- Aug 26, 2002
- 645
- 0
whoops - 1. n. a row of several mounds of dirt or sand on a trail. 2. interj. a word used to express regret or apology.
mud - n. a mixture of sand or dirt and water that can become very slippery and/or sticky.
puddle - n. a small pool of water on the ground
swamp - n. a wet lowland region
insane - adj. absurd or foolish
What do all of these have in common? The Gladwin ORV trail!
Need I say more? Yes? OK fine, have it your way...
Every time I ride at Gladwin I am reminded how much I hate riding on that trail. 100% deep sugary sand, more whoops than most people could think possible, and there are usually several puddles and swamps to traverse. But, for some reason, something short-circuits in my brain when I really get the itch to ride and apparently I forget all about this special hatred I have for this particular ORV trail and say, "hey, let's ride Gladwin!" :uh:
Anyway, few days ago I got a serious itch to ride. I live only a 45 minute drive from Gladwin, so I figured maybe I could hook up with my neighbor Chris (crb) and we could head up there for the day. He told me that he had already been planning a ride up there with his wife's cousin (also Chris if I remember correctly), and that he'd gladly allow me to tag along.
So, Chris shows up at my house at 11:45 AM today, we load up my bike and gear and head out for Gladwin. It's a beautiful day, 70's and sunny. Soon after arriving and unloading my bike I notice that something is missing from my gear box..."Whoops! I forgot my boots!" :bang: Luckily Chris was generous enough to let me drive his truck back to Bay City to get my boots while he and his buddy headed out onto the South loop. I get back at 2:30 and I see my worn out riding buds resting. Apparently the South loop should be nicknamed the "South Whoop".
I unload and gear up, give my KDX a couple kicks and she anxiously fires up, ready to rip! We head out onto some 2-tracks to skip over a swamp at the beginning of the North loop. Surprisingly there were very few whoops. Unfortunately two of my oldest trail nemeses are abundant here: puddles and mud. No wonder I always hate riding Gladwin. I decided that I'd just play it safe and not try to ride too fast today, I really didn't feel like drowning my bike or ending up in the hospital, so my hope of living out my week's worth of "ripping" daydreams came to a screeching halt. Oh well, I figure I can still have a good time (as good of a time as I can have at Gladwin, anyway) without trying to race. 10 miles into the ride we come to a swamp that we really don't feel like challenging. Not only that, but there is some thunder in the distance. "Oh great, now I get to ride through a muddy swamp in a thunderstorm..." :| We turned around and started heading back. I was bummed that I didn't get to have much of a trail ride, but what could I do?
Now, as I said earlier, when I really start to itch for saddle time, something short-circuits in my brain. Apparently the same sort of thing happens when I get soaked with rain. For some strange reason, with the downpour of rain, the slippery, rutty mud and the long, swampy puddles, somewhere along the way I actually start having fun. Not just a little fun, a LOT of fun. Fun like I never had in a similar situation on my Honda. Actually, I never experienced a similar situation on my Honda, or any other time for that matter. I always hated mud, puddles, swamps, sand, etc. on my Honda, but for some reason those muddy, slippery, rooty areas became surprisingly enjoyable! I don't know what it was, but I was having a blast! Maybe it was because my KDX can ride in this stuff with ease. Maybe it was because I was too soaked to care anymore. Maybe it was because we only rode for 20 miles. Maybe it was because I really had gone insane. Whatever the reason, when Chris turned to me and said, "this must be your worst trail ride ever," my response was "actually, I'm having a GREAT time!" :yikes:
Maybe Woodsy was right when he said all dirtbikers are sadistic...
EDIT- It was actually 70 Marlin who stated that all dirtbikers are sadistic. Maybe I better do some research next time I plan on quoting somebody! ;)
mud - n. a mixture of sand or dirt and water that can become very slippery and/or sticky.
puddle - n. a small pool of water on the ground
swamp - n. a wet lowland region
insane - adj. absurd or foolish
What do all of these have in common? The Gladwin ORV trail!
Need I say more? Yes? OK fine, have it your way...
Every time I ride at Gladwin I am reminded how much I hate riding on that trail. 100% deep sugary sand, more whoops than most people could think possible, and there are usually several puddles and swamps to traverse. But, for some reason, something short-circuits in my brain when I really get the itch to ride and apparently I forget all about this special hatred I have for this particular ORV trail and say, "hey, let's ride Gladwin!" :uh:
Anyway, few days ago I got a serious itch to ride. I live only a 45 minute drive from Gladwin, so I figured maybe I could hook up with my neighbor Chris (crb) and we could head up there for the day. He told me that he had already been planning a ride up there with his wife's cousin (also Chris if I remember correctly), and that he'd gladly allow me to tag along.
So, Chris shows up at my house at 11:45 AM today, we load up my bike and gear and head out for Gladwin. It's a beautiful day, 70's and sunny. Soon after arriving and unloading my bike I notice that something is missing from my gear box..."Whoops! I forgot my boots!" :bang: Luckily Chris was generous enough to let me drive his truck back to Bay City to get my boots while he and his buddy headed out onto the South loop. I get back at 2:30 and I see my worn out riding buds resting. Apparently the South loop should be nicknamed the "South Whoop".
I unload and gear up, give my KDX a couple kicks and she anxiously fires up, ready to rip! We head out onto some 2-tracks to skip over a swamp at the beginning of the North loop. Surprisingly there were very few whoops. Unfortunately two of my oldest trail nemeses are abundant here: puddles and mud. No wonder I always hate riding Gladwin. I decided that I'd just play it safe and not try to ride too fast today, I really didn't feel like drowning my bike or ending up in the hospital, so my hope of living out my week's worth of "ripping" daydreams came to a screeching halt. Oh well, I figure I can still have a good time (as good of a time as I can have at Gladwin, anyway) without trying to race. 10 miles into the ride we come to a swamp that we really don't feel like challenging. Not only that, but there is some thunder in the distance. "Oh great, now I get to ride through a muddy swamp in a thunderstorm..." :| We turned around and started heading back. I was bummed that I didn't get to have much of a trail ride, but what could I do?
Now, as I said earlier, when I really start to itch for saddle time, something short-circuits in my brain. Apparently the same sort of thing happens when I get soaked with rain. For some strange reason, with the downpour of rain, the slippery, rutty mud and the long, swampy puddles, somewhere along the way I actually start having fun. Not just a little fun, a LOT of fun. Fun like I never had in a similar situation on my Honda. Actually, I never experienced a similar situation on my Honda, or any other time for that matter. I always hated mud, puddles, swamps, sand, etc. on my Honda, but for some reason those muddy, slippery, rooty areas became surprisingly enjoyable! I don't know what it was, but I was having a blast! Maybe it was because my KDX can ride in this stuff with ease. Maybe it was because I was too soaked to care anymore. Maybe it was because we only rode for 20 miles. Maybe it was because I really had gone insane. Whatever the reason, when Chris turned to me and said, "this must be your worst trail ride ever," my response was "actually, I'm having a GREAT time!" :yikes:
Maybe Woodsy was right when he said all dirtbikers are sadistic...
EDIT- It was actually 70 Marlin who stated that all dirtbikers are sadistic. Maybe I better do some research next time I plan on quoting somebody! ;)
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