Journey to Nowhere - The All2Ride Crew Road Trip to Utah

Do you remember the two german wannabe Hillbillies who came to the US last year? Well, they came again...

If you book a trip by a travel agency, everything is organised for you. Cultural city breaks and relaxing by the pool are standard for many German tourists and ensure rarely for unwanted surprises. But Jannik Hammes and Fabio Schäfer like these unwanted surprises on their trips. And of course, the so-called All2Ride crew don't leave their bikes at home. This freeride road trip through Utah was anything but boring and predictable. But you won't find a tour to nowhere in a travel catalogue ...

Jannik Hammes and Fabio Schäfer eat dinner

Corner Shooting in the middle of the night. Rider: Fabio Schäfer

"It has always been a dream of mine to feel the world-famous, red earth of Virgin, Utah, under my tires. Now I'm finally here after all these years of dreaming. Together with my buddy Jannik Hammes, we climb to the top of a steep ridge line with our big bikes on our shoulder. It´s a torture! The wind blows around our ears. We can't even understand our own words because of the roar up here. In addition there are gaping chasms on both sides waiting for us to fall down. You really shouldn't be scared of heights up here. Unfortunately, I can't really say that about me. At least I have my bike to hold on." - Fabio Schäfer

Fabio Schäfer and Jannik Hammes on their way to the top of a line

Fabio Schäfer jumps one of the countless drops at the old Rampage site

Jannik Hammes at a steep section

We finally arrive at top of the ridgeline about 40 minutes after we started at the bottom. We take this moment in. Wow! We are really in Virgin, Utah. In this part of the world mountain bike history was written in the last 15 years. The Red Bull Rampage took place at this mountainside several times - the most dangerous mountain freeride contest in the world. But also legendary movies were filmed here in all these years. Not a single part of the legendary New World Disorder series was done without this location. No wonder that the whole mountain is littered with countless lines and jumps. Madness! And we are right in the middle of it all. But this time we are here and we're not staring at our TV screen and sitting comfortably on our couch. It´s absolutely unreal. And it´s definitely dangerous. I´m feeling my high pulse. If you make a wrong turn or jump off to the wrong side of a cliff, chances are good you're going to fall down 20 meters and more. Hopefully we will remember the line right.



Once again, we fidget with our goggles to get rid of the nervousness. "Are you ready?" I ask Jannik. He nods and puts his fist out toward me. I check it and we let our hands off the brake. The raised dust from Jannik´s tires is directly blown off the cliff next to us by strong wind. At least I have a clear view. Crazy, how steep and narrow the line is. No video can show this. The subsoil is a blessing and a curse at the same time. While you have a surprising amount of grip on the red, sandy soil, you have to be careful when your tires get on a deeper section. You can lose traction really fast. Here comes the next drop towards us. Fortunately Jannik rides ahead, I would have forgotten how much you have to pull your brakes. There is a double drop. So don't jump too far, you have to re-pull the front wheel. Otherwise you would miss the second edge. So the timing has to be right. Yeah, well we managed this section. I feel, how the endorphins dance in my body. Slowly we understand the special underground. The other sections I perceive only in tunnel vision, from which I am torn only in short moments of shock when I get close calls to hit the ground. We manage a last hip jump and we are at the bottom of the mountain. We can no longer hold back the grin under our full face helmets. High Five! We are just part of our very own film. We are really here. The air we breathe is real. The red dust on our bikes and also the cold sweat is real. These are the moments that you still remember in many years.

Tabletop at a hip jump by Jannik Hammes

Fabio uses a Rock to jump a hip

We roll back to our "house" on wheels. We had booked the monstrous RV with a length of about 30 feet conveniently via the internet. For three weeks we only paid 1600 Euros, including insurance and unlimited miles. A bargain when you consider that we have four beds, kitchenette, shower room, bathroom, storage room for bikes, fridge and additional frills. To capture this vehicle for posterity, we have filmed a small "room tour" for you:



We picked up our mobile home in Las Vegas, where we also arrived from Frankfurt at the airport. After about a two hour drive we arrived in Virgin, Utah, in the evening. This small, sleepy village wouldn't be known by anybody without the world famous bike spot. It is a village with a large main street. That's it. Okay, so maybe I should mention the restaurant "Buffalo Burgers", which you can find at the entrance of the village. The shed could be right out of a Quentin Tarantino film. Even from the outside served numerous American clichés.

Fabio Schäfer, Jannik Hammes and Lars Mangel have lunch at Buffalo Burgers

The very nice Buffalo Burgers crew

The whole atmosphere seems a bit bizarre but very nice. The owners are real character heads and incredibly hospitable. The boss is round about 50, but swings her butt like a 20 year-old, while the waiter constantly found fault in a sympathetic way to us. First he taunts, shaking his head that I do not eat meat. He applauded us loudly that we want to have ice in our drinks like real Americans. At the same time the domestic dog vomits right in front of our window and starts licking up the pulpy mess again with relish on. On the way out, an old man speaks to us, and greeted us proud by pointing out how many Nazis were killed by his father in World War II, and prophesied us also the imminent doomsday. In front of the restaurant a friend of the owners shows us an old mud hut. This is over 150 years old and was built by Indians. The man with gray, long hair and cowboy hat keeps the cabin in good shape, only a few days earlier, he has renewed the clay inside. Just for the experience we had in 'Buffalo Burgers' We love America.

The old man and his 150-year-old hut

We open our camp at the bottom of the old Red Bull Rampage site. From here you can reach all spots easily. Either you climb up one of the numerous ridge lines or you look at spots at the bottom. Before we arrived here we bought some tools in a hardware store to build jumps, but that's not necessary. There are too many options here. As we walk the grounds, we discover drops, gaps and kickers every few meters. Much comes from the Rampage contests. But some spots we recognise from film productions. But the locals dig here too. The site is privately owned and the owner has nothing against bikers. We realise, how fast you can get hurt at this place. No matter how enthusiastic you are, you should really slow down in the beginning and get used to the terrain first.

Fabio Schäfer jumps one of the famous jumps at the old Rampage site

The start of the jump line at the old Rampage site


The All2Ride motorhome

Roadtrip life


Someone has to do the dishes

Below the Rampage terrain there's a river including an unofficial campsite. If you want to camp there, do not be surprised by the owner. He will regularly ask for "donations" so that you are allowed to stay there. And don't panic if there is someone sneaking around your RV in the middle of the night. This is also the campsite owner who works only at night during moonlight ...



After just over a week in this huge playground we head toward Salt Lake City to check out a couple of spots there. In Wasatch Indoor Bike Park you not only find a pump track, Jumpline and airbag, but also a friendly owner who allowed us to spend the night in front of the hall in our camper. Camping in the city. He also tells us about a Bike Park in Ogden, we visit the next day. The park is located just outside the city and was opened in 2013. There are different routes for all skill levels. You can push or ride your bike to the start. There are a lot of jumps waiting, curves and a large pump track. There is also a playful Dirt Park. The entire bike park can be used free of charge and provides enough fun for one or two days.

One of the fun jump lines in the Ogden Bikepark. Rider: Fabio Schäfer

Jannik Hammes at the top of the trail

We decide to leave in the evening to head over to Green River. A ride of nearly five hours into the absolute middle of nowhere. Green River is like a ghost town. Abandoned shops everywhere and slowly decaying motels. There is nothing. If you google Green River, first thing you find is a known mass murderer. Very reassuring when you're just driving in the middle of the desert with a camper. We received the GPS data on Facebook by a helpful biker.

Ghost Town Green River

Jannik does a Bunny Hop Barspin in the middle of the Ghost Town

For sale

Out of gas

Amazing landscape in at Blue Castle, Green River

In contrast to the reddish earth in Virgin, the underground of Green River is blue-gray. Our location is called "Blue Castle". The name comes from a rock formation that resembles two towers. At the bottom of this huge rocks awaits us a huge precipice. We spend the first day with digging.

Digging and heat is a nice mix


First off road experiences for the rental motor home



We spend the second day just with climbing and riding down this long slope of Blue Castle. We carve our bikes like skiers through the loose ground of the escarpment. That´s how skiers have to feel in deep powder. How much fun is that? But I pay at the end of the day with two huge blisters on my heels.

Fabio Schäfer and his bike


Some time to breathe

Deep powder for bikers

Jannik Hammes does a Tabletop in front of Blue Castle

At night, there is an enormous storm. We already think about departure on the next day. When we drive the caravan over the bumpy fire road, we discover the legendary canyon gap Cam McCaul jumped for two New World Disorder movies close to the road. Although it is almost seven years old, the takeoff and landing are still in tact. Between kicker and landing, there are about 20 meters between.

Too much wind for this one

Despite the strong wind Jannik wanted to jump the gap. I go in position with the camera. Unfortunately, we wait in vain, the wind or rather storm doesn't take a break. So we set off just after waiting for one hour. We want to drive four hours back to Virgin, to shoot some more pictures there for one day and then go back to Green River to shoot the gap. We are in a hurry because we have to bring back the mobile home to Las Vegas in three days. On the way to Virgin we drive on the highway right through sandstorms. Sometimes we can not even see our bonnet because of the dust. During this day 122 cars crashed on our road. Crazy!

Unfortunately, the wind is also blowing in Virgin. Therefore, we set off the next morning at dawn with bikes and cameras to get some pictures without the dangerous wind. So Jannik has to flip his big bike in the early morning at 7:30. Not quite awake, he over rotates his first attempt and claps his back on the landing. Luckily he was not injured and thereby pushes right back up. Slowly the wind starts blowing harder. Jannik uses short wind breaks and flips his bike several times in front of stunning views.

Big Bike Backflip at 7:30 in the morning

Time for the next spot. For a further flip, Jannik chose the jump line of Antoine Bizet. The wind makes it unnecessary but dangerous and we think about how we can use the waiting time. I propose a small road gap at the end of a ridgeline. I push up, Jannik takes the picture.

First test jump of the little road gap for Fabio

Now we have to take pictures from a broader perspective. I push back up, but have to wait a few minutes, because again the wind blows with full force. When the wind calms down, I directly kick in my pedals. Just before takeoff, I feel the wind is back. But it is too late to brake. In the air I'm pushed to the side, land sideways, crash and land with my stomach directly on the handlebars. First, I can't breathe. Because I landed on my shoulder and head, I first check if my collarbone is broken. All good. However, I have a strange pain in the left side of the abdomen. At first I think it is normal. Pain should be normal if you just landed on your stomach on a handlebar, right? So I believe, I'm okay. My bike is also not broken. Very good! But because of the blowing wind I don't want to ride anymore. It's just too unpredictable. We pack up.

Suddenly I feel kind of dizzy and I'm sweating for no reason. It goes so far that I can hardly walk. So should we go to the hospital? According to the Internet the next hospital is 45 minutes away. At the caravan, I can no longer walk. Jannik drives the V10 engine at full throttle. At the hospital in St. George we know really fast what's going on. I have a ruptured spleen and blood is leaking into the abdomen. Shit! The doctors tell me that it might be that I need a surgery to stop the bleeding. But it should be waited out, because of the high risk. Every three hours they take new bloodwork. The bleeding stops after over 26 hours. I'm lucky and I do not need surgery. However, I can forget about the planned return flight. Jannik has to go back to Vegas because of the motorhome. He provided me with videos from Sin City and then proceeds to finally fly home. However, my involuntary stay was as pleasant as possible. The staff and management in the very modern hospital were incredibly friendly and accommodating. Something I've never seen in Germany. Despite the hospital stay our trip to Utah was an absolute highlight. To finally ride the trails, which are known from videos and magazines for years, is priceless. What would we see without our bikes from the world? Without which we would probably never have thought, thousands of kilometers to travel to nowhere.

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MENTIONS: @derholdehirte / @Canyon-PureCycling

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