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Capital Reef National Park Utah

18 posts Started 28 Jun 2006 Last recovered post 22 Aug 2006 Wayback Machine snapshot 19 Oct 2006

#1
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Riding through Capital Reef in the waning summer daylight can only be described as a spiritual experience. The whole day was magnificent from Escalante onward, we had to stop in the night and soak it all in, shut off the bike and look at the stars in the Utah sky and we talked about what Dan called "spiritual" riding in those crazy canyons behind us. We were already planning a return trip before our tires had a chance too cool down. If you have never been to southern Utah your missing one of the greatest combination of roads in America, the four corners area of the United States offers up some spectacular roads to visit!!

THE VIDEO

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Capital Reef National Park Video

The video is about 50mb in size, sampled at 768kb/s and runs about ten minutes in wmv format. I picked Sarah McLachlan because thats what I had going on my ipod when I was riding through there and I usually pick the same music to remember the ride by, plus she is just great, starts out slow and picks up I cut a couple of her tracks together!

I was unfortunate that in the dark there were bunnies running out in front of us for the rest of the trip to Blanding, I ran over two of them and well you would think with those big bunny ears they would hear us coming and run AWAY rather than right into us! It was sad, I am glad it was a couple of small ones and not the big dumb jack rabbits that were scaring the pants off us!




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Map

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Capital Dome

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Stopped for a picture

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Blurry Riding Picture

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Another Blurry one

After riding through Capital Reef we stopped in Hanksville for gas and to pick up some beer for dinner (heh) for when we made it to the motel that is! Dan wrapped up his gixxer for a top speed run on the long strait to the Canyon Lands, he said he saw 180mph on the speedo and Craig said he saw 150 following him. I had on the full dress hardbags and gave chase after I saw them both disappear and got it up to 130 before it felt like I was going to rotate and take off into the sky! Side bags don't like it that fast, too much buffeting so I slowed down again and plugged away for ten minutes while they waited for me. I mean we were the ONLY ones on the road, literally we did not see another vehicle for over an hour!! You can really see what a liter bike can do on that road!

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Hollow Mountain Store In Hanksville, last stop for beer, the Blanding is dry and no smokes.

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Canyonlands Long exposure made Dan look like a ghost

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Imagine 40 miles of this stuff!! twilight ride 90 degrees out at 9pm HOT

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Bridge over Glenn Canyon it was darker than this in reality the camera adjusted for low light

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Colorado River just north of the damn Lake Powell is south of here

I have some twilight footage of the Canyonlands too I will post later in a few days, it was getting dark but the camera adjusted for low light, its pretty cool! Man it was hot, dark out and still 90degrees, I cant imagine how punishing hot it was at full daylight heat??

Attached are the streets&trips files and the Mapsource file
#2
awesome video & write up!!

I did this ride just 2 weeks ago... rode from Vegas up thru Cedar City, over to Escalante, stayed in Torrey overnight at the Chuck Wagon, then rode some more awesome roads before heading back to Vegas.

Cant describe how beautiful it was and the roads were awesome.. I averaged 72.1mph over 730 miles total round trip.

I'm going back for another overnighter on June 15-16
#3
Man, I'm jealous...

You guys are soooo lucky to have roads like that near you!

I'm hoping for a Colorado run sometime next year and I'd now like to "dabble" into Utah!

Thanks guys, great pics!
#4
Nice stuff. Looking forward to watching the video when I get home. 4 corners is very high on my list of places to go.
#5
Wish I could have had some music on my trip - really adds to the ambience of it all.

Trivia: In 1994 Sarah McLachlan was sued by Uwe Vandrei, an obsessed fan from Ottawa, Ontario, who alleged that his letters to her had been the basis of her hit single "Possession". This lawsuit never came to trial, however, as the plaintiff was found dead in an apparent suicide before the trial began. The lawsuit was also challenging for the Canadian legal system. This topic was explored in length in Canadian author Judith Fitzgerald's book, Building A Mystery: The Story of Sarah McLachlan & Lilith Fair.
#6
HS, now that is impressive!! And , Sarah was the perfect final touch! Your talent in videos and photography is so cool!!!

This video is just a very understanding reminder of why I ride. Keep them coming!

Bent biggrin.gif

#7
Looks like a great ride. You guys out west really have some great roads to pick from. I have never really listened to Sarah McLachlan before but that was some great music. What was the name of the song?
#8
Here's a cool pic I took !


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#9
JDP, Jun 28 2006, 06:23 PMLooks like a great ride. You guys out west really have some great roads to pick from. I have never really listened to Sarah McLachlan before but that was some great music. What was the name of the song?


Oh man Sarah is great, that song is "Possession" off her album, "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" The acousic version is on the tail end of the track "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" I spliced them together.

Her latest CD is pretty good too, "fallen" I have used her music in three of my vids! The vid in Glacier National Park, the vid in Rocky Mountain National park, and the vid I did of last years Creede Run.
#10
HispanicSlammer, Jun 29 2006, 08:44 AMOh man Sarah is great, that song is "Possession" off her album,  "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy"  The acousic version is on the tail end of the track "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy"  I spliced them together. 

Her latest CD is pretty good too, "fallen"  I have used her music in three of my vids! The vid in Glacier National Park, the vid in Rocky Mountain National park, and the vid I did of last years Creede Run.




Thanks Slammer, I am going to pick that CD up today
#11
True Sport Touring.................cool fing02.gif
#12
Listening to Sarah right now. I never knew what I was missing.
#13
Thanks, Miguel. You're a real artist at putting it all together.
#14
thanks man, just what i needed after a long saturday at the grind. sunday is ride day though.
#15
Beautiful Miguel! Simply stunning. I've been to Capitol Reef NP several times both via cage and bike. I've been to many places in this country and overseas and I think that that part of Utah is the most beautiful place on the planet, bar none. Sarah McLachlan's music turned what would have been just another video through a beautiful landscape into a very emotional, breathtaking experience. I felt like I was on the ride myself as I watched it and listened to the music. I found myself starting to lean into the corners with you. Beautiful scenery and exquisitely beautiful music.... nice touch!
#16
Great video! Been recovering from a hand injury and haven�t been able to ride much lately. This video has been just the fix I�ve needed. Thanks Miguel.
#17
fixed the photos and video links
#18
I go to Capital Reef every summer. I pack up the kids and the fake camping gear. I never thought of a bike ride. I love those alien forms, and the afternoon showers. Maybe next year I'll follow, or lead, on my new bike.

HispanicSlammer, I grew up in Colorado Springs. Next time you go on a ride to Southern Utah, I'd love to hear about it. Maybe we can get a group of people from Phoenix to meet up somewhere in the middle.

Where did you go to school? Where do you work now? I have a lot of family in the Springs.
End of thread · 18 posts recovered Wayback Machine snapshot 19 Oct 2006