Mojave Road Follow Up!

We "were" going to ride the Mojave Road from Laughlin to Barstow from September 25th to the 27th. It started out great! 7 Riders on BMW's and a chase truck, just in case, and to carry the firewood, food and beverages.

All of us involved learned different things about going on an "Adventure" ride. I personally learned a few things that I will never forget and had some physics laws proven too.

Most of the research I did for this ride indicated that it was mostly an unimproved road with the occasional stretch of sand that could be challenging on a big bike. We were a little nervous about it but were not about to let a little sand keep us from going on this ride.

We started out Saturday morning from the Tropicana Hotel in Laughlin about 8am, a little later than planned but we were determined to have a good time and not rush things. We hit the trailhead at just after 9am, turned off the ABS gave a thumbs up and took off down the trail. In less than 1/10th of a mile my bike sank into deep sand and down I went! I stood up and looked back to see Howard and at least one other rider down too, boy was this going to be fun!

Shortly after this things began to unravel, different ideas about how we should proceed, how we should ride in the sand, and whether we should stick to the track or look for alternate tracks. We could see power lines paralleling our track a short distance away and it was decided that the maintenance road would probably be in better shape then the track we were on and we could re-acquire this track after this wash we were in ended. The power line road turned out to be only slightly better. Everyone dropped their bike at least once. I personally dropped my bike at least 5 times, 3 times at speed. Once flying completely off my bike at 20 mph (verified by reviewing the GPS track recording) and executing a perfect shoulder roll! Another by barely clearing a 3-foot deep washout and finally a pretty slow speed get off that the bike had finally had enough of me and threw me like a horse getting rid of its rider, through the windshield. My ride was done, the bike was fine for the most part, but I felt like I had broken ribs.

As our ride had only really just began, really we had traveled 2.82 mile since leaving the road three hours ago. I did not want to ruin everyone else's ride so I called my parents who live in Bullhead City and asked my dad to hook up his trailer and meet us at the trail head. They got me to the hospital and after four hours there I left with the knowledge that I had bruised my spleen, liver, intestine and ribs, but no breaks.  

Lying on the sofa at my parents for two days I had a lot of time to think about things while it was still fresh in my head and began to realize that there were a few factors that contributed to my fatigue that I believe was the main reason that I was unsuccessful. First, it was recommended by many people to wear a camelback, a great device and for hiking I love it, but I have this thing about stuff hanging on me while I am riding my motorcycle, claustrophobia of sorts, I guess I should have tried wearing one for a while before the day of the ride, then I would have known that for me its not a good idea. Second, I bought a new pair of boots two days before the ride, looking for more protection and it was a struggle to get used to them. Third, the weather had been cooperating in the weeks before the ride, temps were coming down and then the day before the ride it decided summer was not over with yet. But the most important factor that caused me to fade so quickly was that I am not in the best shape, and that I should know better than to set out across the desert in that heat with my level of experience.

The final item that I will speak about is training and practicing my riding skills. I know these bikes are big and that the conditions we found were not ideal, but I also know that the bike was capable of the ride; it was me that wasn't ready.

I learned to:

Be comfortable with your gear

Be prepared for the weather

Be patient and don't get in a hurry 

Have a good plan

Know your limits

Remember always that it's about enjoying the challenge, not worrying about it.

So for now I will keep logging miles and getting out with Howard on his monthly rides to learn some of his techniques and practicing when I can, so the next time I head out on the Mojave trail on a bike, I will have the skill and the confidence to complete it.

Oh, and just to let you know, the rest of the group made their way to Death Valley and camped out on Telescope Mt. and had a great time. Look for a ride there in the future!