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Best Adventure Bike Ride in the Southwest
April 2017
Join us for a 7 day Adventure bike ride around Nevada, Arizona and Utah covering over 1,200 miles. Highlights include Grand Canyon National Park, Monument Valley, Lake Powell, Capitol Reef National Park and the Arizona Strip. Riders will be making a big loop around the Southwest and staying in motels each evening. The ride begins and ends in Las Vegas, NV.
About Grand Canyon Red Rock Vegas
The ride starts in Las Vegas. Riders will meet the night before the ride for a ride orientation and simply to meet the fellow riders.
Day1 ride takes us out past Lake Mead and to the northwestern corner of the Grand Canyon. We will spend the night as guests at a working cattle ranch in the bunkhouse or covered wagons.
Day2 takes us along the northern section of the Canyon to Toroweap Point, one of the best and most remote views of the Grand Canyon.
Day3 takes us along the famous remote Burr Trail above Lake Powell and through Capitol Reef National Park.
Day4 Is across Lake Powell, through spectacular red rock canyons and down the Moki Dugway Switchbacks. Then on to the Goosenecks of the San Juan River and into Mexican Hat.
Day5 Is a tour through Monument Valley and onto the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We will spend the night in Grand Canyon Village.
Day6 we leave the National Park and head through the Indian reservations. There is an option to take part of the old Route 66 through Radiator Springs. The day ends with a cowboy dinner and cabins on a western ranch.
Day7 route takes us through the desert and over Hoover Dam. The ride ends back in Las Vegas
This is a mixed paved and dirt road ride designed for adventure bikes. There are options for harder and easier routes.
The ride includes a support truck that will meetup with riders along strategic points of the ride.
Riders can put a small overnight bag into the truck.
Riders should have a fuel range of 150 miles.
Ride Details
I know many of you also enjoy dreaming about the ride and making your plans, so here is the detail, enjoy!
Ride Yoda's
Yoda Keith (DNA Doctor) and Yoda Greg (the Wizard)
View the ride on the Satellite Maps
OK since many of you like to study more detail about the ride, below are the ride maps.
I put these ride maps on the web page because I know a few of you love looking at the ride detail and dreaming about the ride. At first glance these maps do not look so impressive, but they are way cool. If you start zooming in, you can see the ride in incredible detail. I have spent a ton of hours sorting through the details of the ride for each day, so for those of you that enjoy this sort of thing, well enjoy!
Legend:
The Green lines are Main Routes mostly paved
The Blue lines are mixed Dirt Routes
The Red lines are Hard Alternate Routes
Black lines are Out and Backs to Gas and Towns
How does the ride navigation work?
This is a self-led GPS ride; all riding is on your own. You are responsible for your own riding. You will be given a GPS map file and instructions on how to use your Garmin GPS unit. People will hook up in small groups of less than 6 riders and tend to ride together. You are not encouraged to ride alone. You are responsible for your own riding and yourself.
(see my ride Navigation Video)
Are you right for this ride?
When something goes wrong on a ride, would your riding friends say that you are more likely to need help or more likely to give help? You should be in the more likely to offer help camp. This ride is filled with riders that are more likely to give help, so most of the time the riders never need help. Additionally there is all the normal stuff: come prepared to maintain your bike, fix your bike on the trail, repair flat tires, deal with bad weather and rain and make a joke or two.
How do I make the GPS stuff so easy?
I develop very high quality ride maps custom for our ride. They come from much of what I and others have ridden. I take the best from all my rides and make new ones.
(See my Custom Ride Maps Video)
Note from me, gpsKevin
My goal for this ride is simple, great riding, so you can count on great routes and places to ride.
But in addition: the ride is about discovering new places, meeting new friends, seeing new parts of the Southwest.
Thanks
gpsKevin
FAQ's
Q:What will the weather be like this time of year?
A: In April, the weather is most often nice, could be a little cold in the morning and in the mountains. But sometimes there can be rain. Wet and muddy routes can force us to change our course. Come prepared with extra gear for cold and wet.
Q: Would this be a good ride for new riders?
A: No, this ride is for intermediate and experienced riders only. The riding has easy route choices and tough route options. Each evening we will study the following days choices. You will find lots of supportive people at the ride.
Q: What bikes are right for this ride?
A: Bikes including and in between the Suzuki Vstrom and the KTM990 all can do well by choosing the easy or hard route options.
Q; What do I do if I don't have a Garmin gps?
A: Buy one, you need it, we will show you how to use it. You can get a great one for under $200 bucks. ( See gpsKevin's gps recommendations)
Q: Is the riding really on my own?
A: Yes, but almost everyone hooks up and rides with a friend, or a new friend.
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