UPDATED 3-23-11

Five miles down the beach from my brother's place on Lake Michigan is an old shipwreck that washed ashore in the last big storm. He had a Surly Pugsley and I rode my Rocky with 2.55 WTB tires. Tough going for me...

We’re waiting to hear from a couple of hold-outs before we make final-final plans. Right now we have 7 drivers, better, but not the 8 I was looking for. Also flyers that have paid a hundred will be pitching in for gas when we load bikes, a couple have paid the full $125 (and depending on gas prices that might go to $40). As it stands now the Moab stays will cost each guy $120 bucks (at 16, it will drop if we get one or two more) Fruita cabins were in the neighborhood of 50 bucks last time.

All the cabins, hotel rooms and condos have been booked in both places and it’s just a matter of seeing which of the fence sitters will jump in over the next few months. The guys whose bikes we are hauling (’cause they are flying) will need to provide (beg, buy, borrow, steal) a 2×4 fork mount deally for each bike they want to bring. They’ll also need to pitch in $40 bucks per bike for hauling.

You'll need to bring one of these for each bike that you want to bring.

Beach ride video.

Fruita/Moab 2011(4/28/2011 to 5/7/2011) – Reservations have been made in Fruita for the cabins. We have three, which will fit around 12 guys, we’re booking a suite at LaQuinta for the overflow, over by McDonalds, that will sleep 6 or so more. That will also give us a pool and hot tub option.

Here’s the room description, room reserved 12/23/10

ROOM DESCRIPTION
Two Bed Suite w/Sofa Sleeper

This room features the following convenient amenities:
Free High-Speed Internet Access
Full Size Sofa Sleeper
Microwave & Full Refrigerator
25-inch TV w/popular cable channels
Convenient Work Desk
Whether you’re traveling on business or for pleasure, this room has everything you need to prepare for the day ahead. Other convenient amenities offered with this room include:
Coffee Maker
Hairdryer
Iron w/Ironing Board
Free Local Calls w/Voicemail
Sleeps up to 6
Free Bright Side BreakfastTM
Refresh your optimism with a comfortable night’s sleep in our standard room with two full size beds.

Drivers and Flyers arrive in Fruita on Friday, April 29th around noon. I think we’re picking up guys at the Grand Junction airport and then checking into cabins and heading right to Bookcliffs to scare ourselves silly on the Western Zippety Trails, and wherever else. Lunch loops in GJ are also an option, see link below.

We stay Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights in Fruita. It’s the weekend of their Fat Tire Festival, there are a ton of vendors there and great beer and music at a festival area they have in town. I know that the Grand Traverse ride and the IMBA Edge Loop Epic are on my list, we know know if it rains, NOT to do the Epic.

Horsethief Bench Video

Cabin Link
LaQuinta Link

Fruita CO Cabins Map below.

View Larger Map

Monday morning, we drop Scott off in Grand Junction, and anyone else that is just staying for the first weekend, and bolt for Moab. It worked out pretty well to just go to Baby Steps, it’s on the north side of town, we can’t check into the condos until 4pm, so no rush really. Baby Steps/Klondike Bluffs is an awesome first day ride with about a three mile slab of rock that you ride up and down.

In Moab we have two condos, one sleeps 10 one sleeps 8. One has a pool table, that will probably be HQ, and I think they both have access to the same pool. Both have private hot tubs! The addresses are 477 Williams Way and 381 Williams way.

View Larger Map

In Moab we generally go to Slickrock for a half day. I know if the snow has cleared I want to do the Upper and Lower Porcupine Rim ride. It’s awesome 20 miles, all downhill. We ride Monday, Tues, Wed, Thursday and generally leave Friday morning and ride somewhere, the first time we rode in Moab and then cleaned up, last time we went back to the Loma area and rode Rabbit Valley I think. Seemed like 400 miles back to this awesome trail, then 10 miles of that and and then back to the cars. Home Saturday night. May 7th.

The list of guys that are interested is LONG, the list of guys who have paid is pretty long too.
Andy K Paid/Driving
Jeff B Paid/Driving
Jim B Paid/Driving
Dave M Paid/Driving
Dan K IN/Flying
Daryyll
Scott K OUT
Joe S
Tom P Paid/Flying
Buck D IN/Coming from up north
Heinz S
Jim C
Geoff P Paid/Flying
Mickey M
Kyle M
Ken BS Paid/Flying
Will B Paid/Driving
Tom L Paid/Driving
Paul G Paid/Not Sure
Andy M
Todd H
Shane P IN/FLYING
Jay S
Mark B
Mike J OUT
Scott M
Jeff Z IN/FLYING
Jeff B too
Rich F IN/Not sure

Tentative Driving Plans.

Scott has offered his F-250 Super Duty to pull the trailer. If we can squeeze the bikes in Dan’s 12 foot trailer by building a loft to hold the bikes and then store bins beneath we’ll do that. If not my brother in law has offered his 33 foot snowmobile trailer that we can pull. If we take that, we can haul whatever the hell we want. We’ll pile in Dan’s SUV and head south pulling the trailer, and meet up with Will and Tom, who will have Scott’s truck. We’ll transfer the trailer at some lunch stop and head west and pick Scott up in Grand Junction on Friday. Might hit the lunch loops in GJ instead of going to Book Cliffs the Lunch Loops are supposed to be cool.

We generally leave on Thursday morning, arrive in Fruita about the time they’re winding up the Fat Tire Festival, April 29, 2011 (I checked) So we ride Friday, Saturday, Sunday in CO, then hit the road for Moab Monday morning, go right from our fabulous accommodations in Fruita to a trailhead in Moab, then check into our condo and start drinking rum and cokes. Moab riding ends Friday, we drive home, and we’re home by Saturday night. If we wouldn’t have gone to that Mexican place in Fruita and drank all those margaritas, the trip would have probably been $450 a guy!
Takers so far, and realizing that it’s 8 months out, the list is likely to change. Buck, Heinz, Jim B., Jeff, Andy, Will B., Tom L, Beerman and his wife. We’ve heard rumor of a group of Manistee boys that are interested, first official meeting and head count will be taken at the Iceman post-ride event.

DECEMBER 11, 2010 EMAIL……

Some of the condos we’re looking at are filling up for Moab. I booked three cabins in Fruita for the weekend of the Fat Tire Festival. So we’re making a move on a downtown Moab condo this year. Three-four blocks to downtown instead of way out on Spanish Valley Drive.

Details and dates, and future updates of the trip are here. http://www.klevorn.com/andy/

This place is available for the dates we were looking at http://www.vrbo.com/318611#ownerprofile sleeps up to ten, pool, hot tub and has a pool table. Bonus.

We need a hundred bucks from interested parties before we book the Moab condo. If you have to bail and someone else fills your spot then you can get the hundred back from them.

We have some folks that are interested in maybe flying out and having us haul their bikes. We can do that too if necessary. We’ll ask for $25 bucks to haul your bike and some gear out in the trailer.

You can mail checks to me or send me money via paypal to andyklevorn@gmail.com

In addition I started a new venture to help fund my biking endeavors, http://www.myracesticker.com so if you have any running friends and would forward that URL to them, that’d be awesome.