Well, the Wednesday before Memorial weekend I had my final followup appointment with my orthopedic surgeon (last fall, a week after getting my new bike, I broken my collar bone into four pieces in a stupid little tipover, had surgery, long recovery, yadada...). Anyways, I was told the bone was pretty much healed so forget about it and get on with what ever I want to do. So, two days later I headed up to the UP with my son, a couple of his buddies and the one buddies father.
We stayed in a motel a little west of Brimley, which is west of the Soo. The motel backs up to national forest land and we were able to do a lot of riding over 4 days. A mixture of riding including forest roads, two tracks, and some wider single tracks. There is also a large gravel pit nearby that the boys had a ton of fun doing hill climbs.
I got to do a lot of riding which helped build up some confidence and work on my riding skills. Other then the harder then hell short seat, I really enjoyed the KTM. Switched once with my son and rode the XR250 a little but that didn't last long. Even though the KTM is 20 times more bike then I need, I really started appreciating the hydro clutch, better riding position, great suspension and ton more power.
After my mishap in the fall, I realized I could have prevented it by giving it more gas. So that became my approach with everything that weekend. When in doubt, wack the throttle. Also, a few times I got my self in a jam and a couple of the boys would help me out, prop me back up and send my sorry a$$ back down the trail. Too tall of bike, too short of rider does create some interesting situations.
Anyways, enough of my rambles. I really appreciate all the words of encouragement over the winter and I'm really glad to be riding again. Hope to meet up with many of you this summer on the trails.
We stayed in a motel a little west of Brimley, which is west of the Soo. The motel backs up to national forest land and we were able to do a lot of riding over 4 days. A mixture of riding including forest roads, two tracks, and some wider single tracks. There is also a large gravel pit nearby that the boys had a ton of fun doing hill climbs.
I got to do a lot of riding which helped build up some confidence and work on my riding skills. Other then the harder then hell short seat, I really enjoyed the KTM. Switched once with my son and rode the XR250 a little but that didn't last long. Even though the KTM is 20 times more bike then I need, I really started appreciating the hydro clutch, better riding position, great suspension and ton more power.
After my mishap in the fall, I realized I could have prevented it by giving it more gas. So that became my approach with everything that weekend. When in doubt, wack the throttle. Also, a few times I got my self in a jam and a couple of the boys would help me out, prop me back up and send my sorry a$$ back down the trail. Too tall of bike, too short of rider does create some interesting situations.
Anyways, enough of my rambles. I really appreciate all the words of encouragement over the winter and I'm really glad to be riding again. Hope to meet up with many of you this summer on the trails.