West Higgins Ride Report

[2TrakR]

Wow.





Ok, I should add to that. Nestrick, KTMMike & 2BigforaKDX met me (I met them, actually) at the West Higgins staging area. BS'd for a while waiting for another rider who didn't show.
Temps in the high 40's, sunny and a freshly goomed trail that was like riding on pavement except pavement does not usually have solid berms you can do a full boogie power slide into w/o worry of the dirt giving away.
What an awesome day of riding! "Don't get better than this" comes to mind.
Look forward to riding with you guys again!

 

[MidlandMoto]

I wish I didnt have so much maintenance to do on my BRP, with my move from Lansing I hav'nt had time to tend to my bike so I couldn't even think about riding her.

I'm glad you guys had fun, you made it sound like a blast there 2TrakR! :cool:

 

[MWEISSEN]

Sorry I couldn't make it! I didnt' get home from work until early evening, it was 9pm or so before I could event think of leaving. I was too beat, so stayed in Grand Rapids. Sounds like I missed a great ride!

 

[Nestrick]

Hey Folks

Can't let this ride go without at least a few remarks! What an AWESOME day it was on Sunday [14nov04] ... bright sunshine ... calm conditions ... almost 50 degrees ... very few people on the trails ... and, perhaps most interestingly, a freshly graded, virgin trail for essentially 50 miles with no whoops to be seen! Couple all these factors with some fast riding partners to follow and you have what I will describe as my VERY BEST RIDE ... EVER !!!

We rode the trail CCW which is the opposite of my usual direction so this too gave it a very different perspective for me ... especially the big, sandy hill on the north end of the loop ... going down is considerably more "interesting" for a newer rider like me than going up ... especially when there is several inches of leaves covering the soft sand trail thereby hiding its surface traits from the rider. While I paddled down a bit of the steepest portion of the hill ... I rode in 2nd and 3rd gear [very high gears for a newbie like me] much of the rest of the day. As mentioned by 2TrakR, the grooming was so efficient that even the sandy whooped areas were flat and packed to a consistency that seemed almost hard packed ... yet it was still soft enough to give wonderful grip and let you slide whenever you want.

Despite grooming, there were still several obstacles to overcome ... a few trees across the trail in strategic locations allowed to remain so as to keep you honest in your speed regimen and up to date on your 'climbing' skills.

Many thanks to the CCC folks responsible for all the trail maintenance efforts ... but for them, many of our trails would ultimately become so rough as to no longer be enjoyable.

If you have ridden West Higgins prior to this latest grooming as did I about two weeks ago ... the degree of improvement from this latest grooming would be amazing to you as well. We met some folks out on the trail at one of our rest stops who hauled their bikes into the central portion of the loop thereby avoiding the very sandy and whooped out sections of the southernmost loop upon which the parking facility is located. After talking with us, they proceeded back to the south end of the trail ... their efforts were rewarded by some of the most fantastic conditions imaginable.

Have I made you drool ... I hope so ... after hunting season, get over the West Higgins ... check it out yourself!

definitely a biased opinion ... terry nestrick :ride:

 

[woodsy]

Sounds like you guys had a blast!! WHat a GREAT way to end the before gun deer season fall bike riding!!!!!
THANKS FOR WRITING!! :cool:
Me

 

[70 marlin]

Nestrick: Was that you that passed us by Moorestown road? I was on my Berg with a second rider on a KTM 200 exc. We rode west Higgins north loops twice, missed the turn off back too the truck. We park on a fire road away from the trail head. Also we rode Ogemaw hills plus we rode the connector to St Helen. What a great weekend!

 

[KTM Mike]

WOW Indeed!

I have to second 2trakr's "wow". Smooth and FAST!. I snuck out for quick preview while the others were messing with their finicky 4 strokes - boy I got all excited when I realized I was laying down the first tracks on that groomed trail! I almost did not come back!

My day started rather crappy actually. Went to drive to the trail head, and the ole Diesel wouldnt turn over...dead batteries! I have been having some problems with it lately. Diesels dont like to be jump started! I got on the road about 30 minutes later than planned - but made that time up on the back roads! The ride ended on a similar note - batteries dead when I went to head home. Fortunately Neal and Terry was still there to help out! New batteries went in yesterday! (man it is expensive when you have 2 to replace!)

Back to the ride: time and time again, I would come hauling into a corner way to fast. In sections where you might normally be glad to be doing say 18 mph due to all the whoops, you might literally be doing 40mph! Result was them corners would rather suddenly appear! On the "connector" that bisects the north part (I think it is actually MCCT there?) I comfortably hit a max of 51 mph... certainly that is a wider section of trail there, but with NO whoops sure made cruisin fast fun! I might add that 2trakrs big old 520 was steadily pulling away from me at that point! In fact, now that I think about it, anytime there was anything close to a straight stretch it seemed that 520 hit warp speed!

Marlin - I didnt see any Bergs when we were out. To bad we didnt hook up. What time were you out there? We got on the trail around 10 ish, got back to the trail head at the south end maybe 3:30 ish? (we took some long breaks!)

I got a couple parking lot pics I will post this evening...nothing exciting, but you can see Nestrick's big smile of course!

 

[70 marlin]

Mike: Come to think of it I did recognize that old Chevy of yours at the trail head. We passed by it on the way to the fire road where we parked about 2:2Opm or so? We never made it to the south loop. I rode the road for about five min, in the dark on the way back to the truck. Shows how lost we were.

 

[Nestrick]

Hey Marlin

Man ... I never saw anyone except when we were stopped at breaks ... if you say I passed you, I would consider that to mean one of two possible reasons:

1) You were stationary [my speed, even under perfect conditions does not permit passing anyone actually moving in my direction] ...

2) My smile was so large I couldn't see past it [a strong possibility due to the outstanding conditions] ...

All funning aside ... no I didn't see you ... too bad, would have loved to have you guys ride some with us on what was such a great day! Good to hear you took best advantage of the weekend with all the different rides in which you participated ... bet that St. Helen connector trail was a blast, I sure had fun last time I rode it.

Looking forward to riding with you folks sometime soon.

terry nestrick :cool:

 

[KTM Mike]

Here are those pics I promised.

The First is a shot of Terry telling Neal more lies about how wonderful his Honda is...we all know better! :nener:

The second is a parking lot shot before the ride. Good old Eugene prominent in the foreground of course, with Neal's trusty KDX, Terry's Jeep and CRF behind that, and wayyyy in the back ground Jeremy's rig and his 520 waiting to roll

The third one is of 2Trakr showing us where we were. I kept trying to tell them I already knew - everywhere I go, there I am. Actually he was showing us what the new maps from the MCCC will look like. He sure has been working hard on GPSing the Michigan trails - and it shows in the new maps! He did some more GPSing during our ride to pick up a couple short sections he did not have yet. During our ride he was explaining how far off many of the old maps were, and that the new maps will be accurate to within something like 50 meters! Excellent Job! :worship:

.

(oops pics didnt upload...one more try)

 

[70 marlin]

Terry: I guess I mixed you up with a fella that I rode with a couple years ago at trail fest. He was on a CRF450. Don't worry about tiring to keep up with me, I'm in the spodly class my self.