A Woodsy Ride Report: FOR REAL!!!!!!

[woodsy]

Not so long ago I was laying up in room 406 at Hackley Hospital with my downed carcess wondering if I would ever see another day like last Mondays ride.. I have been getting a little stronger on a daily basis since June 22nd (the day of the knife) and when “LT” called this time I said – you betcha Randy, I am RIDING and this time I am riding Kadie!!! Of course, Randy being the good friend that he is (I think he missed me more then he likes to let on), he said that he and Larry had talked and again decided to let me dictate the amount of ride time we, as a group, would see.. So folks, that’s how it all began!!
Of course, I didn’t get very far into the ride plans without touching base with our Hero , Young Ted. Actually, as I recall, it was Young Ted that got ahold of me and let me know he was “able and available for duty with the Monday Riders”. Some business plans with another Executive had fallen thru so he went to option number 2 in his business planner and came up with my phone number… That Ted sure knows how to make a guy feel loved and needed!!! Just knowing that my name is so close to the top of this Icons list of “people to call when business plans fall” gives me goose bumps!! Not only that but it was beginning to look like I might get a chance to roost him sooner then I expected :aj:
As I talked to Ted it suddenly dawned on me that he was coming up with NO bike to ride!! He was coming all the way from Chicago just to be with us guys and to run “support” for us (I actually think he somehow knew that I was probably going to over do it and he wanted to be there to catch me when I did – kind of a payback for me telling that Doctor at Hackley Hospital about his other “bo-bo”, the one that ended up being a broken rib).
Ted came up and met me at my home at EXACTLY 8:30 a.m.. He loaded my bike up for me in HIS van and after we walked our goal of 100 feet side by side together we headed out to meet Larry and Randy (of course, being the coach that he is, he admonished me about the doubt that he had as to whether or not that was actually 100 feet we had just walked – he thought it was more like 70 feet – I said maybe that is why I have been doing so well all this time ;)
After we met up with the boys we headed to Hesperia for breakfast at Daniels. A quick stop in front of the restaurant found me bugging one of the “patrons” to snap a pic of our group (c pic 1). Please note in the pic that our “Monday Riders jackets” match the “Daniels” sign perfectly – of course, once again, I “Woodsy” am completely respondsible for this match – none of the other guys INCLUDING Young Ted even noticed it :nener: At any rate, then it was inside for 4 starving fools!!
Daniels has a GREAT breakfast deal – 2 eggs, sausage and toast for a $1.95. We always fight over whose buying breakfast because whoever does gets out of buying lunch or dinner, they are always WAYYYYYY more expensive.. After doing our normal “Monday Riders” routine at the restaurant – that being sitting around that big round table in the front and wearing out our welcome, we headed out.. I am sure some of you more seasoned riders know what I am talking about – it’s a fact of life, the young guys get anxious and the seasoned guys get comfortable :moon:
After our 2 hours at Daniels, Ted and I led Randy and Larry on a “lets see where this road goes” wild goose chase. I honestly think that I had everyone already talking about being lost and we were still in the rigs.
After finding our way to the corner of 11 mile and Warner we stopped and unloaded the bikes. At this point in the game I was starting to feel like one of my younger brothers and starting to get real anxious.. Having not ridden like this for a VERY long time I was actually starting to get stomach butter flys – then I passed some gas and was fine :laugh: This second pic is of Randy and Larry getting ready to ride while Father Nelson stands “innocently” by making sure these “wanna be woods riders” do it all properly (personally I wonder what else he was watching for - careful there Nelson, dont get caught in the act..).

 

[woodsy]

FIrst pic on this page is a pic of Randy that snuck in this section some how!
It was cool out, probably in the 40’s, when we told Ted good bye. This was just after I gave him exact instructions of where we would meet him in Baldwin.. I said “going North thru town there is a Wesco gas station on the left side (west side) of M-37. Just to the north of the station is a little restaurant. We will meet you there between 2:30 and 3, NO LATER THEN 3:30. annnnnndddddd off we went on a REAL Woodsy adventure..
The trails were PERFECT!! It is now cool enough that you didn’t have to worry about sweating off 3 quarts of water.. Also the recent rains have got the trails in PERFECT dustless condition so we were able to ride a VERY tight group – ALWAYS FUN!! The boys REALLY cut me some slack and kept the pace down to very comfortable trail speed. Kadie was running PERFECT – it felt sooooo good to have her beneath me again – I REALLY missed her awesome horsepower and great suspention having been riding these “rehab bikes” (TTR225’s).. We made it north toward School Section Lake, came out of a two track and there was Ted!! Just like the professional Timer that he is – he timed us just perfect!! We stopped and chatted for a while – took a pic (see the 3rd pic here) and headed toward Baldwin to rehook up with him at Wesco..
We followed the West side of the Big “O” up to near Whiskey Creek and then grabbed a handful of highway for a duelly into Baldwin.. After we crossed the Bowman Bridge on Carr Rd I was leading and decided that we needed a little more single track to produce a good appetite for lunch.. We ducted back onto the single trail after crossing the bridge and found some REAL nice trail waiting for us.. It sure brought back some great memories of rides past!
We came out of the trail on the west side of Baldwin, rode past the spot where the “Rites of Spring” lunch wagon was set up two years ago.. Took Lake street into town and pulled into the Wesco Gas station that I had told Ted about.. I helped Larry fill his bike (no kickstand – come on Larry, get with the program!!) and then took Kadie over for some fresh “93” octane.. 2.1 gallons she had sucked down for 55 miles of riding – NOT BAD!! It was about then that Randy said “hey, I wonder where Ted is”. I said: “he is probably goofing around in town some where knowing that yahoo”. Randy pushed Kadie over to the resurant while I went inside and payed for my gas.. I walked over to the resturant after this and Randy/Larry were waiting there for me.. I looked at my watch and it was 3:15! I said; “I am getting a little concerned about Ted – I know I told him to meet us here at Wesco”. Larry said: “this is not a Wesco”. I turned and looked at the sign and SURE ENOUGH – it was a BP Station!! :yikes:
I then looked at the guys in panic and said – “is there a Wesco in Baldwin?? OOHHHHHHHMYYYYYYY!!! Randy said: “what about the Wesco down by that other trail head where we ate all of Larry’s fish 3 years ago??” I said: “no, that’s a Marathon”. Larry said: “hey, that station that you and I and Chris Huber stopped at that night that Chris lost his master link at 3 am was a Wesco”. I said: “yea, and that was here in town – I am going to see if I can find Ted – I’ll be back”. I went north about 100 feet (you read that right) and on the other side of this big fence – right next door to the BP was a Wesco :eek: I will give you the reader 2 guesses who was sitting right on the street beside the Wesco station – I was a little miffed at Timer for getting lost like that and getting me all shook up; but, I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my anger under raps. If I wouldn’t have found him before our 3:30 deadline I would have probably given him another check on my roost list.. Mr. Smarty Pants was sitting there sleeping, he acted like he knew exactly what he was doing….
We all sat down and had a replay of the early morning breakfast.. We talked about continueing north up to Carrieville. Ted and I split a large “Strombolie” (he even let me order my specialty – mushrooms, pineapple and anchovies) – Randy and Larry made pigs of themselves gulping large quantities of food and drink. We then got into a big political debate. Randy served as the moderater and Ted was the audience with Larry and I expounding our superior intellect about the war and such.. Once again, a couple hours FLEW by while 4 GREAT friends wore out their welcome at another place of peace..
Of course the clock dictated that Carrieville was not in our immediate future so we headed back south.
Larry decided to show off his riding skills while I snapped a pic off Kadies back.. Funny thing about this is that Larry NEVER does crazy stuff like high speed wheelies when I have a camera around.. This time I caught him in the act (pic 2).

 

[woodsy]

This first shot on the prior section is of LT (Randy) on his new ride. YZMAN400 told Randy to “uncork” it and Randy did. This thing runs REAL good now Don!! He told me to tell you thanks!! Of course, I prefer the peace and QUITENESS of my massive horsepower producing Kadie but Randy is VERY happy now to have something that will actually stretch your arms on demand.
At about the 15 mile mark on the return trip I come around a corner in the trail and there is that rascallion Young Ted hiding behind a tree with a camera in his hand.. I tried to put on a little show for him but he missed the photo op.. To bad too because it was at this point in the ride that Randy suggested that I pack it up and not push my luck. I guess he could see the tiredness in my eyes. I talked to him today and told him thanks for the encouragement to stop for the day.. With my hero/good friend Young Ted standing there looking at me and Larry shaking his head in an up and down fashion I knew I was out numbered. The ride was over for Kadie and I :(
After we hooked back up with the others and got their machines loaded we decided to go find the log that had given Ted troubles during our “breakfast ride” a few weeks ago. Ted was packing heat (in the form of a shovel and saw) and was ready to give that trouble maker a REAL piece of his mind.. By the time we turned into the trail just north of Minnie Pond I was ready for action too!! Once we arrived at the area that Randy and Ted knew looked REAL familiar we all got out of the rigs with flash lights in hand and started “shining for roots”.. Now I gotta tell you folks, I have been an AVID shiner all my life (I grew up in the deer woods) but I have NEVER been on a root shining expodition before!! Due to past experience with the DNR and TOTALLY unknown to my fellow “Monday Riders Group” I purposely left my flashlight in the van because I was not about to stand in front of a Judge and try to explain the antics of “root shining” :clue: Of course that is not to imply to that had the guys gotten busted I wouldn’t have shown up in court for moral support and to maybe take a few pictures – hey, what are friends for :cool: …..
As it all worked out, some yahoo with a bull dozer had already came thru and scared all the roots away so we gave it up. Ted told me later that he was going back sometime to try his luck again and I am sure he will!! Before departure, Randy made mention of PIZZA about 150,000 times.. We talked back on forth Rig to Rig on my little walkie-talkies and decided that we would all go over to Randys for movies and pizza. Somehow I got tricked into supplying both!! Of course, that’s a very small price to pay to hang around with such quality people as Young Ted del Solar, Larry Pennington and Randy Sneller (I cant believe I just said that…)
A special thanks goes out to Don (YZMAN400) from all of us. Ted asked me to bring along the tape that you/Ted/Derrick and Joe made at White Cloud so he could see it.. They all REALLY enjoyed your “evil little chuckle” as you reeled in that CRF450 on skippy – we replayed it about 10 times :worship:
After a long day I finally arrived home at 2 am. Connie (Teds Wife) called me in the a.m. to check on Ted (stayed with Randy) and by the time I got up and returned her call Ted had made it home!!
Even though I am no where near 100% I can still hold my head up and sing that ol Cowboy song that I love so well “Back in the saddle again, out where a friend is a friend…”

Ride when ya can! :ride:
Woodsy

 

[Fred T]

Woodsy

See you at trailfest maybe???

Freddy

 

[Don Marsh]

Woodsy,
Glad you are back in the saddle!
As Fred said; Trailfest?
Don

 

[INCA]

Wodsy and his "C" Of Love will be in Florida over the weekend checking out a school that Jason is interested in. There just aren't enough days to do everything.

Young Ted

 

[Tomck]

It is great to see a new Woodsy ride report! Glad you are back on your KX500. Some months back I saw an interview with Malcolm Smith where he mentioned something to the effect that riding motorcycles is a form of therapy . . .

Tom

 

[MWEISSEN]

Way to go Woodsy! Glad to see you're back on the trail and doing fine!!

 

[3KDXXR2]

Woodsy, by the sound of your report I think Kadie is glad your back in the saddle. No longer does Kadie have to watch you take a different bike out. Will we be seeing a ride report any time soon from Kadie? I have enjoyed reading all yours and Kadie's reports,. and all of the banter between you and all of your Friends. I'm Glad to hear you are well enough to ride a real bike. Best wishes on your continued recovery . Curtis

 

[woodsy]

Thanks to all for the encouragement!! It is truley a God send to be riding again so soon!
I am now gathering all the driving direction for the trip down south (being lost on the Boon on Kadie with you yahoos is a blast - being lost on the interstate with my wife is, well, lets just say, not the kind of thing that sounds like real fun to ol Woodsy!!
Ted - have fun in Ok. OK? The rest of you yahoos - ENJOY TRAIL FEST!! Remember me on those tight virgin trails up there - I'll be thinking of ya'll (got that southern accent kickin in already!!
Time to leave! :cool:
Woodsy

 

[INCA]

It’s the 18th of October,
And everyone is sober.
There is Randy, Larry and Woodsy too,
But the one not riding goes boo hoo.

This will be Woodsy’s day,
For he gets to say – “That-a-way”.
He and KADIE rarin to go,
And perhaps put on a show.

He can get lost in a hurry,
But with Father Nelson there is no worry.
We decide on a rendezvous.
If someone gets lost, you know who.

There’s that old refrain,
He has Wesco on the brain.
With the stromboli off the line,
He says he is now feeling fine.

The lunchtime conversation,
Covers the problems of our nation.
Mother Teresa’s name came up too,
Father Nelson’s name caused a big boo.

Meeting at the Newaygo county line,
We agreed would be fine.
Here Woodsy was to say,
I’ve had enough for today.

With 75 miles under his belt,
In another 13 could melt.
We loaded KADIE away,
To ride another day.

Back at the start,
The laughs were an art.
Off to Randy’s for a party of sorts,
It was four jovial and happy cohorts.

After a long day,
It was time to hit the hay.
My dreams for the night,
Were of Woodsy’s delight, - - - - BURNT SQUIRREL

Young Ted

 

[YZ165]

Glad to hear your back Woodsy!

 

[KiwiBird]

Good to read that you're back on it Woodsy!!