Parson's Mountain, SC -- Don't believe the lies.

I had to get the first post in and tell everyone not to believe a word that anyone but me posts here!! I swear that they won't give you the unbiased truth like I will :)

We had a great time today. 30 odd miles of dust and fun. Yes, Gomer fell... no, nobody got to poke him with a stick :(

I'll let the rest of the gang report what they think happened and I'll offer my unbiased corrections as this goes along :p

Ivan
Thanks guys, it was great meeting all of you. It was even fun riding with some of you who were kind enough to wait up on me.

Solo... I did bring the bike just in case. We locked in Gomer's trailer when you didn't show.

Stumpy is right about the dust but there still were a few people who could flat out haul and Stumpy was one of them :)

Scott provided everyone a lot of entertainment too but we promised not to tell ;)

Ivan

First, I am at a loss for names. I remember the faces of everyone but I don't want to throw out the names and get them wrong. I remember Scott clearly (ate a lot of his dust) and Stumpy (how can you forget a name like that <g>) and Jimbobillybob because his name is Keith.

Anyway, on with the report!!

The day started off early. I hate getting up any earlier than 10am on the weekends but we decided to meet at the trailhead at 10am so that meant I had to be out of bed by 8am :(

I had been sick all weekend and woke up with a headache. I thought about not going but I remember Jer was going and he didn't have a bike and I had promised him Jenni's DRZ for the trails. Since I had an obligation I grumpily got out of bed and loaded up.

I was on the road by 8:30am after getting gas, ice and the usual munchies. About 9:50am I am in Abbeville and Gomer calls. He was behind me. That doesn't happen often, he is usually the first and the last to leave. He met up with the other guys who were going and they weren't too far back.

I get to the trailhead at the same time as Wrench. Gomer comes in with a train of people to give us a good number of riders (12 in all I think). Larry is there (Julius Pleaser) and he has been there since 8am. He got a little confused with all the talk of meeting for breakfast.

We unload and notice immediately how dusty it is going to be. The heat is already climbing upward too. Last weekend I rode the track and I'd say that out of both days I probably only did 15 laps or less. I wasn't on my A game for sure. I was dreading the heat.

On the first loop Gomer takes off and leads. Wrench is behind him and I'm behind Wrench. I'm thinking to myself that Wrench is moving pretty good and I'm comfortable with the pace but feel I could go a little faster.

The first part is mostly rocks and sand but opens up to a really nice high speed section with some small washes and whoops here and there (not really whoops but that is the best way to describe them). I hit them flying in 4th gear and wasn't about to go to 5th yet!!

We take a break on the trail and a guy on a 1990 RM250 with a red fender shows up not wearing any goggles. Come to find out this guy is probably the fastest of the bunch. Him and Stumpy on a Yellow and Black WR426 seem to be the fastest.

As we get going again I'm in front of Wrench and he is all over me. This is frustrating as can be. I I could not shake him. The trail was fairly wide and mostly 3rd gear average. I thought I'd have the edge on him since he hasn't ridden much lately but I didn't.

We get to another break and I am surprised Wrench is still behind me. After a quick rest that had me squirting water from my water pack into my hand and all over my head to try and cool down we are off again and Wrench is all over me again.

We take it easy on the road section b/c it is fast but really dusty. Too dusty. Then we get into some tight stuff (not too tight, 2nd gear but only a few bark buster spots if you aren't careful). Wrench is right there. Then we hit one section that is maybe 10 feet wide but has foilage so it looks pretty tight. I notice it is fairly straight and I have good sight down the trail. I take off and am flying in 5th gear!! It is the fastest I've ever gone in the woods. I come to a left hander and look back and there is no Wrench!! Whooo hoooo!! I hit a few more corners, look back and he is RIGHT ON MY DAMN TAIL again!!!

We stop at the road crossing. We look at each other and drop the clutch and hit it hard!!! We hit a left hander and I feel a smack into the tire. Wrench was right there and hit me!! It didn't knock me over but I think he went off the trail a little. He was a little lost in the dust I kicked up but he was right on my tail!

We get back to camp and I am stoked. That has to be the most fun I've ever had riding with Wrench. I was totally surprised by his speed and endurance. There have been times he could keep up and even leave me a little but I've always felt I could take him if I had to. Not this time. He was riding extremely well and I'm glad too b/c we were so closely matched in speed that it was fun.

We then take a long break and head back out. Wrench and Larry sit this one out and we all promise we are going to take it slow. Well, Gomer didn't seem to like that idea because he was haulin the mail in the trees!!! I had to fall back b/c I could not stay close enough to stay above the dust. I fell back to where I could see the trail and then tried to get on it. The faster riders from earlier weren't with us this time so it was just a group of us together riding, stopping and waiting then going again.

I think it is this loop where I come around and see Gomer laying in the trail with his bike on him. He obviously slid out but he was motionless!! I got scared immediately and drove up and found out he was just waiting for someone to poke him!! The way he was laying motionless though made me forget all about getting a stick and poking the guy.

Scott on his KX showed some real speed this run. I really enjoyed riding with him b/c I felt safe at the pace we set and even with him riding close to me. At one point though I was leading (I think) and Scott was back with Gomer. Scott almost went off trail so Gomer laughed and let Scott get back in front. Gomer enjoyed watching him go all over the place into the trees :)

That loop was pretty fun but I got pumped up and a little tired. We hit the trail head pretty pooped out so were just running our mouths and bs'ing. Gomer gives me half a sandwich that Lori made. That means it has enough meet and calories to be considered a full meal :)

The fast guys are out on the loop. They do the 11.1 mile loop in 29 minutes!! Pretty freakin fast if you ask me.

We finally decide to do one last loop. We take it pretty easy and decide to let the back of the pack guys lead so they could have some fresh air. It is at this point that I realized NOBODY was slower than me. It just mattered what spot they had in the dust is all. Jimbobillybob (real name is Keith) lead on his XR400 and he was moving!! He was flying through the first section.

Danny led next and I thought to myself "I'll let him go and then catch up in a little while." I never caught him until we got to the break point. Danny really hauled without the dust in his face!!! As usual, whe we catch up to Danny, his smile is longer than the 100ft trees!!

The rest of the loop is pretty non-eventful. We take it easy as all of us are fairly tired. Gomer is behind me and he falls a few times but nothing too bad. I went off the trail a couple of times due to the dust but didn't go down. I hit a few trees and almost ate it once big time but saved it somehow.

We left the trail head about 5pm and had some din-din. I was tired and rambled on and on like I usually do when there is a lot of people around. Everyone was polite to me though :)

Overall, it was a GREAT weekend. 3 loops and about 30 odd miles. I can honestly say I love to ride in the woods more than MX but I prefer to race MX than I do race in the woods. I guess I'm just plain ol' weird. However, judging from the company on Sunday... I'm not out of place :)

It was a great group of guys and thanks for everything. Sorry I'm so bad with names but I'll do better next time!

Ivan

Originally posted bybscottr
Spode,
Did you know Mark turned a 26.5 minute lap!

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Wow!! That is fast. Thanks for help with the names. A great bunch of guys I can say for sure.

Originally posted by Julius Pleaser
Now I'm thinking that a 250F would make an excellent woods bike, but it needs a lower first gear for the technical stuff.

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I went up one tooth on the rear sprocket (49) and it is about the perfect compromise for track and trail. If all I was doing was woods I'd go with a 50 on the rear. I did that for a little while but didn't like it on the track.

Ivan

There were some holes and waterbars but no real whoops like you find at Manchester. I call them whoops at parson's b/c I can't think of a better term. They aren't braking bumps and too big to be acceleration bumps.

Stumpy, the race I'm doing this weekend is in Shelby, NC. www.jmxracing.com

It is a really tight track but a lot of fun. Practice starts at 5pm and racing at 7pm (or thereabout). I like racing at night when it gets warm out.

Ivan

Originally posted by High Lord Gomer
Honestly, there were no whoops, braking bumps, nor acceleration bumps.

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But we agree they weren't completely smooth, especially on that first wide straightaway :)

Ivan

Originally posted by High Lord Gomer
There were also some rocks, but again, with clear vision it was no problem. When I got farther back with dust hiding things, it was a white knuckle ride!

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There were ROCKS? I barely noticed since I couldn't see the ground b/c of all the dust :eek:

Ivan