Brad cuts through the sand.

The 1150GS Stuck on downward slope of Dune.

Finding clean sand first thing in the morning.

Brad on the edge overlooking the Green River at Ten Mile Point.

A bike atop a dune in the morning sunshine.

"A flight of fancy on a windswept field,
Standing alone my senses reeled,
A fatal attraction holding me fast, how,
Can I escape this irresistible grasp?
Can't keep my mind from the circling skies,
Tongue-tied and twisted Just an earth-bound misfit."

 I dropped off the crest of a dune on my 2002 R1150GS to start my 2009 riding season.  The sky above was a deep blue with no interruptions of whiteness anywhere to be found.  Two large BMW GSs sliced and diced the sand dunes like hot knives through butter well maybe more like sledgehammers with finesse.  

At day break on a cold April day in the mountains of western Colorado my riding partner (Brad Hendry) for the weekend and I loaded my 1150GS into his trailer next to his R1200GS HP with thoughts of sand and slick rock revving in our heads.  Brad had yet to ride out at White Wash Sand Dunes 13 miles south of Green River, Utah nor ridden his R1200GSHP in serious desert conditions since returning from the 2008 GS Trophy event in Africa the October prior. To say the least he was eager to do some intense riding.  Four hours later after finding a good camping spot just above the main wash we geared up to explore the surrounding area.

For a quick warm up we headed out to a box canyon about 4 miles up the wash.  The river wash was holding onto some moisture which made riding easier on the big beasts.  The last half mile of the wash turns into a truck wide trench that cuts right through the slick rock and ends in a dead end turn around with 30 foot high walls.  On the way out to the turnaround Brad already started to see what the HP would do on some of the 30-40ft dunes that flanked wash.  I stayed down in the wash since it I had not ridden since the previous December.  As we got father out into the wash it became more tracked up with lines from the others playing in the sand.  My first time out to White Wash Sand Dunes the pervious October I experienced completely clean windblown sand and could ride at 45 mph while sitting on the back part of the seat.  Today was different.  Today I had to ride up on the pegs and use my rear end to do slight counter balancing as needed. 

Upon returning to the wash's drop in point we decided to head out on some of the desert track roads to an overlook called Ten Mile Point.  With others on quads and smaller cc motorcycles giving us the 'what the?' look as we powered through soft sand track.  Eventually the sand track turned into a more dirt and rock road.  Stopping here and there to take in the unsurpassed scenery of the Utah desert landscape we both could only grin within our helmets that this was where the spirits of our motorcycles emerged in full force.  The road cut across desert like a red scar trying to give definition to the indefinable.   We soon found ourselves on a long sandy straight-a-way.  Brad opened the throttle to the 12HP.  Space and time rippled as a line of dust arose out of the desert landscape.

Riding at 70mph on the 1150GS it still took a few minutes to catch up to Brad.  I know Brad had a gigantic grin on his face as he looked out to the rocky cliffs of the Ten Mile Point atop a large rock outcropping.  Yes, riding in Africa would be great; however, today in the middle of Utah held the adventure.  After a few photographs of testing our skills on the slick rock outcropping, Brad and I then found ourselves looking over the edge of a sheer drop of multiple hundreds of feet to the Green River below.

Sometime I get a touch of vertigo when I can't see the true edge of a major drop.  The slick rock cliff edges at the overlook did a quick roll off into the abyss.  I quickly got out the camera to grab a shot of the HP and its master before the master decided that that he had enough of two feet from the zone of freefall.  It was a great spot for a launch break while taking in the view.  The sand dunes in need of tracking up started to call out to us along the warm desert breeze - time to head back to camp.

Along the way back Brad tested the HP some more while I enjoyed a steady pace with the Dakar feeling creeping into my body.  Twenty miles later our machines took a cool down break as we replenished our hydro-packs at camp. 

Then the time came for some deep sand as the sun started to head to the horizon.  A good number of dunes still lay fresh and untracked by others whom played that day before us.  The cycles cut and sliced through the sand.  I quickly found myself straddling my motorcycle on a 50 degree down slope of a 12 ft dune.  The motorcycle was stuck up to almost its cylinder heads in the soft deep sand.  When dropping off the steep side of the dune I did not give the bike a blast of gas right after cresting over the edge to aid in powering through the soft downhill slope to the bottom.   A quick laugh from both of us, Brad then passed on a good technique to me on getting un-bogged down.  While straddling the cycle without any weight on the saddle I revved the cycle to 4500 rpms and let the clutch out smooth but very quickly.  The GS pushed its way out of the sand.  The evening light set up some great shots of both of us tearing it up.  With physical energies waning we headed back to camp.

While joining other riders at the campsite dinner cooked itself under the ever rising moon.  The hit of the evening turned out to be my small compact fold up grill.  Folded up, it is 2 inches by 18 by 12, but you can cook 2 steaks on it when set up.  After a bottle of orange Crush, ^TM some swapping of stories with the other camper, and answers many questions about the 'big' bikes sleep soon called out. 

A chilly breeze coated the sand at night and greeted us at day break.  Fresh patterns of the night's breeze shown on the dunes in the morning's light.  Heading out to some larger dunes and slick-rock sections straight across the wash from camp our cycles quickly lead us to a great play ground of many different types technical riding.  What a way to warm up for the day.

Riding in and out of deep sand and slick-rock teaches you to be very on with the throttle and clutch.  The sandstone/slick-rock gives near maximum grip with the tires while the sand goes in the opposite direction.  Even with the light morning moisture in the sand, one needs to be ready for sand to rock transitions with extra throttle especially when popping up a rock ledge.  We played for a while on steep uphill sand to rock transitions.  The 12HP showed off its nimbleness while on one wheel.  The 1150GS entered low orbit.

By early afternoon, we both had logged around 130 miles of dirt/sand in the day and half out at White Wash Sand Dunes.  Brad thought of one more line to test the 12HP out on, a 150ft hill climb up to the plateau that over looked the entire wash.  I watched as man and machine blasted up the ever steepening slope of loose red dirt and rock.  Near the top there is even a small rock ledge of about a foot to negotiate.  With flawless form the 12HP crested over the edge and disappeared onto the flat top.  I soon joined Brad at the top already chatting to other dirt bikers who were still going 'whoa you just did that hill on that bike!'  Both GSs quickly became the topic of discussion by the other riders about the power and design of the 12HP and the mass amount of mileage/usage of the 1150GS.  Unfortunately time ran out that day for riding in the deep sand. 

Many memories were now forever locked into the grey matter of our heads.  In the rear view mirrors of the truck the sun dove below the San Rafael Reef.  Over dinner we discussed other placing to ride in the area in the future.  Brad shared some more techniques to riding the big motorcycles in the deep sand while I started to look over the mass amount of photographs we captured.  Later in 2009 I finished my riding season as I started blasting through the sands of White Wash Sand Dunes. 

 Video Links to R1150GS at White Wash Sand Dunes, UT (By: Pete Brigner)

http://www.vholdr.com/video/pigs-can-fly-6

http://www.vholdr.com/video/gs-schrubbery

http://www.vholdr.com/video/pigs-can-fly

 Mike Rand lives in the thin mountain air of his native Colorado.  He is in multiple museum collections in the United States for photography and is published in numerous books, international websites, and magazines. In addition, Mike works in sculptural ceramics and has shown internationally.  Most recently he published two books on his fine arts motorcycle photography, Motorcycling to Aesthetic: Australia and 159059.  The motorcycle of his choice for adventuring across the lesser traveled roads is a BMW R1150GS.  He has ridden 200,000 miles in the last 9 years covering not just in Australia but all the northern most roads in Alaska and Canada plus most of the lower 48 states.  In 2008 he was a semi-finalist for the BMW Motorrad GS Trophy and continues to train for off road riding pushing the limits of a 600lb motorcycle. For information you can reach him at:

Brad Hendry currently lives in Loveland, Colorado. Though originally from South Africa, he currently works as parts manager for Northern BMW Ducati in Loveland, Colorado.  Besides being part of the winning 2008 USA BMW GS Trophy team and endruo rider, Brad is an accomplished professional superbike motorcycle racer.  You can read more about Brad at his website http://www.bradhendry.com/.