Fishing, BBQ, & Red Dirt.

Loaded up my KLX & trucked it up to my brother's lake house on Sam Rayburn Saturday Morning with plans to head back home Sunday morning. Arrived about 9:30. After a short "Hi YA how ya doing", we walked down to the lake & did some fishing. I had a new rod & reel I got for Christmas that I got to try out. The fish were not cooperating so we fired up the BBQ pit & cooked some thick very tasty pork chops & sausage for lunch.
Nice to visit but I was ready to do some riding.

I left his house about 2:00pm & headed north on FR 226 about 6 miles. I crossed Hwy-103 in Etoile & continued north on 226 about 5 more miles to a state maintained dirt road to the east. From there the opportunities were endless. I spent the next 4 hours riding dirt roads, fire breaks & 2 track trails that were hardly used. Some of the red dirt on the roads was so deep & rich in red color they were absoloutly beautiful. After about an hour of riding my first stop was at the end of a trail which dead-headed @ a 30' creek bluff. The woods were thick & beautiful. As I started my bike up to head out, I startled some of the biggest deer (bucks) across the creek. What a sight watching them bound away jumping up & down to clear the thicket. I later saw another small herd of deer on a wide right-of-way with rolling hills & planted with dark green grass. With dark approaching I was able to explore a couple of other dirt roads & trails off of them as I headed back on 226 south of Hwy 103 to the house. Turning west off of 226 the road to the lake house paralles the lake & the view of the setting sun on the lake capped off a fantastic 75 plus mile day.

The intention of this trip was to explore opportunities & have some fun. Mission accomplished with much more to find. I did some mapping but need to do more on my next trip. I got up Sunday morning thinking I may do another ride but for a variety of reasons I didn't & headed back to Highlands.
The ride was an absoloute joy & better than I could have imagined. The weather was perfect as was the dirt. No dust & very little mud.

Two problems:
1) I had forgot to put my mirrors back on from the trip to Boulder Creek a few weeks ago...A minor issue as it turned out.
2) I didn't have a riding partner which did stop me a couple of times from going even deeper into the woods. I would have been much more comfortable with someone else along.

This area, as I expected is full of true Dual Sport riding & I am already planning my next trip back. As mentioned I will need a riding partner for the next trip to do more mapping & exploring. The goal would be to map out enough riding for a 2 day ride with as many riders as we can get for the future. Any interest?

Bryan

East texas has some real cool riding.Good scenery,good food and most speak english,well sort of.

Kinda hard to pass up being so close to home.

Always interested in 2 track. After my adventures in the park week before last I have had to promise the wife I would stick to dirt roads and the like. I managed to hyper extend my right knee, mistakenly thinking I was still 16, consequently she has lowered the boom. I have had to promise to avoid single track, MX, and anything remotely looking like it could break an old mans brittle bones, hehehe. Looks like I will be spending alot of time getting this bike prepped for TAT style trails rather than full on stump jumping. ( I must admit to a bit of relief on my part, I didn't realise just how out of shape I was, hehe.) So now I have an excuse to take it easy and just enjoy some dirt roads rather than trying to be an extreme off-roader. Whew, what a relief that is to my aching old body.

Wastrel said:

Always interested in 2 track. After my adventures in the park week before last I have had to promise the wife I would stick to dirt roads and the like. I managed to hyper extend my right knee, mistakenly thinking I was still 16, consequently she has lowered the boom. I have had to promise to avoid single track, MX, and anything remotely looking like it could break an old mans brittle bones, hehehe. Looks like I will be spending alot of time getting this bike prepped for TAT style trails rather than full on stump jumping. ( I must admit to a bit of relief on my part, I didn't realise just how out of shape I was, hehe.) So now I have an excuse to take it easy and just enjoy some dirt roads rather than trying to be an extreme off-roader. Whew, what a relief that is to my aching old body.

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You & I are in the same boat it sounds like. Hope your knee is better .
After riding a little more single track I realized how tight & scared I rode @ Boulder Creek a few weeks ago. That was the most challenging terrain I have ever rode anywhere. The guys I rode with Chris, Tony, Casey etc. were riding a pace that I just wouldn't do most of the time so I played catch up & they played the waiting game. Don't get me wrong I had the time of my life riding with the group & will go back for more.
The ride up by Rayburn last week was an absoloute great time for me & a little more of what I should be doing. I like sight seeing & stoping to smell the roses.
You know for me, riding the MX track @ home is some of the safest riding that I do, believe it or not. I don't just go out & do laps. Much of the time I am able to look at it like a 40 acre dirt play ground cause no one else is there. You really need to sneak out one day & come see.

Maybe once the knee gets to feeling better. I tried to sneak out last weekend for a short ride, fortunately the other guys bike broke after about a mile of riding and cut the day short. As it was, just that short stint in the dirt had my knee throbbing for 2 days. It really sux to get old, hehe. My biggest problem is I keep putting my right foot down in odd positions and jerking it backwards. Not good for the knee by the way. Add to that a new pair of MX boots (F3's) that weigh in at roughly 800 lbs each and are so stiff I cant even walk, and you get the idea. Now, I may ride down there, park the bike, and watch all the foolish people, but I don't think I will be joining the pain, hehe.

Wastrel said:

Maybe once the knee gets to feeling better. I tried to sneak out last weekend for a short ride, fortunately the other guys bike broke after about a mile of riding and cut the day short. As it was, just that short stint in the dirt had my knee throbbing for 2 days. It really sux to get old, hehe. My biggest problem is I keep putting my right foot down in odd positions and jerking it backwards. Not good for the knee by the way. Add to that a new pair of MX boots (F3's) that weigh in at roughly 800 lbs each and are so stiff I cant even walk, and you get the idea. Now, I may ride down there, park the bike, and watch all the foolish people, but I don't think I will be joining the pain, hehe.

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Parking the bike & watching: doh:? Right!
That's the story & your sticking to it, I'll never tell.

Wastrel said:

Maybe once the knee gets to feeling better. I tried to sneak out last weekend for a short ride, fortunately the other guys bike broke after about a mile of riding and cut the day short. As it was, just that short stint in the dirt had my knee throbbing for 2 days. It really sux to get old, hehe. My biggest problem is I keep putting my right foot down in odd positions and jerking it backwards. Not good for the knee by the way. Add to that a new pair of MX boots (F3's) that weigh in at roughly 800 lbs each and are so stiff I cant even walk, and you get the idea. Now, I may ride down there, park the bike, and watch all the foolish people, but I don't think I will be joining the pain, hehe.

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I just got the F3s, they DO break in

My family's land is off hwy 255 between the lakes and I plan on doing some riding this afternoon up there before the Louisiana Ride...Let me know if you head back to Rayburn.