The TAT kicks some butt and takes names . . .

What a day! This picture sort of tells the story - Hey - where are the bikes!


What a day! This picture sort of tells the story - Hey - where are the bikes!

At 0830 this morning, Baok, Dman, Mako and Jjgres departed from the Salina Super 8 parking lot with a goal of reaching Baker, NV before sundown.

Something soon went very, very wrong . . . .

First, it was drizzling as we left so everyone suited up in their rainsuits over their riding gear. Then it was a leisurely ride through some picturesque farmland (no time for photos though . . .) Then it was up a tiny trail hiding behind a municipal water tank and through a gate closed to everything but ATVs and Motorcycles. The BLM likes to keep their roads undamaged over the winter.

Our path was an attempt to get over the hill for Watts Mountain today and ran into inclement weather . . . What am I saying? It was snowing to the point of not being able to see the road! Of course, being the intrepid enduro riders that we are, we gamely (some might say insanely) pressed on.



Did I say road? What was I thinking! How about a pathway covered with a brown gravel dirt mix that was sort of like driving in thick sand - until it got wet with the snow. Then it turned to something from beyond the grave. Holding a straight line was kind of like trying to heard cats.



Completely stopping three of the four riders by freezing up the wheels. Lots of crashes but fortunately no injuries. Jjgres decided it was better to ride without a front fender than to have the mud completely stop his front wheel. It was only a marginal solution.



Trying to get out the way we came resulted in two riders going down again, and again, and yet again. Dman finally decided that he would hole up on the mountain at 8,500 feet behind a scrub pine. Baoktiger could not get back up the road to the makeshift "Camp Desolation", so he set up shop under a tree a mile down the road. Between the riders, everyone plenty of food, water, space blankets, first aide supplies and the like so we were more worried about the effect of an overnight on the mountain might effect our forward progress. Little did we know what would later transpire.

We did build a nice fire . . .



and we were resigned to spending the night at 8,500 feet in the shelter of a scraggly pine, but one of our support folks called the sheriff to let them know we were up there and ok. Apparently they don't like to let tourist types build fires in their forests!

Before the extraction . . .



Unfortunately the bikes did not fit into the back of the Swedish Military Enduro Extraction Vehicle (SMEEV) so they will be spending the night alone on the mountain. Tomorrow we get to attempt a risky high altitude extraction of the bikes! Film at 11:00

This trip just keeps getting better and better. When was the last time you got to ride in one of these!



Obviously our forward motion on the Vintage TAT Enduro Ride has been temporarily suspended, but we hope to be back on track on our way to Baker, Nevada on the 14th.

Stay Tuned!