The 5, 40 and 80 MCCCT Ride

[KTM Mike]

The 5, 40 and 80 MCCCT Ride (Michigan Cross Country Cycle Trail)

I will be posting this in multiple installments so hang in there for the rest of the story as time allows....Pictures will follow in a few days as well.

>>>>>>>>The Plan>>>>>>>>>

The 5, 40 and 80 MCCCT Ride.


Over Memorial Day weekend, Young Ted, myself and my two son’s did a bit of riding – 650 ish miles worth – doing the MCCT in 5 days.

All of the credit for planning this ride goes to Ted - that man has every single detail of every ride he has ever done memorized – I swear he does! Plus – he had detailed notes from when he rode the MCCT about 5 years ago. This ride was a combined celebration of 3 events. The 5th anniversary year of Ted’s first MCCCT ride, the 40 anniversary of Penton Motorcycles, and Young Ted’s 80th year.

From comments from Ted early on, it was clear he intended to ride his 1977 Penton GS6 250. I assumed I would ride my 2005 KTM. Then I realized this was the perfect chance for an epic Penton ride – so my plans changed to riding my 1976 Penton Cross Country 250 (which Ted was the prior owner of for the previous 30 years!), my son Mitch on his 2003 KTM 200 MXC, and son Mark on his 1999 Kawasaki KDX 200. My 2005 KTM 250 EXC would be on the trailer as a back up bike in case one of our bikes broke down. All our bikes were plated and “road legal” to the typical extent such bikes are made legal.

Initially, it was to be just Ted and myself. Then the idea for my son’s Mark and Mitch to join us came up. We eventually concluded that Ted, myself and my older son Mitch would ride the entire thing, while my younger son Mark, would have to miss out on some of it as he would not have his drivers license in time. Ted’s wife Connie, and my wife Sheila, would run gas to various locations along the way. We would on occasion have to load up Mark’s bike on the trailer to allow him to bypass road sections. We were staying in motels near each day’s end, trailering from the trail to the motel, and back to where we left off for our start the next morning.

Our itinerary was as follows:

Day 1 Thursday: MCCT Parking lot west of White Cloud on M-20 to M-55 crossing west of Cadillac. 142 Miles

Day 2 Friday: M-55 Crossing West of Cadillac to Boyne Falls area (corner of Baker Road and Camp 10 road just outside of town). 142 Miles

Day 3 Saturday: Boyne Falls area to just south west of Atlanta (it was rather nice having one night of our trip ending at my own home!) 118 miles

Day 4 Sunday: Atlanta to West Branch area (southernmost MCCT crossing of Fairview Road). 108 miles

Day 5 Monday: Cross State Connector - West Branch area to Fife Lake area (where the Cross state Connector re-joins the west side of the MCCT just west of Highway M-113) 130 miles is what we had planned for – somehow our actual came in at 144 miles.

 

[KTM Mike]

Day 1: A BAD WAY TO START A BIG RIDE!

We met up with Ted and Connie at the starting point at 7:00 AM, got our bikes unloaded, geared up and ready to roll. YZMan showed up on his V-Strom to send us off as well. We all said our good byes, fired up the bikes, and head out of the parking lot…almost. My Penton died literally 10 feet onto the trail! Could not get it to start for the life of me. I drafted YZMan into helping me attempt to bump start it (Thanks!) – no luck. I assumed it might be a simple fouled plug. I grab my pack looking for the spare plugs and plug wrench. . . nowhere to be found. I soon realized I totally forgot to put on my fanny pack – where was it I left my brain that morning? So, we put in a new plug – still no luck, even with more bump starts. YZMan’s tongue was hanging out before we gave up – I thought he needed the exercise. We fiddled with it some more without success. As much as I did not want to, I knew I could not delay our departure any more, and reluctantly decided to park the Penton, and unload my “back up bike” I had brought along just in case. I will fess up on why the Penton did not want to run later on. So, I fire up the EXC – to have it die! Another spark plug swap, and I was good to go. I had recently been messing with some jetting changes, and had not swapped in a new plug since then. I should of known better, but I really did not expect to be riding the EXC.

Finally we were on the trail for real. Ted was quite familiar with these trails and set a pretty steady pace all day long. For the majority of this day, the trails were in rather good shape showing signs of regular grooming and maintenance. The farther north we went, the deeper the sand seemed to become. Once into the Lincoln Hills trails, I noticed we were part of only a few bikes that had been down the trail since being groomed as I could still see the marks from the groomer in the sand in spots. Whoops were not bad at all until the last 10 miles or so. This day had a fair amount of road sections, two tracks and faster ORV trail and route. The last 10 miles found us on Woodsy’s Beloved Boon Trail – some fairly tight, whooped out single track. Minus the whoops, it would have been a blast to ride. The boys and I had the honor of seeing the spot where Ted and Woodsy met some 5 years ago during Ted’s first MCCCT ride, stopped for some pictures along the way. By the end of the ride, we all seemed to be feeling pretty good, though that last whooped out section was pretty tiring. Mitch commented that his bike just did not seem to be handling well – all over the trail. I did see him crash a couple times in corners, and was wondering what the issue was. As we loaded the bikes up, we discovered Mitch's bike had a flat front tire!

Before we could take on fixing the tire, the kids insisted on eating. We found this little family restaurant (Da Dog House or some such thing) attempted to fill the bottomless pits – and discovered the world’s neatest bathroom urinal. It was more like a garden water feature than a urinal – really – I swear it was. I sure hope that was the urinal…oh oh…now I am a wondering.

By the time we were done with dinner we found ourselves putting a new inner tube in by flash light in the motel parking lot. I was quite happy we had no pinched tubes. Finally got to bed around 11:30 PM. Way later than I had hoped – but that is the way it goes.

Prior to this day, the longest day I had ever put in on a dirt bike was around 120 miles – and for my kids, 80 miles. We were all quite happy to see how well we were doing by the end of the day given that we all had exceeded our previous longest days by a large margin. Day 1 was behind us, and once the Penton issue was set aside, went rather well.

 

[KTM Mike]

Day 2:FANTASTIC single track,fun two tracks, meeting Wrong Way Willie

Day 2: Some FANTASTIC top quality single track and fun two tracks, meeting up with Wrong Way Willie.

A late start once again (which would become our norm), but we all were feeling quite good. The weather was perfect – a tad cool initially, then warming up nicely, but still comfortably cool. In the road and higher speed sections, you appreciated wearing a light windbreaker.

We rode a few more miles on the Boon trail north of M-55 would then take us to single track heaven! Some absolutely outstanding single track trail! It was like event trail that was well burnt in, but had not yet been used in an enduro – nice and flowing, no whoops, no chop – nothing technical, but a rip roaring blast to ride. On top of the great trail, the scenery was great – some hill sides with views down through the trees in a mature hardwood forest, trillium flowers on the ground. I could of ridden that section back and forth for days on end. At one point I almost crashed as I was goose necking taking in the view. Occasionally, Mitch and I would sit and wait for Ted to get well out ahead of us, then rip on ahead.

I could tell The Energizer Bunny was feeling good to – I could see him ahead flowing along the trail making that old Penton do what it was built for. After this we would have a fair bit of road sections, mixed in with more trail and two tracks. At one point we found what must of very recently been re-located trail – I could see markers on the trees, but barely a mark on the ground. Riding that little section (quite short actually) reminded me of riding on a very early minute in an enduro riding arrow to arrow. Soon, we found ourselves riding part of the Leetsville trail system. Leetsville was in great shape, appeared to be recently groomed. With the Poplar trees in full bloom, the ground would be covered with the white fuzzys (sorry don’t know the technical correct name) so well, it appeared we were riding through a fresh dusting of snow. Leetsville trail soon lead into the Kalkaska trails – again in great shape. All of us had ridden Leetsville and Kalkaska several times, so our familiarity kept us on track and making good time.

North of Starvation Lake after where the trail crosses Mancelona road, Wrong Way Willie appeared for his first bigger role. Willie is one of those characters that can lead an unsuspecting group of riders astray rather easily. At first you can just barely catch a glimpse of him – standing there at a trail intersection, pointing the wrong way. These faint glimpses you usually realize the correct way pretty quickly. Then, sooner or later, you see him in a big way – there he is clear as daylight – pointing what ever way is the opposite of the way you are supposed to go. For some reason, even though you know you should go to the right, you go the way Willie is pointing. In some cases, Willie goes as far as removing trail markers just to confuse you further. If you are lucky, the 3rd or 4th rider in your group realizes what Willie is doing, and gets the first couple of riders headed the right way quickly – other times, Willie somehow fools all of you – and you find your self quite a ways down the wrong trail before you figure it out. We would meet up with Wrong Way Willie multiple times during our ride.

Anyhow – in this first big instance, Willie clearly had removed some trail signs. The two track we were on came out on the corner of a road – which of course had no road sign. Across the road was a snowmobile trail running parallel with one of the legs of the road, with one MCCCT marker on a nearby post. What was not clear was did the trail run down the road? Or did it run down the snowmobile trail? We assume the snowmobile trail – yet see no markers. We decide to ride down it a mile to see if we can see some markers later on – no luck. Back to the corner. We look down the road – no markers there – just the one lonely marker across from the trail. Ok – time to man up and ask for directions. There was a carpenter working on a nearby house – he should know. I walk over, and ask – “what road is this” “uh, I don’t know”, “is this Scholl road?” (which is what the map seemed to suggest we should be looking for), “go down to the end of the potato field, that is where Scholl Road is.” I thank him and let the others know. We ride down the road to the end of the field to see that Scholl road was the road we were on to start with! Clearly, Wrong Way Willie can even alter the memory of unsuspecting locals!

One thing I enjoyed was riding through various road crossings I have seen in the past, from the road. I had always wondered just what the trail was like as i would peer into as I drove on by. Now i know! A few spots I was quite suprised to realize how close they were to other trails I had ridden before, but never ventured down the MCCCT section. One example of this was from the ORV trail north of Starvation Lake crossing Mancelona Road.

Later in the day, as we approached the Boyne Falls area, we were on a twisting turning little back road in the hills – again some great stuff to ride. It was here I decided I need to really do some dual sport riding. I was having a blast. Of all our days, if I had to pick one full day as the best day, I would say it was our day 2.

We checked into our motel, a bit of a dive, but all I needed was a bed, a nice hot shower and something to eat. Down the road a bit for some pizza for dinner – with some left overs packed for lunch the next day. It was a great day. All of us ended feeling great and ready for more. Connie did another fantastic job meeting up with us for the gas stops. No mechanical issues this day. Life was good, and we were all happy bikers.

 

[YZMAN400]

One reason why I don't clean DAVIE before it goes on display anywhere

Obviousely because as you started up Davie a bunch of dirt fell off the bottom

We all said our good byes, fired up the bikes, and head out of the parking lot

==> picture

My Penton died literally 10 feet onto the trail! Could not get it to start for the life of me.

I grab my pack looking for the spare plugs and plug wrench. . . nowhere to be found. I soon realized I totally forgot to put on my fanny pack

==> picture

As much as I did not want to, I knew I could not delay our departure any more, and reluctantly decided to park the Penton

==> picture

and unload my “back up bike” I had brought along just in case. So, I fire up the EXC

to have it die! Another spark plug swap, and I was good to go

All of the credit for planning this ride goes to Ted - that man has every single detail of every ride he has ever done memorized – I swear he does! Plus – he had detailed notes from when he rode the MCCT about 5 years ago

Contrary to popular belief Ted is not the master of the trail that we have always thought him to be. The real truth has finially come out and the real brains behind this operation have been uncovered!

 

[SNDMN2]

"Wrong way Willie". I've run into that guy a few times myself.

 

[INCA]

What is going on here? Someones imagination gone amuck?
Thanks for the laughs Mike.

YT2

 

[2TrakR]

To help put a perspective on where Mike's tale is taking place...

Day 1 Thursday: MCCT Parking lot west of White Cloud on M-20 to M-55 crossing west of Cadillac. 142 Miles

Lot of trail is covered on just day 1. Well done.

Starting point, M20 Trailhead.

MCCCT, White Cloud to Big O:

MCCCT through Big O not shown (too many picts for post).

MCCCT, Big O through Little O (NW side of map):

MCCCT through Lincoln Hills (didn't show small section from Little O through Little Manistee):

Then from Lincoln Hills through Caberfae:

 

[2TrakR]

Day 2 Friday: M-55 Crossing West of Cadillac to Boyne Falls area (corner of Baker Road and Camp 10 road just outside of town). 142 Miles

Started just south of here (see last map posted); this is the section of "event trail that was well burnt in" Mike referred to:

Continuing up through lots of roads with small bits of trail that seem to be snuck in at times:

Finally up to the Grand Traverse Loops (surprised Mike didn't have more commentary for this section):

Connecting over to Leetsville (there's a couple spots in here that are easy to lose the trail 'cause it's so unused).

Up through Leetsville and over through Kalkaska:

 

[2TrakR]

Continuing with just Day 2 (lots of miles!!)

Wrong Way Willie got involved in this section:

Running the snowmobile trail along 131 is pretty neat when the grass is tall:

Finishing the day up through here:

 

[KTM Mike]

Day 3: Synchronized Wheelies, Mike’s crash, ringing noises, soapbox time,

Jeremy - thanks for the maps! I will also go back and up date with some comments on the TC trails - amazing how some of it all blurs together a few days later. Ted - chime in with any comments, corrections or tall tales to add!

Day 3: Synchronized Wheelies, Mike’s crash, hearing ringing noises, a few minutes on a soap box…

Off to our typical late start preceded by a big breakfast, a few miles of roads up into the Chandler Hills area and into some more beautiful countryside. Nice easy MCCCT trail, two tracks and back roads through the hills – along with about 1 million mushroom pickers! Soon we were up near the Tomohawk trails. This area is one of my favorite areas to ride – and this ride was no exception. One of my favorite little moments for this ride was a super “Father and Son” moment (not to be confused with fatherandson and Circuit Rider here on DRN, but I am sure they can relate). One bit of the trail runs down a wider two track, arrow straight for quite some time, with rolling hills and good visibility ahead. I could see Mitch ahead of me wheeling off the hills and easy rolling whoops – I pulled up beside him, got my wheelies timed right with his – we glanced at each other and went along for what seemed like the longest time, synchronizing our wheelies perfectly, ending with a big “high 5”. Just one of those special moments you can relate to if you have kids.

Eventually, we found ourselves on some nice single track – fun stuff to ride. Ted and Mitch were ahead of me, Mark was with the truck at this point. I was poking along behind the others, occasionally dropping back to rip on ahead for a minute or so. Some how, I managed to snag a foot peg on a stump of tree (that’s my story at least), next thing I knew, I was going over the bars thinking “this is going to hurt”. I slammed into the ground head first rather hard, hard enough, for a minute there I didn’t move being concerned with the possibility of a neck injury. I laid there for who knows how long, then I hear this odd musical ringing/chime like noise… am I dreaming? Is this the gates of heaven opening with a musical chime?…. wait there it is again…boy that is odd, why would I be hearing that? Wait..whats that other sound…this buzzing…vibrating sort of sound? Now I had it figured out – it was my cell phone! I must of rung my gourd good, because my next thought was, “how nice, someone is calling me to see how I am doing after my crash….wait a minute, how would anyone else know? Hey…someone is calling me…I had better answer.” So with that I got up off the ground, fished my phone out of my pack just as the ringing stopped! I see there is a new voice mail, try to check it, but could not remember my password to get to it. “screw it, I can check that later, probably a sales pitch anyhow” . I would later really wish I had gotten that call in time. (more later on that topic). I stuffed the phone back away, dusted myself off, started the bike up trying to catch up with Ted and Mitch. I was still hurting a fair bit – right forearm already swollen up, my head and neck rather sore and stiff, I was riding pretty sloooowly. Every time I moved my right arm, I was made quickly aware I should not do that yet. I soon found Ted and Mitch waiting for me. (the arm and neck are fine by the way, though the neck is still somewhat sore and stiff).

We roll into our next gas stop, the ORV parking lot on the Tomohawk A loop just south of Indian River – but we don’t see the van there waiting for us. Oh oh…now I know who was likely calling me. Sure enough, some voice mails from Connie confirm she had gotten twisted around on the back roads on the way to Indian River, but was actually only a short distance away from us. A quick bit of talking her through the route she needed to take, and soon she arrives safe and sound with our gas and left over pizza for lunch. Thank you Connie for sticking with us and finding your way!

As we gas up, I noticed the tongue of the trailer was hanging much lower than it typically did – I peer underneath the van to see two large cracks in the hitch were allowing the hitch to sag way down low. Our guess is there was a pre-existing crack, exacerbated by the trailer tongue weight (two bikes loaded way in front of the axles, nothing behind the axles), and rough roads did the hitch in. Not good, and certainly such it would not be safe to continue towing the trailer with the van. A quick call to Sheila, and she is on the way to Indian River to hitch up the Excursion to the trailer.

Onto several road miles, to meet up with Wrong Way Willie again on two occasions. The first was just east of Indian River, not long after crossing I-75. We were on a nice two track, and Willie had blocked our view of a turn arrow to our right. We continued straight, realized we saw no markers, came back to the intersection. Willie was still standing right in front of that turn arrow blocking our view, and had cleaverly put up a couple of old trail makers down the leg turning to the left! We followed those until we came out by the Indian River Industrial park, and were once again lost! We back track once again to the corner. This time we manage to see the turn arrow to the right and are back on track. My guess is the trail used to turn left, but was re-routed when the roadway for the industrial park was put in, but not all of the old markers had been pulled down. The next time Willie directed us down a two track full of big mud holes . In the past, I believe this trail is where the MCCCT was actually routed, and had since been re-routed bypassing the mud by going a bit further north then continue east to rejoin at the other end. Somehow Willie blinded us to the fact we did not see a single trail marker for quite a while along the mud section. The mud section ends, and I happen to catch a glimpse of the trail marker you would see heading the other direction – pointing you off to the north – by passing that mud section! I am sure that Willie must of pulled down the like marker on the other end for riders heading the way we were. Oh well. Some more road miles, then we meet up with Sheila to allow Mark to join back in.

Some short event like barely used single track sections, some two tracks and minor back roads, and into the Atlanta trail system. Now we were onto trails we had all ridden many times before. (WARNING – ENTERING SOAP BOX ZONE). This is my “home town” trail system, and unfortunately is quite a disappointment to me, after seeing how well maintained other trail systems are. I am going to get up on a soap box for a minute on this topic. I was quite happy to see the Rites of Spring come to Atlanta for the first time a few years ago – a small town like this needs such events to help it survive economically. Unfortunately the result has been the Atlanta trails becoming so horribly whooped out, I for the most part, no longer ride them. Going back several years, before ROS came here, the Atlanta trails had gotten quite a reputation for being whooped out – then it seemed things were being groomed a bit more often, and the trails were much more rideable. There were a few bit tighter sections up the east side that were a bit tighter and still fun to ride. After ROS came to Atlanta the pattern is – ROS whoops it all out early in the season – nothing is groomed until fall – basically after riding season is done, ROS whoops it out again the following spring. Pattern then repeats. Meanwhile, the trails have gotten wider and wider. Result is crappy trails through the majority of the prime riding season. In talking to various other riders from down state, they now say they no longer come to the Atlanta area to ride as a result. We were on these trails on a Saturday of a major holiday weekend, mid to late afternoon, during great weather – yet only saw 1 other ORV. Normally we would easily see a dozen or more other bikes or quads on a holiday weekend. I realize why the preference is to groom in the fall – but if hosting such a large scale event in the spring results in trashing the system for the riding season, I just can not get behind that. I don’t know what the rules, politics, regulations etc are – but in my opinion, if the CCC hosts an event, generates the profits from it (to what ever extent that may be), they should be responsible for grooming those trails after the event – without use of DNR grant funds to support that grooming if necessary. It is that profit generating event that has caused the added traffic volume, and contributed to the added grooming need. Ok –off the soap box now…. Back to our story.

Mark has his throttle stick a couple of times as we approach the Atlanta trails proper. He and I swap bikes so I can see what is up – sure enough it sticks for me, so I continue to ride the KDX. That kid was looking all to comfortable on my EXC though – I hope he doesn’t get any ideas. We finish off the dusty whooped out trails, and arrive at our house (AKA Camp Chaos) – the road at the end of our driveway is part of the MCCCT. Sheila grills up some chicken for dinner, then it is off to the garage for some wrenching. Two main tasks for me – figure out what is wrong with the Penton, and address Mark’s throttle issue. First, the less embarrassing one – the KDX throttle and carb is tore down, cleaned up and inspected. We did not seem to find anything wrong really. We decide to stretch the return spring a bit hoping it might add more return “snap” in case of a future stick, and button it back up. Ok , now to the stupid wrenching move on my part…I know…I know…I should of known better. I dig into the Penton – have spark, yet plug is wet…ok, to much fuel, not enough air…jetting? Nothing has changed there…dirty air filter…no just cleaned it…uh hmmm…. I didn’t…nah, couldn’t have…no…I wouldn’t of…. I pull off the side cover (side note – you know those ultra easy side access air boxes the modern KTMs have? Bright design idea huh? – well, my 1976 Penton and years well before that, already had that idea covered!), I pull out the air filter, peer into the intake tube between carb and air box – sure enough…I was indeed dumb enough to have left a rag stuffed into the air box! Ok – hit me with the stupid stick and get it over with now!

We all do some remaining routine maintenance type work on the bikes, and head to the house for some grilled chicken Sheila had just finished cooking. Great eats! Soon it is off for a great nights sleep in my own bed (I never seem to sleep as well in a motel as I do at home).

 

[2TrakR]

Day 3 Maps:

Through Tomahawk system (the section through the A Loop reminds me of the section through Grand Traverse #4 - both look pretty short on the map but seem to take forever when riding):

Bang out some pavement and gravel - get creative with the route twice through here. The mud is right before the trail straightens out heading east on it's way to the corner of the Red Bridge system. I'm not sure they finished the reroute around the mud. There have been markers that start to head north around it, but they peter out. Maybe they finished it since I was through there (about a year). We have a cool two track route that gets around to the north, but it's a real trick to find w/o GPS or route sheet as there are a ton of dead end two tracks that branch off of it.

Not long before you hit the Atlanta trail, there are a couple very nice, but short, sections of trail that never get used (as Mike described):

(skipping Atlanta trail section)

Then to Mikes house (I see his driveway):

PS - I agree wholeheartedly with your soapbox issue. In fact I can probably dig up posts from other folks that match it almost word for word, but it was when Rites of Spring was still held near Baldwin and it was the Big O trail taking the beating. Grading those trails in the fall only, makes for a smooth trail for that one event the following spring and then leaves a whooped out mess for the rest of the year.
The counterpoint made is that if it were not for that event, all of that traffic would be hitting on other trails instead of just that one. I think that's a pretty weak point.

 

[KTM Mike]

Day 4: Young Ted – “who needs a clutch anyhow” delSolar, Two Whoops Behind

Day 4: Young Ted – “who needs a clutch anyhow” delSolar, Two Whoops Behind,

Yet another beauty of a morning – a bit brisk early on, but nice – clear sunny skies. Out on the trail (uh…down the drive way that is!) shortly after 8:00. My Penton started up first kick (amazing what a little bit more air flow to the carb will do for ya!). We were all feeling rather good after a good nights sleep. I was so happy to finally be riding along with Ted on his Penton – the Penton part of this ride was back in full stride now!

The first 40 miles or so of this day would be very familiar territory, the next 40 not quite so familiar, but trails I have ridden multiple times. About 6 miles of road to start with, then onto some two tracks, and single track MCCCT, hitting the northwest corner of the Hunt Creek Loop around 11 miles out from home. The MCCCT runs down the west side of Hunt Creek, then where Hunt Creek and Mio Loops are on common trail, the MCCCT heads east a bit, taking us down the east side of the Mio Loop, then hooking around west to the parking lot near Muskrat Lake. From Muskrat Lake, we would do a bit of two track and some back roads, and end up crossing M-72 just west of Luzurne and enter the Meadows Trail system, from there into the Rose City and Ambrose Lake Trails along with the MCCCT connecting them, and leading to the Ogemaw Hills trails to our day’s end a few miles north of West Branch. (at the last spot the trail crosses Fairview Road). This day has very little road, two tracks or ORV route – I would say the least of all 5 days of riding. Worse yet, it had the maximum amount of whoops. The plan was for around 108 miles of riding, but our actual would come in closer to 118 miles for some reason. (hello Willie?)

Our ride down the majority of the west side of Hunt Creek was uneventful. We found the trail fairly well maintained, evidence of grooming in the not to distant past for a good bit of it. There was one brutal long whooped out section – straight as an arrow (it is on an old rail road grade I think) with DEEP nasty whoops – not fun on a modern bike, certainly not fun on a 31 plus year old Penton! This section has remained 100% ungroomed for the last 8 or more years that I am aware of – yet has super easy road access at either end. I don’t see why they would not at least do this section from time to time, particularly knowing that they have groomed other sections very close by multiple times in the same time frame. But we all toughed it out – part of the challenge of riding I guess. I don’t see how Ted does those whoops on the Penton like he does. That whoop section beat me bad!

While still up on the Hunt Creek Loop Ted has a clutch cable break. We send Mark and Mitch to ride down the west side of the Mio Loop (shorter ) to the parking lot to get a spare cable Ted has in the van, and bring it back to us. Ted was going to attempt a clutchless ride with some help with a push for starting off, the boys would meet up with us after they got the cable, just in case. Now, it is just good luck Ted happened to have a spare cable with him. While we were planning this ride, just this circumstance occurred to me as a possibility. So I asked if he had any spares for the Penton (I did not) . His response was, yes he had some, but had not planned on bringing any, but as I had asked, would throw some in. Good thing I asked! So the boys rip off in search of the spare cable, I give Ted’s bike a big shove to get him rolling, while he slams it into gear clutchless. It did not take long for Ted to find a comfortable pace, doing clutchless up and down shifts as needed. He stalled a few times – so the shove and slam into gear approach got him rolling again. We did meet up with a guy on a brand new looking KTM 530 – nice guy who may pop up as a new user on DRN after I told him to check it out. He was quite impressed with seeing Ted out on the trail, but did not seem to familiar with the history of what a Penton is – viewed our old bikes as simply old bikes I think.

We came to the point where the Mio Loop joins in with Hunt Creek – it is a confusing intersection. I had fallen behind Ted a minute or less as I had stayed to chat with Mr. 530 for a second – come into the intersection and don’t see Ted anywhere. So…did he stay on the MCCCT proper, or did he take the short way down the west side following where the boys went? We really should of discussed that plan before we all took off! I decided he would of taken the short route – go up the big hill. The trail actually breaks off to the right, but I had carried lots of momentum into the base of the hill, blew past where the trail breaks off, and continued up the steep part. At the top I see Mitch’s bike parked, but Mitch, Mark or his bike no where to be found! I shut the Penton down, and sit pondering what in the world is going on. Did Mitch’s bike break down, and he and Mark continued onto the parking lot two up? Did they get kidnapped by Willie? Oh nooooo…. About then, Mitch appears walking up the trail, followed a minute later by Mark on his bike. Mark had gotten hung up on the hill, Mitch had walked down to help him. “Where is Ted?” “I thought he was with you?” “He was, but we got separated – did you see or hear him come up the hill?” “No…but I did hear someone yelling just before you came up the hill”. Just then we hear this shout off in the distance – it must be Ted. We all head down the hill to find Ted waiting for me. He was not sure on the intersection, so had been circling around on a grassy area trying to not stall the Penton waiting for me – saw me go up the hill and started yelling. (good thing he can yell loudly). The boys go back up the hill to continue their ride to get the clutch cable. We get Ted rolling again, heading down the MCCCT towards the east side of the Mio Loop.

Soon Ted and I were into the rock and root section of the Mio loop (the majority of which is on the part common to Hunt Creek and Mio). Honestly, I don’t find this section all that bad to ride – not even on the Penton – it is more demanding to ride, but in a warped way I find it enjoyable. It does help being familiar with the trail though, and if your suspension is not set up to handle rocks like this it can be miserable. A few mud holes would cause Ted to stop to size things up before tackling them – so we started a routine of Ted stopping in advance of the hole (hopefully on a down hill grade) scouting out the best line, me riding my Penton through, walking back to Ted’s bike, getting him rolling, then me walking back to my bike, starting it up and repeating. One spot to note – the section that used to be marked as the “black yuckies” on the map book, has (had) a stretch of decking over it. A 4’ long chunk of the boards of the decking is now missing, right in the middle of it making the decking unuseable. This forces you to ride around it – pick your lines carefully if it is still wet there.

We have a few other riders come along towards us, with Ted yelling out “Coming Through, No Clutch” – thankfully, they would move over and (Respectfully!) allow Ted to keep rolling. The odd looks they gave Ted and my bikes as we went by was interesting – I think they thought they had hit some time warp in the trails seeing two old Pentons together. Eventually, Mark and Mitch come along riding towards us, clutch cable tucked away in a pack. Ted is rolling along nicely without the clutch and continues on, planning to do the work in the parking lot if he can make it that far. Mitch stops to tell me about how horrible our directions for them to get to the parking lot were – evidently they got lost on the way, figured it out and got the cable. We arrive at the parking lot to see it is nearly full of other vehicles. (interesting contrast to the empty Atlanta trail system not to far north of us) Connie and Sheila are there to lend a helping hand with refilling our camel backs and already have sandwiches made up for lunch (yup – we are spoiled rotten, and quite lucky to have spouses so willing to help out). Ted swaps out the clutch cable, finds the spare cable is binding up so bad you basically cant pull the clutch lever in! Though, as if to prove the merit of all his weight lifting work, Mitch pulls it in rather easily. Ted resorts to kicking the clutch arm in with the heel of his boot, pulls the lever in to hold the clutch disengaged for starting off etc. It was comical to watch his technique the rest of the ride – approaching a stop you would see his right foot come up, him wacking the clutch arm on the side of the engine with the heel of his boot – a mighty heave on the clutch lever, then down shifting coming to the stop.

By now I could really feel the fact that riding the Penton is way more tiring than my KTM – but all in all was still feeling pretty good. Mark and Mitch seemed to be doing fine as well, as did Young Ted. That guy is amazing – here I was already realizing how much more tiring the old bike was vs my modern bike – after only 40 miles of riding it! By then Ted had around 450 miles in on his Penton for this ride, with no complaints what so ever!

Once we crossed M-72, the fun part of this day was done. (a brief Soap Box Moment) The MCCCT through the entire Meadows system is a whooped out horrible mess. I know there is currently no way to groom 24” single track and keep it nice and tight. Clearly the ORV trail in the Meadows is groomed frequently though – what sections we did see were surprisingly well groomed, with few whoops – but of course was a mile wide. The MCCCT needs to be re-routed and the old trail retired. Join the new trail back into the old just before any ORV or road crossings to maintain them at the same locations. Or…someway to groom 24” trail, and keep it 24” trail needs to be found. (soap box mode off now) As this was a MCCCT ride, we strictly stuck to the MCCCT and did not fall to the temptation of getting onto the ORV trail to by pass the whoops. I even suggested to Ted we could do that if he wanted. He didn’t even respond, simply kicked the Penton into gear and rolled on down the whoops. In fact, at no point in the course of this ride, would we (knowingly at least) by pass any sections of the MCCCT. It was clear that our Fearless Leader was going to finish the MCCCT exactly as planned!.

It was during this whooped out nightmare that Mark did a bit of re-wording to a Def Leopard song , Two Steps Behind. Where the lyrics originally said “ …two steps behind you…..” they became “two whoops behind Ted….” With Mark continuously singing those lyrics to help him tolerate the monotony of the endless whoops. I found myself playing goofy little mind games to help pass the time as well…I think we all were getting a bit punch drunk by now. I had some dandy conversations in my head with myself…or maybe it was with Willie? I suspect many riders doing multiple long days find themselves in this goofy mode trying to stay focused and positive on the ride.

Eventually we found the end of this nightmare, got onto the Rose City then Ambrose Lake trails. These were in much better condition, and moved along more quickly. We did come across quite a few other riders in these trails. We had a few shorter appearances of Wrong Way Willie, and a few bits of soil sampling chew up some time for us, but we all recovered well. After the soil sampling, our pace slowed a bit to assure it would not happen again! The Energizer Bunny can even take a licking and keep on ticking! I was surprised with how the soil type changed as we came into the Ogemaw Hills trails – a much harder packed soil for the most part, with some rocks mixed in. Trails where generally wide, but enjoyable enough and showed plenty of signs of recent maintenance. There were a few guys out doing some maintenance work on the trail when we rolled through – one pulling a log out of our way as we approached in fact. We stopped at a mud hole as dusk was approaching – good excuse for a short breather, and to take some pictures. We did not realize we were maybe ½ a mile from the end of our day though!. Finally, the hell portion of the ride was over! What a relief it was. I would say this day was our worst day – it took forever and was quite tiring. Connie and Sheila were patiently waiting for us at Fairview Road, we loaded up and trailered into town to the motel. It was sad to see the motel we were staying at was basically empty on a holiday weekend. The owner commented business was quite bad for them, blaming it on the gas prices and general crappy Michigan economy. This seemed inconsistent with the number of riders we saw on the trails this day though.

 

[KTM Mike]

Day 5: Willie takes over, Everybody knows Ted, and by the glow of a 6 volt light

Day 5: Willie takes over, Everybody knows Ted, and finally, by the glow of a 6 volt candle light, THE END:

Another good night of sleep, and off to breakfast at the local Big Boy restaurant. Mark and Mitch chow down on the breakfast bar (I was worried they might kick us out after so many trips back). Not long before we are about to leave, a different waitress walks up to Ted saying “Ted what are you doing here? Gives him a big hug and sits down to chat (the restaurant wasn’t to busy yet). Turns out she knows Ted from when her son was into Harescrambles! Is there any place where someone does not know this man? I highly doubt it! And without exception, everyone who knows him, likes him.

So, we are once again off to our typical late start. All the bikes seem to be running fine, but it is clear the 4 of us are getting tired – but still doing surprisingly well. I know my hind end was not liking the new seat I put on the Penton. If you think a stock KTM seat is hard, you have not seen anything – this seat is the grand daddy of hard KTM seats! By this point in the ride I really expected we would be all but dreading getting back on the bikes. It was not the case at all. I have read a variety of ride reports from other MCCCT riders prior to this ride. It seems 5 days is the most common plan, the same as ours, yet from reading their accounts, they all seemed much more beat up and tired by this point than we seemed. I attribute that to 1) a moderate pace. Our Fearless Leader sets a consistent but moderate pace – not much sit and gab time when we take breaks, and breaks other than gas stops are infrequent. It is a bit of the hare and tortoise sort of thing. Other riders likely ride a faster pace, tire themselves out earlier, then regret it later. 2) the very presence of Young Ted – it is rather hard to get yourself into a negative frame of mind when you ride with him – he never complains, never whines, never seems to get cranky tired. Having that role model before you each day keeps you more positive. I must admit, late into day 4, I was starting to get there – but all I had to do was look ahead to see Ted rolling along like he always does. His Energizer Bunny name seems rather applicable! 3) Not having to ride into town to gas up is a huge help, eliminating some time there, though trailering to and from our start, stop points each day did chew up some time. 4) Staying in motels is so much easier. Camping along the way might be a fun way to go, but that must suck up a huge amount of time each day, setting up and tearing down camp. To camp with a MCCCT ride, I would really want to allow for 6 days. Of course if your purpose is to test just how fast and far you can ride – go for it in 3 days! It just depends on what you are looking for out of your MCCCT experience.

The weather for this day is forecast to be the warmest by far. Prior days had highs in the mid 60s to mid 70s, sunny and nice. Today was forecast to be pushing 80, with a chance of showers (which never happened). Mark and Mitch opted for vented riding gear. I decided to stick with my stinky non vented gear. These decisions would be more significant later in the ride! Under slightly overcast skies, we headed down the trail, pretty pumped up knowing it was the last day, and we all were feeling pretty good and quite confident of our finish. In less than 5 minutes we see a familiar bike and rider coming towards us – 2big4aKDX had called and left a message the night before that he was going to park at the St. Helen parking lot and meet up with us, ride as far as West Higgins lake, then back road it back to St. Helen. 2big falls in line taking up the sweep spot – so while I would still be eating the dust of the 3 others in front of me, at least someone else would be behind me! We roll on through the St. Helen system, 2big breaks off to run into town to top off his gas tank. As we rode through there, I realized that the last time I was in this area riding I was on a 1977 Suzuki RM125 and that things sure did look different than they did some 29 years ago!

2big joined back in rather quickly, with he and I stopping to chat for a few seconds at some road crossings etc. As a result, I fell a bit farther behind Mark and Mitch than I usually do – and they had fallen a bit farther behind Ted when they slowed their pace to allow me to catch back up. Eventually the trail crossed a set of rail road tracks. Across the tracks was a trail running to our left and right, another trail up a steep hill – and cleaverly hidden behind a big tree was where the MCCCT trail headed off slightly to the right of the big hill. I paused there, not seeing the MCCCT marker, looking up the hill, seeing what appeared to be some recent tracks. 2big rolls up, and having just been through there, points out the MCCCT marker that Willie had hidden behind the big tree. We head on down the trail, moving along at a good clip trying to get caught back up to the others. It wasn’t until we paused at a mud hole that Mark and Mitch showed up, coming up from behind us! How did we get ahead of them? They explained that when they came to that intersection they could not see Ted, but thought they saw a fresh appearing track up the big hill so followed it, as they could not see a MCCCT marker. They rode for quite some time, did not find Ted, or any MCCCT trail markers, turned around and blitzed up to where they caught us.

Ok this was not good – we had no clue if Ted had stayed on course, or had gotten twisted around like the rest of us did. We decide to assume Ted was on course, and likely not to far ahead, patiently waiting for us. We continue down the trail, pushing the Penton suspension way farther than I likely should of (both ends bottoming on whoops along the way). Still no Ted…a bit farther…still no Ted. Now we are in a recently clear cut area with some rolling hills. Time to re-group and decide how to approach this. Our decision is to leave Mark there, in case Ted came along and keep Ted in one place. The rest of us would back track and split up on to the various other trail options and look for Ted. Mitch is out ahead of Neal and I, and has the good timing to come across a different trail intersection just as Ted rolls up to it! Had their timing been only a few seconds different they would not of seen each other – and depending on which way Ted might of turned, he may of not even seen Neal and I a few seconds further down the trail. What a relief. Back to re-group with Mark. As Ted describes what happened, I can see it exactly – same thing that would of happened to me, had Neal not been there to point out the marker that Willie had hidden behind the tree. All is well that ends well, but by this point we lost a minimum of 30 minutes, likely more.

Off through more sandy ORV trail, onto some sandy Route we can make some better time on, and eventually into the Geels trail system. Another fairly well maintained bit of trail. We stop for some pictures at one point, and keep rolling. Getting up to our next gas took much longer that it seemed it should of – but we finally got there. Sheila said it took us almost 2 hours longer than we had planned it out to through that point. Time for some food, gas and a bit of looking over the bikes. I had noticed an odd vibration on the Penton – thought it might be a wheel bearing. I did have some slop in the rear bearing, but the noise “felt” different… it did continue the rest of the ride, and at this point I have not determined what it is.

We would next have a long road section, then into the Beaver Creek trail just south of Grayling. This was familiar trail for me as my in-laws live just a few miles from there. This was actually in pretty good shape and fun to ride. It had widened out dramatically since the last time I rode it though (2002). We met up with a group of 5 or 6 bikes and a quad, and kept rolling.

There was one spot in a recent hardwood thinning cut (still plenty of nice mature trees standing), where the trail snakes along the ridge of some hills, overlooking where the trail continues on below into this small valley,. I sure wish I had a helmet cam on to capture moments like this (there were many). I see ahead of me Ted, Mitch, the Mark riding along – all riding well and in great form. The open understory, with the filtered lighting through the trees adding another nice element to the scene. It really hit me then how neat this trip was turning out to be. What a great thing to be able to do with both of your son’s, having both of them do so well with such long days on the bikes, and best yet to be doing this with Ted on his Penton, and me being able to tag along on my Penton for a good part of it. I am an old softy I guess, but it brought tears to my eyes as I surveyed the scene below me. What a ride indeed!

The timing and spacing of our stops had gotten a bit goofed up with the pick ups and drop offs of Mark, so we would soon be to our normally scheduled gas stop at Military road. By this point it was much later in the day than we had hoped to see, and would only have one more stop (M-66) before the end. We tried to make this a quick stop, and got rolling quickly, heading towards the West Higgins Lake trails. These trails were in great shape, clearly well maintained, though dusty. Neal would break off to the south at an intersection, so he could dual sport it back to his truck in St. Helen (I am sure it made for a long day for him). Neal it was great being able to ride with you for the day!

Getting through where the MCCCT runs along the north edge of the West Higgins trails, onto the North Missakee trails and continuing west to M-66 seemed to take forever. The sun was getting rather low in the sky, and some clouds were rolling in making it seem a bit darker. Again, trails in decent enough shape, some whoops, not bad at all, plenty of sand. One Willie moment at an intersection otherwise staying on track. At some point during a brief stop somewhere north of the Lansing Motorcycle Club grounds, Mark and Mitch commented it seemed odd to be riding these particular trails when not being part of an Family Enduro Series Event, or part of a Trail Fest ride (the only times they had ridden in this area). We approached and rolled on through “Husky Corners”, that spot 2.9 miles out from LMC where the boys and I had sat and waited to get back on time during the Pinecone multiple times. We kept going..and going…and going….and going. I was really beginning to think this last leg of our trip would never end! I could see we were all getting somewhat tired, I sure knew I was.

Finally, around 7:00 PM we saw old M-66 ahead of us, with Sheila and Connie waiting. They were getting concerned given how late it had become, I think at one point even suggesting it was to late for us to finish the ride to the end. I knew that would go no where with Ted, and I knew there was no way I would throw in the towel this close to the end! I could see Mark and Mitch were clearly tired, but I could also see, they had no intention of not finishing either. Ted broke out his GPS (ie…a good old fashioned MAP!) – we figured that somehow through out the day, we had added around 18 miles more than what we had planned on to this point. It seemed all of our planned on time frames where way off, as was our mileage. None of that really mattered though – what mattered was the 30 miles between us and the end. Was it really going to be just 30 miles? Or would that be off as well? The daylight was fading fast, and a chill was in the air now. Some quick gas, some power bars and other food, top off the camel backs and back to the trail.

The last 30 miles seemed to drag forever. We were thankful for the occasional bit of ORV route here and there, particularly at the very end. The sun was low in the sky, making visibility poor as we rode through the dust, staring into the setting sun. Fortunately, the wind had picked up such it would for the most part, blow the dust clear helping visibility. The light did make for another one of those photo moments I wish I could of captured. Mark was ahead of me. A gust of wind had cleared out Ted’s and Mitch’s dust. The trail was pointing straight into the sun, then turning to the left. Mark was in perfect form in the middle of the left hand corner, on the gas with a roost flying from his rear tire, and a big cloud of dust, light up with a deep orange glow from the sun, and the sun itself kinda glowing from the middle to the dust cloud. It would of made for a great magazine cover shot if you could of captured it as I was seeing it!

The temperature was continuing to drop, and I was now darn right cold! Then I realized, Mark and Mitch were in their vented riding gear. When we were on some of the final bits of ORV route and a short chunk of road at higher speeds, I could see them tucking down trying to get out of the wind. Ted had been smart enough to bring a wind shell on this last leg – to bad the rest of us had not! When he stopped to put it on, I commented he was keeping up a nice pace – his reply was to the effect of “Of course I am, I am afraid of the dark!”

Soon it was definitely getting dark. I could see the faint glow of the 6 volt head light on the Penton barely reaching the mid point of the front fender, likewise on Ted’s bike. Mark and Mitch had decent headlights at least – it was dark enough at the very end, you could see their lights shining on the trees ahead of us.

Nearing the very end, with each upcoming corner, I was looking ahead “is that the end? No….is that it…no… several false alarms…then one big one. On our way through on Day #2, we had ridden past the intersection where the Cross State Connector joins the MCCCT on the west side – actually stopped and looked it over and discussed it for a quick second. We all ride along, come to what appears to be the intersection, climb off the bikes in the midst of congratulations to everyone, go as far as setting up Marks bike to prop a camera on for a self timer picture of the 4 of us at our official end…to then realize – we were at the wrong spot! This was not the end! Back on the bikes for another mile or so down the trail – yep there it is, the REAL end of the ride! We repeat the congratulations with hugs all the way around, set up Mark’s bike as our camera stand again (his had the most stable kick stand in the sand) and get our official end of ride picture. Then….climb back on the bikes to ride about 1 mile further to where Sheila and Connie are patiently waiting.

 

[CR250R@WINTERS]

:cool: :cool:

Great write Mike. Can't wait to see the pics.

 

[KTM Mike]

Some pics coming this weekend. Ted has a bunch as well. Some of our pics are on our camera phones, and we realized we needed some equipment we did not buy to get them downloaded - expect that to come in Monday.

YZMan - your pics and updated post had me rolling on the floor laughing! I had no idea you were taking any pics when that farce was playing out! BTW - a couple of them didnt display in the post for me - like the one of me running back for the fanny pack and tools... maybe that is just as well!

2trakR - Map time buddy! Just a couple more days. thanks for posting those maps - nice to be able to follow along on them.

The ride must of went well - Last night I was in the garage sitting on the bike making vroom vroom noises thinking about a ride this weekend! (I expect i will be standing the whole time!)

 

[2TrakR]

Day 4 Maps:

Through Hunt Creek & Mio; nasty whooped section is along Hill Rd, east of Granholm.

On through a couple small trail sections and mostly road over to the Meadows and into the cycle-only single track that Mike refers to as "horribly whooped" (and I concur). Did you know this single track was actually graded in the early nineties? One of the first trails the CCC graded (or it was early in the program anyway).

More of the Meadows system:

Out of the whoops and into Rose City.

Through Ambrose and finished the day at Fairview Rd.
Since Day 5 starts on this map as well... , Through Ogemaw and into St Helen. Willie was at it again at the eastern end of the ORV Route at the bottom left (RR tracks they crossed are blurred in with Airport Rd in this map). I know the spot well, it's easy to miss the trail going up the hill if you are not familiar with it (or even if you are!).

 

[2TrakR]

Day 5 continues...

Into the sand box at St Helen (Neal joined in here):

And up through Geels and over to Beaver Creek. Long section of road to get to Beaver Creek.

Through Beaver Creek and into West Higgins. (Neal heads back just passed the west end of the map, I believe).

On through West Higgins:

 

[2TrakR]

Wrapping up 5 awesome days with friends and family


Into North Missaukee:

Into the heart of the Lansing Motorcycle Club turf. Lots of Jack Pine and Pine Cone memories through here:

Getting dark now, luckily the trail opens up near US-131:

Onto a well-deserved victory photo where east meets west (lower left, where MCCCT intersects MCCCT):

 

[2TrakR]

Hey Mike - did you see the big orange MCCCT triangle in Gary's yard along the way?

It's on Pioneer Rd about half way between Geels and Beaver Creek.

Seems like it's about 3' by 3' and says "enjoy the MCCCT".

 

[YZMAN400]

BTW - a couple of them didnt display in the post for me - like the one of me running back for the fanny pack and tools... maybe that is just as well!

It would only let me post a max of 5 images. The rest I had to post links to in order to get them all in that one thread (click on the ==> pictures .

Here are a few more pictures.

 

[YZMAN400]

 

[YZMAN400]

Some pics coming this weekend. Ted has a bunch as well. Some of our pics are on our camera phones, and we realized we needed some equipment we did not buy to get them downloaded - expect that to come in Monday.

If you have text messaging enabled on your phone you can e-mail them to your computer from your phone. Just enter in the e-mail address on your phone for the recipient of the picture message and send away. Works on my Verizon phone anyways.

 

[CCCnurse]

Day 4: Young Ted – “who needs a clutch anyhow” delSolar, Two Whoops Behind,

There were a few guys out doing some maintenance work on the trail when we rolled through – one pulling a log out of our way as we approached in fact.

Mike,
If I may add to your story just a little...

Here I was finally getting to enjoy a holiday weekend at my folks place in Rose City. All of the trail maintenance that was my responsibility was done and I was going to get to ride a trail that belonged to someone else to maintain for a change. Then it happened...my nephew and I came across two very large trees in the trail, but since the race was on between us, we kept on going and finished our ride for the day. Back at camp it bothered me that I just went and rode around those trees, there was about an hour of daylight left so my nephew and I jumped on the (and I hate to say this) quads, and headed for the downed trees.

So here I find myself in the woods cutting up this huge spruce tree tossing the branches in the trail that was made around this tree, when like in a Clint Eastwood movie I look up and see this Pale Rider come out of the sunset on an old KTM.

Holy Crap!!! it's Ted!!!

I hadn't seen him since I quit riding enduro's!!! I nudge my nephew and tell him to get the crap back out of the trail and clear the man a path.

Just so you all know you may get to see the pictures of this adventure, I got to stand by the side of the trail with a chainsaw in my hand and watch it go by like a parade.

A parade of off road Royalty, lead by the Grand Poohbahh himself.


RJ

 

[INCA]

Jeramey - There aren't enough words available to describe what the addition of posting the maps to Mike's account does. Thank you for the time and effort. I noticed 5 stars for the thread and have no idea how they got there but I feel your maps have to be a factor.

Young Ted

 

[mjbike]

I applaud you men, many of us talk about doing this, you guys did it.
Great write up and pics.
Ted you are a great inspiration.( and still my hero)
God bless all of you.
Mike