The Mobius Trip

was longer and darker and colder than I expected.



We made a campfire, ate our tamales, had some hot cocoa with bourbon, and snuggled up to bed.

Our stats for the day:



Nearly 12 hours boots-on to boots-off. :eek1

Dr, sprockets are you running? I have run several different ratios, and found none of them to be good for all around ridding. At the moment I am running 13primary and 44 rear. Seems like I lack good highway gears, and sure would like lower gears for more serious off road stuff. Just curious what you found works for you. I'm loving the RR. Wish i would have checked your post while you were in Colorado. We were wandering southern Colorado at about the same time.

I love this shot!

Sorry we missed you. I reckon' we'll be back that way at some point.

I've geared both bikes at 15/47. My priority is chain and sprocket longevity. The theory is that for any given chain length, you can calculate the number of revolutions that place the same link on the same tooth for each sprocket, and chain and sprocket wear will increase the more frequently they mesh. Instead, you want wear to be evenly distributed. So even though 14/44 and 15/47 are virtually the same gearing ratio, 15/47 would theoretically maximize chain & sprocket life. I run the rear Supersprox for the same reason.

If anything the gearing ratio is a little tall for the steep single track (of which we do little), and a little short for the interstate (of which we do almost none). Besides longevity, I think it optimizes gas mileage, and the 10-40mph range and flat to moderate grade climbing which constitutes 90% of our riding.

If I were mostly riding in the CO mountains, I'd probably gear down some... maybe 14/47, or 13/44, or even lower. Highway riding will suffer (as if it can get any worse).

Not to hijack your thread or anything, but along the same lines of sprockets...

The Supersprox are great sprockets. Just wondering how they are wearing for you?

I have access to order about any sprockets through my vendors, but recently I found Ironman sprockets which are made of chromoly and plated for longer life. The idea behind them is the lighter weight similar to aluminum sprockets but wear like a steel sprocket. Best of all, they have a 1 yr. guarantee...that's right 1 year! They are a little expensive retailing at $110 but I usually sell them around $90-$95 and with that type of guarantee how can you go wrong.

Just thought I'd mention it for future reference in case you haven't heard of them and want to check them out.

Thanks again for sharing your wonderful journey with us. I was laughing so hard during your ad-libbing about the aliens and their tractor beams!

As long as you're taking questions,Doc, how did you two manage to sit on the DRZ seat all day long,day after day?

Kevin: Our Supersprox show minimal wear after close to 3000 miles on Blueberry, and ~1700 mi. on Honeybee. They were ~$80 each, and for $5 more, you can get a lifetime guarantee (be sure to read the fine print ). Ironman would be a comparable alternative. The main advantage of the Ironman ones seems to be in weight, probably more important for racers than us.

RE: "how did you two manage to sit on the DRZ seat all day long,day after day?"

First, we're not sitting all day... probably standing 60-70% of the time. Second, we both have Sweetcheeks on our seats. You can see photos and contact info for Ray Pope who makes & sells them on this thread over on TT.

I'm anticipating a follow-up question which is this: "If it wasn't your asses that limited how far / long you could ride, what was it?"

I'd have to answer that is wasn't actually anything physical. We're both in pretty good shape. Rather, for me anyway, it was mental fatigue. LDF may have a different answer. As the days wore on, even though each day was awesome riding, and at any given moment we were having a blast, it became harder and harder to drag ourselves out of bed, break camp, pack, gear up, and get the wheels rolling by 8am which was our goal. I think for future two-week trips, a mid-trip no-ride day will be a requirement.

Mr Dr Rock!

Please stop working on your Trip Report! I can't finish my Trip Report because I can't stop reading yours!

Your friend
Donnie

Hey, no worries, only a couple of more days to go. ... Anyway, what're you complaining about? You're retired! I should be so lucky.

From the North Rim, up to Page for groceries and gas, and down to Sunset Crater.

Even though we saw snow in CO, it was this morning in Arizona where we woke up to frost:



Nothing some hot coffee and oatmeal can't fix.



The Wolfman bags had some cool paisley frost pattern on them:

We waited for the sunlight to make it to our campsite so we could melt and dry our gear.



Another biker, Bud, came over and we chatted for awhile.



But I don't think either Bud, nor the cold was why it took until 10am to get rolling. I think we were just tired.

The plan for the day was pretty open. Our options were to slab on Hwy 89 down to Flagstaff, or insert varying amounts of diversion by getting out of Kaibab N.F. and/or cutting through the Navajo Indian Reservation on dirt. We'd play it by ear.

of Pleasant valley.



through some burn



and picked up a nice and easy forest service road.

crisp morning, good piney smells,



I'd like to come back to the North Rim and explore some more of these roads. (and ride all the way out to Point Sublime).

I need to finish my report so that we can leave on another trip! No fun being retired if you just sit at home.

Donnie

this big hole as far as I can tell is via pavement to Lee's Ferry: 89-Alt.



6% downhill grade, next 3 miles.



I think those are the Vermilion Cliffs up ahead:

They stop for pictures,
but I will photograph them.
Japanese tourists.

is a pretty cool road.



after dropping down back into the desert,



(loose gravel? oh my! )



it goes northeast, following the Vermilion cliffs to the left



and the grand canyon to the right.



Once you're off the Kaibab plateau though, it straightens out and, while beautiful, is pretty boring to drive.

over there:



Vermilion cliffs, over there:



canyon,



cliffs.



And then Lee's Ferry.

was technically not Lee's Ferry, that's down by the river. This was Cliff Dweller's Lodge.



Gas, pee, ice cream treat, and back on our way.

I thought this was funny. I know there's fishing around there, but if you didn't know that, then