Chickfest! (Pt 2)

I woke up to the smell of two stroke smoke and roar of dual sport engines as riders gathered the next day.

Skip made us a delicious breakfast.

We were very lucky our friends trailered in and brought lots of food. Sean and I were a little tired of protein bars at this point. Everyone who trailered in really helped out those who rode in and there was plenty of food and drink to go around! šŸ™‚

We even had a shower!

The advanced riders went out early and rode some killer single track (I hope I’ll be able to try this stuff after another year of riding!)

These chicks will have you eating their dust!

Megan can take this bike anywhere!

Hardcore!

Sean and I went for a nice morning ride, but I didn’t take even a single picture. It was a really great track though. Lots of whoops and curves, a good bit of sand and only a little bit of mud and ruts…yet I managed to slide out in one and launch into the forest…I was fine and drug the bike back out to the road before Sean even realized I was no longer behind him.

Megan and Karen organized the event and taught the beginner clinic. They did an awesome job putting it together and everyone I spoke to learned a lot and had a great time!

Converging for the clinic

I look way too serious in this picture.

Megan demonstrated proper body positioning while standing on the pegs.

Once everyone had that down, we went out to a long easy stretch of dirt road to practive acceleration and braking.

We practiced braking with just the front and just the back. We braked until the tire locked up and skidded, so we would know what that felt like and then practiced using both breaks together.

The road ended at a large dirt pit where we practiced full lock turns and figure eights.

There were chicks on little two strokes and giant dual sports alike.

Then we went up the steep hill!

And then we were finally ready to ride!

Moab

We stopped in at this great little coffee house for breakfast.

The business was for sale, so hopefully the owners keep it at the same caliber. The blue cornbread pancakes were out of this world and Sean was thrilled by the quality of the crema on his espresso.


Granola with fresh organic blueberries and soy milk. Tasty!

More weird rocks in the desert
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Zion

Next time I go on a trip I’m going to make myself take a journal. I’m already getting a little hazy about details and the order of events. Add to this the fact my pictures uploaded out of order and there’s a good chance things are a little out of whack in this report. Live and learn!

The landscape is so bizarre and varied in the southwest.

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Grand Canyon

I’m not sure what I can say about the Grand Canyon that hasn’t already been said. It’s so massive it doesn’t even seem real. You take hundreds of photos in an attempt to capture it and you can never come close. All I can do is suggest you go there and see it for yourself…and post a few of the better pictures to give you some idea how vast and beautiful this place is.

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1700 Miles to Chickfest!

The moment I caught word of a massive chick dirtbiker meetup, I knew I had to do everything in my power to attend. Google maps had it at about a 700 mile long journey from Tucson, Arizona to Central Colorado, but unwilling to do anything the simplest way, Sean and I decided to extend the trip to Chickfest into a 9 day journey encompassing some of the best roads and National Parks in Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

He plotted our trip out and loaded the tracks into his gps, declaring he had found another 1000 miles between here and Colorado! Sounds awesome, let’s ride!

We unfortunately put off packing until the morning of departure and started our trip off all wrong, chaotically throwing things together and hoping we didn’t forget anything important. Finally we were ready to leave!

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Ruta de Carreteras

I headed out from Santa Ana towards Caborca. I was beginning to get concerned about our late start. My map showed the road going up to Sonoyta and then down to Puerto Penasco. At my current pace, I would be looking at riding the road to Puerto Penasco alone in the dark, which is heavily advised against and that particular road had just had a warning put out on it. I arrived in Caborca and decided to inquire on alternate routes.

I rolled up to a fruit stand where an old man with skin like leather and crystal blue eyes was selling watermelons.

“Ruta de Puerta Penasco?” I ask, point in the general direction and shrug.
The old man smiles warmly and nods. “Si, ruta de carreteras.” My Spanish vocabulary is limited, so I ask “carreteras?”. He points behind me at a semi truck. Eek, maybe that’s a bad plan too, I’ll ask if it’s dangerous. “Peligrosa?”. He assures me I’ll be fine, “pequito, pequito peligrosa…” and draws out my turns in the dirt to find the proper road. I thank him and ride off where he directed me.

The road is paved, one lane in each direction packed with large trucks belching black smoke and rattling along around 50 miles per hour. Continue reading