2012 WestFest, July 27-29

[Bart Bunyan]

Originally Posted by uglyelvis

Bart Bunyan? Who are you Paul Bunyan's red headed step child? JK! I would like to introduce myself too. I'll be there Fri on a blue Lifan 200 hopefully.

Not red headed step child, retarded half brother. Think of the movie twins, I'm dany davito. And here to think I was the only one rocking the lifan! Any other fans out there? Do you have the bench seat attachment?

[Pablo83]

This is a 31 mile loop of quad track and jeep trails. It is a nice tour of the local OHV trails. There are two very short sections (less than 1/4 mile) of asphalt that require a plate.



This ride is best suited for smaller trail bikes (200 - 450cc). The largest comfortable bike for these trails would probably be an XR650R, or a 640 adventure.



This is a popular area for families that enjoy OHVing. You will come across all sorts of vehicles on these trails. I suggest having lunch down by the creek.



Watch out for barb wire. Some out-of-state’ers get worried that they are trespassing when they come to a gate like this. The Forest Service maintains these fences and gates to keep free range cattle in their place. Unless it says “No Trespassing” you are welcome to go through it. You need to close the gate after going through.


Weber Bros in tha house (going through another barb wire gate):



The trails include lots and lots of this:

[Pablo83]

The Forest Service refers to this area as North Divide. The locals refer to the area as 717 because the most prominent trail in the area is Forest Service Trail 717 which is a 28 mile quadtrack loop.

The 717 loop is blue-green. The road to the trailhead is yellow. The brown trail is an alternate entrance. The alternate entrance is for bikes only (do not attempt to trailer a bike down this route)


This ride is best suited for smaller trail bikes (200 - 450cc). Conditions range from open sections with woops and hill climbs to tight trees with roots and ruts. This trail will test your suspension.



The 717 loop is 28 miles long. The trailhead is 18 miles from camp. This makes a total trip distance of 64 miles. If you trailer to the trailhead, you can do this ride on a non-plated bike. An OHV sticker is required for this trail.



There are lots of spur trails off of 717 such as 717.A, 717.B 717.C, etc. Don’t let these confuse you, they are completely separate trails. There are hundreds of miles of trails in the area. It is very easy to get lost out here. We should have Forest Service maps available for free. If you don't have GPS tracks, you will probably want a topo map; the best one is National Geographic, Trails Illustrated #137 "Pikes Peak, Canon City".



There are lots of little creek crossings, but nothing to worry about.

[Badjuju]

Pablo83: So, for us flatlander newbs, will some of these rides be led by locals? I'm not equipped with GPS/SPOT, nor is my riding partner. Hoping that we'll be able to tag along with someone knowledgeable in the region. Don't need a babysitter, just a little help to get us back in time for beer and vittles.

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by Badjuju

Pablo83: So, for us flatlander newbs, will some of these rides be led by locals? I'm not equipped with GPS/SPOT, nor is my riding partner. Hoping that we'll be able to tag along with someone knowledgeable in the region. Don't need a babysitter, just a little help to get us back in time for beer and vittles.

Yes, I'll be coordinating ride leaders for the more complicated routes some time in the near future.

At camp we'll have a large printed map with the routes marked. The easier routes will be doable with a street map. Even some of the harder routes (like Badger Flats) can be done with the free Forest Service Map.

[Pablo83]

Does anyone have GPS tracks for Phantom Canyon and Shelf Road?

Also, anyone that wants to plan their own ride is welcome to post it in this thread. So have at it.

[ramz]

Check it out:
http://rickramsey.net/GPXFiles.htm

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by ramz

Check it out:
http://rickramsey.net/GPXFiles.htm

Thanks Rick.

[Pablo83]

This is a loop around the Lost Creek Wilderness area. The main loop is all asphalt. There are three dirt options. La Salle Pass has some sandy, rutted, rocky sections, otherwise, the dirt options are very easy and completely doable on a V-strom or big GS.



The main loop is 150 miles. There are plenty of gas stops on the way.



I think the route is best run in a clockwise direction. Run the route on Friday or Saturday to avoid traffic coming out of Denver. If you run it on Sunday, I'd suggest going counterclockwise instead to avoid traffic headed back to Denver.



The Bucksnort in Sphinx Park makes great burgers. If you can, stop in for lunch. If you leave a little after 10:00 in the morning, you should be pulling into the Bucksnort around noon (opening time).



Even before the road was paved, all sorts of Goldwing's, Harley's, and sport bikes would brave the road just to hang out at the Bucksnort.





Other eating options include Coney Island Hotdogs.

[Lomax]

I am still going to attempt to make this for Saturday at least. New work will make it a late night up to the Cabin by Tarryall Friday evening.

I don't have the fancy map fu like Pablo does, but my idea is to have a ride from the ranch, up over LaSalle pass, down Turner gulch road with some back roads thrown in, and then either back up 77 or back over LaSalle.

So IF I can make it and IF I can find this ranch I will be there early Saturday morning and anyone that wants can follow along.

This will be an easy partial day ride and will be friendly to fairly N00Bs. It will be mostly all dirt, it has some light sand, whoops, climbs and rocks but you will be able to do it. Yes you can.

Teaser pic of the back roads.










Some ugliness you may see along the way.




So if you see a XR650L with side bags on it roaming around lost Saturday morning, please hit me in the head with a shovel to get my attention.

I will be on this old beast.



Marc

[Pablo83]

We've had a few sponsors come on board recently. I'd like to say thank you to Wolfman Luggage.

[HappyRiding]

Originally Posted by Pablo83

We've had a few sponsors come on board recently. I'd like to say thank you to Wolfman Luggage.

[Pablo83]

[D-Train]

Originally Posted by Pablo83

We've had a few sponsors come on board recently. I'd like to say thank you to Wolfman Luggage.

[D-Train]

Originally Posted by Pablo83

Of course these guys too