Re: MOAB 7-22 Sep 2017
In some sections it wouldn't be hard to blow a corner and ruin your day...
Oh yeah! If you are riding counter clockwise (the best way), there is that one nasty corner that could have you plummeting alllllllll the way down to the bottom
It is definitely an area where you want to ride smart and not be goofing off because the penalties for screwing up can be pretty severe and help would be a LONG TIME coming...
I say riding it counter clockwise is the best way because of the deep sand/silt on the NW portion of the route near the Green River. It is MUCH better to hit this early while you are fresh than to hit it at the end of the day when you are already tired. This section is only a few miles long, but it is pretty challenging if you are on any kind of bigger adventure bike and aren't a proficient sand/silt rider.
Gas is also an issue. Gas is available in Moab, but it is around a 150 mile loop out and back. I would want a bike that I KNOW can go 200 miles on a tank (or carry extra).
Take plenty of water and I would take food as well. If something happens to a bike, you could find yourself out there for a while waiting for help, possibly even overnight. You will also want to carry the tools/tubes, etc,... to take care of flats. On the plus side, there were an amazing number of really nice restrooms out there!
Here are a few shots from the trip Rsquared and I did in 2015 before you had to have a permit to ride the road.
Rsquared dropping down into the Green River valley on Mineral Canyon Rd.
Rsquared in the easy part of the sand/silt
The climb back up to the to of the rim from the river valley gets steep and a little rocky in some places
The road climbs and descends along the edge of the rim in many places
There are a LOT of places like this where you can ride/stand as close to the edge as you dare...
That is Rsquared providing a bit of scale... which is REALLY needed out here because everything is so freaking BIG!
The road is incredibly twisty as it follows the terrain!
There is Rsquared providing scale again... long way down...
This road scales the face of the cliff in the distance and is quite narrow
and here it is shown so you can see where it goes
There's Rsquared doing his thing again...
The view from the top, not far from the Island in the Sky park headquarters
On the way back down after a MUCH needed break. Where's Rsquared?!
(hint: look just at the right edge of the green stuff after the first upper switchback on the left side of the image!)
Here he is approaching the next switchback
A nice SUV for some scale
White Rim is a definite must do, but I don't know how much trouble it is to get a permit to ride it now. In theory, they implemented the permit system to prevent over crowding of the road. The reality is that this is nonsense. We were out there during prime season and hardly saw anyone out there. There were some mountain bike riders and maybe five other vehicles in the entire 100+ miles of the road. It smacks more of the continued nationwide effort to basically curtail use of the national forest lands.
Lockhart Basin Rd., is also a great ride. It has a few pretty technical sections where I would not want to be on anything bigger than something like a KLR 650. I wouldn't even consider trying to do it on my 1200 GS. Most of it is not bad, but those sections that are would be seriously difficult on a big bike, especially if the rider is not very experienced.
A lot of it is basically like this
Some is like this, still not too bad even for the big bikes
Then you start getting into ledges on the North end...
Doesn't look so bad from the top...
Look at his front wheel...
A better view from below...
Then not too bad for a bit...
Gets a little rougher again
Then the really nasty bits start
BIG rocks and sand
Gotta pick good lines through here
Then it turns to deep sand near the end
Once it turns to the East and starts heading toward Moab, it is nice and easy. A lot of folks ride out from Moab to the start of the hard part then turn around. I think it is easier to run South to North because you are going down most of the harder stuff. But, some folks find it easier to go up the rough stuff than down it. To each his own I guess.
Dang... now I want to go back!