June 11 Kamp KTM/Camp Chaos Ride Report!

[KTM Mike]

What a weekend! I think everyone that showed up had a rip roaring blast! As this is a rather long post, I will have to split it up into a few smaller ones. Pics will follow in a day or so.

Things started rolling Friday night when Sparkey and Diver Dog (Nate) arrived around 9:00 PM. They got set up just in time for a thunderstorm to roll through. We got a fair bit of dust control and traction enhancer along with a bunch of thunder and lighting.

By around 8:30 AM Saturday morning or so, Sparkey and Diver Dog Nate were already out buzzing around the grass track. Nate discovered that Newton was serious about that gravity stuff, when he dropped his front wheel to low landing off a jump. When I saw his bike I thought he had totally busted his handle bars off! It was only a bent mounting bolt, quickly remedied with a torch, a vise and a hammer. Our first casualty before anyone else had arrived!

Before long, others started showing up and the grass track and the woods loop was buzzing with bikes! Around 11:30 or so we had assembled a total of 12 riders; myself, Fender, ET, Sparkey, Diver Dog, Young Ted (Inca), Upnorth (Tom and Tina on matching DRZs), Mark C and YZ Dave - (Dave you just got a DRN nick name!), my sons Mark and Mitch, and headed out to ride the Atlanta B loop. 2big4aKDX was going to be late and would hunt us down out on trails. CR250r and 3 others with him would do likewise. The rest of us all rode right from the house (thank you Montmorency County for allowing ORVs on county roads!) and worked our way up the MCCT to the Atlanta trail system.

It was blistering hot and humid – miserably so. Along the way I took a dip in a small lake – nothing like a wet helmet and gear to keep you cool as you ride! From the looks on everyone’s face they all thought I was nuts…maybe so…but I sure was comfortable! Fred T had volunteered to be our Ace Gas Crew with Joel helping out (thanks!) so they met us part way out. A quick bit of gas for a couple of the bikes, some water and food. CR250rider and crew had perfect timing as they pulled in shortly after we arrived. We now had 16 riders with us.

We had some pretty quick paces up front, with frequent stops to allow some of the other riders to catch up. Tom and Tina had two way helmet communicators, so Tina could radio ahead how things were going at the other end of the wagon train – it was quite a big help actually! Some whoop sections really tired out a lot of people! I was quite happy to see how well my boys were doing as this was their first “out with the guys” trail ride – the pace was much quicker, stops shorter than what we would normally. We took a long break where the B loop cuts across to the east side and I could see my son Mark looking rather tired, his smile not quite so bright – I could tell the heat was getting to him. (as a rule, he does not deal well with heat). He had already drained his camel back - and I was worried about some heat exhaustion setting in, so we did another quick stop at another small lake – this time we had a few others decide to cool off. The smile returned to Mark’s face immediately and he was ready to roll again!

We finished off the B loop, and returned back to where Fred and Joel were. 2Big was there as well. He had tried to follow us on the B loop, but some how got lost! Shortly after we arrived, a thunder storm blew in rather quickly. We headed out in a nice down pour and worked our way back to my house. To this point I had logged a total of about 56 miles of riding – 45 on the trail system, the balance around my place.

Once back to Kamp KTM/Camp Chaos it was time to Feast! Burgers and Hot Dogs on the grill and tons of other outstanding stuff that everyone pitched in! We even had one of Ted’s famous Rum Cakes!

 

[KTM Mike]

Trouble with the DNR and Grass Track Play Time!

Unfortunately it was around this time that we had a short encounter with a DNR officer. My son hands me the telephone with a rather serious look on his face “Its some Officer something…” I hear on the other end “This is Officer (I cant recall his name..sorry). We have received some phone calls from neighbors in your area who have said that you are holding some sort of ORV event on the property there.”, “Sir, we only rode here this morning, have not been riding here for several hours”, “I understand you have quite a few people there however”, “Well Sir, I would not call it an event, I do have a few friends over doing some riding.” , “Have you acquired all the proper permits, verified that all the bikes have spark arrestors, meet sound requirements, and are all properly licensed?”, “Permits?, this is private property Sir, there are no permits required, and I am in no position to be inspecting every one’s motorcycle…this IS PRIVATE PROPERTY!”, “I also understand there will be a Smit Dog there later this evening”, “Yes, he may be be coming….wait a minute here…” , “Hey Mike this is Smit Dog!…you can relax now!” Bill had gotten me hook line and sinker! He 100% had me going, fully believing this was for real! I thought I was dealing with some A hole DNR officer! Bill was calling just to let us know he and Zach would be there in about 2 hours!

We soon had the track buzzing again with 8 or 9 bikes, with Fred T, and Mitch timing laps. Lap time were coming WAY down with each lap – and occasionally, we would see some serious dicing going on in the corners. Based on the lap times I was seeing, it was only a matter of time before my best time on the track would get shot down!

Fred T stepped up as our Race Marshall with a super idea on how to pair up the riders. Based on their best lap times, two or three riders with the closest lap times would race. Their starts would be staggered by the amount of time difference in the prior lap times, basically giving a “handicap” to the riders. If they all rode the same times as before, theoretically, they would all finish a lap at the same time – perfect way to make certain we had some bar banging in the corners! Up first was Sparkey and YZ Dave. Their times were only 1 second apart, so Fred made them do a LeMans type start – standing in front of their bike, engine off! It was a hoot to watch them scramble to get going! We had a serious race going on, with Sparkey and YZ swapping back and forth battling each other. In one of the real tight set of curves, Sparkey was in the lead pushing his KDX real hard to stay ahead of that YZ250. A sudden loss of traction and down he went! Dave snuck on by for the win.

The next group was made up of myself, Diver Dog, and Joe. I was really doubting how I would fare with this group! Joe is 14 years younger than I am, and Diver Dog - at least 18 years younger than me! Earlier, both Joe and Diver Dog had blown away my prior best of 3:11. I did get my time down to a 3:01, but Joe came back with a 2:57! The start worked out with Diver Dog having a 7 second handicap over me, and me having 4 seconds on Joe. We did a more conventional dead engine start. I worked my 250 hard trying to get up to Diver, just didn’t seem to be able to make up the time in the corners. In the straights, I was able to close up the gap a bit on Diver, and widen it a bit between me and Joe (I think my EXC’s gearing was a big plus with a higher top cog). In the corners I often had Joe right on my tail though trying to sneek by – but not quite being able to. As we approached the finish line (this was originally to be a one lap event), I could see Fred and all the others watching waving us on for a second lap. I was sooooo close to passing Diver in the last two corners – but at the end of the first lap I was about ½ a bike length behind! Just barely into the second lap I got by Diver, and so did Joe. We had us a real race going on now! The three of us stayed right on each other for most of the lap – at times a matter of less than ½ a bike length apart! Coming into the last half of the lap I was managing to nail the corners a bit harder, and was able to pull away from Joe a bit, and by the time we were down to the last 3 corners I had pulled ahead by about 20 bike lengths. Diver was right on Joe’s tail at this point, pushing him hard through the last few corners. I was rather surprised with how well that went! I just proves that Youth and Talent are no Match for Age and Treachery (and home court advantage!). I logged around 12 more miles on the grass track and the woods loop that evening, I am sure others had way more in.

 

[KTM Mike]

Sunday Ride - Hunt Creek

Sunday we all slept in a bit, but eventually Smit Dog, Inca, Sparkey, Diver Dog, 2Big and myself headed out to ride down to the Hunt Creek loop. This would be a 65 mile ride from my place. My boys and Bill’s son Zach got in some time riding around both in the woods and the grass track while we got ourselves ready to go . We squeezed a couple of gas cans and some small coolers in to the Jeep so my wife could take the boys out trail bombing with the top down and run us some gas and food to the half way point of our ride.

The ride today went rather poorly for me actually. I had pushed way to hard the day before, my legs were rather sore and wanting to cramp up and my elbow and entire right arm was rather uncomfortable. (I have been going to PT 4 days a week for a bad case of Tendonitis). Smit Dog on the other hand was ready to ride! He did have some trouble knowing left from right, but that didn’t not slow him down! He was just way to fresh! Our gas crew was waiting for us when we rolled in much later than we had planned on. What a welcome sight – some food, some gas some water to top off the camelbacks with! Smit Dog entertained us with some wheelies and stoppies, and some new stunt he did twice for us – the pictures will explain those stunts best! (he had WAY to much energy!). Once we were back up to the top of the loop and ready to head north again, 2Big and Sparkey had headed out to finish out the ride (from what the others understood – I had not rolled in yet when they left). Diver Dog was Dog Tired it seemed, and lit right up when I suggested an alternate route home (back roads!), and the rest of the group was quick to agree. So we Dual Sported it back the last 12 miles or so. Us lazy riders got back first, and waited for 2big and Sparkey to show up…and waited…and waited. Finally we decided to go look for them, found them along the way back. A bit of miscommunication – so they had waited up for us – and waited…and waited. Eventually they realized we had came back a different route, and had headed home. All told we did around 65 miles, with Smit Dog racking up several more due to that right and left trouble he has!

We had a quick bite to eat, some quick good byes and everyone headed back home. Young Ted being the ironman he is, left for the drive all the way back to Chicago after 6:00 PM! He made it home in 8 ½ hours, drive time of only 6 ¼ hours (he was moving to do that!) only a couple short naps along the way - with the vehicle safely stopped fortunately!

I did over 120 miles between the two days – made some new friends – it was nice meeting UpNorth, Cr250 and his friends, and Dave. I am sure we will ride together again! I am glad that Smit Dog brought Zach along to – I think he had a great time riding and out 4 Wheeling in the Jeep with my family. Zach you need to come ride with us again as well! Thanks everyone for the great time! I really enjoyed it!

 

[KX250MiRider]

Thanks to Mike, Sheila, Mark and Mitch

KTM Mike and family, just want to say thanks for a great time. We had a blast riding with everybody on the trail and on the grass track. Can't wait to see the pics. Look forward to doing it again.

 

[PineCone]

Thanks Mike! :) My dad and I had a great time and I hope we can do it again! Can't wait for those pics. Thank your kids (Mark and Mitch) too, I had a lot of fun riding hanging out with them.

Thanks,
PineCone

 

[fender92883]

Yeah, a big thanks to the owners/operaters/inhabitants/...inmates(?) of Camp Chaos for the great riding and great food! I had never ridden a grass track before Saturday, but I now know that it's a blast! :nod:

Thanks again! :ride:

 

[upnorth]

Thanks Mike and Sheila and kids for the great time. And food was the best. And yes we were a little on the slow side Sunday morning also. But that was the best ride I have had in 15 years.

P.S. Sheila thanks for the snack bars. They saved us on the ride.


T&T

 

[3KDXXR2]

Wow it sounds like a great time was had by all. I really wish I could have made it, spent the day sat getting ready for my sons graduation party and sunday was the party. My wife and I ended up playing volleyball in the pool with his friends til 12:00(best party ever). Well when is the next ride? Curtis

 

[meterman]

Big thanks for Big Fun!

Mike, Sheila, Mark and Mitch,
Thanks for the great time. Dave and I had a blast. The grass track was awesome and your woods loop was scary! Can't wait to do it again (need a week to recover!)

 

[INCA]

The Stephenson Family

Hosts for the weekend that are second to no one. Camp Chaos was peace and quiet; complete relaxing. The planter wrecking Metzlers dining room didn't shake a soul. It was an example of control and co-operation. To return home tired but happy is good for living.

Young Ted

 

[CR250R@WINTERS]

Great weekend

KTM Mike and Camp KTM,
Thanks for a great day of riding and eating. Sure appreciate the hospitality. The trails were a lot of fun and watching the grass track riding was fun too. Should have gotten the CR out of the truck and represented Honda. I know all of the CR250 crew had a blast and my two computer illiterate friends Eric and Joe wanted me to say a big Thanks for them. That was the first time out for them in years.

We also enjoyed meeting all the others who where there, it will be nice to have some more people to ride with in the future. Look forward to seeing you all again. Thanks again.

 

[INCA]

It was the day before six eleven,
Getting ready for trail riding in heaven.
For tomorrow we’ll be at Camp Chaos,
Where KTM Mike is part boss.

The grass track is a Kubota-beer layout,
With fun in mind is what it’s all about.
The woods trail is another tale,
Not for the meek and frail.

On gravel roads a short way,
Puts us in the woods for the day.
We’re now a group of sixteen,
And it’s too hot to be mean.

A shower from Mother Nature,
Cools us down for sure.
It is still plenty hot,
But we’re a happy lot.

Soon it’s back to the grass track,
Where the fast ones have a knack.
They have the skill to do,
That starts their time with a two.

Sunday is another day,
As six are on the way.
Heading south on the MCCCT.
Where wrong turns become key.

The talented rambunctious Smit-Dog,
Had a problem discerning a ‘tree’ from a ‘log’.
His missed turns meant extra miles,
And we rested full of smiles.

Although we got split up on the return,
It was not a serious concern.
The ‘lost’ were found,
And we got back to Kamp KTM safe and sound.

Now that Bill has made his 'official' serious phone call, he has to be Trouble Maker Number 2. Pictures I have, will not post. Why?

Young Ted

 

[2big4akdx]

Thanks to the whole Stephenson family for a great weekend. Always have a blast up there.Was great seeing/ meeting you all again.

 

[3KDXXR2]

Unfortunately it was around this time that we had a short encounter with a DNR officer. My son hands me the telephone with a rather serious look on his face “Its some Officer something…” I hear on the other end “This is Officer (I cant recall his name..sorry). We have received some phone calls from neighbors in your area who have said that you are holding some sort of ORV event on the property there.”, “Sir, we only rode here this morning, have not been riding here for several hours”, “I understand you have quite a few people there however”, “Well Sir, I would not call it an event, I do have a few friends over doing some riding.” , “Have you acquired all the proper permits, verified that all the bikes have spark arrestors, meet sound requirements, and are all properly licensed?”, “Permits?, this is private property Sir, there are no permits required, and I am in no position to be inspecting every one’s motorcycle…this IS PRIVATE PROPERTY!”, “I also understand there will be a Smit Dog there later this evening”, “Yes, he may be be coming….wait a minute here…” , “Hey Mike this is Smit Dog!…you can relax now!” Bill had gotten me hook line and sinker! He 100% had me going, fully believing this was for real! I thought I was dealing with some A hole DNR officer! Bill was calling just to let us know he and Zach would be there in about 2 hours!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: I agree with Ted , :Bill=Trouble maker :laugh:

 

[YZMAN400]

That is too funny :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Good one Smitty :cool:

 

[SGJ_Johansen]

SOunds like I missed another quality ride. There is always next year. So where are the pics I am having withdrawl again.

Brian

 

[SPARKEY]

Great Weekend!

What a great weekend!
Thanks to the Stephenson family for hospitality, food and the grass track.
The grass track YUGO races were Great Fun! :cool:

Thanks
Sparkey

 

[KTM Mike]

Hang in there for the pics!

I have been having phone line trouble at home - as in connect speeds of 4800 baud! - did not think I could possibly wait that long for pics to up load! But I brought some to work to post real quick. I would do one of the those slide show things like Smit Dog often does, but have no clue where to start! Hopefully when i have a spare few minutes I can get some posted later today.

To everyone that has extended their thank yous - you are all quite welcome! Its not like I didnt have any fun along the way!

 

[KTM Mike]

Ok a couple pics!

Here are the first two pics I can sneak in

First one is of Diver Dog doing one of the corners on the grass track. Second is of Fender doing the same.

 

[KTM Mike]

More pics

This next one is of Dave doing one of the jumps on the grass track, and the second is of start of the race between Dave and Sparkey. Note the unique starting positions! It was hilarious to watch them scramble to get on the bikes and get them started!

 

[KTM Mike]

On a roll now...some more pics!

First up is the start of when Diver, myself and Joe diced it out on the grass track. In this one Diver was just taking off for his 7 second jump on me, with me and Joe waiting our times to come up. Doing starts this was worked out super to keep us all closer together and to really have some "race" going on!

The second pic is of Joe and myself in one of the corners. My S-12's were hooking up rather well here!

 

[Smit-Dog]

A big tip of the helmet to KTM Mike, Sheila, Mitch, and Mark for hosting Camp Chaos! It should be called Camp Nirvana.... 40 acres (without a mule), grass track, tight woods loop, eXtra large toy garage, ride to ORV and MCCCT trails from your doorstep (kids too!), and a wife that not only puts up with it all, but actually encourages it! :cool:

Due to 20-some odd Brownies, a dozen or so Margarita blenders, and water volleyball at midnight (missed you Curtis!), we didn't roll into camp until around 7:30 Saturday night. Missed out on that day's ride, but caught the tail end of the grass track races. Rode it enough to know that I suck on the grass track! Maybe if Mike lined it with some trees, threw down a bunch of logs and rocks, it would feel more like home. :think: ...But he doesn't have to since there's a nice and tight mini-woods section next to the house. Now this is what all single-track ORV trail should be like! KTM Mike has the ultimate setup… you are a lucky man, mister!

Most of the group from Saturday left that evening, but we were lucky enough to hang with those who signed up for the 2-day package - Sparky, DiverDog Nate, 2Big, and Young Ted. We sat around bench racing that evening, swapping stories of gator wrestling, swamp boats, and skydiving. Sparky even showed off his new toy that he keeps next to the bed…. Says it helps him sleep at night, and his wife is much happier now. After checking out the size of the pump and hose, I can see why you need a prescription for that thing! :ohmy:

Sunday morning brought us some nice warm, humid weather. We sat around enjoying a good breakfast, giving the sun a chance to come out a little more. With the morning chill gone, Ted said “Let’s Ride!”. We took a few dirt roads for a couple miles, then hit the trail. To say I was excited and ready to ride was an understatement. Damn did it feel good to be on the bike again! I’ve never ridden the Atlanta trails before, but MAN were they fun. Plenty of rocks and roots, tacky brown dirt, and enough turns and elevation changes to keep it interesting. It was perfect, railing the singletrack under the deep canopy of the forest, savoring the aroma of damp bark, getting sprayed with wet leaves as they whacked your face and body… almost like they were saying “atta boy, keep going!”. The trail felt so good in fact, that I kept going when I should have been stopping and turning. I didn’t have Ted’s fender compass to rely on, but based on the number of missed turns, I might as well have. Heck, some of that trail was so sweet it deserved to be ridden twice! Ya, that’s it!

Some Personal Awards…

Best Comment Overheard
"Man, Ted was getting a little squirrelly… roosting and fishtailing on that dirt road back there. I'd just be worried about breaking my hip if I was his age!" :)

Best Place to Live and Ride
Camp Chaos… Where else can you ride a grass track and tight singletrack, all without leaving your property? Then to be able to gear up with your kids, legally ride down paved and dirt roads with them, and hit some sweet MCCCT and ORV trail… and still be back in time for dinner.

Best Hostess / Pit Crew
Major props to Sheila…. :worship: She graciously welcomed a motley group of dirty, sweaty, smelly strangers into her home, all with an ever-present smile and helping hand. She ran gas, food, and water out to us just so we could extend our fun a little longer, and took the boys 4-wheeling on top of it. Thank you for making the event one to remember. Zach didn’t get to ride all that much, but was stoked about riding in a jeep for the first time!

Best Inspiration
Ted drove up through the night on Friday, logging something like 8 hours between road time and nap time. He then rode all day on Saturday in high heat and humidity, got up on Sunday, and did it again. After many miles of trail and the toll that the heat takes on you, some of us younger riders were slowing down a bit, feeling the effects. Not Ted… the man just keeps going, and going, and going. No whimpering, no fanfare, no bling…. The man just rides….

Thanks again Mike for making this happen! Zach really had a good time hanging out with your boys, and Sheila made him feel like he had truly gone to Dirt Bike camp! Also had a good time riding with Sparky, Nate, 2Big, and Ted…. Let’s do it again in the fall!

Slide Show...
http://wurx.com/v-web/gallery/slideshow.php?mode=high&set_albumName=Camp-Chaos

...If anyone wants to e-mail/snail-mail me other photos I'll post them to the same slideshow

Mike: There are a bunch of photo hosting sites (i.e. Webshots, PhotoBucket, SmugMug, SnapFish, etc.). Some are free, some charge, some really cut down on the quality of the images when uploaded (compression). Check ‘em out…. Or mail me a CD with the hi-res images and I’ll upload them.

 

[KTM Mike]

Bill - Outstanding pics! I didnt get any when we were out on the trail. I am glad you got some!

I will go ahead and post a couple more here as time allows, but if you email me your snail mail address I will send you a CD. Sheila took over 150 pics on the grass track and in the woods. There is some really good stuff!

Good to hear Zach had fun! From what the boys said he really did enjoy the time in the Jeep, as well as on the grass track.

I need to second your comments about Young Ted - that man is a role model for ALL of us to follow! When we all sat there whining and complaining about to hot, to tired, to many whoops bla bla bla on Sunday - we NEVER heard a single complaint from Ted!

 

[Smit-Dog]

Mike... I sent you an e-mail to your i2k.net address.

Do you have a different work address for receiving larger images via broadband? If so, let me know, and I'll send you the hi-res pictures from out on the trail.

 

[CR250R@WINTERS]

Goggles

Mike,
I noticed that you have some prescription goggles. How do you like them? I have been having a terrible time with my contacts and am thinking of getting some of the goggles with built in lens. What brand do you have? I am looking a Scott goggles.

I think everyone is on the edge of their seat waiting to see more pictures of how much fun the riding was this past weekend. I know I am. Thanks again.

Mike