The Mobius Trip

[DR. Rock]

where we met another friendly waitress whose name we can't remember
(we were drinkin' -- see a pattern here?)



and again, saw another bizarre vehicle. This one claims to be able to drive 10,000 miles on 30 gallons of H2O.

[DR. Rock]

From Moab, through Green River, UT, to somewhere in the San Rafael Swell.



The way Sam has the TAT laid out, Moab isn't a stopping point. Which makes sense, as the Green River to Salina, UT route takes a full day, and passes through some inhospitable terrain known as the San Rafael Swell.

" The San Rafael Swell is a wonderfully unique kidney shaped geographical feature in southeastern Utah on the Colorado Plateau. The "Swell" is about 50 miles in length and 30 miles in width. Only one paved road crosses through the approximately 600,000 acres, Interstate 70."

I had a feeling that Green River would be too short, and Salina was going to be too ambitious a destination, which meant that we might be cowboy camping somewhere in the Swell.

"Part of swell has geographic features that resembles Mars. The Mars Society decided to set up the Mars Desert Research Station in the area as a Mars analog for such reasons."

I had virtually pre-run this section numerous times using the satellite images from GoogleEarth, and having read many other TAT ride-reports, I knew that it would be tough riding, with many people getting lost, or bailing entirely and cutting across on I-70.

"Although surrounded by the communities of Price, Green River, Hanksville, Ferron, Castle Dale, and Huntington, the Swell itself does not support permanent residents."

I had loaded meticulous waypoints, and even generated my own "tracks" by sketching out the route on GoogleEarth converting it, and then dumping it into the GPS, so I felt pretty confident that I could navigate the section.

It wasn't easy.

[DR. Rock]

was bright eye'd and bushy tailed, ready for a new adventure and a new day.



LDF... not so much.



So it was almost 9am when we pulled out of the "Up the Creek" campground, which we highly recommend as an economical way to stay right in the center of Moab. Clean hot showers, quiet, centrally located.

[DR. Rock]

you come THIS close to Arches Nat. Park...



But for some reason, after riding the WRT the day before, and seeing the campers pulling in to the entrance, and the tourists taking photos in front of the sign,



we decided to take a pass.

I'm sure we'll come back and visit another time. But for now, we just wanted to dive back into the remote, and make some TAT progress.

[DR. Rock]

is part of the TAT, but we couldn't figure out how to get onto it... I think it's been blocked off. Anyway, it's not that much, just a few miles.

[Burnszilla]

Awesome RR!
When you were in Utah I was in NYC. Statdawg took me on a walking tour of the city and we stopped outside your building.
Annette stayed with us when she was in California.
Cheers!

[Questor]

Best pic: You can see the smile under the helmet and goggles.

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

Q~

[SteverinoB]

What a great read and the photos ain't so shabby either.

Question...Are the DRZ's E or S models and...was signifigant re-jetting required for the higher bits?

Can't wait for the next installment...Cheers...Steve

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by Burnszilla

Awesome RR!
When you were in Utah I was in NYC. Statdawg took me on a walking tour of the city and we stopped outside your building.
Annette stayed with us when she was in California.
Cheers!

Thanks for reading along. Sorry we missed you. Anytime you're back this way, I hope you can stop by.

d

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by Steve Br

What a great read and the photos ain't so shabby either.

Question...Are the DRZ's E or S models and...was signifigant re-jetting required for the higher bits?

Can't wait for the next installment...Cheers...Steve

The DRZ's are both 2004 S models. Both bikes have 3X3 mods, and the yellow one has a dynojet needle and a full Yosh exhaust. Significant rejetting... no. Required... no.

That said, there were issues with both bike's carburetors. Honeybee had a size 52(!) pilot jet instead of a size 25. I only discovered that at the end when I compared the pilot jets from both bikes. I think I had swapped a 140 main in there which I had dropped down from 145 for Mobius-I in anticipation of the higher elevations. The Blueberry one had some jet clogging issues which came to a head on day 11.

Since returning, I'm determined to get the jetting and carburetion dead right on both bikes. I've ordered new gaskets, o-rings, JD jet / needle kits... I've read everything I could on ThumperTalk, and solicited the expert advice of Eddie Sisneros AKA burned. These are his recommendations:

For 4000-8000 ft. Temp 70-90's, low humidity:
Quote:

Yellow bike 2004 DRZ "S" (3X3 & Full Yosh)
red needle, 4th clip
150 main
22.5 pilot
non-Kientech extended fuel screw (not stock either... don't know who made it)

Quote:

Blue bike 2004 DRZ "S" (3X3 & Stock exhaust)
Red needle, 4th clip
145 main
22.5 pilot
Kientech fuel screw

Both bikes ran, just not very well in all circumstances. Blueberry stalled at high elevations, and Honeybee overheated at lower ones. I think making the above changes will probably work better at all altitudes. And if not, I'll know what I'm starting with; I carry spare / alternate jets, so I'll be able to carb-tune on the trail with minimal effort.

[DR. Rock]

took us back into Canyonlands, but instead of heading south towards the WRT, we got on Gemini bridges rd, and headed north



It starts with a fun little climb,





that yields this classic TAT view,



before leaving civilization for the canyons.





There's a nice sandy hill climb that gave some of Vinny the Snake's guys a hard time with their vintage bikes. I meant to warn her about it, but before I could,



She was already motoring up :



Looking back down:

[DR. Rock]

toe-touch has its disadvantages when you get stuck.



I think she fell getting off the bike here. The riding clearly was getting more and more technical.

I could never tell what sections she would take on, and which she would balk at. This one she attacked:



this one too.



In retrospect, I think she was pushing a bit beyond her comfort zone. I don't recall her dropping the bike, but a frustration storm was starting to brew between the physical , ie. cumulative fatigue, (especially from yesterday), the sun, the heat,



constantly battling dehydration,



in addition, the mental aspects; anxiety from the remoteness, the unknown (for her -- not knowing how far difficult sections / canyon washes would last -- I had a better sense of the route having studied it and loaded the GPS's).

I underestimated the stressors that were starting to affect her. From where I was sitting, she seemed to be doing fine.

[DR. Rock]

to Green River



cut through some desert



hit a little pavement,



some straight, fast gravel,





and the red sand



of southeast UT,



gave way to the greyer dirt



of the San Rafael swell that lay out before us.

[DR. Rock]

along these power lines,



I know why they call this "Ten Mile Rd."



We rode past some big machinery



the landscape was lunar,



and even though we were making good time,





the sun,



and the heat,



and the dry wind,



were sapping our energy.

[DR. Rock]

High noon.



Doesn't look so green to me



We decided to stop for gas, water, groceries, and something we almost never do... lunch.

Being as it was Sunday,



Most everything was closed.



Briefly thought about finding a motel



but decided we still had a few miles left in us, and could probably do better on the accommodations on our own out there in the Swell.

We succeeded in finding gas, filled the tanks, and in case we got lost, or had to reroute, an extra 3.5L (2X750cc fuel bottles I carry behind my panniers, and one of the 2L Sweetcheeks bottles).



We also found where the cool kids hang out after church and had lunch there.



Why a fish sandwich out in the desert? We certainly got some looks. Especially when we had to ASK what "fry sauce" is. As IF. You don't know? Oh my GAWD...



Your choices are Ranch, Fry Sauce, or (scoff) Ketchup. We'd never heard of fry sauce. Apparently it's quite regional. Only one other place we stopped at in UT offered it. It's certainly yummy,... it seems to be a mix of mayonnaise and ketchup at about a 1:1 ratio.



But if those kids think that anyone who doesn't know what fry sauce is must be hicks, I think they've got to get out more.

There's some kind of watermelon theme / vibe going on in Green River.



They were having a Watermelon festival the next week (I think), and a Watermelon Pagent to pick the Watermelon Queen. There was a poster with photos of all the young women who were this year's Watermelon Queen contestants. Oh, the innuendos and double entendres going through my head.

But in the end, I couldn't even bring myself to take a photo of the poster...
It would have been a little too Aqualung.

Instead, I treated myself to this:



After lunch, we filled up our water (10L) from the bathroom out back,



and headed back out into the wild.