Renner ATV Riders

Day 1:

Hey everyone,

The remainder of us that were coming here to the Paiute Trail in Marysvale, Utah arrived last night and we went on our first ride today. We took a short loop, #77 on the Paiute Trail Map, and rode 32.9 miles according to the GPS. Our highest elevation for the day was a dazzling 11,343 feet! We averaged about 8 mph for the entire trip, which took 4 hours and 9 minutes.

We had one person roll over (Hank) and one get stuck in a snow bank trying to cross it (Roy). Hank rolled the bike over on himself and is sore, but he will be OK. He went to ride over a snow drift and unfortunately the left wheel found a hole and he was over before you can say "Wow". Roy's try with the snow drift just got him stuck and Larry, Alan, and Rose had to give him a push out.

The weather was cooperative today with a few raindrops toward the end of the ride. As I write this, the wind is picking up and we still may get some rain later tonight.

Tonight's menu is Italian and everyone is now preparing their portion of the meal.

Day 2:

For day two we went on a long ride of 80 miles. We were out on the trail for nine and a half hours, that is most of us were. The Swanbergs and Longs were out there a lot longer! During the ride, maybe a little less than half way through the Longs got a flat on their front right tire. It was a big slice in the sidewall caused by a rock. They jammed a half dozen plugs in there and headed for home via the shortest route. Unfortunately, the plugs didn't hold and they had to stop. Don and Juli came back to camp, pulled a front tire from their Rhino and set out in Don's new truck to take them the tire. Along the way, Don got a flat in one of his truck tires, but was able to make it to Hugh and Elynda. They all made it back later that night.

There were some extreme trails on this ride and everyone made it through safely, although it raised the blood pressure of a few. They're now stronger and better for the experience.

Day 3:

Due to the flat tire yesterday, Hugh and O'Don went to Richfield in the morning to buy two new front tires for Hugh. They only had two in stock, so it worked out OK. Don's truck tire was ruined, but he was able to buy a used one that matched for only $10 plus $4 for mounting and balancing.

The rest of us went on a short ride over to the Miner's museum which is about 8 miles from the RV Park. Would you believe we saw a huge bear? Well, many of us did. It was a light brown and it was really big. That was definitely the highlight of the day. There are no pictures of the bear on the site as of the excitement of seeing the bear Dave had the wrong lens on his camera and Rose was shooting the camera but too excited to aim at the bear! Sorry, we really saw the bear!

After the bear sighting we took a short 40 miler. Everyone made it through OK and we all got back to camp a little earlier than the day before.

Day 4:

We rode over to the Fremont Indian Museum and Visitor center today. We ate lunch at a small picnic area near the Museum and then the group split up. Seven bikes went on a longer adventure, and the other nine headed back towards camp.

The seven of us that went on headed north up through some challenging trails and made our way back around to the museum before taking a great trail back towards camp. In all, we went about 90 miles and didn't get back until after 6:00 pm. It was a great day of riding and the weather was sunny and warm.

Day 5:

This was a kind of free day. The morning was spent going back to the Miners Museum and taking another trail up to Bullion waterfall.  It was spectacular! Most everyone made the hike from the trail head. However< Rose made the hike down to the base of the falls. Then at noon, seven of us went white water rafting, some went riding, and others went to the nearby National Parks. For those of us that went rafting, it was a two hour trip down the Sevier River. We all had fun and no one got knocked out of the boat, but Kay and Rose did come close.

Day 6:

This was our last day of riding, and it was a long ride. Almost everyone went on this ride. We got some light rain and it really muddied up the trail. Those of us at the front were really covered with mud.

During our time in the mud we got a call on the radio from Stan saying he had not one, but two flat tires! Both of his rear tires were flat, and they were both very muddy. Stan squirted in some "Fix-A-Flat" and then aired them up and they both held for the entire trip home. Due to the mud, it was impossible to see where there was a puncture. Larry stated that Stan let the air out of his tires because he was feeling lonely at the back and wanted some attention.

We all made it back to the camp without any more problems. This last ride of the week was a good one and we were all sad that we would be leaving the next day. The week went very fast and we put on about 400 miles.