Smit-Dog

Mi. Trail Riders
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Oct 28, 2001
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So I arrived in Vegas 9am on a Monday morning. It was cold (low 40’s), windy, and rainy. Hmmmm…. So this is the desert? The sun did peek out once that week, but some of the outlying towns around Vegas also got snow – some schools actually shut down for the day, freaked out by the 1-2” of white stuff. I checked the weather report for Saturday, the day I had scheduled to ride. The forecast had temps in the high 30’s / low 40’s, big rain, and 24 mph winds. Glad I brought along the Moose jacket.

I hooked up with Vegas Offroad Tours, with Steve Gabbert as head tour guide and new owner. Check out www.vegasoffroad.com for more info. Steve is a 35+ expert rider, and works as a service manager for Sportsman Cycle, a local offroad shop specializing in KTM, Husqvarna, and Husaberg. Steve has lived and ridden in the Las Vegas area for the past 17 years. There are a few other offroad/dual-sport tour companies in the Vegas area, but Steve’s tours focus strictly on singletrack desert riding.

I was picked up at my hotel promptly at 8am by Steve and his crew, and we drove about 30 minutes southeast to a small town called Nelson – which is about an hour from the Vegas strip. I was pretty much geared up at the hotel, and the door-to-trail service made you feel like a factory rider. They had everything taken care of – bikes, gas, extra gear, and food, all loaded in the enclosed trailer. The riding group for the day consisted of Steve, Rubin, local expert/guide-in-training, Chris, Steve’s son, and me. A few other riders who had signed up had bailed, either due to weather, or distracted by shiny objects on the strip. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the Adult Video trade show were also in town the same weekend. As if it was a hard decision… :coocoo:

The bike of choice out in the Nevada mountains is a big 4-stroke. I ended up with a 2001 520 MXC, complete with Scott’s damper, and plush suspension setup by Dick’s Racing. After unloading the bikes and gearing up, we were out on the tail by 9am. The first section leading out from the trailhead was a flat, whooped-out section with a gravely base. Loose on top, but moist sand underneath. Hadn’t ridden since October, so took quite a few miles to warm up, and get used to the 4-stroke after coming off my little 200 EXC. The 520 was big, torquey, and the suspension was like butter. I was riding pretty tense at first. Lots of sharp, gnarly rocks, rock ledges, and loose, rocky hill climbs. After gaining some confidence with the power of the 520, along with the plush and planted suspension, I was soon flying through singletrack. Rocks be damned! :aj:

The warm-up whoops ended pretty quickly, and the trail turned into a smooth, flowing, endless series of nice twisty ridge trail. Most of the time you were either climbing, twisting the torque handle, or sliding down and negotiating these steep, rocky descents. Not being used to it, the scenery and views are outstanding. Since you were constantly twisting up and down the ridges, you couldn’t spend much time with your eyes off the trail. You do NOT want to slide down the edge of the trail! The trails are very rough and rocky in sections. S-12s would last about 2 days of hard riding out here. Other sections consisted of hard, smooth, singletrack, with nice rolling elevation changes. This ride had the most “airtime” I’ve every experienced on a trail. The smooth sections had these nice rolling drop-offs. Without realizing it, you’d be sailing through the air, smooth as silk. Sure, it was only 3’ of air, but you could carry it a while, and with the suspension, you could barely feel it. I did case one landing and grind the footpegs…. That was a little harsh. :ohmy:

2-strokes are doable out there (Rubin had a 300exc), but with constant elevation changes, and loose, rocky terrain, it really favors the 4-stroke torque monsters. Some of the rocky inclines reminded me of Marquette, with the stair-step pattern… except it was small, sharp rock, not smooth.

I saw a few bushes, lots of desert hares scrambling and darting across the trail, but not one tree. Funny thing is, none of the bikes in the group had a kickstand. We’d come to a resting point, or scenic spot, and there was nothing to lean your bike against! Had to take a whiz with the bike leaning against my back, and with a 25 MPH wind, I can’t say it all hit the ground. The strong wind gusts up on top of the ridges kept you on your toes. You’d get to the top of one ridge, go to make a sharp, downhill turn, and suddenly a wind gust would literally push you off the trail. You’d lean in hard to correct, then the wind gust would cut out as quickly as it came, at which point the exaggerated body English pushed you to the other side of the trail. Not much time for scenic daydreaming!

Within the first 15 minutes into the ride, Chris (Husaberg) announces he has a front flat, doesn’t have anything to fix it with, and doesn’t know his way back. Steve tells him to (rightfully) suck it up. 20 minutes later, Chris announces he has a rear flat. By this time we are quite a ways from the trailhead, and he doesn’t have a choice but to continue riding. I relate how Dick Burleson used to ride with a flat on purpose, in order to make him a better rider. Riding with dual flats is a “character-builder” I tell him. It’ll make you a better rider. Probably didn’t make him feel any better, as it would be pretty tough riding on loose shale with squishy rubber, but hell, I was on a paid tour, had a single-track high going, and wasn’t heading back just yet! The kid did great though, and kept up with the group no problem.

In addition to the ridges, we also rode some smooth, twisty, sand washes, along with some dirt roads in and around old mining encampments. This area is desolate – you do not want to get lost or get hurt riding by yourself. A GPS could be a life-saver; once out riding on the ridges, it all looks the same, for hundreds of miles in every direction.

After riding for a few hours, we stopped at a scenic overlook. Starting up to ride again, Steve’s bike suddenly dies. Checks the tank, and it’s empty. And this is a big, 4 gallon, quick-fill desert tank. Empty??? Empty. At this point we are a few hours from nowhere, and 25+ miles from the trailhead. Steve’s bike had recently been re-jetted late in the week, and this was its first ride with the new jets. Steve had been having some throttle response problems earlier in the ride, and attributed it to jetting issues that still needed to be worked out. Either the bike was just sucking gas, or his ace pit crew and #1 son forgot to top off Steve’s tank before the ride. Either way, we lucked out because my 520, aka the “Exxon Valdez”, had a huge tank, with 1-2 gallons still left. So we connected the fuel lines from the petcocks, and fed the empty tank. This bought us about 10 miles before we had to do it again. We would repeat this re-gassing process one more time before making it back. Big tanks rule out in the desert.

We rolled back into the staging area around 2pm. Pretty beat, but mostly from smiling so much. Good god did it feel great to ride again! And the terrain and scenery turned an ’A’ ride into a double-A riding experience.

Still on a riding-high, even after 5 hours in the saddle, we get back to the trailhead, and there before me is the mother of all hill-climbs. The ride had gone well, with dry tanks just part of the adventure, but I wanted more. So I point the bike towards this mountain that seems to have erupted out of nowhere, twist the throttle, and hold on! :ride: 3rd gear pinned, I don’t know if I’m going too fast, or not fast enough. There are two hard-packed routes up this hill. Somewhat rocky, some tricky ledges, but with 520cc’s strapped to my a$$, I thinking that I should be able to tractor up this bad boy. I get about ¾ the way up, and the path I’m following suddenly turns off-camber. It gets steeper, and not being able to see the top, the bike and I end up riding off the path, directly onto loose shale. It goes from good traction to what feels like riding on glass within seconds. The bike slides out from under me like hitting a sheet of ice. Then we both start sliding down, the loose shale acting like ball bearings. Thinking that the bike is going to suddenly start cartwheeling down a looonng, steep mountain, and that I don’t have renters insurance, I grabbed the handlebar and tried digging it into ground. It stopped the bike, but every time I tried to lift the bike, we’d both start sliding downhill. The only way to keep the bike from sliding was to auger the end of the handlebar into the rock. It was so loose, you just couldn’t get a footing to leverage the bike up. And the 520 was getting heavier and heavier by the minute. By this time, I had slid into an every steeper, looser rock section, and was in trouble. It had been a good 10 minutes of struggling and sliding, and at this point, even if I could get the bike upright and jump on, it was going to be a hairy ride down.

Finally, ace tour guide Steve, realizing it’d be easier to get me off the hill than call in a life-flight, tractored up to where I went off the trail, got off his bike, made his way over to where I was, and rode/slid the bike down. Over on more stable ground, I rode his bike down. I was now beat, thinking I could have just ended the ride without the rock slide at the end…. But in the end, glad I attempted it…. Something to shoot for next time!

Couple of other thoughts…

- Bring your own gear and drink system. Sure, it’s a pain lugging around a huge gear bag in and out of airports, shuttles, etc. but you’ll have everything you need. The desert and higher elevation can get pretty cold in January, so bring a jacket. Carry ID and all health insurance info on the ride.

- If you’re not used to it, the scenery and terrain are spectacular and can be distracting as you’re trying to stay focused on navigating the narrow ridges, so it’s hard to do a lot of sightseeing. Helmet cam footage of the tour would be great, preferably with a mix of your footage, and some shots by the guy riding behind you. Steve has plans in the works to offer helmet cam rentals as part of the tour.

- If you’re ever out west on business, take an extra day and hook up with a local touring company. The opportunity to ride some different terrain is an awesome experience. Vegas Offroad is a great group, and the emphasis is all about offroad. Steve knows the area well, and tailors each tour to what the rider wants. It can be as technical as you want, or it can be a nice, scenic, two-track ride up in the mountains. This would make for a great 3-day ride adventure / vacation during the winter. Cheap flight to Vegas, you can get great hotel rates off-peak, and the terrain is spectacular. You bring the gear, and Steve supplies the bikes and the adventure.

:cool:

Slideshow Here ->> http://community.webshots.com/slideshow?ID=248941892&key=JoGwfP
 
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woodsy

~SPONSOR~
Mi. Trail Riders
Jan 16, 2002
2,933
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Sooooo, Smitpuppy comes home from Vegas with his riding clothes smelling like urine, his face and lips all chapped and wind whipped, and his muscles sore from wrestling a 520 around in the desert... Hmmmmmmmm, do we REALLY believe his trail tail or are we just a little suspicious that Smitdogger may have found other "interesting" things that may have caused these symptons???? :rotfl:
Now, had he of brought that narrow KTM seat back with him, you know Smitter - the one with the brown stripe and shale imbedded in it - we probably would have no reason not to believe :yeehaw:
At any rate, GREAT RIDE REPORT!!! It is always fun to hear of these out-of-state adventures!!
Hey Bill, would you trade the desert riding for our Michigan trails??? It is gorgeous out there but would you miss the trees if you lived there???
Woodsy
 

jboomer

~SPONSOR~
Jan 5, 2002
1,420
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Sounds like some tire "slime" or foam inserts wouldn't be a bad idea either. Maybe something the tour guide should think about carrying!
 

Mrs.YZ165

Sponsoring Member
Dec 20, 2004
78
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Did someone mention Adult Video Convention? :yeehaw:
 

KiwiBird

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 30, 2000
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Great report and pix.

Now, how about coming out to Reno for more of the same?
 

INCA

~SPONSOR~
Sep 1, 2003
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Brian - If Bill said uncle on that hill, would it still be an ant one?

Young Ted
 

woodsy

~SPONSOR~
Mi. Trail Riders
Jan 16, 2002
2,933
1
INCA said:
Brian - If Bill said uncle on that hill, would it still be an ant one?

Young Ted

If Bill has an Uncle named Ant that could happen... An example of this:
SmitPooch calling his Uncle to borrow a wrench: "Hello Aunt Mayfly is Uncle Ant there"?

Aunt May to the Puppy: "No, I am sorry but he went to pick up some Terro Ant killer cause we have an infestation"

Pooch to Aunt Fly: "well, could my Aunt ask Uncle Ant to kill his Ants and give me shout when he's done"..

At any rate, I am sure you get the point Nelson...
Man I need spring REAL bad :coocoo:
 

woodsy

~SPONSOR~
Mi. Trail Riders
Jan 16, 2002
2,933
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INCA

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Sep 1, 2003
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Quote
At any rate, I am sure you get the point Nelson...

Not so. You lost me, just as you do when circling around off the trail through the woods or two track.

Mark - I think we are back to the situation of needing a whaling expedition to the woodshed.

Young Ted
 

MWEISSEN

Whaasssup?
Mi. Trail Riders
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Dec 6, 1999
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INCA said:
Quote
Mark - I think we are back to the situation of needing a whaling expedition to the woodshed.
Young Ted

As my Dad would say, holding the belt in his hand, glaring at my brother and I, "OK, who's first???? Or do I get to pick?"
 
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