Cherokee Cycle Park (previously SHNF) Sunday July 29th

Had a blast. Still too tired and sore to write much now. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for coming. Great riding, good friends, sometimes challenging trails, and plenty of laughs. Oh, and not a drop of rain.

Well, I only took a couple of pictures. And I saw Squeaky taking the same ones, so I will let her do the photo posting. I might have to post one of her in the duck pants though.

Hightlights of the day:

Met a biker on the side of the road on the way. Roadside Meeting

Got to the park and Clark (TxSandman?) and Squeaky pulled up behind me. Ken and his daughter Karly (Carly?) were already there. Tim and friend got there around the same time as Kurt (Txmedic). Brian (bdmpastx), his dad Robert, and Sidney rolled in while we were all still unloading, gearing up, and talking. Sidney had a nice new Kawasaki quad. 450 with fuel injection. Unfortunately all the pretty green disappeared on the second to last run of the day. He found some nice black mud to cover it, and the rider behind him, Karly.

While we were out on our first loop, Hemibee and crew arrived, Mopower (Alex) and Kyle (AC Cobra). Being terrible with names, I've forgotten who was on the black CR250, so somebody help me out. And I think that was all...no, I almost forgot Matt (STrider) who made a game time decision and got up and came out.

So, here are the things that stood out for me.

1. Squeaky can start the xr400 just fine.
2. It was hot and humid.
3. Yes, she rode my bike.
4. Brian's got a nice truck and I love the way he's got it all automated.
His dad picked on the wrong tree with Brian's quad. Minor bark damage versus major left front damage - and a major expedition to recover it.
5. Sand was in great shape.
6. Lots of mud in the middle road section. I think everybody made one trip through before they started believing the bypass was the way to go.
7. Don't feed big stray dogs too many hot dogs...and watch out which way the business end is pointed. Nuff said.
8. Very few riders hit the ground. Karly needs to learn to get off on the uphill side when she is testing a tall bike. Or don't get off right in front of everybody

Anyway, a pretty good day of riding. I had hoped for one faster loop to test my knee and the new bike, but the quad wreck and recovery stopped that loop and I was basically over heated and run down by that time anyway. My knee was a little sore this morning, so I probably stopped at the right time.

I'm sorry Kurt had to head out early to fill in for a "sick" co-worker. Okay, so I hope co-worker was really sick and get well soon. We just didn't get the 650L on anything tight though.

Hope everyone got home safe. I got rained on 3 times on the drive back to Austin.

WoodButcher said:

Being terrible with names, I've forgotten who was on the black CR250, so somebody help me out.

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I believe that was norestartswact (Ken) on the black CR

Woo-hoo!! Rockin' good time!!

The sand and trails were great. A few mud-holes here and there, but just enough to make it more interesting. Except for the folks that got buried in it, that may have been too interesting. - And one puckerish rear-wheel slide that felt like it was coming all the 'round, but straightened up ok when it got back on the dry.

Great riding everybody, good to see everyone and meet some new folks, put faces to screen names.

Other highlights:

1. Brian needs one more sticker on the quad: "Unstrap rider before removal"

2. Ring-ding of Ken's CR 250 right behind me on trail. That's a cool sound.

3. Not a highlight really, but more of a near-lowlight: I blew a turn at a fork in the trail, continuing straight instead of turning right. It was in a nice open area, so I slowed and started to turn around to fix it, but neglected to realize or signal that intention to the folks behind me - much to Ken's (Norestartwact) dismay. Fortunately, he saw what I was doing and cut it hard to the right himself, and managed to mostly avoid contact - just brushing my right handguard with his left bar end. Another inch towards each other would have been serious contact, and I think we'd have both been down. But I think it made a decent show for Brian, behind us on the quad. Totally my bonehead move, saved by Ken's quick reflexes. Sorry dude, and good save.

4. Happy Birthday Stephen - that XT is pretty cool.

Thanks to Rusty for working the "bunny slopes" for those of us that needed it. The "road" to all of the trails was certainly an optimistic term at times. Enjoyed meeting everyone and riding for a couple of hours before verifying that my cohort had screwed me yet once again. I hope he enjoyed his fishing trip.

My one big observation is that while the XR650L will be a great bike for Junction or Big Bend, it is no match for a MX track. I was looking forward to swapping XR's with Squeaky (and for once riding one of her bikes) later on, but alas, had to leave.

It was so nice to meet everyone, this was a great ride on a perfect day and I got to meet alot of new friends. The trails were perfect, not too dry or dusty and plenty of shade.
Squeaky has the XR starting procedure dialed in, next comes wheelies!
Stephen, nice XT and happy birthday. If you had half as much fun as I did,you still have a grin.
Brian, it'll buff out... now you can upgrade the front end!
I have no busness on an MX track, almost went over the bars twice.
Alex is fast,and has reached some kind of zen with his 125, I wish we would have rode loop 2 and 7.
Sydney, that quad is cool, now you need a bike!
Cows can jump sideways.
Cherokee was a gret spot ran by great people, and is a good place to gather people from Austin,Dallas,Houston ect. Thanks to TWT, I had a great time.

TxSandman said:

I have no busness on an MX track, almost went over the bars twice.

Alex is fast,and has reached some kind of zen with his 125, I wish we would have rode loop 2 and 7.

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You'll note the more chronologically mature and gravitationally enhanced among us were clever enough to watch from the sidelines.

And yeah - Alex is good.

I had a blast but my arms and shoulders are paying the price today. I could barely get up out of bed to get showered, dressed etc. If I keep it up, I may end up looking like one of these guys. Lol

As for the quad,
I have already been assessing the damage. So far the damaged parts I could see without a teardown are as follows:
• Left Upper control arm
• Left Lower control arm
• Fairing stay and headlight mount
• Left headlight
• Left headlight bezel
• Nerf bars
• And a repair on the shock mount is needed
Possible other items are as follows:
• Shock if bent
• Mounting hardware for the control arms if bent
• Steering rod if bent
• Steering stem if bent
• Left peg
Here are the carnage pics








So it will be a while before I get to do this again…

FUN FUN FUN !!!!
I'll get the pics together...

Well hurry up Rebecca...we all want to see this MONSTER tree that took him out....lol.

Yeah, well... that MONSTER of a tree looks like a beaver wanted a quick snack - nothing more.

Tired of waiting...here are my three pictures.

Everybody watching the trailer back up to get Brian's quad.


Squeaky getting a close up on the tree. Check out the pants.


Hmm, I'm not sure that wheel is supposed to hang like that.

Geez, as if I don't have a JOB I need to do!
(ok, actually I can't get the net to work on the laptop here at my desk so I'm having to do things the hard way transferring to/from another workstation with a jump drive)

Ok, without further ado here are some of the highlights. I know people get annoyed when I start snapping pics ("what are you taking pictures of NOW?") but that's how I get all the fun candids!

My "personal transport system" (aka TxSandman in his bike-hauling rig) showed up at the crack of dawn (was it even dawn yet???) and called to wake me up so we could get on the road.



The road was not wanting to be as visible as we'd have hoped. Lots of fog while we headed northwest toward Milano, TX.



My XR400R played nice with his KTM two-stroke in the back of the truck. My new bike needs a name, but I still haven't decided on one. I'll get to that soon I'm sure.



Breakfast at the McDonalds in Caldwell. I told Clark I'd treat him, which insured I'd be fed before arriving at the park.



Rusty was generous enough to tweak his leg/ankle and be in recovery mode so that he could hang back with me & Kurt all morning.



Robert (Brian's dad) might have had a little too much fun on the four wheeler - even before lunch he'd gotten stuck in the mud bog and had to be pulled out by a bigger quad. This was not the last of Robert's efforts to kill the poor Raptor...



I was surprised to see Matt join us (when did you even pull in???) on his 650R.





Leg warmers again, but this time not on Matt. He was quick to point out the fashion faux-pas and asked that I document it. (In this case Matt, I don't think the zip-down looks as uncool as yours did in NC. Sorry. )



The group hanging out in the shade between loops.



Not to be outdone by Lawrence's leg warmers, Matt exposed his Daffy...



Then the green quad came back from the trail 2-up.



No, it doesn't have room for two on the seat (which is why Sidney tried to hop off before the scene could be documented). Robert was on the back, having crashed Brian's quad into a tree. It was now disabled and had to be rescued trailside.



A few of the cleaner folks hopped in the cab of Ken's truck and the rest of us either filled the bed or rode over to the Raptor.

Kyle, the kaged kid:



NoRestart shows us how high the field was out there:



Poor quad!



The tree that "jumped out into the trail" in front of Robert:



A quick video of the recovery effort.

The carnage:




Headed back to base camp



The riders headed back the long way - and apparently that includes a trip through the mud bog for a few unfortunate souls. Mud baths are expensive at the spa - so get yours cheap at Cherokee!





It seems Carlie got her TTR stuck, Clark un-stuck her (and it) and then they moved on to getting Sidney’s quad out.







Not at all fazed by the muck, Carlie hosed off and was treated to a post-rescue ride on Rusty’s WR250. A few failed attempts at getting it rolling out of (high-geared) first didn’t stop her from having some fun on the ‘road’ near basecamp.



Short legs, tall bike. Uh oh…


Watermelon anyone? (note the use of duct tape – would have held better around the whole melon)



Clark told me before we started to take a pic of my boots since they’d never be the same after today. He was right.



Squidette!



Naw, she was just going to hose it off (for like the fourth or fifth time) so dad could load it. Can’t get the new trailer too dirty! After all, it needs to hold DIRT bikes again soon…



Saying goodbye to new friends, old friends, great trails, and a long day in the sun. I couldn’t have asked for a better “getting to know my XR” extravaganza!





Well, I could have done without the tank top sunburn…

Thanks for the pictures. The dismount video link seems to have a couple of extra characters in it. If you remove the /br it should work. That video would have been really good if you had caught the two guys running to hit the kill switch and pick her and the bike up. She actually popped right back up and tried to lift it after somebody killed the engine. It was my bike and I don't panic about minor cases of bike narcolepsy. They usually take naps in the mud for me.

Thought I should go ahead and add my $0.02 worth.

Stephen, thanks for the invite to help you celebrate your birthday, Happy Birthday!

I had a blast even with what little riding I was able to do. After a couple of run ins with the "road" Kyle decided the road around the camp area and the field was just the place for him. I still haven't found out why they would refer to that mud bog as the road but it did add a different element to the rides.

I won't call anyone by name but there was this certain teenage young lady that seemed to like to play in the mud. I do beleive she was having fun. And to think some people pay good money to roll around in the mud, but as Rusty point out to me while we were enjoying the melon, the smell of the two muds wasn't the same.

Never under estimate the genius of a teenager on a borrowed CRF250. He sat there and watched us help Tim pick his bike up out of the 3 to 4 foot deep mud hole and lift it over to a hole that wasn't as deep before he came by a drove right into the same hole. And then asked us nearly before the bike completely stop, "Are y'all going to get it out for me?" I won't say what I wanted to tell him but Ken and I helped pick his bike up out of the hole. And would you beleive he asked if we were going to start it for him? I loved it when Ken said "Nope, it's too hot." I sure did noticed that he didn't ask us to ride it for him.

On the way back to the camping area when we hit the dry section just before the cattle guard I witnessed what I thought was going to be a very bad crash. The dust had hidden a little jump in the middle of the road and Carly hit it at a pretty good speed. I saw the bike kick up, the front end dropped as the rear tire kept climbing. Next I saw her legs above her head, almost straight up and the bike's front end was still dropping and the rear seemed to be following. From where I was, it appeared her chest protector may have come in contact with the handlebars but I don't know for sure. It was about this same time I realized I was headed for the same unseen object which at that time I did not know what it was so I grab all the brakes my bike had to offer (note to self -- if front wheel is in the air, the brakes don't work) which got my rear tire sliding to the left setting me up to T-Bone the mountain I could now see. Quick twist of the throttle shot the bike wide to the right of Mount Everest. The whole time I'm moving to the right I keep an eye on Carly and she had the bike looking like it is the biggest, baddest bull in the rodeo trying it's best to buck her off. How she was able to get the bike under control is beyond what I thought was capable at that time. She not only got control of the beast but never showed by her actions that she had just taken one wild ride.

Rusty, I think your WR bit me when I went over to try and pick it up. My finger still hurts. Guess it thought I was going to do something to it and was defending itself.

Next time we go, Robert has to rent a kwad. Also next time we need to make sure Sydney gets to ride the kwad trail or we will have to get him on a bike.

Every time I go somewhere to ride or to watch a race it seems like I see a bike with the number D-38 on it and never get a chance to meet the rider. Heck one time I even spoke to him very briefly but didn't realize who he was. We were sitting there under the E-Z Up and I see a D-38 in the back of a Ford pickup and point it out to Alex. At that time he informs me that ta2240 was parked just down the road from us. Sorry Tim, once again I did not get the chance to introduce myself.

So when are we doing this again?

Hemibee said:

Every time I go somewhere to ride or to watch a race it seems like I see a bike with the number D-38 on it and never get a chance to meet the rider. Heck one time I even spoke to him very briefly but didn't realize who he was. We were sitting there under the E-Z Up and I see a D-38 in the back of a Ford pickup and point it out to Alex. At that time he informs me that ta2240 was parked just down the road from us. Sorry Tim, once again I did not get the chance to introduce myself.

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Sorry Tony, I saw you a couple of times but we were always moving. I was there with another STORM rider and his family. When I was leaving I wanted to stop and say hey but there were too many people that I did not know and I am scared of big crowds

I will go out of my way at the Boar Run to meet you, Again

What a blast!!! Thanks to Stephen for getting this whole thing started & to everyone else for fun times, Carly & I had the time of our lives & it was great to meet some new folks & ride with/ visit with some familiar faces.

Tony it was good to see you, Alex(s dust) & Kyle again! I think Carly learned that little jump trick from me... I did the same thing at bout 30mph on the main road & decided after that to stay away from those she said that she'll be looking forward to riding Alex's 125 next time if the offer still stands (she thought it was a 250 & was a bit intimidated). She did pretty well on this 250...




Thanks again Rusty for letting my little girl ride a big bike, it was nice to ride with you (especially since you know the place so well). Carly & I both love the new scooter congrats!

Sorry but these are the only other pics I took (to busy having fun )

My muddy girl... Oh & hey Sydney!





One more of Sydney & his kwad



Lastly, it looked to me like Squeaky's XR starting thing was a clever ruse to entice more riders, she started that thing just fine

Muenster anyone??????????????????

kstrs said:

........ she said that she'll be looking forward to riding Alex's 125 next time if the offer still stands (she thought it was a 250 & was a bit intimidated). She did pretty well on this 250...

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Offer still stands

kstrs said:

........

View attachment 3100

One more of Sydney & his kwad

View attachment 3101

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Did anyone get a picture of Sydney's back? That's were all the mud was.

kstrs said:

Muenster anyone??????????????????

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I'm going to be looking at my work schedule tomorrow to see what I can try and schedule. I'll let everyone know what I can come up with. I'll post something in the "Impending Dust Storms and Mud Baths" sections to get the ball rolling.

See this link for the Muenster ride link. http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19913

Just found this on the TORCH riders website and don't know where they got it, but it's a Google Earth file of the trails at Cherokee.

Kind of neat to see where we rode.

Thanks Rusty, I'll have to look at that a little closer.

ta2240 said:

Sorry Tony, I saw you a couple of times but we were always moving. I was there with another STORM rider and his family. When I was leaving I wanted to stop and say hey but there were too many people that I did not know and I am scared of big crowds

I will go out of my way at the Boar Run to meet you, Again

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Dang it... everywhere I go there's another "Tim". Now this one races in the same STORM class?!?!? Hmmm... I may have to take him out!

BTW... the next time I see a D38, I'll have to come introduce myself.

WoodButcher said:

Just found this on the TORCH riders website and don't know where they got it, but it's a Google Earth file of the trails at Cherokee.

Kind of neat to see where we rode.

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Hey Rusty, This was my first experiment with the new GPS. I hope to do it for all the places we ride. Dave