Michelle

Sponsoring Member
Oct 26, 1999
1,245
0
Part One:
First weekend back after the op, I didn't realise how much I'd missed being on the bike until I was on it again. I've had umpteen people asking when I was going to be back on it, as I looked depressed and wasn't my usual self (co-workers). Hmm, smiling all day today, I see what they mean ;)

Anyways, Bbbom, you lay down a challenge while I wasn't riding, now you're going to pay ;) lol

Saturday was a half day to make sure I was okay on the bike i.e. could pick it up if I dumped it (nothing unusual for me). The people parked next to us must have thought I was nuts as once the bike was off the tailer, I turned around and laid it on the ground then picked it up again. Then I went for a short ride around the nearest trail - no worries! I couldn't believe how nervous I was, but that dissipated once on the bike.

Anyway, the guys decided to see a trail elsehere (they were test riding a bike to make sure they'd be okay on it for the race Sunday). I was torn between riding with the girls or the guys, but decided to go with the guys. Great fun, I managed to click well with the bike and found that the 11-year-old wasn't as fast as I thought he was, and could easily keep up with him. He crashed early on trying to keep up with the others, so I told him to ride his pace & not worry about his dad & Henk as they'd wait for us. My main problem on the ride was finding neutral - I was always at least one gear higher than I thought.

Anyway, the race on Sunday was a fun two-man harescramble, so after Saturday, I thought I'd go along & maybe enter if I could find someone to ride with (my usual riding buddy wasn't keen as she didn't feel she could do it with everyone racing past her).

Sunday was misty until we got into the forest, then it turned to brilliant sunshine, absolutely stunning looking at the trees and the sea after spending the last hour in the mist. Once we got there, I sort of looked around as to who was there (we were reasonably early) to see if I could spot someone I could ride with.

In the meantime Henk had spotted someone & asked him who he was partnered up with and offered me (thanks - not). Well, that made me more nervous as I know the guy, I know how he rides, but I also know what he's like - great person, and I didn't want to let him down. He decided yip, that'll be fun, we could even possibly win the class - total four entries.

The trail was pretty easy, but with 65 bikes going around, by the time it was my turn, it was getting cut-up. Roots were exposed, whoops on every single straight there was, but nothing major.

(continued)
 

Michelle

Sponsoring Member
Oct 26, 1999
1,245
0
Part 2

I was second to go off, pretty good start (bit of confusion at the change over which was my fault). As I was having trouble starting the bike, I'd made sure it was running when he came in, which helped. I followed the track for the most part, until one bit I got confused and had to go back - doh!

At one stage the track came back towards the pits, so I went around, but on the corner I kept looking at the people watching, the ribbon seemed everywhere & I couldn't work out where I was meant to be going, so stalled the bike, dropped the bike, picked up the bike and someone started it for me (thanks Stewart) as he knew I was having hassles (and he's used to me - he's one of the guys who helped me after my close-encounter with the tree last year & has never let me forget lol). I stalled it on another corner further along the trail (definite pattern). Finally made it back, sent my partner out, but needed a longer rest than he'd give me, so he did two laps.

The next round seemed better, I didn't dump it on the corner, but the whoops were getting really bad and I was suffering from lack of fitness and energy and thinking I'd love a drink but couldn't get to my camelbak. I hit a few stumps, probably some trees too, but can't remember, I stalled the bike with the usual "what gear am I in, must be 3rd, damn, no that was 4th" (a couple of times). When I went to let a guy past me near the end, I almost dumped the bike, with a spectator watching (of course). Got going again, and thought "I'm glad this is almost over" - part way round the course I'd decided I was further back than I was & was thinking I had to go round that corner by the pits - I was tired as it took me a minute or two to remember I'd been there & not embarrassed myself that time.

At the end of the trail, I spotted the lap scorers, got confused where the ribbon went, and dumped the bike. This time Henk picked it up as he was waiting for his partner. Switched over riders/bikes and my partner was off finishing off the race.

I now have to do another one in about 3-4 weeks time, as we won our class and my partner's keen to win the class overall (sandbagger, you betcha lol).

I intend to do at least 3 laps so need to work on the fitness for that and have decided to go riding more often with the guys to push me along more.

Thanks to all the women for all their cool race reports lately, it really did inspire me to give it a go. I found I did enjoy it (after it'd finished) but was really disappointed in my lack of stamina/fitness, and can't blame my op for all of it but it hasn't helped.

I was proud of myself, I even rode past someone having hassles without stopping (I'm so used to asking everyone I see stopped if they need help, it's automatic). I also rode past the stuff on the ground (I didn't recognise it belonging to anyone I knew, so stuff it), I had a race to compete in & a partner I didn't want to let down (if it'd been Henk as partner, it probably would have been another story).

I'm sore as heck now, but what a neat pain, what a neat time, great fun - got roosted heaps lol. The one thing I know is this weekend if I get seen mucking about, my partner no doubt will hassle me to get training, so long as he & his bike stay in one piece) ;)
Michelle
(Bbbom, did I beat you??? Can't wait to read your report this week hehehe)
 

LoriKTM

Super Power AssClown
Oct 4, 1999
2,220
6
New Mexico
Ah, great race report, Michelle! Glad to hear you're back on the bike and mixing it up with the guys! What was the challenge that bbbom threw out? I must have missed it.

First ride back after a long layoff is always tough, but your brain will remember what to do, even if your body isn't quite ready yet! Keep up the good work!
 

nkd

Member
Mar 3, 2000
66
0
Glad to see you back!

Glad your back on the bike, I know riding brightens
me up. Ususally when I ride on the weekend, it
puts me in a good mood all week at work! Even
when I ride into work on my Harley I always have
a big smile on my face all day.

Sounds like you did great! Glad you feeling better.
I was suppose to do an enduro last week but it
was canceled because NJ is having a dry spell and
the fire hazard is way too high. I'll be doing my 2nd
motocross race in District 34 Memorial Day weekend.

The last one (a couple of weeks ago) was a good warmup.
I was super nervous but once I went around the track 3 times,
I didn't ever want to stop. I in 2nd out of 3 but I know
I can do better and am out for #1. I'll post a report after
that race! Take care of yourself!

Nancy (AKA Harleygal)
 

bbbom

~SPONSOR~
Aug 13, 1999
2,094
0
I give, I give!!!! Lori, it was after one of my long reports, I told Michelle to top THAT!! I think she may have.

I know what you mean Michelle by your partner not giving you enough of a rest - I always give my partner a much better rest than they give me! Glad to hear you enjoyed the race.

For our weekend, we did a Mother's Day ride, which worked out great because my son was in trouble for not turning in homework so I had a free babysitter!! Karl got new riding pants and jersey for his birthday and I got a new set for Mother's Day - do my kids know how to shop!! ;)

We were joined by my brother (KX250), two of his buddies (one on a KX250 and one with no left hand on a CR250) and another couple that rides with us frequently (XR400 and XR200). June is one of the funniest people to ride with. She's rides an 86 XR200 and can go ANYWHERE on it. She is not speedy but I have rarely witnessed her fall. She always rides behind me and she claims it is because she doesn't want to hold me up, I KNOW that isn't the truth, she really does it for the comedy!

To get to the trails we ride a logging road through my property that is about 2 miles long to get to the Paper Company's property then onto the mountain. We had a nice trail that bypassed most of my logging road and was a nice fairly easy singletrack hillclimb but, it is getting rutted so we closed it off Saturday evening and at Karl's designation, we cleared another bypass trail. My comment when we were done was, YOU ARE NUTS!

So Sunday morning about 11:00 the group arrives and Karl advises everyone that the old bypass trail is closed but we have a new trail name Stick Bush trail (appropriately named). I look at June, she looks at me and I tell her, we'll watch them and decide which way we go. Nod nod nod. So June and I watch from the bottom as Karl cruises up Stick Bush, my bro makes it up with little trouble, the XR400 takes some really interesting detours, the other KX250 makes it up and the guy on the CR250 gives up after 2 try's something about the combo of a hangover and the flu.

June and I take the road! Something about starting out by dumping your bike in the bushes that just didn't appeal to us. We rode the Ridge trails which are great singletrack, twisty turney fairly decent speed stuff. Went down The Hill (this is the hill that I have to always TRY to make it back up on the way home. It isn't much better going down it either the huge rut is the problem - it's in my pic page in the Mica Riding Album with me on the KLX). Stopped at the powerlines and decided to give the Bog trail (a muddy messy thing) a run since my brother felt Karl's bike and my bike were too clean. I love the bog trail it is about 1/4 mile of GOO and my 500 loves it.

The boys head out followed by myself and June. We get to the Bog and wait for the last guy to make it through - never get too close on the Bog! I'm sliming through the goo, come to a small crest where I see a big puddle and think to myself "that looks Gooooey". Bump over the hill, and fall over in the middle of the goo hole! "MY new gear - YUCK!!" My boot is sinking into the goo, my bars are stuck up to the triple clamp and the bike is still running. Shut it off, turn off the gas, pull off my gloves and start trying to dislodge the bars. June is behind me dieing of laughter. :p

Get the bike up, then I have to try to pull my foot out of the goo without dumping the bike over the other way. Manage to get it all together and there are my gloves about 6 feet away. So, fire it up and finally get it out of the goo hole to park on the side of the trail and go back for my gloves. June cruises right by SMILING!!

Made it up the rest of the Bog without incidence. Got to the top where the group was waiting and flung mud at all of them for laughing at me! :p

We take off again, the guys tell us to go first & we decline, let em go so the dust will settle for us! Get to the next challenging hill, I'm cruising up in 2nd, come around the corner & there's the CR250 laid over, he's up & waving me on but I stall in the middle of the trail. I can hear June coming and I’m trying to get into neutral so I can get out of her way, too late, she's up and cuts a new line to miss me, phew! Everyone makes it up the hill and we try to catch up (yeah right) with the rest of the guys.

Catch up to them - waiting for us & head down the trail. June & I take it easy on a rocky sandy rutted downhill stretch, she hates downhills and since my crash at Vantage, I'm not too impressed with em either!

Get down to the next intersection, see the obvious corner roost marks and follow them. Down more steep rocky hills come to a section of old overgrown but easy road and come to a downed tree across the entire trail. It's one of those pretty fresh ones, at about a 45 degree angle to the trail - you know where even if you bump over it the first time you usually just crash on the other side. So, we try to determine if the boys went over it or up around it, looks like over it. June goes first as I am turning my bike around to get a better line. She bumps over it and FLOP. She jumps up (like a gymnast) and I holler "9.0"! I take another look and discover that I can just slide past it on the bank side - she comments "Wish I'd noticed that". Off we go.

We come to a 4 way and the tracks look like they go down one leg we usually don't go down. We decide that they must have headed to 7 Fingers the normal way we go, so we go that way. We are cruising along having a great time, get to 7 Fingers and no one is there! Hmmmmm, call the cell phone, Karl answers. He tries to explain where they are, we point out that it is Mother's Day and we are at 7 Fingers and we'll wait for them there! The boys show up and one of them is having some mechanical problems (plug fouling) so June & I take off, knowing they WILL catch us soon enough.

We all get to our destination Signal Point (also in the Mica Riding Album), guzzle some water and head for home. The kids have only called us 3 times by now and we have informed them of our location, approx duration and yes go ahead and eat lunch.
:confused:

Karl decides we need to check out a trail that he used to ride 8 years ago. After hopping our bikes over the 5th downed log, we finally got back to where we recognized the trails. The boys were way ahead of us, except one who was nice enough to make sure we saw the turns they took, well, until he lost them too. I lead the three of us once he lost their tracks and we headed straight up to the Powerline Hill, the normal stopping point before heading home. Hmmmm no one there! We knew they were ahead of us. Did they just continue to the house? Did they go back to look for us? We could hear a bike over there, then one over here........Finally we decided we would go back down the hill and wait at the first intersection.

Sure enough, there are 2 of em. They look at us, we look at them, they ask us how we got past them and we say we don't know because we took the normal trail. They say we couldn't have because they had been sitting there waiting for us. One guy thought he had watched us make it to the top of the hill and hadn't gone past them. The XR400 had endoed somewhere below and had trouble starting (no injuries) and Karl had gone back looking for us. We tried the cellphone but no answer. My bro finally decided to go down to find the other two & tell them we were all here. We hear a thumper, a 500 and my bro come screaming up the hill. Finally we are regrouped.

We head for The Hill. We get to The Hill and everyone is sitting at the bottom waiting. This is the normal procedure for going home. We all wait for the group to gather then one by one attempt the hill. My bro goes first, too easy. His buddy on his newly purchased KX250 (he's a good rider but has been bikeless for 5 years or so) decides he'll go next to give us all a laugh. He makes it about half way and runs out of GAS!! I check the time and find out it is 5:49 and parents and other guests are due at the house for a 6:00 barbeque (like they aren't used to me being late every time I go riding) so I take off down the road, not feeling like wasting the amount of time it usually takes for me to conquer The Hill.

I arrive to a house full of guests. Ooooppps. Change clothes and proceed with dinner prep. Apparently everyone made it up The Hill. June tried to loop it but prevented a full loop and succeeded in her first attempt for the season at conquering The Hill (she rarely has problems on it but apparently she decided that since we had been working on taking the hills in second that she would try it on The Hill - guess not.).

Had a great dinner with the mom's and grandmom (love barbequed Salmon) and CRASHED!

Hmmm don't know Michelle, this may be a new record. ;)
 

Michelle

Sponsoring Member
Oct 26, 1999
1,245
0
Lol Bbbom

Not sure if it's a record or not, shall we do a character count ;) I did hope it would inspire you to top mine with a good report, and you succeeded (per normal) :)

Yip, sounds like June enjoys the comedy hehehe. I envy you just riding off the property & going for it, instead of having to drive 1-2 hours to go for a ride. Who taught the kids how to shop btw? lol

Oh, one thing I think I forgot to mention, was someone was walking around with a video camera, he caught me dumping it on the corner, but had turned it off when I dumped it in the pits & by the check, this I have to see. Apparently at the first check, my eyes were huge, so I'll have to ask Richard for a copy of the tape so I can have another laugh. No, I didn't offer to repeat my offs, but those that saw them commented they were hilarious (especially the last one).

Nancy, definitely ride report afterwards. I won't challenge you to a long post, heck, we'll get thrown out of here & into the ride reports forum.
Michelle
(the more I'm looking back at the day, the more I enjoyed it and am fired up to do the next round and a proper harescramble in August)
 

AnneBrooks

Member
Jan 17, 2001
313
0
Michelle,

Great ride report!! Glad to see you back ont he bike! And also, feeling better!!;) Sounds like you had a good time and picked up where you left off, except for the stamina. But don't worry, that will come back quickly. Just be sure not to over do it!! Talk to you soon!

BBBom,

Great ride report! That sounds very cool to be able to ride right from your house! The Yuppie's in Chicagoland would rather DIE than leave any OPEN land where you might possibly have any fun!:scream:

You and June sound like you have a great time together, keep it up!! And try to stay on 2 wheels in the mud pits!!:confused: (like I do :cool: ).
 

Pegasus

~SPONSOR~
Jan 31, 2001
177
0
WOw you guys.. What fun !!

I had an Awesome solo Mothers day ride Took my little thermos of tea and headed out to the wild blue.Rode to some favorite views ..did some exploring...What a blast..Daughters in college ,Marshal busy on the computer.So had happy Mom's day to me !!

Headed out the trail behind the house...Thinking OK if I make the "spode filter" a little short steep climb to the road (which now because of sometimes failed efforts :-) has a big protruding rock in the middle of the trail at the top ).......Ill be good for the new mile trail, which I hav'nt done solo.. as its long, steep,loose and tight...fun !

Made first challenge..

OK Im ready..Head up mi trail..experiment in 2nd as my 1st is way low and last time just spun out...oops choke half on,try again :-)
Up I go ,stoped in the middle,not enough speed.... to go or not to go ... GO !.Hit 1st and paddled my little heart out....but hey I made it! Worst part over I take a big breath and make it to the top.

Feeling like Wonder Mother off I went.

Area is still new and usually im behind M ,so I found myself riding stuff twice but from different directions.Laughing at my self and a BIG GRIN from having so much fun.
(yes I take my cell with me )
Ended my day with a BBQ and old friends...

We are all.... the lucky ones !!
 
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bbbom

~SPONSOR~
Aug 13, 1999
2,094
0
Pegasus, I like that term "Spode Filter" I think that's what the Stick Bush Trail Karl made will become.

We went out for a loop with the kids last night, after it had rained all day Monday but was fairly dry yesterday (beautiful ground conditions and it didn't start raining again until we got home). Even Karl needed help up the Stick Bush Trail. I didn't even attempt it, I'll wait until they get some of the bigger downed logs chewed up or moved out of the way.
 


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