WOW do I hurt today. But its a good pain. Is that wrong? :rotfl:
1st off I gotta apologize up front. I am terrible with names and even worse at spelling. So if I botch everyones names up well......
Saturday started out with me repeatedly mashing the bloody alarm clock trying to silence the infedel. All I wanted was a little more sleep. The puppy dog was snuggled in next to me and I did not want to move. But then I remembered "Hey I am going ridding today!" and instantly poped outta bed sending the dog flying to the floor giving me a pissed off dazed look. I quickly threw on some clothes, grabed my ice water jug, tossed the dogs into the back yard to do there business and I was off like a heard of turtles.
On my ride up I couldn't help wonder about why my hands were hurting already. I hadent even rode yet. Then I remembered. A coworker and I got new phone books yesterday. We tried to rip our old ones in half. Those things are tough. I got it but at a price. My hands were now throbing. This is gonna be a fun day.
I rolled into the staging area at 9:00am. Right on time. As I roll in I can see that I am not the 1st one here as Cmore is here already with his wr426. Ted is there with Inca, FlyingBrian and his KTM200, and TCTrailrider is there on his KTM300. Cmore and TCtrailrider are a few of my friends from Thumpertalk. I unload and get dressed, ripping yet another zipper off of my new Thor Ride pants :bang: Those suckers are going back for sure. So now I am stuck wearing my old MSR blue gear on my Honda. Isn't there a law against that??
A few stragglers roll in Sndms2 and son (both on yamaha 250 thumpers) from TT and then latter as we are about to leave Roderick rolls in with a friend. Since Roderick was so late we left him in the parking lot to catch up.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/teds_van.jpg
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/inca_woodsy.jpg
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/group_in_parking_lot.jpg
There were 2 other groups of ridders in the lot also. But since they wern't part of our group we took off without them.
We took off around the loop counterclockwise (we were requested to go this direction by some crazy fella, cant remember his name though) We ran the 1st section up past the bridges letting our groups running order sort itself out. Up front was Brian and me, Followed with Sndmn2's son, then c-more and the rest trickled in from there. The group total'd 7 ridders at this point. The trail was in wonderfull shape. Rocks and roots galore with just a smatering of mud. Skippy (yes it appears that my bike has been named, more on that latter) was lovin it. Her new Scotts Dampner was working awsome. Me and Brian were taking turns at the lead, me out front 1st then Brian latter. Flowing that 200KTM was wonderfull. The smell from that blue cloud he would leave behind as he railed a burm was indescrible. Sends my sences into orbit higher than whatever meds Woodsy is on for sure. There is something about the smell of a 2-stroke that I will always love. But I gotta tell ya, My buddie Keith's Trials bike that runs on 110 race gas and bean oil in an incredible assault on the sences. The smell if that exhaust is better than sex. Its that good. I can almost taste it now just talking about it. I wonder If I can bottle that smell and market. I could name it "Ode da bike" Guys everywere would wear it for after shave.
This 1st section of trail was pretty uneventfull. Just lots of great terain. After a particulary nasty run of woops we all took a breather. As we were waiting the rest of the fellas rolled in and stoped. Now our group was totaling somewere around 12-13 people. I lost count.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/1st_rest_stop.jpg
After some small talk Brian realized that he knew one of these new riders. Brian had searved with this fella in the Reserves.
Back on the trail we go with Brian leading the way. I tried to slow down a little but I was having just so much fun chasing brian I couldn't help myself. Eventually We came to the dreaded clear cut I have been hearing about. It wasn't that bad. The trail was established pretty well. I stopped in there to take a few photo's on a rooty hill climb. Strangly the only one that came even close to coming out was of Ted sailing up the hill. But sadly enough, Ted was just so fast that my poor camera coundn't focus on him fast enough.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/ted_the_blur.jpg
We motored on for a wile until we came to the sand bowl on the north end of the trail. I had never been in here. It is on the CCC maps so we dove in to check it out. It was cool. A nice scramble area with sandy hill climbs and rocky ones. Neet stuff.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/sandbowl.jpg
On the way out we gathered at the top as we all worked out way outta the bowl. Ted got stuck towards the top of the climb and 2 other ridders got stuck behind him. At 1st I was thinking that Ted just didn't have enough steam to make the climb. But then I realized that the cagy vet was just teaching these young guys behind him a lesson "Dont follow too close behind on a nasty obsticle." I think Ted has been hanging out with my buddy Joe. Pretty sneaky Ted.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/INca_and_the_sand_hill.jpg
From here on out the trail just got better and better. Brian was in the lead folowed by a fella on a DRZ and then me. As we came around a bend I then learned how FlyinBrian got his name. There was a big water hole maybe 20ft across with many lines thru all nasty. Brian, already movin along pretty well, wheelied into it. According to him the front wheel came down about 1/2 way thru and cross rutted. This is about when I came around the corner, just in time to see the bike stick like glue and Brian fly thru the air. In a flash he was lying on his back making mud angels. The DRZ fella and me snuck thru beside him. I stopped to make sure he could get the bike running, it was laying on its side in the mud after all. As he is trying to get it started Sndmn's son blasts thru once again covering Brian in a wall of mud. Too funny.
We regrouped down the trail a bit. Ted made a comment that my bike wasn't hardly muddy. I just explained that when you are as fast as me you just hydroplane across the top of the mud. When in reality I have a secret weapon. Keith gave me a bottle of Silkolene pro prep. Ya spray it on and the mudd just beads off. Cool stuff. This is also were Woodsy's name for my bike skippy was starting to take hold. Woodsy says that by bike skips across the mud.
We continued on again. I was folowing Brian close behind when he had another brain fart. The trail split around a stump. Instead of going around it he center punched it. The bike stopped dead and stood straight up on the front wheel. I slammed on the binders and barley missed running him over. I was laughing my butt off even before I came to a stop.
We stopped in a field to take in a little history. The fella that Brian knew from the reserves told us about the white cross that is in the field. A buddy of his had a heart attack a few years back and died there while he was ridding with him. We reminised a little about his friend and cleared some of the ferns out from around the cross. It was nice. It also gave us a chance to fix the carb on one of the KTM's that was coming loose.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/the_cemetary.jpg
Now I knew that we had to be getting close to the infamous rooty stair climb. But when we got there it had been re-routed. Sorry Woodsy no pictures this time. The stair step is no more. I heard rumours that it was gone. Gordy of the K.O.M told us at Drummond that they re-routed it.
From here on out it was just a drag race. There was some kid on a white KTM, the DRZ fella, Brian, Cmore and me. All pushing hard. I was behind cmore and pushing hard. At one point I came up a sandy, twisty hill climb. I was pinned in 3rd. I came around a corner at the top of the climb to find cmore and the drz fella stopped like 15 ft in front of me BRAKES :yikes: I just missed taking out cmore. Stopped like 1/2" away from him. Wew.....
And on like this we went, pushing each other the rest of the way back. I had another white knuckler. Something yanked my rh foot off the peg just as I came into a lh corner. WIthout the use of my back brake.... Bonzi off into the woods I go. Oops...lol That Scotts Dampner sure is nice. I can now punch a tree with my hand guard, and aside from the shock you take in your arm the bike stays going straight. Same with the rocks and angled roots. The bike just sticks. I dont even want to think about how many times that thing probably saved me out there. I like it.
We got back to the parking lot around 1:00pm. Some of the group, Brian Ted and some others went back out to ride some more. I had to load up and head home. Wife has to work and I gotta watch the kid.
The weather was perfect all day Saturday. Blue skies, Cool temps, Light breeze, minimal skeeters, and good friends. Does it get any better than that.
1st off I gotta apologize up front. I am terrible with names and even worse at spelling. So if I botch everyones names up well......
Saturday started out with me repeatedly mashing the bloody alarm clock trying to silence the infedel. All I wanted was a little more sleep. The puppy dog was snuggled in next to me and I did not want to move. But then I remembered "Hey I am going ridding today!" and instantly poped outta bed sending the dog flying to the floor giving me a pissed off dazed look. I quickly threw on some clothes, grabed my ice water jug, tossed the dogs into the back yard to do there business and I was off like a heard of turtles.
On my ride up I couldn't help wonder about why my hands were hurting already. I hadent even rode yet. Then I remembered. A coworker and I got new phone books yesterday. We tried to rip our old ones in half. Those things are tough. I got it but at a price. My hands were now throbing. This is gonna be a fun day.
I rolled into the staging area at 9:00am. Right on time. As I roll in I can see that I am not the 1st one here as Cmore is here already with his wr426. Ted is there with Inca, FlyingBrian and his KTM200, and TCTrailrider is there on his KTM300. Cmore and TCtrailrider are a few of my friends from Thumpertalk. I unload and get dressed, ripping yet another zipper off of my new Thor Ride pants :bang: Those suckers are going back for sure. So now I am stuck wearing my old MSR blue gear on my Honda. Isn't there a law against that??
A few stragglers roll in Sndms2 and son (both on yamaha 250 thumpers) from TT and then latter as we are about to leave Roderick rolls in with a friend. Since Roderick was so late we left him in the parking lot to catch up.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/teds_van.jpg
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/inca_woodsy.jpg
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/group_in_parking_lot.jpg
There were 2 other groups of ridders in the lot also. But since they wern't part of our group we took off without them.
We took off around the loop counterclockwise (we were requested to go this direction by some crazy fella, cant remember his name though) We ran the 1st section up past the bridges letting our groups running order sort itself out. Up front was Brian and me, Followed with Sndmn2's son, then c-more and the rest trickled in from there. The group total'd 7 ridders at this point. The trail was in wonderfull shape. Rocks and roots galore with just a smatering of mud. Skippy (yes it appears that my bike has been named, more on that latter) was lovin it. Her new Scotts Dampner was working awsome. Me and Brian were taking turns at the lead, me out front 1st then Brian latter. Flowing that 200KTM was wonderfull. The smell from that blue cloud he would leave behind as he railed a burm was indescrible. Sends my sences into orbit higher than whatever meds Woodsy is on for sure. There is something about the smell of a 2-stroke that I will always love. But I gotta tell ya, My buddie Keith's Trials bike that runs on 110 race gas and bean oil in an incredible assault on the sences. The smell if that exhaust is better than sex. Its that good. I can almost taste it now just talking about it. I wonder If I can bottle that smell and market. I could name it "Ode da bike" Guys everywere would wear it for after shave.
This 1st section of trail was pretty uneventfull. Just lots of great terain. After a particulary nasty run of woops we all took a breather. As we were waiting the rest of the fellas rolled in and stoped. Now our group was totaling somewere around 12-13 people. I lost count.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/1st_rest_stop.jpg
After some small talk Brian realized that he knew one of these new riders. Brian had searved with this fella in the Reserves.
Back on the trail we go with Brian leading the way. I tried to slow down a little but I was having just so much fun chasing brian I couldn't help myself. Eventually We came to the dreaded clear cut I have been hearing about. It wasn't that bad. The trail was established pretty well. I stopped in there to take a few photo's on a rooty hill climb. Strangly the only one that came even close to coming out was of Ted sailing up the hill. But sadly enough, Ted was just so fast that my poor camera coundn't focus on him fast enough.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/ted_the_blur.jpg
We motored on for a wile until we came to the sand bowl on the north end of the trail. I had never been in here. It is on the CCC maps so we dove in to check it out. It was cool. A nice scramble area with sandy hill climbs and rocky ones. Neet stuff.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/sandbowl.jpg
On the way out we gathered at the top as we all worked out way outta the bowl. Ted got stuck towards the top of the climb and 2 other ridders got stuck behind him. At 1st I was thinking that Ted just didn't have enough steam to make the climb. But then I realized that the cagy vet was just teaching these young guys behind him a lesson "Dont follow too close behind on a nasty obsticle." I think Ted has been hanging out with my buddy Joe. Pretty sneaky Ted.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/INca_and_the_sand_hill.jpg
From here on out the trail just got better and better. Brian was in the lead folowed by a fella on a DRZ and then me. As we came around a bend I then learned how FlyinBrian got his name. There was a big water hole maybe 20ft across with many lines thru all nasty. Brian, already movin along pretty well, wheelied into it. According to him the front wheel came down about 1/2 way thru and cross rutted. This is about when I came around the corner, just in time to see the bike stick like glue and Brian fly thru the air. In a flash he was lying on his back making mud angels. The DRZ fella and me snuck thru beside him. I stopped to make sure he could get the bike running, it was laying on its side in the mud after all. As he is trying to get it started Sndmn's son blasts thru once again covering Brian in a wall of mud. Too funny.
We regrouped down the trail a bit. Ted made a comment that my bike wasn't hardly muddy. I just explained that when you are as fast as me you just hydroplane across the top of the mud. When in reality I have a secret weapon. Keith gave me a bottle of Silkolene pro prep. Ya spray it on and the mudd just beads off. Cool stuff. This is also were Woodsy's name for my bike skippy was starting to take hold. Woodsy says that by bike skips across the mud.
We continued on again. I was folowing Brian close behind when he had another brain fart. The trail split around a stump. Instead of going around it he center punched it. The bike stopped dead and stood straight up on the front wheel. I slammed on the binders and barley missed running him over. I was laughing my butt off even before I came to a stop.
We stopped in a field to take in a little history. The fella that Brian knew from the reserves told us about the white cross that is in the field. A buddy of his had a heart attack a few years back and died there while he was ridding with him. We reminised a little about his friend and cleared some of the ferns out from around the cross. It was nice. It also gave us a chance to fix the carb on one of the KTM's that was coming loose.
http://img32.photobucket.com/albums/v97/yzman400/evart/the_cemetary.jpg
Now I knew that we had to be getting close to the infamous rooty stair climb. But when we got there it had been re-routed. Sorry Woodsy no pictures this time. The stair step is no more. I heard rumours that it was gone. Gordy of the K.O.M told us at Drummond that they re-routed it.
From here on out it was just a drag race. There was some kid on a white KTM, the DRZ fella, Brian, Cmore and me. All pushing hard. I was behind cmore and pushing hard. At one point I came up a sandy, twisty hill climb. I was pinned in 3rd. I came around a corner at the top of the climb to find cmore and the drz fella stopped like 15 ft in front of me BRAKES :yikes: I just missed taking out cmore. Stopped like 1/2" away from him. Wew.....
And on like this we went, pushing each other the rest of the way back. I had another white knuckler. Something yanked my rh foot off the peg just as I came into a lh corner. WIthout the use of my back brake.... Bonzi off into the woods I go. Oops...lol That Scotts Dampner sure is nice. I can now punch a tree with my hand guard, and aside from the shock you take in your arm the bike stays going straight. Same with the rocks and angled roots. The bike just sticks. I dont even want to think about how many times that thing probably saved me out there. I like it.
We got back to the parking lot around 1:00pm. Some of the group, Brian Ted and some others went back out to ride some more. I had to load up and head home. Wife has to work and I gotta watch the kid.
The weather was perfect all day Saturday. Blue skies, Cool temps, Light breeze, minimal skeeters, and good friends. Does it get any better than that.
Last edited: