Hey Folks
Been absent for a while again ... thought I'd let you know that I am still kickin' ... spent some time last night and today getting caught up on the posted news ... sure am sorry I missed this year's Kamp KTM/Camp Chaos event, the pictures and stories were just outstanding! Great job Mike ... maybe next year for me too!
I just returned from Washington State where I completed the last stages of my Commercial Driver's License training ... flew out to Spokane with my wife who visited with her relatives while I delivered a load of RV trailers to Dallas, OR as my final couple of day’s road driving before my CDL test. Had to change my driver's license from a Michigan to a Washington version as the first step ... took the standard vehicle written test, then followed with all the CDL tests for a Class A rig with Air Brakes plus those for Doubles, Triples and Tankers so I could obtain my CDL Instruction Permit under WA State ... my MI CDL Instruction Permit was not accepted by the driving school who administer the actual driving tests. Before the driving test I spent a couple more days practicing my backing skills [or attempting to improve my lack thereof] ... started with a 22 foot 16,000 lb trailer and worked my way up to a 53 footer behind an M2 Business Class tractor I planned on using for my road test.
Finally test day arrived ... spent about an hour driving my rig around in Spokane morning traffic to get ready then went into the test sight. Somehow I got very lucky and pulled off both of my backing exams with only two dings ... one for intrusion of my passenger side mirrors over the cones at the end of the 100 foot straight backing test and one for a single pull-up in the 45 degree angle alley parking test. In each case, the morning sun was especially helpful in casting a shadow off the back of my trailer so I could easily judge the correct point to stop with my trailer no further than 2 feet from the cones marking the docking point ... this part of the test was actually my most worrisome aspect and we started off doing that as the first driving maneuvers.
I got through the pretrip inspection routines for a Class A rig with Air Brakes in just under 40 minutes ... missed 6 items with 13 allowable so I passed that portion of the test as well.
The final driving test was about 1 hour in length and involved driving all over the city of Spokane ... aside from obvious items resulting in mandatory failure [traffic violation of any kind, traffic accident of any kind, failure to use your seatbelt on entry/reentry of the vehicle, running over the instructor] there were two other important mechanisms for immediate failure ... hitting any curb with the tires of the tractor or the trailer, or rolling backwards after stopping the vehicle. I took the test with the short trailer so the backing tests were harder than normal and the forward driving [relative to hitting curbs with the trailer] was much easier than normal. I managed to pass the driving tests with only 4 dings ... not using the mirrors enough, especially on the side opposite a turning radius, was one of them ... everybody gets that one because the books say you must be checking your mirrors every 10 seconds or so ... that is a lot of checking when you drive all day long ... so they ding you to help you to remember. Got another for canceling my directional signals too quickly, at least before my trailer was fully in my lane of travel ... and the other two had to do with entering curves at a speed the instructor considered too fast for a semi and assuming a right of way in an unregulated intersection [something peculiar to WA State which I have never encountered before].
I didn't hit any curbs and never rolled back despite several steep inclines where the instructor had me stop, park, get out and check the trailer, then restart motion into traffic. I was plenty nervous throughout the whole testing affair and was never more glad to see the starting point appear in my windshield after what seemed like only a few minutes on the road.
My new truck should be off the production line in early July and I expect to have it ready to go by later in that month. In the meantime I will begin hauling RVs from Goshen, IN out to WA State and horse trailers back to the Ohio vicinity next week or so using an older truck [the one I took my CDL tests in] which has become available due to a driver quitting. For the next couple of years I expect that my dirt biking will be somewhat curtailed relative to the past 4 years ... but it won't be gone. Hope to see all of you sometime on the trails ...
By the way, I have gotten the opportunity to ride in the UP twice this year already ... have ridden Sandtown several times, Silver Creek twice, and Pine Ridge/Two Hearted several times. Earlier this year Sandtown was awesome ... the bushes were not crowding the very narrow trail and due to rain, the traction was great. I have developed enough skill to actually say that I enjoy riding such a tight trail now. However, the last time I rode Sandtown [about a week and a half ago] the conditions had changed dramatically ... no rain for a considerable period had dried up the trail to where it was dusty, even in the deep forest sections ... and, the bushes have nearly covered the very narrow sections of trail in the first 5 miles or so running CCW ... this part of the trail has many obstacles like hidden stumps and logs to contend with in combination with tight, blind turns and many steep elevation changes. Under these conditions I do not enjoy the trail as much ... based on conversations with some locals who were also riding the day I was there, the bushes stay that way most of the summer and only decline with the arrival of fall ... hence, Sandtown in an early spring and late fall trail for optimum conditions. Excepting the first 5 miles or so, the rest of the trail is quite nice despite the time of year if 'challenging' is your cup of tea.
Pine Ridge and Two Hearted [western loop only ... eastern is much too whooped out for enjoyable riding] trails remain great fun in my book ... especially when wet or, as it was for us, when it is raining. These are ATV accessible trails and are therefore more open riding ... not too much deep sand, not too many whoops, but tons of bermed fun to ride at elevated speeds.
On the way up this last trip we stopped in Wolverine and rode the Tomahawk C loop during a thunder shower ... this is possibly the most difficult trail I have ever experienced! Talk about tight ... at times it seemed that my feet were on the ground more than on the pegs and I ultimately overheated my CRF-450 and had to stop twice to cool it down. If you like lots of deep sand, gnarly steep inclines coupled with extremely tight woods sections, then this C loop is your destination.
Interestingly, we stopped at West Higgins on our return from the UP and again rode in a thunder storm ... couldn’t believe the changes in the trail over just 3 weeks! We had a great time, the trail itself was in great condition ... it had been groomed again recently ... but the low hanging branches from trees were hanging down as low as I have ever seen them on this trail in the past four years of riding ... they literally beat the daylights out of you and complicated many of the 'blind' turns making them spots where you had to nearly stop to move the branches out of your path before proceeding. I hope their intrusion into the trail is largely a function of the rainy conditions rather than the norm. Didn't get any pictures from these rides as I didn't want to risk my camera in all the wet and rainy conditions.
I will keep reading your posts and if I get a chance to ride any time soon, will try to write you some notes. In the meantime, keep ridin' ... and watch out on the freeways, the next semi you see heading straight for you just might be me ... the newest, inexperienced, professional truck driver on the road.
terry nestrick :cool:
Been absent for a while again ... thought I'd let you know that I am still kickin' ... spent some time last night and today getting caught up on the posted news ... sure am sorry I missed this year's Kamp KTM/Camp Chaos event, the pictures and stories were just outstanding! Great job Mike ... maybe next year for me too!
I just returned from Washington State where I completed the last stages of my Commercial Driver's License training ... flew out to Spokane with my wife who visited with her relatives while I delivered a load of RV trailers to Dallas, OR as my final couple of day’s road driving before my CDL test. Had to change my driver's license from a Michigan to a Washington version as the first step ... took the standard vehicle written test, then followed with all the CDL tests for a Class A rig with Air Brakes plus those for Doubles, Triples and Tankers so I could obtain my CDL Instruction Permit under WA State ... my MI CDL Instruction Permit was not accepted by the driving school who administer the actual driving tests. Before the driving test I spent a couple more days practicing my backing skills [or attempting to improve my lack thereof] ... started with a 22 foot 16,000 lb trailer and worked my way up to a 53 footer behind an M2 Business Class tractor I planned on using for my road test.
Finally test day arrived ... spent about an hour driving my rig around in Spokane morning traffic to get ready then went into the test sight. Somehow I got very lucky and pulled off both of my backing exams with only two dings ... one for intrusion of my passenger side mirrors over the cones at the end of the 100 foot straight backing test and one for a single pull-up in the 45 degree angle alley parking test. In each case, the morning sun was especially helpful in casting a shadow off the back of my trailer so I could easily judge the correct point to stop with my trailer no further than 2 feet from the cones marking the docking point ... this part of the test was actually my most worrisome aspect and we started off doing that as the first driving maneuvers.
I got through the pretrip inspection routines for a Class A rig with Air Brakes in just under 40 minutes ... missed 6 items with 13 allowable so I passed that portion of the test as well.
The final driving test was about 1 hour in length and involved driving all over the city of Spokane ... aside from obvious items resulting in mandatory failure [traffic violation of any kind, traffic accident of any kind, failure to use your seatbelt on entry/reentry of the vehicle, running over the instructor] there were two other important mechanisms for immediate failure ... hitting any curb with the tires of the tractor or the trailer, or rolling backwards after stopping the vehicle. I took the test with the short trailer so the backing tests were harder than normal and the forward driving [relative to hitting curbs with the trailer] was much easier than normal. I managed to pass the driving tests with only 4 dings ... not using the mirrors enough, especially on the side opposite a turning radius, was one of them ... everybody gets that one because the books say you must be checking your mirrors every 10 seconds or so ... that is a lot of checking when you drive all day long ... so they ding you to help you to remember. Got another for canceling my directional signals too quickly, at least before my trailer was fully in my lane of travel ... and the other two had to do with entering curves at a speed the instructor considered too fast for a semi and assuming a right of way in an unregulated intersection [something peculiar to WA State which I have never encountered before].
I didn't hit any curbs and never rolled back despite several steep inclines where the instructor had me stop, park, get out and check the trailer, then restart motion into traffic. I was plenty nervous throughout the whole testing affair and was never more glad to see the starting point appear in my windshield after what seemed like only a few minutes on the road.
My new truck should be off the production line in early July and I expect to have it ready to go by later in that month. In the meantime I will begin hauling RVs from Goshen, IN out to WA State and horse trailers back to the Ohio vicinity next week or so using an older truck [the one I took my CDL tests in] which has become available due to a driver quitting. For the next couple of years I expect that my dirt biking will be somewhat curtailed relative to the past 4 years ... but it won't be gone. Hope to see all of you sometime on the trails ...
By the way, I have gotten the opportunity to ride in the UP twice this year already ... have ridden Sandtown several times, Silver Creek twice, and Pine Ridge/Two Hearted several times. Earlier this year Sandtown was awesome ... the bushes were not crowding the very narrow trail and due to rain, the traction was great. I have developed enough skill to actually say that I enjoy riding such a tight trail now. However, the last time I rode Sandtown [about a week and a half ago] the conditions had changed dramatically ... no rain for a considerable period had dried up the trail to where it was dusty, even in the deep forest sections ... and, the bushes have nearly covered the very narrow sections of trail in the first 5 miles or so running CCW ... this part of the trail has many obstacles like hidden stumps and logs to contend with in combination with tight, blind turns and many steep elevation changes. Under these conditions I do not enjoy the trail as much ... based on conversations with some locals who were also riding the day I was there, the bushes stay that way most of the summer and only decline with the arrival of fall ... hence, Sandtown in an early spring and late fall trail for optimum conditions. Excepting the first 5 miles or so, the rest of the trail is quite nice despite the time of year if 'challenging' is your cup of tea.
Pine Ridge and Two Hearted [western loop only ... eastern is much too whooped out for enjoyable riding] trails remain great fun in my book ... especially when wet or, as it was for us, when it is raining. These are ATV accessible trails and are therefore more open riding ... not too much deep sand, not too many whoops, but tons of bermed fun to ride at elevated speeds.
On the way up this last trip we stopped in Wolverine and rode the Tomahawk C loop during a thunder shower ... this is possibly the most difficult trail I have ever experienced! Talk about tight ... at times it seemed that my feet were on the ground more than on the pegs and I ultimately overheated my CRF-450 and had to stop twice to cool it down. If you like lots of deep sand, gnarly steep inclines coupled with extremely tight woods sections, then this C loop is your destination.
Interestingly, we stopped at West Higgins on our return from the UP and again rode in a thunder storm ... couldn’t believe the changes in the trail over just 3 weeks! We had a great time, the trail itself was in great condition ... it had been groomed again recently ... but the low hanging branches from trees were hanging down as low as I have ever seen them on this trail in the past four years of riding ... they literally beat the daylights out of you and complicated many of the 'blind' turns making them spots where you had to nearly stop to move the branches out of your path before proceeding. I hope their intrusion into the trail is largely a function of the rainy conditions rather than the norm. Didn't get any pictures from these rides as I didn't want to risk my camera in all the wet and rainy conditions.
I will keep reading your posts and if I get a chance to ride any time soon, will try to write you some notes. In the meantime, keep ridin' ... and watch out on the freeways, the next semi you see heading straight for you just might be me ... the newest, inexperienced, professional truck driver on the road.
terry nestrick :cool: