Home
Basic Dirt Bike How-To's - Video
Dirt Bike How-To's - Video
Living The Moto Life - Video
Bike Tests | Shoot-Outs - Video
Forums
What's new
Latest activity
Log-In
Join
What's new
Menu
Log-In
Join
Navigation
Install the app
Install
More options
Close Menu
Forums
Other Dirt Bike Discussions
Who to Ride With, Where to Ride
By Region
Northern USA
MCCCT Trail Safari Ride Report.
Reply to thread
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Message
[QUOTE="YZMAN400, post: 1084576, member: 49098"] [b]Day 5 The last stand![/b] 6:30am Wake up call. I am lying in my tent when I hear Rudy….DNR Officer….can I have a word with you! My 1st thought was….Smitdog you joker! How the heck did he find us out here? I unzipped my tent and poked my head out and actually seen the DNR out there. Woah, what the heck’s up with that? Well it turns out that you are only supposed to have a max of 4 tents on a site and we had 5, a fact that we were all vaguely aware of all week but chose to ignore. Well he was cool with it. Just made us sign up for an extra site. No big deal. Funny you can only have 4 tents but they can be monstrous tents containing as many people as you can cram in them. Go figure. Being that this was our last day I pretty much gave up on writing down a timeline so this one is gonna be pretty much from memory. We got packed up pretty quick, fastest that we had all week actually. We did a bit of quick bike maintenance like oiling chains and changing Jason’s Brake pads. I walked over to our neighbor’s campground and chatted with them for a few minutes. They had motorcycles and a campfire. Buddy! We chatted a little bit. They told me that in that county they could ride down the side of the road and that is why he was there. He could take his son and daughter down into town for gas and food. Very cool! Seems the new ordinance is working out pretty good. Once all that was finished we were on the road back to St Helens and the Peach Pit. As we made our way around Clear Lake I suddenly felt my front end start to step out. I looked down and my front tire was flat. Drats. Rudy, Tim, and Jason were in front of me. I pulled over and Rick pulled over with me thankfully. I decided to continue up the road a bit to town were there was a small gas station. We waisted no time to pull the front tire and swap out a tube. Only stumble is we had to find a metric rock to get the axle out. It was jammed in there but good. Thankfully the gas station had an air hose otherwise I would have had to start canvassing the neighborhood in search of an air pump. Rudy had the only pump in the group and he was long gone following his stomach to the peach pit. So I guess I need to add 2 more things to my list of things that I need to add to my pack. A front tube (I borrowed Ricks) and an air pump. I had Scabs tire patches with me but no air. Back on the road we finally made it to the Pit were the rest were already settled in. I am glad that they were concerned enough about our well being that they stopped and waited or came looking for us….lol Another great meal and were off again. We stopped at the Yamaha shop to see if there was anything we needed. I stopped at the parts counter to get a tube to replace Ricks. The parts guy apparently was more interested in talking on the phone to his friend about his weekend plans that he was about serving customers. The guy even walked around the corner with the phone so I couldn’t hear what he was talk about. I finally decided that sales were not that important to them and left without my tube. We headed down the road again to top off our gas tanks and we were good to go. We picked up the trail north of St Helens. We had decided the day before that in order to get back in time we had to give up the last section of trail down to Gladwin. We jumped on the cross state connector instead and headed for home. From what I hear of Gladwin we didn’t miss out on much. For a change of pace I hung out in the back of the pack and ran Sweep. Tim led the group. It was nice to get a different perspective for a change. And besides I wasn’t feeling all that ambitious this morning. At one point Rick asked me if I needed a pillow…lol This section of trail between St Helens and North Geels was pretty nice. A little woopy in spots but overall not too bad, until it happened. We came upon the bog, a nice big mud hole. It was not overly big as mud holes go, but it was sloppy. At 1st glance it didn’t look like there was any way around it as both sides were heavy brush. Tim scouted around but couldn’t find anything. Tim somewhat jokingly told me that I could go 1st. Now I was in no hurry to get myself buried in this quagmire but I then thought to myself when would I rather go thru this sucker 1st when it was virgin or 5th once it was all rutted out???? I stabbed the gas and dove in. There are some benefits to going 1st and this was one of those times. I made it thru with a liberal application of throttle and a lot of wheel spin. Next to go thru was Rick. I think he stalled his DRZ but still managed to get thru pretty clean. Rudy was next in line and I was there with camera ready to capture the action. He made it maybe 5 ft and his bike stalled. Those darn Yamaha vent tubes. They were underwater and killed the bike. I helped him drag his bike backwards and out of the mud. We got his bike started. I advised him to hit it in 2nd hear as I was wound out pretty hard when I hit it in 1st gear. Rudy’s 1st gear must me a little taller than mine as I don’t think the 2nd gear run worked out too good for him. He was buried and stalled out again due to the vent tubes. It was one of those times when the suction of the mud was not going to release his bike at all. We tried rocking it side to side to get the suction to release….nothing. We tried laying it over and dragging it out sideways…..nothing. It was stuck but good. It’s amazing how much energy a mud hole can suck out of you in no time at all. We were getting out butts whipped by this sucker. [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/rudyinthemud.jpg] >Rudy going in< [/url] [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/rudystuckinthemud.jpg] > Rudy going no further < [/url] [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/rickinthemud.jpg] > Gorp < [/url] Finally I had Rick go get his tie down straps that he was using to strap down his luggage. We wrapped one around Rudy’s forks and 2 others to that along with a toe strap that Rudy had. We then could have 4 of us pulling on the straps while Tim lifted at the back. After a few failed attempts it finally came out with a huge SSSUUCCCKKKKKing noise!!!!!! We pulled his bike up to solid ground. There was so much mud packed into the chain that it was tight as a drum and the wheel wouldn’t even roll. It just dragged along behind. We were all pretty whipped from the extraction and took a break. I cleared his vent tubes and tried to start his bike but it was flooded but good. [url=http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/tallboyswrf/MCCCT/100_0145.jpg] > Wheel Weight < [/url] Around this time Tim and Jason found the alternate line around the mud hole. It was there all along. Tim and Jason skirted the mud with ease using this line. They both got a few dirty looks from Rudy after that. Rudy finally managed to get his bike started by holding the throttle wide open. And we were off again, a little muddier and a little worse for wear. Thankfully there was a road section just up ahead to help clear the mud off Rudy’s bike and cool us off. We were all a little overheated after that extraction. Next up was North Geels trail system. That system from what I have seen is a total waste. I will never be back there. There were a few nice woods sections in there, all orv route. But those few small sections are severely overshadowed by the miles and miles of clear cutting that has gone on in there in the past. Nothing but Sand…Soft soul sucking sand. But we made due. I was still hanging out in the back and entertained myself by seeing how close I could get to Jason without getting taken out. Show him a wheel in a woop section here and there, Pin the throttle coming out of a corner behind him to announce my presence. It was fun. Somewhere along the end of the Geels loop we missed a turn. Rick was on a mission and it took Tim a while to reel him in. Rick had hanging out at the back of the pack all week but today had found some speed….lol finally back on the correct trail we were out of the Geels loop. Thank god. Next up was lots of road. Nice and boring. I did manage to get a power gel out of my pocket and get a snack while going down the road at 45mph. I got skills baby. I did have one highlight in this section. There in someone’s front yard was a huge Enjoy the MCCCT sign that was shaped just like the Mccct marks that they mark the trail with. Except this one was like 3ft tall. Very cool. I thought about stopping to say hi. The owner was obviously a dirt biker and probably would have loved a visit by a bunch of muddy, smelly, tired dirt bikers. But we kept moving. Speaking of keeping moving. About midweek we finally found our groove. We actually started making headway in larger chunks without having to wait too long for everyone. Because it is such a challenge to keep everyone moving it gets to the point that you don’t want to stop at all if you can help it. A 1 minute stop by one person to clean there glasses might turn into a 15 minute re-arrange the luggage stop. You start to feel bad for anyone that may have an issue that they need to attend to but on the other hand too bad deal with it en-route, we had to stay moving. Next up trail, Mccct trail not any of that shared ORV/Mccct trail. I liked this section, except for the fact that I couldn’t find any kind of rhythm at all in here. Finally frustrated I started going faster, luggage be damned. Guess what, it worked. The trail became much easier to ride. It’s strange how a trail can take on a totally different personality with just 5 more miles per hour. I stopped to wait for the crew to catch up and as I was leaning up against a tree I happened to look up to see this little sucker staring down at me….Hello. [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/lizard.jpg] > Peek-a-boo < [/url] Let’s see what was next…oh yea trail trail and more trail. Hey a fire station. I almost stopped to see if I could con a friendly fireman to share some cold water with us. I’m pretty sure we were all running low on water at that point. Come to think of it I am pretty sure we were all running a little low on gas around then also. We came onto a road east of 127. We were all there. We crossed 127 and we lost Rick and Tim. Now what? Tim’s addle bags again. Rudy laid down for a nap. [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/rudycatchinsomezzs.jpg] > Snzzzzzzzzz < [/url] Next up West Higgins orv loop. 2trackr if your reading this there is something wrong here with either the markings or the maps. The marks tell us to go counterclockwise around the loop while the maps and Gps say to go clockwise around the loop. We went clockwise. [url=http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/tallboyswrf/MCCCT/100_0112.jpg] >Coolin off < [/url] Higgins is one fast trail. We were huffin it thru there. We made the west side in no time flat. Back on the Mccct trail we just east of 13mile road. Tim was looking at his maps telling how we could go this way or that way…We were heading to Moorsetown for gas and food. From the back of the pack Rudy shouts out “I don’t care how we get there LETS JUST GET THERE” I think we were all running out of food, water, steam, patience, gas….you name it we were out of it. And we were off. 4:00pm Moorestown invasion. As usual we stand out in a crowd. Food gas and water were on the list. They have a nice little …. I guess you would call it a restraunt in here. Heck this place is everything. It’s a gas station, convenience store, hardware store, restraunt….Its the Moorestown mini mall. Hot food, cold drink, a tank full of gas and we were……tired [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/moorsetown.jpg] > Moorsetown < [/url] [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/rudydonein.jpg] >Rudy< [/url] [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/dondonein.jpg] > Me < [/url] [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/jasondonein.jpg] >Jason< [/url] [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/jasoncatchinsomezzs.jpg] > That’s one heavy cell phone < [/url] I was walking outside when I heard someone call my name. 1st thought is what the hell I don’t know anyone here. I look up and see fast Freddy walking my way. He was up for the weekend to get some work done for the upcoming Jackpine Enduro. We chatted for a bit and he went inside to shop the mall and the rest of us bundled up what’s left of our gear for the push to Manton. [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/CRF250X/MCCCT%20Safari/fredt.jpg] > Fast Freddy < [/url] I had kinda formulated a plan for the remainder of the trail and it had nothing to do with trail. I was done. I was hoping others would follow suit. I proposed to ride the roads the rest of the way to Manton. It was 4:00pm. I knew it was 60 miles via trail to Manton. At best that would put is to Manton around 8:00pm maybe. The rest followed suit and we hit the road to home. But even road riding had a few interesting twists. As more and more of the road maps become visible on the GPS you start to realize that that road don’t go thru there. A few detours and we were getting close to Manton. Tim tells me to lead at an intersection and we were off. I come upon a bridge I recognize. Its were the MCCCT crosses 131. There is even a dirt shoulder on the side of the bridge for us to ride. Assuming that the rest of the crew was following me I hit the dirt shoulder and on the other side of the bridge dove into the last remaining section of trail. Rudy said that it looked like Destry Abbot going thru the woops as I bombed thru the last section of trail that runs right next to the highway. I am sure the drivers on the highway were not happy with me as I pretty much obliterated the highway in a wall of dust. But you know I don’t care we were done. It was over. We hit the trailhead….and Tim and Jason were no were to be found. Crap. 1 mile from the end and we lost them again. Oh well. I guess someone didn’t understand the concept of LEAD THE WAY. Tim knew were Ricks truck was. Hope they make it there. We hit the road to get to the truck. I knew I was getting really tired in here because as I followed Rick I started daydreaming and almost ran into him twice. That gets the blood flowing. We get to the truck and there is Tim and Jason. I can’t remember whose house it was that Rick had stored his truck at but she had cold beer waiting for us when we got there. It just don’t get any better than that. [url=http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/tallboyswrf/MCCCT/100_0154.jpg] > Happy to be done < [/url] We took a few group shots and Tim geared back up for the 45 minute ride north to home at Kalkaska. The rest of us loaded up the truck and headed south to Kalkaka. I didn’t even dare to take off my boots till I got home. I didn’t want to kill us in the cab of that truck on the ride there. We hit White Cloud and unload the bikes. Rick and Jason were gonna get a shower and camp there for the night. Rick was heading home. And I had a hour ride ahead of me still to get to Muskegon. It was almost 9:00pm and getting dark. My headlight sucks. I said my goodbyes and hit the road. I thought about stopping and taking my fender pack off so it wouldn’t block the light so much but was just to tired and lazy. I managed to get home around 10:00pm. 730 miles on the odometer. I opened up my enclosed trailer and pushed the bike inside. Threw my backpack in there, stripped off all my gear and threw it all in there and locked the door. Went into the house and straight into the shower. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH………Hot water has never felt so good. It took me almost a week before I even opened the trailer up to look at how bad the bike and gear were, and another week to attempt any kind of maintenance. My backpack is still partly packed. I haven’t even got to that one yet. Still haven’t ridden the bike since the trail safari and really don’t feel the need to either. I looked at the gps info and it said that we had like 30 hours of ride time in 5 days. Man it sure seems like longer than that. Did I have fun???? Hell yes! Will I do it again???? In a heartbeat! [/QUOTE]
Verification
Which ocean is California closest to?
Post reply
Forums
Other Dirt Bike Discussions
Who to Ride With, Where to Ride
By Region
Northern USA
MCCCT Trail Safari Ride Report.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
Accept
Learn more…
Top
Bottom