Out west: dirtbike and MTB - looking for ideas

I've recently acquired a plated KTM 500 and would like to take it to see some big mountains. My basic plan is:
- Friday: drive ~500 miles from KY to KS-ish
- Saturday: drive into the CO mountains (maybe Buena Vista)
- Sunday: ride the KTM all day, drive towards Ouray area
- Monday: KTM Ouray area
- Tuesday: KTM Ouray area, drive that night to Moab
- Wednesday: MTB Moab
- Thursday: Dirtbike Moab, drive that night to Grand Junction/Fruita
- Friday: MTB Fruita, KTM that afternoon?
- Sat/Sun: drive home
- Monday: get very little work done

I'll be doing this trip solo, camping out of my van, three weeks from now. I have a Garmin Inreach so I can communicate if something were to happen. I'm looking for ideas for places to ride, things to avoid, etc... I'd also love any good .gpx files of trails if you have them. I have the COBDR/UTBDR and Alpine loop, but not much else yet.

 

Cortez has a place called Phil's World that I did with my family once MTB. Pretty cool place. Probably out of your way, but Angel Fire in New Mexico has a great downhill mountain bike facility.

Oh, and if your feeling it, The Whole Enchilada in Moab is considered a legendary trail. I drove my son and his friend up to the start at 5am, I think they finished at 1PM and looked like they'd just run a marathon.

 

This was my plan this summer.
Bristol to Baxter Springs KS to Lake City CO, over Engineer pass, over Imogene to Teluride, up to Gateway CO, then over to Moab, Canyonlands, WRT. A lot of 2 track and graded dirt roads so it may not be what your looking for.

 

I'm sure I'll be doing alot of scenic 2 track. Did you go, or are you still making plans?

 

I made the plan, and instead bought an SV to get back on track
Bax Spgs has a nice cheap riverside campground

 

whats your skill level riding a 500 solo around the back country?

the alpine loop would be awesome and shouldn't be that hard but with great scenery. Maybe avoid things like Black Bear pass solo if you aren't really confident. Animas Forks is a cool place to visit and easy to get in and out of.

There's a book with a bunch of CO ATV/bike trails that's worth getting.

https://www.amazon.com/Trails-Guide...ocphy=9010794&hvtargid=pla-569760589165&psc=1

This and a bit of planning with a GPS and you'll be good to go.

In the past we have based out of Taylor Park Reservoir as there's tons and tons of riding in the area (single track, double track, etc) from mild to wild that would keep you busy for a few days at least but there's not much there but shouldn't be too hard to find a campsite..

 

I've ridden hare scrambles, single track, and dual sporting in the off-season in KY for the last 14 years or so. I haven't ridden out west before, though, so I'm sure there's new terrains I haven't encountered before.

I've watched videos of Black Bear, and it looks considerably easier than some of the trails I've taken my 1190 on in KY, albeit with drastically worse consequences for failures. I'm not really too concerned with it on an enduro bike, but I'll be sure to concentrate clearly for the step down area.

Cool, I'll look into that book tonight. I also saw some good camping options around Taylor Park, so I had it on a list of places to check out. Thanks.

 

the only comment i'd make is that you're gonna need at least one more rest day than you have in the plan. oh, also... water is a serious issue and you have to plan to carry everything you'll need once you're into the Moab area. it's very possible there won't be anywhere to refill while riding.

otherwise, you just can't go wrong with the riding in those areas. so much diversity of amazing scenery.

 

some kind of tubeless setup in the dirtbike for those "tombstones" that just pop up out of the ground. Was just talking with an older fella the other day about the Trans America trail... he was telling me how he just did it in 600-800 sections when he had the time off work. Once he retired he did the whole thing back & forth for about 2 months while making stops.

 

This sounds like an epic trip BJ, can I come? Was just talking to a buddy who lives out in Boulder, CO about doing something like this. He's a big mountain bike guy, super fit but wants nothing to do with motorcycles. (big wuss) I'm not so fit so staying with him on a mountain bike would be impossible. A couple of us were thinking of just renting motorcycles and seeing if his scrawny ass could keep up on his mountain bike. ha Anyways, he's been to Moab a bunch of times and actually mentioned that "Whole Enchilada" trail, said it was incredible.

There's a guy on youtube who does a bunch of the trails on dirt bikes in Moab with some buddies and puts together very nice videos. Drone shots and all, I'll see if I can't find the links.

 

Here's a pic that my son's friend took of him when they did the Whole Enchilada to give you a idea of the views

 

Well, maybe, but be forewarned that I like to cuddle.

Very cool, I'll look into it.

 

Looks awesome. I just looked it up and am a little concerned about the mileage.
https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/4670265/the-whole-enchilada

It is mostly downhill with a shuttle, so maybe it's okay. I haven't been biking as much as I should be this summer.

 

FWIW, my son and his friend are in excellent shape and they looked like they'd been beat to hell when we picked them up at the end of the route. They said it's not nearly all down hill like it looks.

 

I was riding out in the sierras in June and only had a 2 liter camelback and just assumed we could refill water at a stream or lake at least 1/2 way thru.
On hour 6 of the ride, and a scrounged up liter of water, I lost alot of coordination & focus on relatively simple descends and climbs on the last few miles of the ride.
The next day I borrowed a 3 liter pack and had another liter in reserve... it went much better.
Mostly because I was able to hydrate constantly over the entire ride. Most of the riding was above 6,000' so keep that in mind too.

 

Heck, I don't mountain bike and I'd like to ride that. I'd add, that if you are that close to Mt. Tuk and Mt. Peale, you owe it to yourself to climb them. Pure awesome.

 

You could go and find Odom Point...
https://goo.gl/maps/7cmRjv2iSD9W36DJ7

One of these days I gonna go find that place.