and proceeded to install it for him.

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266645529_fgAvS-M.jpg

Our buddy Neduro showed up too!

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And then ColoradoUli brought the keg :ecstasy:

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But, since we had to be up before sunrise the next morning we didn't crack it open just yet.

This is Fifinella. She is an amazing camp cook and invited Duke and I to share dinner with them the first night. She made us some ribeye steaks, salad and BROWNIES :drool: (not those kind of brownies silly!).

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We all turned in pretty early that night so we could be up before the roosters to start our ride! :sleep:

[Bonnie Abbzug]

The next morning we were up about 5:00 :ugggh, but fortunately Jarrod had gotten up even earlier and started coffee for all of us. We had a little bite to eat then jumped in the truck (while almost everyone else jumped on their bikes :eek:) for the 65 mile 25*f ride to the trail head.

We were supposed to start the ride at Rabbit Valley, but Uli had been up there the day before and said it was still pretty snowy and muddy. He was very afraid that 40 bikes could really tear up the trail, so we changed plans and started at Westwater instead.

Here we are gathered round for our pep talk.

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That's Could9, he knows the area like the back of his hand and was trying to make sure us slower (me) less experienced (me) riders didn't end up on the single track section, but stayed on the two track.

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The road started out pretty smooth with a few ruts thrown in to keep me on my frozen toes. But the views were quite spectacular!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266651713_XJqAf-M.jpg

We didn't really get any pictures of most of that first section, sorry. I blame Duke :lol: The road was pretty fun though. Lots of sections with large embedded red rocks, a few ledges but nothing very steep and a bit of sand, but not very deep. I had a hard time getting loosened up, I think being a popsicle to start with didn't much help, but once I did loosen up I had a great time!

There was a lot of stopping to BS and take pics along the way (okay, there was a lot of stopping and waiting for me :redface1:, but everyone was really cool about it ).

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266668877_kfpHk-M.jpg

Lots of snow this winter made for lots of ruts!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266668894_y5jQ8-M.jpg

Did I mention the views?

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266668909_BhVBZ-M.jpg

That's our friend Blake on his SOLD KLR. He sold it with the condition that he could bring it on this ride. The new owner was okey dokey with it, but Blake felt maybe he should hang back with the "smell the roses" crew so as not to do any major damage to the bike.

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266668932_SMvSs-M.jpg

He didn't do any damage, but he did manage to bury it in some really mucky mud!! :lol:

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266668956_xFkMA-M.jpg

Well now, I'm pretty willing to ride through (or fall in) mud, but this little mud bog dropped pretty steeply down into a little muddy creek and then climbed back up in to a deep bit of sand. So, I graciously let Duke ride my bike across for me!

That's my front tire headed through the mud and down the hill

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266668994_bEniD-M.jpg

Duke had to ride WOT pretty much to get it through without getting stuck!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266669009_aT2UX-M.jpg

:lol: He made a nice spash in the creek!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266669022_3KJvL-M.jpg

And almost buried it in the sand on the other side!!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266669043_uC9yz-M.jpg

Our friend Jarrod getting his bike through

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266669059_SxhDM-M.jpg

And Duke taking his own bike across

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http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266669096_JqPnE-M.jpg

I laughed my butt off watching everyone getting through. Fortunately there wasn't any carnage!!

[Bonnie Abbzug]

Duke got my bike all dirty :cry1:

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266669113_8ofJi-M.jpg

The road smoothed out a bit here and got a little faster.

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266676128_afvGB-M.jpg

I was cruising along pretty good, enjoying the scenery, when all of a sudden I see a huge cavern where the road had been washed away :eek: . I got on the brakes for about a second and then realised there was no way I was going to stop in time so I gunned it in the hopes that I could clear it (while in my head I was thinking "Oh Spit, this is gonna hurt!" ). The front tire managed to get over the crevass, but my rear tire came down square on the inside, bounced back up, came back down hard and sideways and high sided me. I was amazingly unhurt (except for two matching bruises on the front of my thighs where I hit the bars), but Duke was pretty freaked out so he didn't get any pictures :cry1:.

I got back on the bike (which was also unhurt) and took off again, a little more slowly and paranoid of all the ruts running across the road, but we made it to the next intersection before anyone started worrying about us :D: .

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266676184_AAETx-M.jpg

[ridingAK]

:omg: I'm glad you didn't get hurt worse in your high side. Other than that, it sounds like you had a lot of fun. I'll be here waiting for the next installment.:camping:

[Bonnie Abbzug]

At this intersection we had a choice of taking the paved route or the single track back to Dewey Bridge, where Fifinella would be waiting with lunch for us all. I chose pavement :D: . Duke, bless his little heart, probably would have much rather gone the single track route, but went with me instead :hug2:. It was actually a pretty neat little curvy one lane potholed road that went through the run down town of Cisco.

Well fed and ready for a nap!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266676210_AGqqt-M.jpg

After lunch Blake, Duke and I decided to split off from the rest of the group and ride Yellowjacket Canyon. I had a plethora of emotions running through me during this part of the ride. The views from the road were spectacular, some of the best from the whole ride, and I was in awe of them when I could get enough courage to look up from the trail and see them. Mostly I found myself going from scared to mad to elated all within about 15 seconds of eachother, but over and over again. The road was not that difficult really, but I was (making excuses :D:) tired and second guessing my abilities constantly. The worst parts were steep downhills with steps. I would stop at the top and convince myself that I could not ride it, then I would get pissed at myself for being such a baby, then I would get myself to go, get to the bottom and be ectastic with myself for doing it. Good lord, I was an emotional wreck by the time we got back to the highway :gaah: I will go back before this year is over and ride it again and enjoy it all this time!!!

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The traction on the slick rock is amazing!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266690298_atByR-M.jpg

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266690307_DJShx-M.jpg

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The uphill steps did not bother me at all :confused2:

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266690327_DTB6P-M.jpg

But downhill was another story

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266690368_KAtt3-M.jpg

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We were all working up a sweat and needed to stop and delayer and hydrate!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266690423_9Jp7o-M.jpg

Blake and his fancy KLR!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266690461_6zCjj-M.jpg

Yeah, it was beautiful!!!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266690478_RymHk-M.jpg

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The sand was welcome relief after all the rocky ledges!!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266699872_9bGwK-M.jpg

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We met up with Ganshert, Neduro and PlayzNmud a couple miles from the end of the trail and rode the rest of it with them. Playz is even shorter than me, but rides her XR400 like it's PW50!!! She's got no fear!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266699967_p598Z-M.jpg

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Almost back to Dewey Bridge

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A few more challenging sections to get through

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Ganshert rounding the corner

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We made it back to the highway and met up with a few other folks

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I really, really wanted to ride Onion Creek. I had ridden it last fall and absolutely loved it, so much so, that I did it twice just for fun :D:. But I was so exhausted that I decided to just head back to camp. Duke wasn't too keen on me riding back by myself, but also wasn't ready to quit riding yet, so Blake, having had too much horseradish sauce with his lunch and being in need of an outhouse, volunteered to ride back to camp with me :lol:. And thus ended my O'Kokopelli Trail ride, but not the partying that ensued once back at camp :ecstasy: :cheers:

Fifinella cooked all 40 of us corned beef and cabbage for dinner. It was most delicious!

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266700183_MwEGo-M.jpg

The party :cheers: went on well into the night...

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The End

[ridingAK]

Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!

[KCDakar]

Thank you for sharing your ride with us!:yahoo:
Truly some beautiful scenery.:thumbup:
Highsiding sucks. Glad you were not hurt any more than bruises.:girlpower:

[Bonnie Abbzug]

Thank you for sharing your ride with us!:yahoo:
Truly some beautiful scenery.:thumbup:
Highsiding sucks. Glad you were not hurt any more than bruises.:girlpower:

Your welcome!

And I'm glad too! The actual crashing part happened so fast, I actually had a moment where I thought I saved it and them WHAM :lol: .

I hope your head is feeling better Dakar!

[Hayduke]

Bonnie left out the part where she sang opera at the campfire and had big 'ol Uli in tears....

[jfike]

cool!! i need to grow some guts or ballz or whatever it is that you have and can go out there like that! i have the bike, but i am a great big chicken. i also have the want to, but i am scared of my bike and doing something like you did( highside) and getting hurt. getting hurt is a big fear for me, i am getting old enough that it takes a long time to heal, i am already somewhat walking wounded, and i can't stand the thought of not being able to ride cuz i'm hurt or worse yet hurting myself bad enough to never ride again.


good on you for doing what i am scared to do. keep posting and maybe one of these days i can post my own!!

[sweptwingnut]

Great report Bonnie! Looks like a blast. :thumbup:

[Luna Tique]

Thanks for the wonderful report :thumbup:and your pictures of the beautiful scenery. :thumbup: Seems like a great weekend ( Except for the high side OUCH~Very glad to hear you are only dealing with a few bruises) and let's not forget the white knuckle drive to get there.

Ride all day... get back to the campsite exhausted & smell dinner cooking and the beer iced down WOW :perfect10:
Thanks for taking us along on your latest Adventure Bonnie:riding:

[KCDakar]

Bonnie left out the part where she sang opera at the campfire and had big 'ol Uli in tears....

Sounds like the story needs a better finish?

Hey Bonnie!!!!!:devilsmile:

[Lucky_Devil]

Great report! :popcorn1:

Glad that you and your bike were ok after the wash-out incident :thumbup:

Thanks for sharing your trip with us :riding:

[ridingAK]

Sounds like the story needs a better finish?

Hey Bonnie!!!!!:devilsmile:

I'm with Dakar on this one! Don't you go holding out on us. We want ALL the goods. :rofl:

[Bonnie Abbzug]

I'm with Dakar on this one! Don't you go holding out on us. We want ALL the goods. :rofl:

:redface1: Umm, I'm not really sure what to say, except that last year at the FourMile Freakout, Charla got me good and drunk and my friend Dan, who knows I sing a little opera now and again, asked me to sing. I did, but I forgot the words halfway through the song and started cracking up along with everyone else and never finished it. So, a few folks that were at the O'Koko ride had also been at the FMF and they remembered about the singing and asked me to sing it again (maybe with all the words this time :D:), so I sang "O Mio Babino Caro" from the Puccini Opera Gianni Schicchi. It wasn't my best performance, but I did remember all the words this time :lol:.

Uli said it made him cry :cry1::D:

[ridingAK]

That's cool. Since I don't know the words to any opera you could have faked it with me and I would never have known the difference!

[Bonnie Abbzug]

That's cool. Since I don't know the words to any opera you could have faked it with me and I would never have known the difference!

I was actually taught to fake it when need be. I rarely forget the words (but have one heck of a time memorizing them :mgbanghead:) during a "real" performance, but if I do I just keep going, pretending like nothing ever happened :confused2: . When I've been drinkin' though, it's another story all toghether! :lol:

[Bonnie Abbzug]

cool!! i need to grow some guts or ballz or whatever it is that you have and can go out there like that! i have the bike, but i am a great big chicken. i also have the want to, but i am scared of my bike and doing something like you did( highside) and getting hurt. getting hurt is a big fear for me, i am getting old enough that it takes a long time to heal, i am already somewhat walking wounded, and i can't stand the thought of not being able to ride cuz i'm hurt or worse yet hurting myself bad enough to never ride again.


good on you for doing what i am scared to do. keep posting and maybe one of these days i can post my own!!

I know what you mean! I have had plenty of days where I argue with myself the entire time about being afraid. The very last thing I want is to really hurt myself, but I wear a ton of gear (helmet, pressure suit, super dooper padded shorts and knee pads in my pants, should probably have some over the pants real knee armor though, armored gloves and MX boots) and I do feel somewhat safe with all the gear on. For me it's mostly the fear of the unknown. Trails I have ridden before, even if I found them really scary the first time, seem tame the next time and I really have fun riding them. I did not grow up riding motorcycles or being around them much. If you would have asked me even just 5 years ago if I would ride a motorcycle I would have laughed my arse off at the thought. But, now I can't imagine not riding. Being able to get out and see the places we have seen has been the most satisfying experience I have ever had. I never would have hiked or even mountain biked to a lot of the places simply because it would have taken days instead of hours.

But, having said that, I am not at all comfortable riding on the street. I admire those of you who do it all the time (commuting to work etc...), because pretty much every time I ride on the road to get to the dirt I almost get run over by some idiot not paying attention. Fortunately I am in super aware mode and see it coming, but criminy it makes me crazy! Heck, even on this trip I almost got taken out by a guy on a Harley coming around a blind corner on the highway about 5 feet over in my lane. I was so pissed off that another motorcycle rider could be so inept, but I was glad that I was paying attention and saw him coming and could move out of the way before we had a head on. Compared to that sort of stuff, riding trails seems SAFE!!!!! :lol:

[Hayduke]

Yep. Riding dirt is way safer than the street. No doubt about it.

[ridingAK]

One of my scariest moments was going around a blind corner just a little North of here. A truck came around the corner 3/4 in my lane, the driver looked straight at me, and held his line. I was on the yellow line and just grateful there wasn't any gravel on the road. What scared me about it was that it wasn't a case of not seeing me, it was a case of not caring. It took away lot of my enjoyment of twisties unless I'm on a pretty deserted road.

[Luna Tique]

When the farmers( or hired truckers ) aound here are hauling corn wheat etc to market in those huge dump trucks some of them feel the road is theirs and use all of it. Center line is center of the road for some of them.
There are a few nice roads I completely avoid during harvest because of them. Too may times I have had to head to the shoulder . where is is rough and loaded with gravel.
Bottom line is I don't like being pushed like that. Since they are not going to change I change what roads I:riding: on once the harvest is in full swing.:shrug:

[Charla]

Nice report Tami! One of these days we'll make it out to Moab but it wasn't in the cards this year. Glad you guys had fun and you didn't get all bustimicated. :D:

Duke, I'm surprised you haven't posted "the picture" yet of me'n Tami. :lol:

[ridingAK]

Sounds like one we "need" to see.

[KCDakar]

Duke, I'm surprised you haven't posted "the picture" yet of me'n Tami. :lol:

The DUKE is BUSTED!!!!:rules:

[Luna Tique]

The DUKE is BUSTED!!!!:rules:

:thumbsup: Rules are Rules :D:

[LookingUp]

That looks like so much fun!

Except this part. I'm not bummed I missed this. I HATE mud!



http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/266668956_xFkMA-M.jpg


I love riding in that area, but it isn't easy either. Kudos to you! :thumbsup:

[Hayduke]

Duke, I'm surprised you haven't posted "the picture" yet of me'n Tami. :lol:



Which one?

This one?

http://charla.smugmug.com/photos/217572502_A9QxS-L.jpg

Or.....?

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/161504097_KPECK-M.jpg

Or....?

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/161558199_fiS5E-M.jpg

Or...?

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/185932455_HnzwV-M.jpg

I probably have a few more....:D:

[ridingAK]

You guys look like you were having too much fun!!!

[Charla]

Duke likes posting drunk girl pics. I think he's secretly hoping to capture a "Girls gone wild" moment. :lol:

[ridingAK]

:rofl:
As long as everyone's having fun, it's all good.

[Hayduke]

Duke likes posting drunk girl pics. I think he's secretly hoping to capture a "Girls gone wild" moment. :lol:


http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/naughty.gif

[Bonnie Abbzug]

You guys look like you were having too much fun!!!

:lol: Me and Charla know how to have a little fun :ecstasy:

[KCDakar]

Looks like a good time you all have when you get together!:ecstasy:

Is that Plazinmud? sic?


Hayduke I am bringing my camera to SLAP!!!!:lol:

[Charla]

:lol: Me and Charla know how to have a little fun :ecstasy:

:iagree:

:fridayparty::fridayparty:

[ridingAK]

You guys need to come visit me!

[Bonnie Abbzug]

Looks like a good time you all have when you get together!:ecstasy:

Is that Plazinmud? sic?


Hayduke I am bringing my camera to SLAP!!!!:lol:

Yep, that's Plaz. She's a fun one too! She was thinking about going to SLAP, but I'm not sure if she's figured out all the logistics yet. It'd be fun to have her around though!

[KCDakar]

Yep, that's Plaz. She's a fun one too! She was thinking about going to SLAP, but I'm not sure if she's figured out all the logistics yet. It'd be fun to have her around though!

Well, if she doesn't make it there is always WestFest!:wootrock:

[bobcat]

Which one?

This one?

http://charla.smugmug.com/photos/217572502_A9QxS-L.jpg



I know I've seen this pic before over at ADV, but this is the first time I noticed that there's guy in the pic. He looks like the cat that ate the canary! :lol:

Nice report B.A., great photos! :thumbsup:

[Bonnie Abbzug]

I know I've seen this pic before over at ADV, but this is the first time I noticed that there's guy in the pic. He looks like the cat that ate the canary! :lol:

Nice report B.A., great photos! :thumbsup:

:lol: Hey Bobcat! Yep, that's Hannda (over at ADV) and that's a very good way to describe how he looks -he's a funny, funny guy!