Trees are Evil!!! MX racer goes on a trial ride

[poppinsmoke]

Went riding with a couple of local woods guys yesterday after getting into a big MX vrs Wood bench racing session the week before at the bike shop.
As you can imagine much trash talking,chest puffing and general pi$$ing ensued.
The challenge I come ride their loop and the next weekend they come ride my practise track.
Well here is the first part of what will be a two part post here are few things I learned about woods riding.

1. TREES ARE EVIL yup they are it's true trees are motorcycle hating demons that can and will move. Sounds hard to belive but a tree can jump into the middle of a trail.
How else to you explain flying through the woods and the trail getting tighter and tighter has to be the tree gettings closer hoping your to busy trying to chase the SLOW woods rider in front of that you don't notice them sneaking in on you.
Also their evil cannot be stoped even when dead some of the most evil trees are LOGS these sick creature lie in wait for you to come flying down the trail and then the tackle your wheel or bump you off track sending off to be gang raped by there friends the TREES!
I think riding a 2 stroke MX bike angers them even more perhaps it's a chain saw assocation?


2.Woods riders are lazy yup I also suspected it but now I have proof. Here I am humping my bike from every angle like a 10 peckered rooster in a hen house tryin to catch these lazy woods rider and they are just scooting allow braking,here,turning there up the hill down the hil left,right,up down,180 brake, climb a tree, cross a stream,Check GPS,have a latte.
Meanwhile I am riding the hell outta my bike Spin,Slide,Wheelie,Panic,stall jump,smack tree,stall,wheelie,lowside,jump hill,miss turn,stall,tree tackles wheel,stall etc. I'm sweatin my A$$ riding 110% and here these guys are taking breaks waiting for me siping latte outta their camel backs shhhhheeesh lazy I tell you.

All in All I had a great time and I must say humble pie don't taste all that bad I have a new found respect for woodsy folk however I still are looking forward to next weekend and the smack that will be put down as the woodsy learn about AIR!
Stay tuned Poppinsmoke out!!!!!!!!

 

[Patman]

I think that Endurocorss might be successful because of what you found out. Riding in the woods can be a hoot and every bit as much fun can be had bangin' bark as bangin' bars.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Only problem is that they can still roll your doubles. To make it fair, you MUST fill in the gaps between the doubles with broken glass, alligators, or burning tires...all in the interest of fairness, of couse.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Wow, I just noticed you have the oldest still functioning motorcycle known to man!

Honda cr250 1197

 

[YamaB]

haha... Too funny... I love both mx and the woods... Mx is mostly about having big balls... Woods is about finese/consistency over a much longer period of time... Like Lord Gomer said, you better put some spike strips, sharks, something between the doubles/triples or they might cheat... You can still make decent time around a mx track even if you don't "air out" every jump as long as you nail the corners and whoops...

- B

 

[poppinsmoke]

Hmmm burning tires and broken glass in the doubles gap. :laugh:

Also going to require their camel backs to tested for performance enhancing latte.

I really can't belive how much fun I had being slow I also have a newfound respect on how smooth woods riders are when they are hauling A$$ it really does look like they are just out on a sunday morning trail ride.

Hey Gomer I am even thinking about setting the oldest still functioning motorcycle for woods riding.
My 1197 CR250 ok what the hot setup for my bike?
I think replacing the square wooden wheels with some of the new fancy round ones.
Getting a bigger hamster maybe getting a different size wheel for him to run on.

Now if I were to have a 1997 CR250 I was thinking about a 10oz FWW, Gnarly pipe ,30 inch bars,Bark busters,Factory connection revalve, .50 cal machine gun to dispatch attack trees, And last but not least a Latte filled camel back.

The 1997 is getting long in the tooth I think I will retire it to playbike woodsy weapon statis time to go shopping.

 

[Joe Diver]

My buddy and I have the exact same rift....he loves MX tracks and I love trails and woods...

I like the woods because I love to be in the forest, exploring new areas, and tackling tough terrain, with the occasional blast down a dirt road or open trail....it's what I mostly did as a youth and it's just "dirt biking" to me...to each his own. Also, at the slower speeds, the chance of serious injury is much less.

The MX track is okay for a few laps...then I get tired....and a bit bored... not to mention all the dust from the ATV's and the sun beating down on me...it is incredible to be stopped and over to the side on a big tabletop, and have an experienced rider sail over you, several times your height, kicking his boots out and giving you a thumbs up....then landing perfectly on the downslope...that's wicked cool for sure...but the risk factor for serious injury is just more than I'm willing to take. It'd be hard for me to explain to my boss why I can't work for 2 months due to the broken ribs and morphine....

To each his own though and we take turns on where we go. Luckily his wife is more into trails like me....so we get to do more trails than MX. Like 3:1 or so...

But any riding is better than no riding! :ride: :cool:

 

[VintageDirt]

Excellent write up there poppinsmoke.

 

[kmccune]

I really love the sport of MX and SX but threading miles and miles of trees is WAAYYY more fun. :)

 

[Farmer John]

1997 CR250

:aj: God's bike :aj:

 

[High Lord Gomer]

:aj: God's bike :aj:

Yes, because only God can ride one!

I wouldn't suggest the 97 for woods. The only time my 97 suspension moved was when I dropped it from 10 feet. Trade it for an XR250/400 or a YZF/CRF250 if you can.

The PC pipe and Delta V-Force reeds helped mine have more bottom. Never did try a FWW (on that bike).

 

[dirt bike dave]

Gomer - you don't have to be God to afford a suspension revalve or aftermarket forks. ;)

In Farmer John's territory (District 36), the '97-'99 CR250s did very well in enduros and cross country. I LOVE my dialed in '99 for the woods.

 

[Rutbuster1]

I've ridden MX and AX. My last AX race was in 2000 and I ended up breaking 5 ribs. Needless to say, that was the end of my MX/AX racing. I then got into Hare Scramble racing and GNCC racing. Once I adjusted to it, I LOVED IT! The average race is 2 hours or longer and thats NON STOP!! It takes alot of endurance and technical riding for the woods. I've raced for the last 5 years and loved it. And yes, I've hit quite a few trees and gotten stuck quite a few times in ruts. (Hence the nickname: rutbuster). LOL I still love it. Only thing is, I recently had this racing accident that broke my left knee in 4 places and tore all my ligaments and a tendon. Now, unfortunately, my racing days are over. I'll still ride and ride the woods when I recover from my surgery, but not race. I'm 38 and have had to many injuries the last 7 years. It just isn't worth it to me anymore. All the pain, rehab, and missing work, just not worth it. Maybe when I can race the Senior Class I may get back into it for FUN, not the competition. LOL Anyway, maybe now I can focus on my sons racing. He races the Vet Kids Class in Hare Scrambles. He's pretty darn good and getting god awful fast. I used to love MX/SX/AX, I still love to play on the tracks, but I don't jump the triples or any jump I can't see the landing ramp. LOL Woods riding and trail riding is the best to me.

 

[firecracker22]

Great post!

I ride probably 75 percent woods, 25 percent moto and the occasional sand trip thrown in. I definitely know what you're talking about though. However, as much as I DO like MX, woods just holds my attention span (not know to be exceptionally long) a lot better than MX does! plus, 50 miles of woods trails in a day will shrink the belly a lot faster than a few laps at the track here and there.

 

[poppinsmoke]

A little update for you the revenge of the MX racer is this weekend expect a full report.
I have decided that I am going to retire the 97 cr250 from MX and turn it into a woods weapon.
Who know I just might give this hare scrambles thing a try.
Any advice for training for a hare scramble?

 

[YamaB]

GO GET EM TIGER!

The best way to prepare for a harescramble is to get lots of seat time... The only way to get fast, yet smooth in the woods is to practice... practice... practice...

As for the bike, the main things you will want is some bark busters, and a larger fuel tank... A slight sprocket change and/or adding fly wheel weight can also help get your mx powerband optimized...

- B

 

[Dennis Meyers]

1. TREES ARE EVIL yup they are it's true trees are motorcycle hating demons that can and will move. Sounds hard to belive but a tree can jump into the middle of a trail.

ROFLMAO...
I've noticed the same thing myself, of course everyone thought I was crazy. :coocoo:

 

[Butane]

Out here in Arizona we have these huge cactus that love to jump out in front of you. For some reason when you have cactus all around you your balance and ability to stay on the bike really seem to be stepped up to the next notch.