An spontaneous adventure bike ride report.

[Gravy]

then I honked and all the sheep...

 

[Gravy]

The final stretch into Strawberry reservoir has all the sketchy pea gravel in the land and is only finally comfortable when you decide you're ok with the tail wagging the dog at around 45mph...


After Strawberry we jumped back on pavement on the 40 back over Daniel's summit where every semi was married and scootered down into Heber.

 

[Gravy]

In Weber we parted ways and I headed up Pine Canyon and over Guardsman Pass into SLC then back home.
227 miles.
Long day... I was bushed.

Our total for the trip was about 615 miles
I hope to invite more of you guys on these type of adventures and explore more of Utah!

 

[Greg]

Looks like some great riding and great scenery. Nice to see that Giant Loop bag getting used, too.

 

[nnnnnate]

So how do you feel about the bike and your setup for this type of trip? Is it obvious you need to change x or y before you try something like that again? It doesn't seem like you carried anywhere near thick enough sleep pad, especially with your recent back surgery.

 

[Gravy]

Looks like some great riding and great scenery. Nice to see that Giant Loop bag getting used, too.

It was quite the ride. I'd estimate about 200-250 miles of that was dirt but probably 3/4 of our time. Utah high country is very beautiful and very unpredictable between snow and sun we saw it all.

Between the giant loop and my little saddlebags and tiny tank bag I was able to keep all of my stuff on the bike and no backpack including 10 l of water.

So how do you feel about the bike and your setup for this type of trip? Is it obvious you need to change x or y before you try something like that again? It doesn't seem like you carried anywhere near thick enough sleep pad, especially with your recent back surgery.

I really like my bike a lot. I can definitely override it in the dirt but nowhere near it's capabilities on the road so it's good for me because I've spent far less time on road previously and it's very rewarding to carve corners on.

I'm currently shopping more comfortable seats. It looks like seat concepts foam and cover might be the most economical way to go at about $200.
A bigger windshield would definitely be a plus for a long trip like this.
I need to move my giant loop water bag to a different spot also. (22lbs shaking around made my saddlebag swing too much).
If I'm feeling frisky I might get into my forks and add some more damping and bottoming control evidently there are a couple of companies who make different valve kits for it. Fox also offers a podium rear shock replacement for about $600 But that's kind of pie in the sky because if I'm getting into that much off-road I'm on the wrong bike.
I had ordered a skid plate from GIVI (it's giant!) But it hadn't arrived yet. So I was a little more careful in the rocks since the oil filter is the lowest spot on the frame.


I actually brought a really great inflatable insulated sleeping pad from Klymat. it's really an amazing piece of kit from a local company in Layton, super comfy. It, pillow, stove and my tent together are actually smaller than my small North Face sleeping bag.. I tried to go cheap and buy a less expensive inflatable pillow and it failed before I even used it once so I've got to go get my money back and buy a Klymat one also.

Thanks for asking My back is getting better everyday and these kind of trips are better for it than racing.