I have a couple of unused "floating" holidays at work. And with the weather here so nice couple of weeks ago, I spent one to ride a 2-day solo trip in the mountains. Most of the city slickers have called it a year and are staying away from the mountains, which makes for some excellent solitude and uninterupted riding. Most of these areas I've been to previously, but some of it was brand new.

With permission from the forest ranger, I trucked my bike 100 miles or so and left the rig at the forest service office. I was unloaded and riding shortly after dawn. The part of Day 1 (a Sunday) was riding some absolutely awesome single track. Mostly fast and flowy, but some of it was quite technical - steep uphill, loose rock, with just enough water coming down the trail to make it feel like the rocks were covered in grease. I was sweating my *** off. Pretty glad I mounted the new rear tire a week before this trip. Last part of Day 1 was spent mostly on asphalt, visiting empty campgrounds and off-the-beaten-path areas. Dinner was just shortly before sunset and consisted of a superb cheeseburger and PBR's. I stayed at a bed and breakfast 220 miles from where I started the day.

Day 2 was mostly exploring new areas in complete solitude. The views I was able to enjoy at 10000+ feet elevation were enough to make me stop and take a little more time than originally planned -- just to soak it all in. I spent more than an hour up on that ridge line. Next on the menu was about 20 miles of new (to me) fun flowy single track under a brilliant blue sky. Last half of the day was mostly dirt forest roads winding peacefully back to where I had left the truck.

I was loaded up by 7pm, and grabbed a Gyro from a small country kitchen before heading for home.

Attaching some eye candy from the 2 day trip.







This was MUCH steeper than it appears in the picture.

 

Hell Yeah! Looked to be an awesome ride and escape for some solitude. As I used to tell my coworkers before I retired, " I going on vacation to stretch my eyeballs and the only sound I'll hear besides nature will be the ringing in my ears.

Those pictures make me want to pack up and head out for some fall riding myself.

 

Nice pics!

Always like seeing the 06/07 KLX's. I may have a bit of a bias toward them

 

Enjoyed the pics!

 

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed them. I sure had a great time taking them.

I was actually looking back at last years photos (and not just this trip) this weekend. January is usually pretty slow for riding. Reliving photos from prior years gets me ramped up for the new season just a few short weeks away. Have several new rides and routes planned.