Thursday evening, Al and myself went up AF Canyon again to ride the trails. We didn't get anyone else to come with us.
We went up to Tibble Fork parking lot. As we were unloading our bikes and gearing up, we could see the rain approaching up the canyon. By the time I was getting my helmet on, the rain was coming down. We thought about simply riding up the road, taking the jeep trail to Forest Lake. But we decided to take single track trail 41 up to 157. As the rain fell, we drove down the road, crossed the dam, and climbed up trail 41. There are several videos I posted on VHoldR.com. (Video1, Video2, Video3, Video4, Video5, Video6, Video7, Video8). We climbed up the trail, and immediately ran into bikers coming down, and a couple dirt bikers undecided which direction they were headed. We passed them, and continued climbing up trail 41. At one point, I got mired in a bog, having picked the wrong line to get thru it. After spending some energy and frustration here, we continued on. Not long after, we ran into 2 other riders. We hung with them all the way thru trail 41, helping each other thru quite a few muddy obstacles. Once we reached trail 157, it seemed like we had spent way too much time on trail 41, and were worried about the time left before dark, and our ability to complete the circuit. Our worries were unfounded, as the rest of the loop was done quickly. We climbed up trail 157 until it intersected with trail 40. This was a rather quick section, that showed off a beautiful view of both sides of the mountain crest we were traversing. Once we crossed trail 40, we headed down. Close to the top of this trail, we encountered some quads that were on some trail that seemed to be closed. Later, we encountered some trail portions that seemed to have been widened, and I even went down a newly dug road of off the single track. It was in this area that we saw an incredible amount of trees that were being harvested. Stumps and logs were laying all around us. I'm not sure what was going on in this area, or if it was legal. It had me worried. We encountered some horesman coming up this trail, and despite my best intentions, I still startled the horse with my brightly colored, quick moving dirtbike, even in the off position. The front tire slipped and skidded down a few inches, startling the hose. Sorry horsey! We continued on down trail 40, which is quite a rocky narrow trail. I've come up this trail before, and it is quite difficult. Going down is differently difficult. We made it thru more muddy areas, thru chutes of dirt with rocks scattered about randomly, and the occasional large tree root providing extra added flavor. We soon started encountering small stream crossings. These watery obstacles are small at the beginning, and only fool you into a false sense of security; the big water crossing is yet to come. Unfortunately, we didn't get this portion of the trip recorded on video. I musta forgotten to turn it back on. My Bad. The river feeding into Tibble Fork is rather large, and wide, at lease compared to the other river crossings we had just gone thru. I almost made it all the way thru the river, but didnt dump in, which is always in the back of my mind. Ad I climbed out of the river, and up the last part of the trail, i slid off to the right of the railroad ties. As Al passed me, he had to point out the incorrectness of my line choice. At this point in the ride, i was off the trail, wet almost everywhere, and very satisfied that we had a great time. As we were loading up, we saw 6 other groups of riders loading up from their rides as well. We spoke with a few of them, and it seemed that everyone had had a great time riding the amazing trails of AF canyon.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Ride Report : American Fork Canyon single track - June 23 2009
We went to salamander flats, and unloaded. Took trail 159 to Summit, then went down 252. We crossed Cascade Springs road here. We went up trail 252, connected with 157 again.
At the junction to Pine Hollow trail, we stopped to decide if we wanted to go down that path, and back up, or simply continue back to the trucks. Until this point, the trails had not dealt us any hardships, and we had a bit more light to play with, so we decided to take the detour down and back up Pine Hollow trail.
There are a couple events along this trail that are tougher than other trails have offered us so far. The first two events are some switchbacks that can be interesting to navigate. There is also a drop with tree roots that is easier going down than it is going up. Near the end of the trail, closer to the parking lot, you come out on the side of the mountain, and can see down into the canyon floor. This perspective lends to an interesting ride, as your attention is drawn away from the trail, where it most definitely needs to be. The last event is a slab of rock that barely provides a trail to traverse. None of these events are unsurmountable, by any means, but they do demand a bit of respect and attention. On the way down, one of our group decided to slide off the trail 6+ feet. He struggled getting the bike back on the trail by himself, but was successful. On the way back up the trail, crossing the slab of rock proved a challenge to 2 of us, and almost unsurmountable by the third. He decided to jump off the bike, down the hill some 20+ feet, and let the bike follow. The ensuing struggle to lift the 250 beast back up the hill took all 3 of us to accomplish. I wish i had some of that wonder woman rope in my pack to assist with the lifting efforts. Too bad I didn't get that portion on video. But I did get the entire ride, up until about 15 minutes before that mishap occurred. Check them out here.
http://vholdr.com/node/31863
http://vholdr.com/node/31877
http://vholdr.com/node/31901
http://vholdr.com/node/31883
After regaining our footing with both humans and bikes on the designated trail, we went back up Pine Hollow trail, connected back with 157 and made our way back to Salamander flats.
Good times were had by all. No humans nor bikes were harmed in the filming of this adventure. Only sloppy mud caked onto the bikes and sore muscles on the human riders is the only evidence of our ride. Well, that and some tire marks left on the mountain side.
At the junction to Pine Hollow trail, we stopped to decide if we wanted to go down that path, and back up, or simply continue back to the trucks. Until this point, the trails had not dealt us any hardships, and we had a bit more light to play with, so we decided to take the detour down and back up Pine Hollow trail.
There are a couple events along this trail that are tougher than other trails have offered us so far. The first two events are some switchbacks that can be interesting to navigate. There is also a drop with tree roots that is easier going down than it is going up. Near the end of the trail, closer to the parking lot, you come out on the side of the mountain, and can see down into the canyon floor. This perspective lends to an interesting ride, as your attention is drawn away from the trail, where it most definitely needs to be. The last event is a slab of rock that barely provides a trail to traverse. None of these events are unsurmountable, by any means, but they do demand a bit of respect and attention. On the way down, one of our group decided to slide off the trail 6+ feet. He struggled getting the bike back on the trail by himself, but was successful. On the way back up the trail, crossing the slab of rock proved a challenge to 2 of us, and almost unsurmountable by the third. He decided to jump off the bike, down the hill some 20+ feet, and let the bike follow. The ensuing struggle to lift the 250 beast back up the hill took all 3 of us to accomplish. I wish i had some of that wonder woman rope in my pack to assist with the lifting efforts. Too bad I didn't get that portion on video. But I did get the entire ride, up until about 15 minutes before that mishap occurred. Check them out here.
http://vholdr.com/node/31863
http://vholdr.com/node/31877
http://vholdr.com/node/31901
http://vholdr.com/node/31883
After regaining our footing with both humans and bikes on the designated trail, we went back up Pine Hollow trail, connected back with 157 and made our way back to Salamander flats.
Good times were had by all. No humans nor bikes were harmed in the filming of this adventure. Only sloppy mud caked onto the bikes and sore muscles on the human riders is the only evidence of our ride. Well, that and some tire marks left on the mountain side.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Bunker Hill motorcoross track in June 2009
As we approached yet another weekend in June, the weather folks were telling us that it was gonna be cold and rainy. Kinda like a typical day in April. We've had so many of these, that we have given up on Summer actually arriving, and any use of our boat will have to wait for warmer times.
In the meantime, we are still in riding season. 50-75 degrees is almost perfect weather for riding. With the dirt having been wet by the showers from above, no dust should impede our vision either. So, the choice is obvious. Dirtbiking. Somewhere.
During the week, we talk about going to 5 mile pass, Price track and then Delta Track with neighbors. Friday, after work, I come home, and load up all the bike onto the trailer, and put the trailer in the garage for the night. It has all we need, but food, drink, our bodies and a truck to pull it, all of which will be added on Saturday morning.
We get a lazy start to the day, not rising before 9am. We take our time getting ready, and actually drive off a little before 11am. Plans were to go by 10am, get there by noon, ride until 2-3, and return back to our valley. We had a concert to goto in a park near Saratoga Springs at 8pm.
On the road, we make a quick pit stop at the neighbors house, as his vehicles are no where near ready or loaded to go, and are still sitting idling by in front of his house. After knocking on the door, we find out that they had canceled plans, and were not going at all to ride. Bummer. We took off anyways.
As we are want to do, as we head south, we have to make our pilgrimage to our favorite store of the entire world, RockyMountainMC.com in Payson. We needed a couple small things, a helmet for Lyssa and a couple items to return. We place a will-call order for the items we wanted to get while on the way, thus minimizing the time spent in the store, yet still getting products we needed. However, Lyssa's head proved to be a problem, and 4 helmets and an hour later, we left the store with the items we needed. Convincing ourselves that we were partway already to Delta, we left in good spirits. The weather was cloudy all the way to Nephi, but we avoided the morning showers that were promised by the weatherman. After Nephi, we climbed over some hills, saw cowboys rustling cattle, and headed into the next valley. Here was when it started raining. And if i didnt know any better, i would have said that the clouds had scooped up the entirety of Utah Lake, and proceeded to dump it upon us, the entire way to Delta. About an hour of road travel and the entire time we were drenched. Just outside of Delta, it stopped raining. Once at the track, no rain was in sight of our nearby surroundings.
We rode and rode and rode. Kids were on the little track, and Dad on the big track.
Each kid had a good experience on riding, even Treyson got some seat time on the flats as he went round and round the parking area, as far as he could go. Alyssa rode so long, her legs and hands hurt. Kylie has a hard time sharing the track with other kids anxious to pass her. We all ended up learning and riding and having a good time. Dad got to use his new helmet cam, and hoped that it would work properly. It actually recorded some great video that I will post later.
As we were packing up to go, it looked like rain would soon be upon us again. It wasn't until we took off, and were safely in the vehicle, that we got pounded with rain again. On and off, most of the way home, we were inundated with deluges from above. Sometimes, we could skirt the storm, others, the road led us directly into its path.
On the way back, we went from Delta to Eureka to Goshen and then to Saratoga Springs. About 20 minutes before the concert, we checked the directions on Facebook to see where the place was at. Thats when we learned that it was canceled, due to rain. We stopped by our friends the Lyons home for a bit. While there, the rain started up again, and again, we thought the heavens had opened up their floodgates, and were outpouring its contents in its entirety. I have lost count how many times we got dumped on, and dumped on hard. All our gear was so wet. Luckily, the Lyons lent us a tarp to cover our gear bags.
We went home, and dumped the trailer in the garage, to await a day this week when we would actually wash all the muddy, items within.
some more pics in my facebook album
videos on ContourHD website
In the meantime, we are still in riding season. 50-75 degrees is almost perfect weather for riding. With the dirt having been wet by the showers from above, no dust should impede our vision either. So, the choice is obvious. Dirtbiking. Somewhere.
During the week, we talk about going to 5 mile pass, Price track and then Delta Track with neighbors. Friday, after work, I come home, and load up all the bike onto the trailer, and put the trailer in the garage for the night. It has all we need, but food, drink, our bodies and a truck to pull it, all of which will be added on Saturday morning.
We get a lazy start to the day, not rising before 9am. We take our time getting ready, and actually drive off a little before 11am. Plans were to go by 10am, get there by noon, ride until 2-3, and return back to our valley. We had a concert to goto in a park near Saratoga Springs at 8pm.
On the road, we make a quick pit stop at the neighbors house, as his vehicles are no where near ready or loaded to go, and are still sitting idling by in front of his house. After knocking on the door, we find out that they had canceled plans, and were not going at all to ride. Bummer. We took off anyways.
As we are want to do, as we head south, we have to make our pilgrimage to our favorite store of the entire world, RockyMountainMC.com in Payson. We needed a couple small things, a helmet for Lyssa and a couple items to return. We place a will-call order for the items we wanted to get while on the way, thus minimizing the time spent in the store, yet still getting products we needed. However, Lyssa's head proved to be a problem, and 4 helmets and an hour later, we left the store with the items we needed. Convincing ourselves that we were partway already to Delta, we left in good spirits. The weather was cloudy all the way to Nephi, but we avoided the morning showers that were promised by the weatherman. After Nephi, we climbed over some hills, saw cowboys rustling cattle, and headed into the next valley. Here was when it started raining. And if i didnt know any better, i would have said that the clouds had scooped up the entirety of Utah Lake, and proceeded to dump it upon us, the entire way to Delta. About an hour of road travel and the entire time we were drenched. Just outside of Delta, it stopped raining. Once at the track, no rain was in sight of our nearby surroundings.
We rode and rode and rode. Kids were on the little track, and Dad on the big track.
Each kid had a good experience on riding, even Treyson got some seat time on the flats as he went round and round the parking area, as far as he could go. Alyssa rode so long, her legs and hands hurt. Kylie has a hard time sharing the track with other kids anxious to pass her. We all ended up learning and riding and having a good time. Dad got to use his new helmet cam, and hoped that it would work properly. It actually recorded some great video that I will post later.
As we were packing up to go, it looked like rain would soon be upon us again. It wasn't until we took off, and were safely in the vehicle, that we got pounded with rain again. On and off, most of the way home, we were inundated with deluges from above. Sometimes, we could skirt the storm, others, the road led us directly into its path.
On the way back, we went from Delta to Eureka to Goshen and then to Saratoga Springs. About 20 minutes before the concert, we checked the directions on Facebook to see where the place was at. Thats when we learned that it was canceled, due to rain. We stopped by our friends the Lyons home for a bit. While there, the rain started up again, and again, we thought the heavens had opened up their floodgates, and were outpouring its contents in its entirety. I have lost count how many times we got dumped on, and dumped on hard. All our gear was so wet. Luckily, the Lyons lent us a tarp to cover our gear bags.
We went home, and dumped the trailer in the garage, to await a day this week when we would actually wash all the muddy, items within.
some more pics in my facebook album
videos on ContourHD website
San Rafael Swell big bike ride in June 2009
My buddy Al has a family camping trip that occurs each year in June. A few months before the trip, he invited me to tag along. We would be going down with other family members on Friday, in their sleeping quarters, and ride on Saturday in the Swell. After a few discussions, he opened up this trip to more people. I invited 6 or more folks to come with. In the end, after plan changes in Al's family, as well as other friends schedules changing, it ended up being Al, myself and Marcus going down in Al's motorhome.
The trip started with Al showing up with the coach on Friday morning, and leaving it at our house. I gave him a ride to work that morning, and after work, returned to home, and loaded up my gear. Marcus showed up with his trailer, which we put on the back of the coach, and loaded the bikes. He an I met Al in Provo, and we were off, like a 'herd of turtles', as my dad would say.
We had a fairly uneventful trip down to the swell, stopping in Price for food, motorhome/trailer lighting parts, and some gas. The only exciting thing to happen on the way down was the constantly back seat driving that occurred, mainly by yours truly. It turns out that Al cant drive the motorhome in a straight line, but insteads takes an approach of constantly jiggling the wheel as he drive. Either that, or it was so windy he could barely keep the coach on the road. I choose to believe the former.
Once in the Swell, we followed our maps in the dark to the camp spot that Al picked out on google earth. We are, of course, computer geeks. Having selected a suitable habitat for the next foreseeable future, we approached it in the dark, and dirt, with trailer in tow, and motorhome trying its best to climb and dip in the barely there road we had chosen. With flashlights being used from the inside of the coach to augment the coach's lighting, we ended up finding our spot, even without the gps indicators our cell phones no longer had, since we had long lost signals once we climbed out of the valley from Green River to the Swell.
The spot that he had found was great. A secluded little valley with small hills of rock surrounding us, we were cozy and protected from the monsters that lurk in the dark. One of these monsters in the night was similar in noise to a bird, but probably a lot larger in stature, though we never really saw it. Its incessant chirping went on into the night, the only sound that broke up the silence that camping outdoors typically offers. With no TVs, no cell phones, no kids, we were left to our own to sleep and rest up for the next day's adventures.
We woke up Saturday morning, and cooked up some Dutch Oven bfast.
After getting geared up and cleaning up the minimal mess we made outside the coach, we got our bikes ready and took off. We were camped off of exit 131, and near dirt roads, headed to Swazeys cabin. We headed over to the freeway and went under the freeway. We stopped at some indian drawings on the side of a cliff.
The morning ride was all done up north, and the goal was to hit Devils Racetrack.
We went road down a trail we call Kent's Landing, on the way to Fix It Pass, down the wash, and up Devils Racetrack, then back to camp.
At the coach, we revitalized our gas and bodies. We had some lunch, sat on the couches in the coach and relaxed a bit. It was a nice break. Once ready to go again, we went down cut roads and washes, using our intuition and maps to find our way to the start of Red trail. PArt way through Red trail, we hit the cut-off to 5 Miles of Hell. Here we took a few pictures to prove we were there, and then we walked in a bit of 5MOH.
We decided to ride in a bit. We did maybe 1/2 mile in, and then went back out, having left 1 of our 3 outside the entrance. Once all back together, we continued on Red trail. Got our butts kicked, but got out alive and only missing a kill switch and a bent clutch lever. We took Blue back to the cut roads, and headed back to camp. It was a long day, and we were tired, and satisfied.
After riding in the Swell, we returned to our camp. We were beat. We took off our gear, and loaded up the bikes onto the trailer. After securing all our gear into the camper, we headed out. It was late in the afternoon, and we were close to dinner time. Price was too far away for dinner for one in our party, and we decided to go into Green River to satisfy the need. We headed to Ray's. Once in Ray's, we didnt see a place to sit down, for our party of 3, except for scattered seats at the bar. Feeling that the wait would be too long, we decided to try Ben's next door. No one was there, which should have clued us in to something... Suffice it to say we didnt have a great eating experience, but we did get filled.
So, now, its late, after 8pm, maybe closer to 9pm. We head out into the night, headed back to our homes. We were cruising along, when I heard a new noise in the engine. I am not a mechanic, but i do have a keen sense of hearing and smelling. Often to my dismay, I sense things as they change in these two senses. I speak up that i hear something in the engine that sounds a bit off. We stop talking and listen. Sure enough, belts sound like they are making different noises than they normally do. As we listen to the symphony of cacophonies being issued from the old motorhome engine, it gets louder and louder, more shrill even. One of our party mentions that his car did the same thing, and when he sped up, it would seat the belt better, and cease the noise. As we kept driving, speeding up a bit, the noise soon ceased. Almost immediately after that, we heard a couple loud thumps within the engine compartment, hitting the lid between us and it. It was as if some creature was trying to get out. As soon as we heard the thump, the temperature gauge decided to get active, and see how far to the right it could swing, and how fast it could reach a new position of reporting. This was when the driver realized that we needed to stop, and stop now! This is not an easy feat for any motorhome, and our old coach was no different. We slowed down, tried to pull off the road the best we could, and came to a disappointed halt to our trip home. Stranded along the side of the road, we were 20+ miles outside Price.
The three of us work with computers for a living, and riding is our hobby. Fixing mechanical engines is not something we are adept at. We, nonetheless, set about digging in to see what happened, how to fix it, and weigh our alternatives. It was about 10:30 on a Saturday night, in the middle of nowhere, with only 1 cell phone that was active. 3 computer geeks trying to fix an engine with no spare parts. Luckily we had some help from other people that we could call and gain more knowledge from. 1 vehicle stopped to assist us, and was able to tell us that for the next mile and a half, there was no better place to pull over. We felt that we would not make the trip of a mile and a half, even limping along with the missing belts. We called a tow truck. Almost 2 hours later, we were finally on our way to Price. We were deposited in the Walmart parking lot, knowing that from there, we could get to parts stores in the morning to get the pieces we needed.
It was at this point that we learned from the tow truck driver that Price was going to be excperiencing a city wide power outage most of the morning. This was going to affect most businesses, as they had decided to not even open at all on that day. The next morning, the driver of the motorhome took off to look at the stores, and 2 advertised that they would not be open. 1 didnt advertise either way. He decided to call in a favor from a friend from Spanish Fork. After a couple calls to parts stores, he got a list of products we would be needing, and had his friend go get them. The friend then drove out to us to install them. Once in Price, we realized that a few of the items would not work, and we needed different items. So, some of us set out with the newly arrived mode of transportation to hunt down a parts store. Luckily, one had just opened, and had power. So, its now after noon on Sunday. And a parts store is open, and within walking distance. We swapped some product with others we thought would work and tried them out. After doing this a couple times, we finally got all the parts we needed, got them installed, and fired up the motorhome. Viola! Success! After 15+ hours of worry and planning and discussions, we actually had a movable vehicle with us and our gear on our way. We returned to the road and headed home. Its around 2 or 3 in the afternoon now, and we have missed most of any of our morning Sunday activities. We were happy to be on the road again.
As we traveled home, we talked about all the other things that could have gone wrong. We were happy to have been blessed with just the 3 guys with this failure. What if the driver had been going with his wife and kids? What if, what if, what if...
We were grateful to have cell phones, and people to research information the internet. We were grateful that 1 family stopped to see if we needed help, and was able to assist us in making a vital decision. We were grateful that we could park in Walmart lot until we could get it working again. We were grateful for good friends that could swing by stores and get parts and deliver them to us, 2 hours from their home, and that they would do that in the middle of their weekend. We were grateful we brought tools and had the brains to use them, somewhat, to solve the problem. We were grateful for a store to be finally opened and provide us the needed parts to fix the engine.
We are grateful for a great weekend of riding, and a safe resolution to a catastrophic engine failure. We are grateful to be home, safe and sound with a great story to tell, and an awesome adventure that ended in all smiling.
The trip started with Al showing up with the coach on Friday morning, and leaving it at our house. I gave him a ride to work that morning, and after work, returned to home, and loaded up my gear. Marcus showed up with his trailer, which we put on the back of the coach, and loaded the bikes. He an I met Al in Provo, and we were off, like a 'herd of turtles', as my dad would say.
We had a fairly uneventful trip down to the swell, stopping in Price for food, motorhome/trailer lighting parts, and some gas. The only exciting thing to happen on the way down was the constantly back seat driving that occurred, mainly by yours truly. It turns out that Al cant drive the motorhome in a straight line, but insteads takes an approach of constantly jiggling the wheel as he drive. Either that, or it was so windy he could barely keep the coach on the road. I choose to believe the former.
Once in the Swell, we followed our maps in the dark to the camp spot that Al picked out on google earth. We are, of course, computer geeks. Having selected a suitable habitat for the next foreseeable future, we approached it in the dark, and dirt, with trailer in tow, and motorhome trying its best to climb and dip in the barely there road we had chosen. With flashlights being used from the inside of the coach to augment the coach's lighting, we ended up finding our spot, even without the gps indicators our cell phones no longer had, since we had long lost signals once we climbed out of the valley from Green River to the Swell.
The spot that he had found was great. A secluded little valley with small hills of rock surrounding us, we were cozy and protected from the monsters that lurk in the dark. One of these monsters in the night was similar in noise to a bird, but probably a lot larger in stature, though we never really saw it. Its incessant chirping went on into the night, the only sound that broke up the silence that camping outdoors typically offers. With no TVs, no cell phones, no kids, we were left to our own to sleep and rest up for the next day's adventures.
We woke up Saturday morning, and cooked up some Dutch Oven bfast.
After getting geared up and cleaning up the minimal mess we made outside the coach, we got our bikes ready and took off. We were camped off of exit 131, and near dirt roads, headed to Swazeys cabin. We headed over to the freeway and went under the freeway. We stopped at some indian drawings on the side of a cliff.
The morning ride was all done up north, and the goal was to hit Devils Racetrack.
We went road down a trail we call Kent's Landing, on the way to Fix It Pass, down the wash, and up Devils Racetrack, then back to camp.
At the coach, we revitalized our gas and bodies. We had some lunch, sat on the couches in the coach and relaxed a bit. It was a nice break. Once ready to go again, we went down cut roads and washes, using our intuition and maps to find our way to the start of Red trail. PArt way through Red trail, we hit the cut-off to 5 Miles of Hell. Here we took a few pictures to prove we were there, and then we walked in a bit of 5MOH.
We decided to ride in a bit. We did maybe 1/2 mile in, and then went back out, having left 1 of our 3 outside the entrance. Once all back together, we continued on Red trail. Got our butts kicked, but got out alive and only missing a kill switch and a bent clutch lever. We took Blue back to the cut roads, and headed back to camp. It was a long day, and we were tired, and satisfied.
After riding in the Swell, we returned to our camp. We were beat. We took off our gear, and loaded up the bikes onto the trailer. After securing all our gear into the camper, we headed out. It was late in the afternoon, and we were close to dinner time. Price was too far away for dinner for one in our party, and we decided to go into Green River to satisfy the need. We headed to Ray's. Once in Ray's, we didnt see a place to sit down, for our party of 3, except for scattered seats at the bar. Feeling that the wait would be too long, we decided to try Ben's next door. No one was there, which should have clued us in to something... Suffice it to say we didnt have a great eating experience, but we did get filled.
So, now, its late, after 8pm, maybe closer to 9pm. We head out into the night, headed back to our homes. We were cruising along, when I heard a new noise in the engine. I am not a mechanic, but i do have a keen sense of hearing and smelling. Often to my dismay, I sense things as they change in these two senses. I speak up that i hear something in the engine that sounds a bit off. We stop talking and listen. Sure enough, belts sound like they are making different noises than they normally do. As we listen to the symphony of cacophonies being issued from the old motorhome engine, it gets louder and louder, more shrill even. One of our party mentions that his car did the same thing, and when he sped up, it would seat the belt better, and cease the noise. As we kept driving, speeding up a bit, the noise soon ceased. Almost immediately after that, we heard a couple loud thumps within the engine compartment, hitting the lid between us and it. It was as if some creature was trying to get out. As soon as we heard the thump, the temperature gauge decided to get active, and see how far to the right it could swing, and how fast it could reach a new position of reporting. This was when the driver realized that we needed to stop, and stop now! This is not an easy feat for any motorhome, and our old coach was no different. We slowed down, tried to pull off the road the best we could, and came to a disappointed halt to our trip home. Stranded along the side of the road, we were 20+ miles outside Price.
The three of us work with computers for a living, and riding is our hobby. Fixing mechanical engines is not something we are adept at. We, nonetheless, set about digging in to see what happened, how to fix it, and weigh our alternatives. It was about 10:30 on a Saturday night, in the middle of nowhere, with only 1 cell phone that was active. 3 computer geeks trying to fix an engine with no spare parts. Luckily we had some help from other people that we could call and gain more knowledge from. 1 vehicle stopped to assist us, and was able to tell us that for the next mile and a half, there was no better place to pull over. We felt that we would not make the trip of a mile and a half, even limping along with the missing belts. We called a tow truck. Almost 2 hours later, we were finally on our way to Price. We were deposited in the Walmart parking lot, knowing that from there, we could get to parts stores in the morning to get the pieces we needed.
It was at this point that we learned from the tow truck driver that Price was going to be excperiencing a city wide power outage most of the morning. This was going to affect most businesses, as they had decided to not even open at all on that day. The next morning, the driver of the motorhome took off to look at the stores, and 2 advertised that they would not be open. 1 didnt advertise either way. He decided to call in a favor from a friend from Spanish Fork. After a couple calls to parts stores, he got a list of products we would be needing, and had his friend go get them. The friend then drove out to us to install them. Once in Price, we realized that a few of the items would not work, and we needed different items. So, some of us set out with the newly arrived mode of transportation to hunt down a parts store. Luckily, one had just opened, and had power. So, its now after noon on Sunday. And a parts store is open, and within walking distance. We swapped some product with others we thought would work and tried them out. After doing this a couple times, we finally got all the parts we needed, got them installed, and fired up the motorhome. Viola! Success! After 15+ hours of worry and planning and discussions, we actually had a movable vehicle with us and our gear on our way. We returned to the road and headed home. Its around 2 or 3 in the afternoon now, and we have missed most of any of our morning Sunday activities. We were happy to be on the road again.
As we traveled home, we talked about all the other things that could have gone wrong. We were happy to have been blessed with just the 3 guys with this failure. What if the driver had been going with his wife and kids? What if, what if, what if...
We were grateful to have cell phones, and people to research information the internet. We were grateful that 1 family stopped to see if we needed help, and was able to assist us in making a vital decision. We were grateful that we could park in Walmart lot until we could get it working again. We were grateful for good friends that could swing by stores and get parts and deliver them to us, 2 hours from their home, and that they would do that in the middle of their weekend. We were grateful we brought tools and had the brains to use them, somewhat, to solve the problem. We were grateful for a store to be finally opened and provide us the needed parts to fix the engine.
We are grateful for a great weekend of riding, and a safe resolution to a catastrophic engine failure. We are grateful to be home, safe and sound with a great story to tell, and an awesome adventure that ended in all smiling.
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