Anyone Conquored the 5 Miles of Hell trail?

[Punisher660]

Any tips?

[DezRaCeR249]

what and where is that, sounds like a cool place to ride

[SJMC_DON]

It's in Western Washington, a little place known as Reiter ?

[WaGuy78]

I hear ya! Reiter is nasty! ?

I think the real 5 mile is in Moab??

[AHRMA17L]

what and where is that, sounds like a cool place to ride

It is at a place called Reiter Pit just east of Gold Bar, WA. And yes, I think the original 5 miles is in Moab, but I have never been to Moab to know for sure.

I have ridden th five miles at Reiter, both on a KTM300EXC and an XR250. It was much better on the XR.

Cool place to ride? There is a reason it is still called a Pit. I used to ride a little there and used to race the Golden Spike Hare Scrambles. Both were a last resort if I could not ride or race anywhere else. I won't ride there anymore.

[WaGuy78]

Reiter isn't THAT bad. There is some awesome single track up there, but the rocks and lakes do get old. ?

[johnjerk]

Don't ride it alone and bring your trials bike...or expect this: ?

Download the "5 miles of hell" video here and enjoy:

5 Miles of Hell Vid (70mb and worth it)

[Punisher660]

Sorry, I guess I should have been more specific, the way I had heard it described, I thought everyone knew what/where it is. Its in the San Rafael - I have seen the video before. It looks dang near impossible. I was wondering if anyone has changed gearing or anything like that.

I actually meant to post this in the Rocky Mountain region forum - sorry. ?

[SJMC_DON]

It is at a place called Reiter Pit just east of Gold Bar, WA. And yes, I think the original 5 miles is in Moab, but I have never been to Moab to know for sure.

I have ridden th five miles at Reiter, both on a KTM300EXC and an XR250. It was much better on the XR.

Cool place to ride? There is a reason it is still called a Pit. I used to ride a little there and used to race the Golden Spike Hare Scrambles. Both were a last resort if I could not ride or race anywhere else. I won't ride there anymore.

Reiter will make anyone a better rider ? I love Reiter, and they have changed the name to "Reiter Trails" since you cannot ride the Pit anymore, but between clean up days some of the staging areas can look like a "pit", F ? ing tweakers, wheelers and partiers

There is also a "Hell's Stair Case" in the Gifford Pinchot NF I think any trail with the word "Hell" in the name is all I need to know to wanna try it

[SJMC_DON]

Don't ride it alone and bring your trials bike...or expect this: ?

Download the "5 miles of hell" video here and enjoy:

5 Miles of Hell Vid (70mb and worth it)

I like....... ? Alot like Reiter just less trees and mud. I will look it up when / if I ever get to Moab

[Rider1958]

I rode it (the Utah 5MOH) once, had drank my entire camelback by the end - it'll make ya thirsty.

I geared my WR down a lot - 3 teeth up in back, down to 12-tooth sprocket in front. Gearing down seemed to help me most of all. Hand guards needed. I wouldn't ride it alone.

We're riding it again in ~3 weeks.

[Punisher660]

Thats along the lines of what I thought I needed to do. I would love a set of trails tires for it, but I don't have the $$ for that.

What is stock gearing on the front? If I do the front, do you think I need to re-gear the rear?

[velosapiens]

Sorry, I guess I should have been more specific, the way I had heard it described, I thought everyone knew what/where it is. Its in the San Rafael - I have seen the video before. It looks dang near impossible. I was wondering if anyone has changed gearing or anything like that.

you may want lower gearing, but i'm not sure how the wr's are geared stock. it also depends on how much you like riding in the rocks and how good at it you are. my 300exc has no problems with 13-52 gearing (i think stock on that bike was 14-52, pretty tall for gnarly stuff unless you're a smooth and skilled rider).

i've ridden the trail in both directions. one way is a little easier than the other, but really only because of 1 obstacle where i had to actually get off my bike and pull the rear end around then climb up. the other way i just rode it.

[Just_a_trail_rider]

Don't ride it alone and bring your trials bike...or expect this: ?

Download the "5 miles of hell" video here and enjoy:

5 Miles of Hell Vid (70mb and worth it)

That vid is brutal! I like it.

[RCannon]

I think this is the place in Utah were talking about. They have some decent pictures here. http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/fivehell.htm

[Rider1958]

Thats along the lines of what I thought I needed to do. I would love a set of trails tires for it, but I don't have the $$ for that.

Velo might have a better idea as I believe he has much more experience riding 5MOH, but it seemed to me trials tires would get you stuck in the sand, which you run into quite a bit riding in that area, and Moab. But they'd probably work well on rock.

What is stock gearing on the front? If I do the front, do you think I need to re-gear the rear?

Front on mine stock was 14, I lowered both front and rear quite a bit - it helps me everywhere I ride.

[Punisher660]

Update:

Back from 5MOH. I dropped my front sprocket 1 tooth and it helped quite a bit. I think dropping it 2 would have been better, but more importantly I found out what is really needed......endurance.

I only made it through the first half of the trail - (if you watch the video, I bailed out after the "crux"). I think I could have finished the trail, but the other 2 riders I was with were really pushing to go at a race pace, and I was just too tired to keep up. ? Means I gotta spend way more time at the gym.

I did have a pretty bald back tire, but thats no excuse - I was litterally at the point that I had to take 5 min breaks after every obstacle.

The guys I was riding with race the desert expert class, and I am only a novice at best. I pointed that out several times, but I think it fell on deaf ears.

Well, I guess I better keep working off the love handles and try again in the fall ?

I'm curious though, for those of you that have finished the trail, how long did it take. For me, it would have been at least a 6 hr ride - had I gotten off the trail earlier, I think these guys could have done it in 2 or 3 hours.

[bud1970]

5MOH is in southern Ut, San Rafael Swell, Ridin it several times alot of fun. White paint on the rocks indicates the trail. Reccommended for the advanced rider. Bring plenty of water! If you find it too tough there is a few escape routes. Once you've riden this trail you will always want to go back. By the way you don't need change the gearing on your WR for 5MOH, it's already geared perfect, what you need is the skill to make it through.

[drtbkfan]

We had a guide (forest ranger) from San Rafael take us on 3 miles of Five miles of hell (going the "easy" direction) and after 28 years of riding I've never ridden anything harder. The guide was named Ruxton and sported an XR400. He was making everyone look bad, but he said he rides it often so has plenty of practice. Nevertheless, my brand new (at the time) WR450 did well, but I was missing my recently sold DRZ400E as the WRs button isn't as good and the WR wanted to GO where I needed more linear power. I would heavily recommend the lowest gearing you can get your hands on and a small bike with electric start. Power is not req'd for this trail, but control is. One of my buddies lined up the ride with Ruxton and before anyone asks, we didn't have to pay him, he just took us out cuz he was a good guy. I haven't been back since, but I keep a 12 tooth countershaft sprocket in my toolkit in case we ever go back. The hardest parts of this trail are plowing thru 3 foot deep soft sand approaching a near vertical, solid rock, extremely grippy face. Its a matter of transitioning from extreme wheel spin to controlled power delivery to prevent looping... Not for the faint of heart!