Over the Bars Mountain Bike Club
Over the Bars Mountain Bike Club

OTB Epic Ride Reports

OTB Past Epic Rides

OTB has a long history of epic rides, road trips, and travel. There are always trips in the planning stages, so make sure you check the calendar and messageboards for upcoming adventures. Here are links to some past OTB epic ride reports:


July 2009:  Tour of Nor Cal

A 509 road bike tour around Northern California.  Full Report coming soon


November 2008: Tour of Three Parks-UTAH!

A road bike tour through Zion, Bryce and Capital Reef National Parks.  Full Report


May 2008: OTB Epic Chilao

This was the 15th Annual Epic.!  Full Report


February 2008: Tour of California

This was the third Tour of California bike race and OTB has been at all three riding the stages and cheering on the racers!  Full Report


February 2008: Bikepacking in the Angeles Front Country

A lightweight bike-packing/camping overnight trip up to Idlehour Campground. Full Report


November 2007:  Tour of Baja

A 460 mile road bike tour south of the Border

Full report


February 2007: Tour of California

OTB followed Amgen’s Tour of California Pro Cycling Road Race from San Luis Obispo to Long Beach.

Day one: The Trip up to SLO

Day two : Stage 5 San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara

Day three: Stage 6 Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita


Fall 2006: Tour of Three Parks

We took a road bike tour of Three National Parks.  This was a fully supported ride through Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks with camping along the way.

Day one and Two

Day Three and Four

Day Five


Summer 2006: Colorado Trail MTB Tour

We headed out to Colorado for the MTB adventure of a lifetime!  We rode as much of the 468 mile Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango that we could. We could not ride all of it becouse some of it is wilderness.

Full Report


Spring 2006: Arizona MTB Trip

Full Report


Winter 2006: Tour of California

Riding along with California’s new stage race, the Tour of California, OTB was well-represented:

Full Report


2005: Tour of Cuba

Hans and Andres took an epic adventure in November 2005, riding across Cuba with just the bare necessities: bikes, bike clothes, a little cash, and a lot of spirit of adventure.

Full Report

OTB 500 San Francisco to Los Angeles August 2014

OTB 500 San Francisco To L.A. 8/9/14 – 8/15/14

IMG_1084

Loaded and ready to roll.

Way back in 2004 we decided to ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We would do it in five days with no support vehicle. This time we figured we would have support and camp along the way. It’s a good thing we had the support vehicle because we had more then our share of mechanical’s on this trip! On the trip in 2004 we only had one mechanical when Andres broke his rack. Luckily it broke right  by a bike shop.

The plan: to drive to SF and then ride back to LA camping along the way. We rented a van to use for a support vehicle. Natasha drove the first half of the week and Hope for the second half.

8/9/14 Being that it is high tourist season motels and campgrounds were booked up in and near San Francisco so we decided to camp at a private campground in Half Moon Bay. We crammed in between an RV’s and other tent campers for the night.  We were very lucky we managed to get a spot here.

IMG_1405

8/10 Day 1 of riding:  The plan was to ride from the Golden Gate Bridge to Manressa State Beach.

With the first peddle stroke things went wrong. Julio broke his derailleur hanger. Since pretty much every bike has a different hanger this was bad news. He loaded his bike back in the van, so glad we had the support vehicle this time around! Julio and Natasha drove around to three bike shops before finding the needed part. He would then bump ahead to Pescadera to meet up with us and start his ride.

Andres, Roobik, Shawn, Mitch and I were around 20 miles into the ride when I slowed down and looked back for Mitch who had fallen slightly behind. When I looked ahead again I did not see the guys who had just been a few hundred feet ahead. Apparently they missed a sign for the bike route and a few other signs about the freeway entrance and they rode right onto the freeway. Since we were not sure where they went and we did not want to ride on the freeway we stayed on the bike route. We must have missed a Coast Bike Route sign sometime after that because we started heading inland.

One thing we realized is the route was much easier to follow 10 years ago. It seems many bike route signs were missing along the way. Believe me after this wrong turn I was looking really hard for them.

Once I realized we were off the coastal route we started to ask other cyclist for directions. We were told oIMG_1477f a better route then the coast bike route. So we decided to check it out. First we rode along a scenic Lake on a backcountry road that was closed to cars for the day, then onto a twisting mountain road through a redwood forest. We found narrow roads and long climbs along this route. It certainly added some distance. Mitch was not liking it because of the climbs but later when we regrouped with the rest of the guys and compared routes we were surprised that they had slightly more elevation gain along the coast. We had long climbs but they had many short ups and downs.

Mitch had three flats today! That is three more than we had on our entire 520 mile ride ten years ago.

The campsite at Manressa SB was nice. The only bummer was we had to hike in a few hundred feet with our gear.

My route for the day: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/562182041

8/11 Day 2: Manressa SB to Molera Camp Ground, Big Sur

Shorter and flatter day. This was a very scenic ride. We left early to try to beat some of the tourist traffic through the Monterey and Pebble Beach areas. It worked and we had the road to ourselves for a while.

IMG_1409

A quick stop at Monterey Pier to close a couple of business deals.

Mitch and Natasha went ahead in the support vehicle to secure two camp sites at Molera. We would regroup at a lunch stop at a deli near Pebble Beach. Molera is a first come first served camp ground and everything else was booked up for miles around so we wanted to be sure to get a couple of sites. There is a limit of four people per site so we needed two sites.

It all worked out and they were there in plenty of time to get a couple of sites.

IMG_1423

Hiking in to Molera SB Camp Ground

IMG_1400

Molera Camp Ground

We thought we had a long walk in to our campsite at Manressa but it was a short walk compared to this one. It was about 1/3 mile in to the site here. Once we humped all our gear down we quickly realized the hike in was worth it. It was a beautiful spot. The campsites were very spacious with lots of room between sites. Natasha and I took a hike to the beach and then looped around on another trail back to the campsite.

 

 

 

 

 

8/12 Day 3: Big Sur to Morro Bay

We broke camp and packed it out. Lucky for us Julio had noticed the dirt service road cut up to the highway in about half the distance as the trail and it was a lot smoother too. We brought our gear up to the road while Mitch went to the parking to get the van and meet us at the top of the service road. This saved us some time and energy.

This will be our biggest climbing day. We will camp at Morro Bay SP. We have camp ground reservations so one less thing to worry about. Andres and Shawn have a motel room reservation.

Mitch decided to bump ahead in the Van with Natasha. She drove him for 20 miles then he started to his ride. Shawn, Andres, Roobik, Julio and I took off together. The pace was starting off a little fast for me. I need to ease into these things. I told the guys to go ahead. I knew they were going  to stop for coffee and to check email and that would give me a chance to catch up. 20 miles later I would see Natasha and she said the guys were still behind. I must have passed them somewhere. She said that her and Mitch had seen some Whales so I was keeping an eye out for them. It was still early so the road was not very busy. A few miles later I would see a group of Whales so I stopped to watch them. That is when Natasha and Shawn caught up to me in the van. Apparently Shawn did not see Andres, Roobik and Julio either. Should we worry? No, we just kept on riding.

IMG_1425

Phone Zombies! No wonder they did not see Shawn and I ride by on the highway below.

A few miles later I heard a piece of metal hit the highway and my foot slid off of my pedal. My cleat on my right shoe had broke off. There are not any bike shops in this area so all I could do was keep riding and try to keep my foot on the pedal. I had to compensate for this with my left leg. I could not stand up and peddle because my foot might slip off.

After another hour we spotted the van ahead. We stopped for a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some fruit. As I was getting ready to take off again. Andres, Roobik and Julio rolled in. They decided to go in the restaurant and eat. Shawn went with them.

I kept riding and figured they would catch up. Once they ate and got ready to roll Andres realized his tire had a bubble on it and there was no way it was going to make it. He had a spare in the van but could not get it to seat. It was a tubeless tire and I am not sure why he just didn’t put a tube in it? Shawn was quick to let him use his wheel off his bike. I guess the multi day riding was wearing him down.

They never caught up to me and I would finish the ride solo to Morro Bay. About 20 miles from Morro Bay I would get a flat tire and I thought for sure they would catch up. Mitch also had a flat or two this day and did most of the ride solo. Riding solo is certainly much more effort then riding in the group but sometimes it’s nice not having to concentrate on the pace line.

Hope had driven up to Morro Bay and we would say goodbye to Natasha. She needed to start work the next day.

IMG_1422

Dining in Morro Bay

Highway 1 through Big Sur is one of the most scenic rides and I think it is best seen by bicycle. The catch is you have to do it early in the morning before all the vehicle traffic.

 

 

 

 

8/13 Day 4: Morro Bay to Refugio SB 115 Miles

In 2004 we did this trip in five days, we planned to do it this time in six so it would be a little easier on us. Well, shortly after we left Morro Bay the conversation turned to our planned stay in Lompoc and the fact that there really wasn’t much there and how it would be nicer to make it back to the coast and stay at Refugio State Beach. Then the next day we could ride from Refugio to Santa Monica and get home a day early. The thing was that Refugio was 115 mile ride! About 15 miles from Refugio you have to ride on Highway 101 and we decided Hope would meet us just before Highway 101 and we could get in the van and avoid riding on the Highway. This would give us 100 miles for the day.

IMG_1514

The crew in front of our campsite at Refugio

IMG_1492

Andres and Hope at Refugio

When we made it to Highway 101 Andres said lets just finish it! I had enough and opted to stick to the plan and get in the van while the rest of the group rode the rest of the way. Hope and I found the bike in sites which are some of the best sites in the campground. They are right across from the beach. We were able to pull the van up and unload and then drive the van up to the overflow lot. This would be our easiest camp site of the trip.

 

We weren’t at Refugio long before the guys rolled in. I was surprised they made it so quickly. They said it was mostly flat with some downhill.

Day 5 Refugio to Santa Monica 115 Miles

Approximately 10 miles into the ride the cleat on my left shoe broke! Now both cleats are broken and peddling is very difficult. We were close to Santa Barbara and many bike shops so at our planned stop at Starbucks we would meet up with Hope. I jumped in the van and my quest began for replacement cleats. After a few phone calls and stops at three bike shops I found the right cleats.

IMG_1525

We met one of Andres past coworkers in Gaviota at Starbucks.

We caught up with the rest of the crew at Faria Beach between Santa Barbara and Ventura. Otto had taken the train up to Santa Barbara and was now in the Peloton along with a few bike tourist they had met along the way.

IMG_1534

Otto

 

 

 

IMG_1557

Last group shot in Santa Monica

Otto rode with us to just south of Ventura then peeled off to head home to Simi. Shawn and I bailed early and jumped in the van. Julio, Andres and Roobik kept on riding determined to finish it!

IMG_1532

Julio’s message to Shawn after seeing the photo of Shawn’s breakfast spread at the motel in Morro Bay compared to his bowl of Oatmeal at the camp site!

 

 

The only ones to complete the entire route were Andres and Roobik. These are their stats: 500 miles and 26786′ elevation gain.

My Stats for the trip: 381 miles and 21,867′ elevation gain.

 

 

More photos of the trip can be seen here: Photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OTB 500 Oregon 8/2013

This year our annual OTB 500 trip took us to Oregon. We rode 455 miles in 6 days. We climbed 26,875 feet in that 455 miles. Natasha was our support driver.

The following report was written by Julio on our drive home.

Day 1 – August 10, 2013

Riders: Hans Keifer, Roobik Asadorian, Julio Jaramillo

Driver: Natasha Keifer

IMG_0288

We met at Hans’ house @ 6:45am, loaded and departed by 7:20 am.  Surprisingly, Julio packed lighter than Hans.  Our first stop was for lunch at Carl’s Jr, chicken salads and chicken sandwiches.  We arrived in Redding at about 4pm to a warm welcome from Hans’ sister Mina and her husband Pat.  Mina made an amazing dinner for us, homemade enchiladas and brownies with ice cream.  It was a nice Saturday afternoon gathering with Hans’ nephew Sean, wife Tosha, and daughter Marlie joining us for dinner.  We hit the sack early and watched a bit of the Persius meteor shower.

Day 2 – August 11, 2013     

62.8 miles,  5364 feet elevation

Ride stats part 1

Ride stats part 2

Medford to Crater Lake National Park

IMG_0300We started the morning with another great meal from Mina, French Toast, then loaded and headed to Medford, Oregon.  We unloaded our bikes and realized that Hans’ pump is older than he is.  Roobik’s state of the art rims would not take air from the pump, so we had to locate a bike shop that was open on Sunday.  Luckily, a shop was open nearby and Roobik was able to purchase a pump that worked.  Hans and Julio had started riding, it was 11am, while Natasha’s MVP performance was already in gear, taking Roobik to the bike shop and dropping him back off with the group 15 miles up the road.  We stopped for lunch at Mac’s Diner, IMG_0301then continued our climb to Crater Lake.  The climb was steady amongst the beautiful Oregon forest, and the weather was perfect, although we just missed a storm the day before as parts of the road had standing water and debris. The final road up to Mazama Campground was a steep 6 mile climb.  Roobik picked up the pace and took the KOM, Julio followed while Hans’ knee began to give him trouble.  We were pleasantly surprised that the campground had showers, and Natasha had picked a perfect campsite.  For dinner we had veggie burgers, salad, and beans, and enjoyed true stories at 7200 feet elevation, our coldest night of the trip. That evening we attended the forest ranger’s amphitheater slide show on the history of Crater Lake, but walked out early to get to bed.

Day 3 – August 12, 2013

 95 miles, 5286 feet elevation

Ride stats

 Crater Lake to Susan Creek State Park

 Wake up call was at 6 am, with our standard alarm from Hans, a shaking of your tent followed by “..are we here to ride or sleep?”  We had apple pancakes for breakfast, tore down camp, and we were on the road by 8am.  We started with a 7 mile climb to the Crater Lake Rim road, followed by 25 miles of undulating, scenic road around the crater.

IMG_0322

We learned that Crater Lake is the deepest and cleanest lake in the world, and the clear blue water was amazing.  We met many tourists at the rest stops, and most drivers were very bike friendly. After many pictures and amazing vistas we were rewarded with nearly 40 miles of downhill.  Oregon’s beauty surprised

IMG_1684us, as it was one incredible lake and volcano after another.  We rode by Diamond Lake and Mount Thielsen, and stopped for a hike to Tokatee Waterfall with Natasha.  We later camped at Susan Creek State Park and enjoyed chicken, corn and salad for dinner.  The weather was perfect again for what would be our most scenic stage of the trip.

IMG_0318

Day 4 – August 13, 2013

 104 miles, 3548 feet elevation

Ride stats

 Susan Creek to Tugman State Park

Breakfast was French Toast and eggs,and we were on the road by 8:15am.  Today’s stage was a long trek to the Oregon Coast.  The roads were mostly flat, and Hans’ talk about using tubeless road tires went silent today.  The only mechanical of the trip, 1 flat, was Hans’ tubeless tire, after a wire had punctured his tire and the sealant had dried out.  A new tube and we were on our way.  The last few miles to the coast were extremely windy, but we were treated to an Elk viewing area that gave us a break at the right time.  We arrived in Reedsport and Natasha had already secured another great campsite at Tugman State Park, where we would stay for 2 nights.  After doing laundry in Reedsport, we treated ourselves to a seafood dinner at a local restaurant.  That night around  the campfire the OTB 500 council passed several new doctrines: future trips will require up front deposits to secure transportation, and goofy participants will be deleted from the invite list.

 Day 5 – August 14, 2013

42 miles, 2509 feet elevation

Ride stats

We woke up to light rain from the coast, but we didn’t have to tear down camp. This was our rest & hike day so we slept in until 7am.  Breakfast was Oatmeal and fruit, and we headed up the coast for a short 42 mile ride.  Natasha picked us up and we headed for our best lunch of the trip; fish tacos, clam chowder and shrimp, followed by Huckleberry ice cream.  Huckleberry grows wild all over Oregon. We then drove to Cape Perpetua and hiked along the coastal trails, viewing lighthouses, sea rocks, and tidal pools.  After a great day of sight seeing, we had Veggie Burgers and salad and discussed plans for future OTB 500’s.

IMG_0373Day 6 – August 15, 2013

 90 miles, 5550 feet elevation

Ride stats

After another drizzly morning, Natasha cooked us Pato Eggs and we broke camp.  We rode through a great section of roadway called the Seven Devils Climbs, along a quiet mountain rode with nice climbs and descents before returning to the 101.  We ended with an amazing view of the ocean and camped at Honey Bear Campground on the beach.  After a chilling dip in the sea, we had spaghetti dinner and stories of our ancestral past.  We learned that Hans is the only Irish descendant that doesn’t drink, and Roobik lived in Canada and New York.  Natasha learned she was going to Hawaii when we return, so everyone was happy.  Then we remembered that our hardest day of climbing was the next day, we called it a night.

 Day 7 – August 17, 2013

62 miles, 4638 feet elevation

Ride stats

We woke up in our secluded campsite and broke down camp for the last time.  Breakfast was pancakes and fruit, and our queen stage began.  We rode along another beautiful, secluded road with good climbing and descents on Highway 33 that paralleled the Rogue River.  Roobik was ready to put the hurt on us for the 5000 foot climb up Bear Creek Mountain, but after 35 miles of riding unbeknownst to us Hans had called out the National Guard to shut down the mountain due to a fire.  They told us we could not proceed, unless we wanted to get shot. IMG_0422Our only option was to head back to the coast.  We connected with Natasha at Gold Beach and had lunch, secretly cheering inside that we missed a 5000 foot climb.  We then began our journey back home through Redding, CA.  The road closure added 2-3 hours to our drive time back to Redding. We stopped for some pizza in Weaversville and arrived at Mina’s at 9:30pm for a shower and bedtime.

Click here to view more photos of this trip 

Tour of Three Parks-UTAH!

Zion, Bryce, and Capitol Reef National Parks

Hike and Bike across Utah

November 21st to November 26th, 2008

 

Day 1 · Nov 21, 2008

“Memories are born”
Driving from Los Angeles to Zion National Park, Utah

435 miles

 

Dinner: Buffet somewhere near Las Vegas

This is how memories are born:  In 2004 we embarked on a road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles.  Five days later and 520 miles of hard pedaling, we had conquered an obstacle that weeks before we thought was impossible; riding unsupported five centuries back to back during one of the coldest months of that year.

Adventures like San Francisco to LA were followed by La Vuelta a Cuba in 2005, Tour of Three Parks California in 2006, and Tour de Baja in 2007. Year after year it just keeps getting better, a new place, a long road, a great meal, a good laugh.

As we make our way in the Ottovan to the Tour of Three Parks in Utah we remembered the special moments of our previous trips, and, as always, we don’t know what to expect; we just know that we’ll probably learn a new thing or two about ourselves and make some good friends along the ride.

It will be a cold night in Utah tonight with “toffee” burgers for dinner (maybe Otto means “Tofu”), some additional carbs in the shape of a beer bottle, and bedtime stories from Otto.

               

Day 2 ·Nov 22, 2008
“Legends are made”

Zion National Park ride
5:09:09 ride time
77.85 miles
6750′ feet of climbing

Breakfast: Pato eggs (too spicy for Hans today, Andres added pepper), pancakes, coffee, tea
Dinner: Steak, veggie burgers, dinner rolls, salad, corn, habanero sauce

 

Welcome to multi-day riding trips! The art of packing is necessary for long biking trips, bringing the bare essentials is key to having space for riders, food, gear, and bikes. Julio has taken the class and heard the rhetoric but his method is more about filling the bag that he is given, in his case, the size of a body bag. During the 2007 Baja trip he packed eleven jerseys for five days of riding. This time he packed “the bare essentials”: six jerseys for three days of riding, a Nacho Libre wrestler mask, a Scarface sound effect keychain, hair products, a Bicycle Johns’ mobile repair shop, and a big Mexican blanket. Deep inside, he genuinely thinks that he has improved his packing skills.

We started our Tour of Three Parks, Utah, with a scenic ride out and back from Zion to the top of Kolob reservoir. Easier said than done, the ride was a climb feast with steep grades waking up memories of Balcom Cyn and Kaka Cyn climbs back in California.

The beautiful landscapes kept our legs from exploding and our minds away from the fact that we had no water refills for the first 40 miles of the ride; the scenic ride was the grand opening to a beautiful tour: red asphalt roads, incredible rock formations, and the “Running of the Deers” ,Utah style, right in front of our bikes. At the top of the climb we relaxed by the reservoir sharing true stories and lessons from “The Secret” as told to Hans by one of his co-workers. This was followed by a fast and beautiful downhill full of hairpin turns, steep grades, and the cold wind in our faces.

At the end of the day, Otto, Julio, and Andres decided to go look for showers after the long ride; they quickly found out that the only place with showers for campers had closed for the day. That was not going to stop their search. Today they had worked on an invincible attitude after listening to “The Secret” stories as told by Hans. Julio used the lessons learned at the reservoir to convince the local hotel attendant to give them a room for free, just to use as a shower. They got towels, soap, and a nice relaxing hot shower at no charge. They could not ask for a better way to end the day. Julio takes the MVP, and this, ladies and gentlemen, is how legends are made on OTB trips.

Tonight’s movie at the Ottoplex, after some technical difficulties, was “Kat Williams’ The Pimp Chronicles”, no popcorn was served (Otto does not know how to work his own video equipment). A portable popcorn machine would be a good investment.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3· Nov 23, 2008

“How are you feeling Hanso?”
Zion National Park to Bryce National Park
05:48:34 ride time
89.13 miles
6320′ feet of climbing

Breakfast: Pato eggs, apple pancakes, coffee, tea
Dinner: Steak, chicken, habanero sauce, salad, beans

Legend says that Hans rode, with diarrhea, most of his 565 mile ride across Cuba with Andres, no rest days, and a copy of the Cuban newspaper, “Granma”, as toilet paper. The myth is that he developed a socialist butt that reads in Spanish.

Today in Zion is another day, meet El Presidente under the weather; he is battling a lingering cold. For those of you who have seen Hans’ endurance over the years, you would agree that it is hard to believe that he is actually skipping a bike ride for a recovery day. Believe it today.

Hans is feeling like crap and Otto keeps asking: “How are you feeling Hanso?” Hans responds: “Best day of my life, never felt better”. In a weird way, we all understand, riding around these beautiful places in Utah we feel the same.

We started the day with Hans driving our support vehicle out of Zion. An incredible park to see on the bike, the road rose out of the rock canyon walls for miles at a time as we kept entering bigger canyons, tunnels, and incredible landscapes.

Today’s profile was shaped like a bell, according to our navigator’s calculations. Climb for half the ride, 47 miles, and descend the next half, 44 miles; however, the more we rode, the more climbing we did. It ended up being an all day climb with Hans doing all of the driving while he recovered from his cold, and Otto as a co-pilot for a brief part of the climb. The end of the ride was a constant headwind that worked our legs, our lungs, and our paceline to exhaustion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The arrival at Bryce National Park showcased beautiful red rock canyons and another opportunity to use “The Secret” to find a shower. Just as the night before, it worked. We found a shower, and as a bonus, a laundromat for Andres and Julio to keep their clothes clean and fresh.

After dinner, Andres joined the Ottovan crew to protect him from the elements; temperatures were around the low 20s according to the forecast. Tonight’s presentation at the Ottoplex was “Into the Wild”; we were too tired to finish the whole movie. Hans slept outside, no room for sick people inside the warm and cozy Ottovan.

 

                                    

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4· Nov 24, 2008
Bryce Canyon National Park to Escalante River (Capitol Reef)

“The man, the myth, the dancer?”
03:34:20 ride time 01:30 hike time
65.73 miles
3096′ feet of climbing

 

 

 
Breakfast: Oatmeal, bananas, muffins, coffee, tea
Dinner: Steak, habanero sauce,  charrrrrrbroiled veggie burgers, cous cous with sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese, beans, beer, and salad with cranberries and nuts.

As the years go by we have seen the evolution of the riders on this trip, from Julio riding a pink road bike from Rosarito to Ensenada, Andres desperately searching for a pink loofah in a Santa Cruz market, to Hans riding a couple of centuries with diarrhea in Cuba.

Otto as the OTB Ambassador of Goodwill is always welcoming new riders into the club with his Hungarian version of tough love. On this trip, we are happy to report that Otto Laszlo has entered the world of photography head on. We’ve seen the transformation of the man into the artist, the man who loves watching dancing with the stars, the man who once danced the tango with a rose between his teeth. A lover of nature, art, and deer, a Mexican photographer deep inside; meet “Jotto” (/h?t?/). The man, the myth, the dancer!

It was a cold night at Bryce, temperatures below freezing forced the entire team Colombia into the Ottovan, the Hungarian team was not too happy. Team Hans slept outside under below freezing temperatures. Sleeping three inside the Ottovan needs to be a well choreographed operation. Snoring, bathroom, and all normal bodily functions have to be well timed otherwise a disaster happens. Keep in mind, Otto rules inside the Ottovan.

We enter the world of Biathlons today, as if 170 miles of riding in our legs was not enough, we’ll start the cold day with a hike around Bryce Canyon on the Navajo trail. Then, as a follow up, we’ll do a 65 mile “yankee doodle” ride towards Capitol Reef National Park. We’ll never be the same again.

 

 

 

Today’s farewell ride was a nice change from the previous big days of climbing that we had experienced over the past two days, the terrain allowed us to keep a fast paceline and we had great downhills for a change. At the end, it was too good to be true; the entire team got disqualified for drafting the Ottovan and eating at Subway (not an official sponsor) in the City of Escalante. The Boulder newspaper said that an angry local fireman blew the whistle on our riding practices. We were forced to board the Ottovan at the Escalante River and head in disgrace towards Capitol Reef National Park after 65 miles in the saddle. Actually, we were glad to miss the big climb of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capitol Reef National Park brought to the table one of the greatest feasts in OTB history, or maybe we were too tired and hungry. It was great not to share the big piece of steak with a bunch of hungry mountain bikers (see Chilao trips).

The Ottoplex presentation was “Into the Wild” part 2. Hans joined us for this one. No popcorn again.

Cooking with OTB

Capitol Cous Cous Reef               Preparation time: 5 minutes

All ingredients from Trader Joes

1 cup of water
1 cup of cous cous
1 container of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, sliced
1 container of Feta Cheese , crumbled
1 cup of frozen peas
2 teaspoons of  butter
1/2 teaspoon of Salt
1/4 cup of Mint

Bring the water to a boil. Remove from heat, add the butter, salt, cous cous and mix well. Cover for 5 minutes.
Uncover and fluff with a fork. Add the peas, sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and mint. Mix well and serve.
Epic rides deserve Epic food
Day 5 · Nov 25, 2008
“I hate to tell you this, but this is a small step for us, a giant leap for Hans Keifer”

Hike at Capitol Reef National Park
3.65 miles on the Cohab trail hike
2:25 hrs of hiking
1591′ feet of climbing

 

Breakfast: Pato eggs, habanero sauce, french toast (type 2 fire hazard), coffee, tea
Dinner: Sports Bar food at the Best Western in Springdale UT

 

Good morning, it’s time to hike! As with any OTB trip, there is no sleeping-in even after three days on the bike; morning activities consist of a wake up call by Hans who’s been awake since four in the morning, breakfast preparations by whoever wants to help prepare the day’s most important meal, coffee made by Otto, followed by dish washing, and packing of camp. It is usually a busy morning every time. Add the cold factor and nobody wants to get up today.

Remote places like Capitol Reef National Park make these trips a little more special. It is one of those parks that you wouldn’t’t have on your top ten list of parks to visit, but once you see it you’ll want to come again.

We had a great hike on the Cohab trail around Capitol Reef, we explored some of the rock formations and climbed to the top of magnificent overlooks on a trail that Hans had explored years before when his daughter Natasha was only nine years old.  Julio played the role of Natasha today and explored every hole and climbed any rock that could be climbed.

 

On our way back to Zion we all agreed that a hotel and a nice dinner would be the best way to spend our last night of this trip. Otto could not believe it: “I hate to tell you this, but this (getting a room) is a small step for us, a giant leap for Hans Keifer”.

Names for Otto continue to develop: Patto, Jotto, Lotto, Batto, Gatto

                                   

Day 6 · Nov 26, 2008


Hike to Angels Landing in Zion National Park and drive back home
5 mile hike
2 hrs of hiking (fast pace)
1590′ feet of climbing

                       

Breakfast: Eggs, pancakes, coffee at a Restaurant in Springdale, UT.

We did not take for granted the comfort of a bed, a toilet, and running warm water. Not looking for a Gatorade bottle to go to the bathroom was the nice perk of staying at a hotel, although it was a Best Western, it felt like we slept at the Four Seasons. The wake up call from the front desk was a nice and gentle: “Good morning”.

After a delicious breakfast at a local restaurant we went on to the Angels Landing hike. Hikes like Angels Landing might quickly turn this club into the OTB hiking club, like Otto would say, “EpiK!” In terms of hikes, this hike is advertised as a strenuous hike, that’s half of the story. After a lung buster ascent you get to a saddle where the magic of this hike begins; a chain assisted, exposed, and steep ascent to the top of Angels Landing through the middle of a ridge with hundreds of feet of exposure on both sides.

This is definitively one of our top hikes to date; adrenaline rushing with each step and extreme beauty surrounding us at every point along the way, not to mention the possibility of never returning home again if we slip. We made it! The incredible weather that we had during this trip stayed with us all the way until the end when it started pouring on us just ten minutes before getting into the Ottovan. We say good bye to Utah!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as the previous trips, our fifth annual road tour comes to an end. The long drive home was our opportunity to reflect on the good times that we had, and laugh once more at the memories of the previous days.

We have seen an incredible part of the country on our bikes and hikes, and experienced unexpected beauty along the route. It is impossible to describe the experience in a few pages; it changes with time, just like a good wine, and it tastes different to each one of us. We take the memories home and keep building the scrapbook of epic trips, there are many places that wait to be explored.

Long Live Epic Rides!!

See all the photos from this trip here: Photos

See a short video of the trip here:  Video





© 1994-2014 Over the Bars Mountain Bike Club. All Rights Reserved