Formula for Chaos?

[KTM Mike]

What do you get when you combine 40 acres, some swamp, some woods and trees, some hills, a field, a few thousand feet of marking ribbon, around 350 arrows, 30+ people most of which with a motorcycle, one Spare Tire dog (Metzler) and one Skunk Dog (Sampson) along with some nice ORV trail and the MCCT nearby? (oh I cant forget one other ingredient...one extra-ordinarily tolerant wife - Sheila!) CHAOS – Camp Chaos 2006 that is!

Last weekend was Camp Chaos 2006. Boy did we all have fun! The weather, for the most part cooperated – saving the big rain to Saturday night.

We started out expecting just over 40 people to show up (including non riding spouses and kids etc.) ranging from 1 ½ weeks old to 78 years young. Final head count was just over 30 as several people initially expected to come along with others etc. ended up not coming. The fun started with our first arrival Young Ted and Connie, rolling in around 1:00 PM on Friday coming from the Chicago area. A couple hours later the No Brains Racing Crew; Creeper9 (aka Kurt A), and 3 of his buddys – Jay, Tyler and Tom, arrived. The bunch of us got to work on some final arrowing and ribboning of the woods and grass track sections of the Camp Chaos Fall Challenge course our little “harescrambles” would take place on Saturday afternoon. CR250@winters (Mike K) showed up around then to help out as well. It was not long before 3KDXXR2 (Curtis) and his brother in law…Dandy Andy, showed up (more of them greater Chicago area yahoos!). BJ, his wife and son arrived around 6:00 ish. Much to our surprise, at some point Mike K says “There is Sparkey!” - my response was – “Cant be.. he isn’t coming”…. But seconds later he walked in the door. Smit Dog and family rolled in right on schedule (8:30 ish) at 11:00 PM. Somewhere in there, Woodsy, Larry and Aaron rolled in as did Comrade Mikhail. We enjoyed some time around the fire pit, a few barley pops and the light off and on drizzle of rain, some bench racing etc. until 2late:30…then tried to get some sleep.

Saturday morning came to early – I was up and pounding down the coffee while I waited to see the rest of the crew stir outside. Finally I saw signs of life from all the Sleeping (not so) Beauties, with Curtis up and messing around with the fire (he is our designated fire bug). Fred T and daughter Erin rolled in, as did Asrith (Jim) and Kurt H around 10:20 am ish. Standing up on our balcony over looking the “camp area” – the term Chaos sure seemed appropriate – motorhomes, 5ths wheels , tents and travel trailers scattered across our yard…and there was Woodsy sleeping in the hammock under the stars! The weather was looking pretty nice – clouds breaking up – and NO rain!

Plan was for everyone to do a “on your own break up into smaller groups” trail ride on either the Atlanta, Hunt Creek or Crapo Creek trail systems nearby. Ted, Woodsy and Larry headed out for some dual sporting. Kurt A, Aaron, Tom and (? Tyler?) headed south to the Hunt Creek trails. Mike K was going to hang out at Camp to let his son get in some riding on his 50, as was the plan for Smit Dog’s wife and daughters, and BJ’s wife and son. The rest of the crew planned to head north to ride the Atlanta B loop.

From this point, I will relate the trail ride from my perspective . The others will need to chime in with how their respective rides went.

(to be continued - pics to come soon as well...plus some bust your gut, laugh out loud video clips from Woodsy!)

 

[crazytrails]

We Had A Blast Mike, Can't Wait For The Rest Of The Story. You Guys May Have Talked Me Into Going To Trailfest Also. Oh And Can't Wait To See The Pictures Again.

 

[LawnGnome]

I had a great time! Nice to finally be able to put face to some of the names I see here on DRN. As for saturday's ride I actually headed out with the group that rode Atlanta "B" loop which turned into a 60 mile trip! Smit Dog and Fred T made for a pair of top notch trail guides! :laugh:

Thanks again Mike and Sheila! :cool:

 

[Fred T]

I had a great time! Nice to finally be able to put face to some of the names I see here on DRN. As for saturday's ride I actually headed out with the group that rode Atlanta "B" loop which turned into a 60 mile trip! Smit Dog and Fred T made for a pair of top notch trail guides! :laugh:

Thanks again Mike and Sheila! :cool:

Yeah but the "Trail Boss" Mr. Stephenson never handed out any maps and then bailed on us to do bike repairs and said "just turn left, then right, then right, then left, then left and then right, then left then 2 rights....have fun!" Plus I had Smit dog lead and that was a mistake because he gets messed up on well laid out enduro event trail with clearly marked corners and I had to save him at Upland or he would have rode the "AA" loop. :coocoo:

 

[LawnGnome]

HAHAHA! That is the truth! What did we experience two bike deaths within the first 1/2 hour of our ride?

 

[KTM Mike]

Gnome - OK...it must have been Curtis then that headed south. Yeah, the bikes did drop early on...though Mark's bike was only a temporary delay. The one Mikhail was riding was down for the count though.

Fred - I see where you went wrong! That third left should of been a right! Actually, the fatal error was when you let Smit Dog lead!. .. or maybe some errant Elk got you off course? Actually, I had handed out maps...the night before...before you arrived! Sorry! Had I realized you didnt have a map, I would of passed the batton on to someone who did! It sounds like you still had fun though.

The rest of the story coming this evening....stay tuned!

 

[Creeper9]

Wow, the group headed south didn't experience any bike deaths. All we had was a misguided attempt at dislodging one of the many trees on hunt creek by a KTM (mine). Completely fragged the headlight, dazed me a bit, but we made it through ok.

After we turned around and came back the same way, Tom and Aaron decided to turn it on. It was fun trying to catch up to them. I could tell they we having a blast too. Aaron was riding wheelies all the time (which he doesn't remember doing?!?) and Tom was trying his best to lose him. Didn't work. The ol suzuki had a fender magnet on I think.

I do have to thank Curtis for helping me out from under my bike that day. It was a really simple tip over, but I got stuck. It was weird. If I was riding alone, I might have had to gnaw my leg off :yikes:

Can't wait to see the pics and videos again!!

The harescramble......Hmmmm, I never thought 2 hours of riding on your track would be that fun! The best part was the grasstrack. You could relax, flow with the course, and breathe again. Next time I think I might try to Ironman it, and ride it by myself. :coocoo: I'll make sure not to daze myself earlier in the day next time. :ride:

 

[LawnGnome]

I wonder if something was in the water as Kurt missed work Monday and Tuesday due to being sick and I was out Tuesday and today?!?

As Creeper said the grass track was AWESOME! I really enjoyed that section of the scramble, and with bark busters the woods section wasn't too bad either!

 

[CR250R@WINTERS]

Chaos 06 :) ………………….What can I say, it was a blast again. It was great to see you all again and to meet some of you for the first time. Hopefully we can do it again in the future. I know my little guy Justin had a blast. I have quite a few pics to work on getting on here and I would love to see all others and the videos too.

Good job Mike on the write-up so far………….someone had to get the ball rolling!! Who better than the Camp leader, that is second to Sheila!

 

[Wolverine423]

Yeah but the "Trail Boss" Mr. Stephenson never handed out any maps and then bailed on us to do bike repairs and said "just turn left, then right, then right, then left, then left and then right, then left then 2 rights....have fun!" Plus I had Smit dog lead and that was a mistake because he gets messed up on well laid out enduro event trail with clearly marked corners and I had to save him at Upland or he would have rode the "AA" loop. :coocoo:

If it was me I would have let Smit run the A-AA loop just to give him a taste as to whats in store for the future :laugh: A few gravel burns would have been the least of his concerns that day :yikes: :laugh:

DW

 

[Smit-Dog]

... Plus I had Smit dog lead and that was a mistake because he gets messed up on well laid out enduro event trail with clearly marked corners and I had to save him at Upland or he would have rode the "AA" loop.

Lead, follow, or git the hell outta the way!

Hey... We all got back on time, nobody got hurt, we had great weather conditions, packed in plenty of mileage, nobody got a ticket, AND.... nobody ran out of gas! Sounds like an epic ride to me!

:cool:

... And if you don't try to ride with the AA riders once in a while, how are you gonna get faster?!? :nener:

If it was me I would have let Smit run the A-AA loop just to give him a taste as to whats in store for the future. A few gravel burns would have been the least of his concerns that day

If the future includes arthroscopic knee surgery, I'll gladly stick to the B course and take the road rash!

 

[LawnGnome]

Lead, follow, or git the hell outta the way!

Hey... We all got back on time, nobody got hurt, we had great weather conditions, packed in plenty of mileage, nobody got a ticket, AND.... nobody ran out of gas! Sounds like an epic ride to me!

:cool:

... And if you don't try to ride with the AA riders once in a while, how are you gonna get faster?!? :nener:

If the future includes arthroscopic knee surgery, I'll gladly stick to the B course and take the road rash!

That's the truth, we put in a decent amount of miles with GREAT weather! :ride:

 

[Fred T]

Next time I think I might try to Ironman it, and ride it by myself.

Man if an old 51 year old like me can do it "ironman" then a young buck like you can. Hell I did it after having to breath through my eye lids getting my bike outta that mud bog swamp I tried to use as a passing lane around the "yard sale" boy. I was a little winded for a while but I got it going again. That first lap was crazy as I had never seen the course before and was picking my way through even on the grass track and I had creeper breathing down my neck. That hare scramble was a blast even if it rained a little, what a great work out. I was digging it all the time. :nod:

 

[KTM Mike]

Hey Fred - for the life of me, I cant find your yard sale spot! (BTW - that was Tom) I walked the entire A loop last night - no evidence of anyone major mired in the mud! I think you are just making that story up :nener:

Was it the spot beside the decking perhaps?

 

[LawnGnome]

Mike, we are waiting for you to finish the write up!

 

[KTM Mike]

Next installment....

The trail ride group I was with consisted of myself, my sons Mark and Mitch, Fred T, Erin, Smit Dog, Zach, Asrith, Kurt H, Dandy Andy, Comrade Mikhail, Jay, Tyler, (I think that was it?). We headed north up the MCCT to get to the south edge of the Atlanta B loop. As we arrive there, I notice it appears my son Mark had done some soil or bark sampling – and discover he had a throttle stick issue. So Kurt H and I stay to help sort out what was up with Marks bike. We tore apart the throttle, cleaned things up and buttoned it back up. Never really did discover the smoking gun, but made sure all was OK. About the time we finish that BJ rolls up to tell us that Mikhail’s bike broke down a few miles up the trails. We hot foot it up the ORV route to take a short cut to where Mikhail and Mitch were waiting. After quite a bit of messing around with the bike, we conclude it wont be starting. We send BJ and Kurt H off to chase down the rest of the crew and tell them what is going on, and Mark and I head south back to home to get the truck. Mikhail and Mitch wait it out on the trail side. As our ride had been progressing to this point, the weather was steadily improving to a beauty of a fall day – warmer than what we expected, decent amount of sunshine and zero rain!

As Mark and I head south, we come across Young Ted heading north along the MCCT west of M-33. He tells us that the VOR Larry was riding died – so he and Woodsy were back to camp. He was heading north to find the rest of us for some more fun. We relate the tale of Mikhail’s bike and off we go. I end up getting the truck up to Mikhail and haul him and Mitch home. As we head south on the ORV Route (I sure am glad no one came hauling a$$ around a corner as we drove along in the truck!), we come across Ted again, at an intersection of the B loop and the Route. To that point he had not came across the rest of the group and was trying to figure out where in the world they had all gone! By this time, they easily should have made it well past that intersection – yet there was only one set of tracks on that trail. Hmmm – what is it with people getting lost on the Atlanta trails? Ted decides he will head north on the B loop in the opposite direction we are expecting the other group – and would turn around if he did not find them before to long. The boys and I head the truck back to home.

We arrive home to a fairly serene scene – the ladies and some of the kids playing outside, Mike K enjoying all the beautiful company ;) . The little ones had all gotten out for a ride, and one unexpected bit of swimming in the creek by one. Evidently some confusion in directions to the easy two track back in the woods resulted in Smit Dog’s wife and daughter attempting to follow the arrows laid out for the hare scrambles course. They did an amazing job getting as far as they did – the trail they ended up on was by no means a beginners trail! Evidently the smaller narrow bridge on the south east end of the woods loop got the best of poor little Mckenzie resulting in a brief dunk. No injuries, but certainly a rude awakening! She was a real trooper with a smile already back on her face by the time we returned (so sorry about that Mckenzie – next time we will make sure you find the right trail!)

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we soon see Ted, BJ and Kurt H come rolling down the driveway…but initially the rest of the crew was not in sight! Oh oh…clearly another episode of “ Lost in Atlanta” had played out. But, within seconds here comes the rest of the crew – right on time with the planned on 2:30 PM return to prepare for the hare scrambles! Smit Dog and Fred must have been running some time keeping equipment! The story as I understood it from the “Lost in Atlanta” crew, was a warped tale of missed turns, and being abducted by some genetically manipulated Elk that were planning an assault on the Elk Fest festivities going on in Atlanta that weekend. With the cunning of Fred T and Smit Dog as trail leaders (after I had bailed to address the throttle issue), they somehow escaped the Elk commandoes all resulting in a 45 mile ride becoming nearly 60 miles! Seeing they still got back exactly on time they evidently made some good time. They will spin their version later I am sure!

We gathered up the group, did some housekeeping/organizing for the “harescrambles” and sent everyone off to get themselves and their bikes ready for the Camp Chaos 2nd Annual Fall Challenge! I put “harescrambles” in quotes, as we got kind of creative with how we did it. Riders were split into two groups – A and B. A for experienced riders, B for Beginners. The course had two spots where the A and B riders would split up, then later re-join, challenging the A riders with a bit longer loop and some more technical trail than the B riders would see. I never did get a solid mileage reading of either loop, but I think the A loop was around 3.7 miles, the B loop something shorter than that…3 miles or less. The loops both had about 1.25 miles on the grass track, with the remainder in the woods including some hills, some swampy areas, off camber stuff, some rather tight sections, and some more open woods trail, two small bridges over the creek, and an area of decking over some deep muck.

In addition to the A and B class, the riders would also be able to choose to ride as a team of 2, alternating laps – teams could be mixed A or B riders, with each riding their respective loops. All but 3 or 4 riders teamed up, with those 3 or 4 riding solo. The event would go on for 1 ½ hours.

So far nothing to creative here…BUT..how we would score would be! We wanted to make sure the younger, less experienced riders, or simply those with a slower pace would see this as it is intended – strictly for fun. With that in mind we devised a point earning scheme (thanks to Creeper9’s suggestion), where each lap a rider would draw a card. A point value was assigned to each card. At the end of the event, the rider or team with the most points wins! So, if you are fast, you get more laps in – more cards, more points…but then again, you might only get small value cards. Team riders would change riders at the point where the team mate on the trail touched the cards as they drew at the end of their lap.

The riders grouped up under the large Penton banner provided by Ted, along side the KTM Banner provided by Kurt H. (it almost felt like a "for real" race.) A riders in front, B riders behind them. Team mates not yet riding gathered up to the side as their team members did their first lap. At the sound of the dinner bell, (thanks Larry for being our Bell Ringer!), the riders took off. I am not exactly sure who got the holeshot – it was Aaron or Smit Dog I think. Fred T was not far behind, followed by Kurt A, then myself.

My most memorable lap was the first lap. Early on, Kurt bobbled, I got past him and tucked in behind Fred. I was kinda proud of myself as I pretty much stayed on Fred’s tail for the entire lap – until I realized that Fred was riding solo, was seeing the trail for the first time, and was most certainly pacing himself! (Fred is a dramatically faster rider than I am – plus I guess I do have a home turf advantage!) Near the end of the first lap, I came across Smit Dog trying to help out BJ who was tangled up in a tree (BJ rode B loop solo, and had gotten ahead of us). I paused there for a second, realizing Smit Dog had it covered, as I think Kurt A got past me, perhaps a couple of other riders. I ripped on through the grass track, rolled into grab my first card – a 7. As I did this my son Mark headed out for his first lap.

I sat there waiting for Mark to complete his first lap, and I would see others coming out of the woods. B riders mixed right in with the A riders. It seemed the B loop was doing exactly what I had hoped it would – keeping the B riders in the mix having fun. Mark rolled in at the end of his first lap looking good and a smile on his face. On my subsequent laps, on a couple of occasions I got hung up behind some other riders, would get clear of them to get dumped into some brutal tight slow trail (who was the idiot that laid this course out anyhow?), to come out of that section with the same rider waaaay ahead of me! I came across Woodsy out there with his camera playing Mr. ESPN announcer dude. A smile would come to my face as I saw the various signs Ted made like “Camp Chaos Interstate” – on a 1st gear, walking speed section of trail, or Sampson’s Swamp, Metlzer’s Marsh, Elk Crossing and others. Each lap I would realize I was still ready to keep riding when Mark would head out for his turn. I think I was pacing myself way more than I needed to! But actually, that was fine – I was there for the fun!

It did start a light rain or drizzle at some point – never enough to be a problem really, but certainly enough to make a mess out of your goggles! At the end of one of my laps, as I approached the “card table”, I guess I was just so focused on riding, I did not really see it until the last second – skidded the bike to a stop sideways stopping inches from Smit Dogs wife! Sorry Mrs. Smit Dog! Did not mean to scare you so bad! I had no crashes during my ride. Mark lost the front end once out on the grass track, but otherwise remained upright. I did see him get in at least one nice pass on the grass track to – stuffing a corner rather well! Mark and I did a combined 7 laps. I think the most laps was 8. It was interesting to see how the lap totals were pretty consistent even on teams with mixed A and B riders – really showing how well the B loop cut offs equalized the lap times with the A riders.

 

[LawnGnome]

Great write up Mike! It was quite and experience getting to sit on the front fender of a KTM during that last part of the woods section! :laugh:

My appologies to Mrs. Smit-Dog as well..This smilie is pretty much the face she made everytime I came flying up to get my card. (Mrs. Smit-Dog = :yikes: )

 

[Fred T]

Hey Fred - for the life of me, I cant find your yard sale spot! (BTW - that was Tom) I walked the entire A loop last night - no evidence of anyone major mired in the mud! I think you are just making that story up :nener:

Was it the spot beside the decking perhaps?

Mike
Just after the first bridge once into the woods into the tighter off camber slick rocky section I ended up going off the right of the trail in that swampy area where you had put the cut down trees. i had to get the bike over all of them and back up to the left and back on the trail. :uh:

 

[KTM Mike]

Mike
Just after the first bridge once into the woods into the tighter off camber slick rocky section I ended up going off the right of the trail in that swampy area where you had put the cut down trees. i had to get the bike over all of them and back up to the left and back on the trail. :uh:

Damn...you got it in a REAL bad spot!

 

[KTM Mike]

Great write up Mike! It was quite and experience getting to sit on the front fender of a KTM during that last part of the woods section! :laugh:

My appologies to Mrs. Smit-Dog as well..This smilie is pretty much the face she made everytime I came flying up to get my card. (Mrs. Smit-Dog = :yikes: )

Yeah, I guess I was kinda pushin ya there a bit wasnt I! I almost deliberately bumped ya just to scare you outta the way...but decided that would not be very sportsman like conduct! :p

That is pretty much the way she looked when I came in that one time. After that I veeeeery slooooowly would creep up to her! Dont want big Bill mad at us ya know!

 

[KTM Mike]

Installment # 3...

After the hare scramble was done, the group cleaned up a bit – I got in a brief ride on the Penton that Ted had hooked me up with. Then Woodsy got his time to shine handing out trophies to everyone. The look on some of the little kids faces when they realized THEY were getting a trophy was absolutely priceless! I would relate who took what place – but it seems the piece of paper the scores were written on is uh…misplaced! I do know that my son and I took first place though – we had some real lucky cards. Jokers were worth the most points – and we got one…plus 2 kings. Anyhow, our good luck moved us to the front of the pack (really! NO favoritism was played out!). Ted had some gag gifts to award as well. On particular hit was the T-Bone award presented to Mike Mauer in absentia. Around this time, the rain picked up. Group gathered up under the covered porch, and later resorted to putting a large screen tent on the deck in front of the porch. With the deck, and porch full, the over flow came into the dining room. A BUNCH of bench racing and story telling was the order of the remainder of the evening. Later that night the skies opened up…major down pour for quite some time. We were quite lucky all that rain held off until when it did.

Sunday morning started out rather rainy and dreary. Some of the crew got their bikes out and cruised the grass track and woods. Ted and I played around on the Pentons. Riding a Penton along side Ted was a real highlight for me! I could not get that big fat grin off my face! Woodsy played around showing us his wheelie riding expertise – riding some rather long ones on Ted’s Davie even. The Smit Dog family decided to head home, as did the No Brains Racing crew, Sparkey and then Ted and Connie, followed by Woodsy.

The rain had tapered off so Curtis, Andy, Larry. Mikhail, Aaron, Kurt H and myself headed out for a trail ride. Again we were rather lucky in missing any rain. We had a light drizzle for the first few minutes, and the last few minute – other wise no rain! As the last vehicle was pulling out the driveway, we saw some sunshine peeking through the clouds. (BTW – Aaron – how did that tire hold up?)

Another Camp Chaos was in the history books. I think everyone had a great time. So this is the end of my story telling – everyone else can fill in some blanks!

I will start messing around with some photos to post soon as well. Hey Smit Dog – any luck in stringing those video clips together? Even if not, can you post some of them individually? I am band width impaired so it really is not an option for me to post them.

 

[Smit-Dog]

Stay tuned to this thread.... I'm currently in the editing room....

While Woodsy provided A LOT of footage, most of it is :blah: :blah: :blah:

 

[LawnGnome]

I'm curious to see the photographs that Sheila took on Mike K's camera as well!

 

[Creeper9]

Woodsy :blah: :blah: :blah: ? No way...... :nener:

 

[CR250R@WINTERS]

Pics

I do have some good pictures to share. I just sent a few special ones to Mike and SmitDog, hopefully they can post a few of them for us. I am not the savy :( . I wanna see more pics too.