It wouldn’t be Camp Chaos if things didn’t happen that are talked about for some time. The “on reserve” bike testing of last year has yet to go away. Thanks to Aaron – leader of the Lost Brigade. Could there be a connection between the Atlanta trails and the lost city of Atlantis?
My riding plan was to tag along with Woodsy and Larry to see how much trouble could be caused. We headed west on Baker Rd. and could see that there were 5 bikes ahead of us. After two left turns, the “here we go again” get lost syndrome was evident. The five tracks missed the quick right on Hunter Rd. and kept going straight to oblivion. Larry’s license plate was flopping on one bolt, so we stopped at the pumping station to correct the situation. While there, the Brigade of Five went by, having corrected their errant behavior. Woodsy the wanderer was up to par, turning down a two track to see where it went. As such, we visited several pumping stations and made a few 180’s. Next, I hear – get us back to Camp Chaos. At the ‘dumping station’ it was go right and we soon found ourselves coming in to Atlanta. At the flasher, (the red light at M-32 & M-33), Woodsy goes right. He must have seen another kind of flasher among the Elk Fest crowd and not the east/south on the route signs. So Atlanta gets left behind as Larry opens up the VOR to clean it out and Woodsy is off on a mission.
My thought of - how long is this going to go on – is answered when Larry coasts to a stop. The VOR doesn’t want to run anymore. By now, Woodsy is almost over the next hill and out of sight. (I’m trying to be nice and not leave out the word ‘next’.) I due time he came back, headed the right way back to Camp Chaos to return with the trailer.
The day is still young, the other two head for town on the 90’s and I head north to intercept those troops. Meeting Mike and Mark before the M-33 crossing was a surprise. We brought each other up to date and carried on. When I get to Mikhail and Mitch, it is another surprise. I was supposed to be going CCW, had missed the turn and was going CW instead. Doubling back and stopping to check for fresh tracks coming out of the woods, I see the ‘recovery vehicle’ coming down the route. The driver stops and asks for directions to Camp Chaos. The plan is for me to go down the two track to the next trail crossing, check for bike tracks and head back, as it is now pushing 2 PM. I’m putting on my helmet, hear bikes coming down the route, BJ and Kurt H pull up. They had waited at the A & B split half an hour and didn’t know where the rest were. We concluded the east side of the B loop was clear of riders and headed back. We cross M-33 and there is Bill Smith coming down the shoulder with 7 others following a quarter of a mile back. After making a check that all are accounted for, it’s head for Camp Chaos. A check of my watch stopping in the yard shows the time of 2:29:45. We had been told by the counselor to be back by 2:30. Punctuality counts.
For the hare scrambles event I teamed up with Mikhail. We got in 7 laps but must have drawn low cards, I had 3 threes, and we wound up at the bottom of the standings. The biggest obstruction of the course for me was the ‘George Burns of MTR’ that was out there doing on camera interviews. Having walked the woods part with Mitch Friday afternoon didn’t give any advantage.
Sunday mornings raining and wind wasn’t conducive for heading out on the trails, so it was play around with the Pentons on the grass track and take pictures time. This was an opportunity for Woodsy to take his first ever ride on a Penton. To say he adapts to a bike easy is an understatement. It wasn’t long before DAVIE was at a 45-degree angle, on the back wheel. The last time the front wheel was that far off the ground was at Marquette when it went over backwards trying to get up a hill. Although the rain stopped, I would be getting home very late if I were to join the others for even a short ride. Since Connie had to leave for Wisconsin early Monday, it was best to pack up a head out.
Another good times session in the memory book has come to a happy contented close. If anyone has a better way to go through life, choose it.
Young Ted