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Riding the DS dream in the Arkansas steam...

Tourmeister

Keeper of the Asylum
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Location
Huntsville
First Name
Scott
Last Name
Friday
Howdy,

:tab So not long ago Beth informs me that her Dad has given her a free airline ticket, good for anywhere in the 48 states. However, it has to be used before the end of August. Also, she can't fly Fri-Sun. So now she's got a trip planned. With a niece coming to stay with Rachel and Daniel here in Huntsville and Sarah going with Beth, I find myself with a free weekend at the end of June... and the temps have been hitting 105-106 here daily... in the shade... :brainsnap

:tab I wouldn't normally think of any weekend trips this time of year, but when you have time off, what else is there to do? It is not like my grass needs mowing... or is even alive... So I start poking around, making some plans, and soon have a trip planned to ride in NW Arkansas in the Ozark National Forest with Steve "Desmo" and John "Jredford". The forecast...? HOT!! :huh2:

:tab The plan is to leave relatively early Thursday morning. Steve and John arrive about 8:00am and we get the bikes loaded. 8:45am and we are on the road. The drive up through East Texas is pleasant, since we are riding in an air conditioned truck. After about 7-1/2 hours, we arrive in Clarksville, Arkansas, located about midway between Fort Smith and Little Rock on I-40. It sits right at the base of the mountains and is ideal for a base. We get checked into the hotel and unload the bikes, just in time for this...

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:tab The rain lasted maybe 45 minutes. According to the radar, this and one other cell are the only rain storms within several hundred miles. This one is dumping all over the areas where we plan to ride the next few days :doh:

Nothing to do but hang out and have a Shiner... :trust:
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:tab Soon the storm passes and the steam is on... :brainsnap It's about 5:30pm and I get the urge to do a short ride. There are some really fun roads just right outside of town. Steve and John don't require much arm twisting and we are soon geared up and heading North. The steam can be seen coming up off the roads and out of the woods. The air becomes hazy and thick. I can just feel it clinging to my skin almost like a second pair of riding tights...

:tab Speaking of riding tights... I decided to try a new brand of tight to wear under my mesh gear. These are the LDComfort full length tights. They are supposed to keep the moisture off the skin and do away with the infamous Monkey butt. Given the heat and humidity, this seems like the ultimate test of their effectiveness. I don't know that they will matter for this short evening ride, but tomorrow will be telling...

:tab So we head North and are soon climbing up the mountain on Weimar Rd. This is a favorite of mine and is basically a good ATV trail. You could probably get a small jeep or truck up it of you went nice and slow. You'd definitely be getting the sides of the vehicle scratched up by branches. Once on the trail, I am surprised that it is not muddier than it is given the rain that just came through. The ground really seems to have soaked up the rain and the puddles we do encounter are easily avoided or traversed.

:tab After reaching the top of the mountain, we head up Hwy 21. The pavement is dry and twisty, so I let the KLR stretch its skinny legs and test the limits of the D606 knobbies. Lot's of folks like to make fun of KLR's, but the bike really is a hoot in the twisties, even on knobbies. It really rewards smooth control inputs and a flowing riding style, both of which I love to practice. Soon though we reach the start of FS 1405 and head East into the woods.

:tab There is still plenty of daylight left. I really enjoy riding in the woods at this time of day. For starters, it is not quite as hot as midday. Mostly though, I like the way the waning sun's light comes through the trees in long piercing beams. Everything takes on a soft glow. Of course, the deer really seem to enjoy the woods at this time of day as well and I have already had several encounters with them since leaving the hotel! :shock:

:tab We reach a short water crossing and continue East on FS 1405. The road gets really narrow and the trees close in on us. We reach another water crossing, the one where I dumped the KLR on the last trip up here Memorial Day weekend last month. This time I know to go about 20 feet further down stream before attempting the crossing and make it with no problems. The road on the far side of the creek is still covered with deep standing water. Last month, the water was not quite so nasty looking... Now it has obviously been sitting a long time and is starting to smell a bit funky. Nothing to do but chug through it for a few hundred feet until we get clear. This time through here, I decide to head Southeast and stay on 1405 rather than cutting Northeast on FS 1421.

:tab This turns out to be a good decision and the road is really fun. It wanders through the woods roughly paralleling Little Piney Creek. In short order, we are at another water crossing, this time over Little Piney Creek. I pause to consider the terrain. There are a LOT of big round rocks making up the bed of the creek. If they are slippery, this could be tough. I note the biggest and get an idea in my head for the line I am going to attempt, hit the gas, stand up and start bouncing my way across. The bank on the far side is pretty steep and there are several BIG rocks right where I need to exit the water. The bike is bouncing around like a bronco, I just focus on the narrow gap between the rocks, trying to keep my momentum for the climb up the far bank. I reach the far side, thread the gap in the rocks and motor up the steep bank until I can find a relatively level place to park the bike. Steve comes next and makes it look simple, like he always does. John sits for a moment, as if steeling his nerves, and then guns it. He's looking pretty good most of the way across. At the last moment though, he veers off to one side at the start of the climb out and hits a really steep section on the side of the road, losing his balance and ejecting from the falling bike... right back down into the rocks in the creek!! :eek2: We run back to check on him as he is climbing out of the rocks to get the bike. He's fine and we get the bike righted, fired back up, and head out again.

:tab As we wind our way through the woods, it suddenly occurs to me that the area looks familiar :ponder: I don't recall riding this road before. Soon we round a corner to see a cool old house sitting back under the trees with a neat old rock wall lining the road. Now I know I have been here before, but we came down off a ridge to the South of us on a "road" that many maps don't show. It was a great little trail with some fun water crossings. However, now that I recall where I am, I also recall a pretty hairy water crossing just a short way from here... :wary:

These are a few videos from our crossing a few years back at the same place. Only on that trip, there had been three inches of rain the night before we got there!! :shock:

Bryan "dbdolan" says, "I'll go first if you shoot the vid..." and makes it look easy (right click, save as)
http://twtex.com/linkfiles/042906-ArkDS-Trip/MOV05231.MPG

Bill "Wasabi" gets caught by the strong current
http://twtex.com/linkfiles/042906-ArkDS-Trip/MOV05234.MPG
Going sideways on your bike is a strange experience...

Nace "Loose Bolt" gives his bike a much needed cleaning
http://twtex.com/linkfiles/042906-ArkDS-Trip/MOV05235.MPG
Took a while to get it refired after that dunking ;-)

Bob "Beemin"
http://twtex.com/linkfiles/042906-ArkDS-Trip/MOV05236.MPG
After the previous day's dunking, he was determined not to drop the bike here!!

Steve "Desmo"
http://twtex.com/linkfiles/042906-ArkDS-Trip/MOV05237.MPG
He made it. My camera CD filled up while he was midway across :doh:

:tab This time, when we reach the waters edge, we are sitting at what was about the midway point for those crossings. There is MUCH less water in the creek and the crossing is relatively easy. We follow 1405 until it dead ends into FS 1004 and head Southeast. This road is wide and well maintained. Just before it reaches Hwy 123, there is a little cut off to the South, showing as CR 133 on my maps. Since I am making up the route as I go along, I decide to follow this and see if we can head South, coming out just West of Hagarville on Hwy 123.

:tab The road starts out normal, looking fairly well traveled. Almost immediately we have to cross back over Little Piney Creek. Then the road starts following Murray Creek back into the woods. However, we don't go far before we reach the end of the obviously well traveled section. The road gets very narrow and the trees close down on us. There are a few more small water crossings and some good sized "puddles" that cannot be avoided. The light is starting to fade and I am thinking we really need to be getting on back to town. According to the GPS, we don't have far to go. All we need to do is find the point where FS 1424 turns off and heads due South, climbing up onto a ridge. I am so busy focusing on the riding, which is starting to get fairly technical, that I ride right past the turn off without seeing it. Once I realize this, I stop so we can reconsider. My maps, the US Topo and City Select 8 from Garmin, both show that we are on a dead end course heading West. However, John and Steve's Zumos both show the "road" continuing due West and hitting Hwy 21, which would then be a short trek back into town.

:tab We decide to try their routes instead of backtracking to find the turn off for 1421. We go maybe another 1/4 mile and the road turns into basically a wide wash coming down the side of the mountain. I try to ride the high side to the left but my back tire has other plans. It tears into the soft damp dirt and and slides down into the rut. As I try to gas it and pull it back in line, it just slides out from under me, dropping the bike on the left side, allowing me to just step off. Looking up the hill, it looks like the road only gets worse and very technical. It is already fairly steep where I am. Steve finds a place to stop and comes to help me right the KLR. I get it turned around and pointing back down the hill. At this point, with the light fading, we decide to take the known route home versus exploring. We'll backtrack to 1004, hit Hwy 123 and just ride the pavement back into town. We have maybe another 20-30 minutes of light before it starts getting dark. Although, down here in the woods it is already getting fairly dark.

:tab We backtrack without any problems and soon find ourselves on Hwy 123. The sun's last light is fading from the clear sky. Fog is coming out of the woods and settling in the low valleys, covering the road in places. The moon is climbing and shining brightly. I settle into a sedate pace back to town, maybe running 45-50 mph. There's almost no traffic. The ride back into town is really good, very peaceful, calming and DAMP!

:tab Once back in town, we clean up and head over to the Waffle House for breakfast. Steve is reluctant at first, but has to admit afterward that it was actually pretty good. However, I think we could all have done without the arctic air conditioner settings which had the outside of the windows totally fogged over with condensation from the unearthly humidity. It was a great evening ride.

:tab You might notice the distinct lack of pictures from this ride... Well, that would be because my battery died after taking the shot of Steve and John. So it was sitting at the hotel charging while we were out riding. I'd like a spare, but those little things cost around $50 each!! At that kind of price, I hate to think what batteries for a car might cost!! :eek2:

:tab Bellies full, we decide to call it a night early.

Here's a little teaser of things to come... :trust:

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Re: Riding the dream in the Arkansas steam...

:popcorn:

Wes and I started to venture up 1004 from 123 when we were looking for a place to base camp... he only made it about 1/2 mile before he stopped to turn around :lol2: Guess the R1200C isn't a gravel road bike ;) He's buying the NX from my dad though, so when he gets back from Iraq, we'll have some fun :trust:
 
Re: Riding the dream in the Arkansas steam...

Moving right along....

:tab So the pathetic little air conditioner in our room is no match for the humidity in the air. It cycles on/off all night long, making me alternate between freezing and sweating, all while enjoying the feeling that my sheets and pillow case are sticking to me as if covered with the morning dew when awakening from camping in the woods. What I am trying to say is that I really did not sleep so well last night :doh:

:tab There are those riders that have an urge to be on the road and to knock out a hundred miles or more before they stop for breakfast. I am not one of them. Apparently, Steve and John are not of that insane ilk either. So about 9:00am-ish, we head out for points unknown. I don't really have a route planned. My plan is to just wander in the general direction of Huntsville up on Hwy 23 where we'll stop for lunch, and then we'll just kind of wander back to Clarksville, hitting any roads that look interesting on the GPS. The nice thing about this area is that there are so many awesome roads, it is pretty hard to have a bad route.

:tab We head North out of town. On a previous trip, we had done two roads of note, Pink Twist Rd., and Apple Rd. As Steve summed it up, Pink Twist - Bad, Apple = Good. Pink Twist was a nightmare that we were not wanting to repeat. Apple Road is a nice little ATV trail, kind of like Weimar Rd. So I find it on the GPS and we start working our way toward it on the unpaved county roads. As we get to where the road should start, I notice on the GPS that we seem to have missed the turn. I don't recall seeing a road, so we turn around to have a look. When I get where the GPS indicates the start of the road should be I slow down to have a careful look...

:tab Sure enough, right where the GPS says there should be a "road", I see two faint tracks heading up the hill into the woods. I don't recall this end of the road being so over grown, but it has been a few years since our last ride here. Not seeing any purple paint on the trees, a fence or any kind of gate, I turn into the woods and start climbing up the hill. The trail is faint, but easily detectable. The low hanging branches have grown out into the trail and I am having to dodge them while simultaneously picking my line through large loose rocks and downed branches. The back of the bike kicks around, rocks and branches spitting out from under the tire. I'm wondering how long this will go on, but the GPS shows we are right on the road where we should be. Soon though it dawns on me why I don't recall this portion of the road. Last time we came down the road from North to South instead of running up the road like we are doing now. Looking at the GPS, I see that we are approaching an intersection with CR 381. Coming South last time, we turned onto CR 381 without realizing it, bypassing this section of the road. CR 381 drops out onto the same road we started from a few minutes ago. Had I known that, I might have bypassed this section of the road. In retrospect, I am glad that I didn't because even though it is relatively short, this primitive section of the road is really fun! We reach the intersection and head North, the road now more like Weimar Rd., a good ATV trail.

Typical view of the nice part
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They had some nasty weather this spring and apparently this road has not received any attention since then
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:tab I know there are folks out there that can hop their bikes over big logs without any effort... I am not one of them. I've never had much luck with getting the bike over downed trees. It usually results in a downed KLR :doh: While pondering our options, I notice that the tree is really rotten and does not weigh much. I start pushing on it and it looks like we can probably just muscle it out of the way. John and Steve notice this and we all start in with the grunting and shoving...

Path cleared, but a good sweat worked up in mere moments...
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:tab We get around the tree and continue our climb up to the top of the ridge. Already the heat and humidity are coming on strong. The good thing about the rain last night though is that it suppressed the dust. Apple Road eventually drops us onto Low Gap Road (CR 86) and we head West to CR 95. This turns out to be a GREAT road. It obviously sees very little traffic, is very narrow, and has some pretty technical climbs/descents.

This section is a little more traveled and more open than the rest of the road
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:tab In one particularly steep and loose section I am picking up more speed than I want. Even in first gear with the 14 tooth front sprocket, the engine braking isn't getting it done. However, if I even think about hitting the back brake, the tire instantly locks up and the rear of the bike starts trying to lead the way down the hill. This goes on for a minute or two as I alternate between racing and sliding down the hill, finally reaching the bottom and stopping for a quick breather!

Stopped at the Mulberry River, you can see the road just across the water going up into the woods
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Looking down stream
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Our resting place at the bottom of a loose rocky descent
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:tab The river crossing is pretty easy and soon after we find ourselves on FS 1003. This is basically the gravel extension of Hwy 215 that runs from Hwy 23 at Cass over to Hwy 21 just North of Ozone. We're pretty hot now and I am thinking a cool drink and rest would be a good idea. So I head West a short bit to Catalpa. There's not much here, but there is a little cafe and they have air conditioning! So we stop for a bit and visit with the proprietors, a nice elderly couple.

As we are leaving, this guy shows up. I failed to visit with him though :doh:
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The cafe
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:tab We head North out of town on CR 1416, paralleling Panther creek. When we reach the head waters of the creek, we have to climb up out of the narrow hollow up onto the ridge line 1100 feet above. The road becomes CR 419 and turns East at the top of Cowan's Knob and heads over to Moon Hull Rd. (CR 1). This stretch up from Catalpa has been a really nice ride. We've been able to run a nice pace which keeps the air flowing through the mesh gear. It's hot and sticky, but I am not uncomfortably hot. Interestingly, the riding tights seem to be working. At the level of exertion and sweating of the last few hours, I would normally be at the point by now where the dreaded Monkey butt issue would be pressing into my thoughts more often than I would like. However, I'm feeling pretty good right now. Still, we have quite a ways to go still for today, so I will reserve judgment until the end of the day.

:tab We run CR 1 over to Hwy 21, hit the pavement and head North. The plan now is to pick up some dirt roads on the North side of Hwy 16. The run up to Fallsville is short, but still fun. As I am carving through a fast sweeper, a nasty old dump truck comes by the other way. As we pass each other, I feel something hit me, feeling like I just got hit by a splash of water that hit all over me at once. I don't really give it much thought at first, but moments later I get hit a second time... this time by a smell... :uhoh: I don't know what critter it may have come out of, but I am pretty sure the back of that truck was full of some kind of poo... :eek2: :doh: It reeks! When we reach the intersection at Hwy 16, I am thrilled to see that the Fallsville corner store is open. I pull in and head inside. With a wet paper towel I can get my helmet, googles and face clean, but there is not much to be done about the rest of me... It feels good to be in some AC though!

:tab While stopped, John mentions that his KLR is not running right. It seems that at around 4000 rpm, it starts losing power. So he decides to pull the air filter and clean it, hoping this will help.

John uses a little gas from the hose as solvent to clean his filter
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:tab John gets everything back together and we head West on Hwy 16 a short ways.

The view from Hwy 16, trees and mountains as far as we can see :dude:
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:tab Just before we reach Red Star, we cut off of Hwy 16 onto Cave Mountain Rd, and head North to CR 136, then cut West again. The roads now are wide and relatively well maintained. The base is mostly large gravel, making for some fun sliding in corners. It soon becomes apparent that there was no rain up here last night and the white dust trail behind me obscures the view of the other riders. The terrain also changes. Rather than the more severe up and down elevation changes South of Hwy 16, it has now become more rolling and smooth. There are many farms/ranches in this area. However, unlike Texas, this does not translate to long straight roads with 90 degree turns at the corners of pastures. Instead the roads have lots of fast sweepers. We hit CR 137 and head North to Hwy 74, cross over and continue North on CR 18. We cut West on CR 241 and start heading toward Huntsville.

:tab A short while later we roll into town and stop at a little cafe on Hwy 23, just around the corner from the local Sonic. I've ridden by here many times on previous rides, always thinking this would be a good place to stop because it is always crowded. However, I never managed to be here at a time when we were ready to eat. So we park outside and go inside, expecting to feel cool AC but instead finding out that their AC was overwhelmed by the heat of the day and the number of hot bodies inside. No worries though as we are at least sitting right under a ceiling fan. The food is great and we enjoy the break. I do get some strange looks from the locals though when the see me walk in wearing full gear. I get the standard question, "Aren't you hot in all that!?" I hold the jacket up to the window so they can see the light coming through the mesh and get the "Ohh...." response. I get more funny looks when I ask for a glass full of ice and some water to top off the Camel-Bak.

:tab After lunch we top off the gas tanks and head South. This time I plan to stay to the West of Hwy 23 for a way. I've never been over in this area on the backroads and want to have a peek at what it is like. We head out on CR 183. Like the roads on the way up here, this is also relatively wide and well maintained. This is good. With a full stomach, being hot, and starting to get a little worn out, I am happy to roll on roads where we can make good time getting back to Clarksville without having to work at it. We cross CR 302 and CR 181 just kind of peters out into the woods and someone's pasture. We poke around trying to figure out if we missed a turn, but apparently the GPS and reality just diverge at this point. Must be some kind of disruption to the space time continuum... So anyway, we loop around East on CR 302, which actually turns out to be a pretty fun road. We hit CR 187 and resume our drive to the South.

This is a pretty good view of what the road surfaces are like in this area
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:tab Our route takes us down CR 30, CR 180, CR 7 and 174 to what I think is CR 155, which hits Hwy 23. Somewhere in all this, we do a water crossing. It is not technical at all. However, on the far side there is a hard left as the road comes out of the water. I make it across with no problem, but as I am coming out of the water a lady in a Jeep comes blasting around the corner toward me. She is obviously NOT expecting anyone else to be on the road. I am as far right as I can get, literally hitting the bushes on the fence row that sits right up against the road. She manages to swerve back to her side of the road while at the same time glaring at me like she wants to melt me with death rays from her eyes :roll: I make the corner but can't see if she encounters Steve or John while they are crossing. I stop in the shade of some trees to wait and soon see Steve and John coming along behind me. Before long, we reach War Eagle Creek, which runs along Hwy 23.

John is already across, failing to wait for me to get the camera out, hehe.
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Steve chugging his way across
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:tab
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Steve and John cooling off in the shade on the far side
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:tab We cross over Hwy 23, then head Southeast on CR 155, 152 and 153 to Boston. The pace is fun but sane. The road follow War Eagle Creek back up into the hills. As we cross Hwy 16, the elevation changes become more dramatic and the roads more fun. The plan now is to work our way South and come out at Oark on Hwy 215. The route takes us down CR 105, 150, 406 and 34. We drop down into the Mulberry Creek hollow and then climb back up to the top of the ridge on the other side. This runs a short ways and then we drop back down off the ridge as we roll into Oark. Most of the elevation changes in this area start around 1000 feet and max out around 2100 to 2200 feet, with the changes being relatively fast and steep. At Oark, we head West on Hwy 215, which is paved, until we reach Hwy 103, also paved.

:tab At this point, I am torn. Hwy 103 is a real hoot to ride, having some serious twisties. However, if we go that route, it means we are done with the dirt for the day and will be riding pavement all the way back to town. Not ready to call it quits, I decide to cut off Hwy 103 just before the real fun starts.

Looking North on Hwy 103 from the intersection where we turn East
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Steve
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John
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Looking South on Hwy 103, just beyond this is where the real paved fun would start!
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:tab Instead of continuing South on 103, we head East on CR 196, which quickly becomes CR 353. It follows Washita Creek, climbing rapidly as it goes back up into the hills. Near the top we find an interesting spot to stop.

Just out of the shot to the left there is a trickle of a water fall
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Inside looking out...
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:tab Well, it is getting on into the late afternoon and I think we are pretty well beat. Time to head for town. We reach Low Gap Road and head East. My plan is to cut South but somewhere along the way, I miss a turn and before I realize it, we are almost to Ozone at Hwy 21. Nothing to do now but hit the pavement and enjoy the run down off the ridge back into town :rider: I get behind a UPS truck and this guy is pretty serious about keeping me behind him... I back off because he is taking some of the 20-30mph corners fast enough to almost totally unload his inside suspension... :shock:

:tab We reach town and head for the hotel. However, I first have to stop to get a few pics of another green machine... :trust:

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:tab Back at the hotel, Steve and I enjoy a cool Shiner. Amazingly, my tush is feeling pretty good. I guess these new riding tights work as advertise because my skin is not tender at all. I mean, I am a bit sore just from the sitting, but I don't have that wet skin tenderness we all know and love so well... :twitch: I think I will be getting another pair. The great thing is that I just wash them out with soap in the shower, wring them out, hang them up, and they are dry by morning despite the ridiculous humidity in our room even with the AC cranked to max.

:tab Meanwhile... out in the parking lot, John sets to trying to figure out why his KLR is not running real well. He discovers that the clamps on both ends of his carb are loose. This may be letting air bleed in and throwing the air/fuel mix out of whack. So he tightens these.

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Steve supervises
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In the process of working on the bike, we realize John has a flat rear tire as well :doh:
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:tab He thinks it is because there is something in the valve stem from when he checked the pressure earlier. So he pulls the stem, makes sure everything is clean, reinflates and hopes for the best. After we get cleaned up, we walk over to an Italian place behind the hotel for dinner. Last time we were here this place was a Country Kitchen Family type of place. The pot roast was so hard I literally bent my fork trying to tear off a piece to eat... :brainsnap However, we are pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Italian food that has replaced it. The servings are large and good. I just wish this wasn't a dry town :-?

:tab After dinner we check John's tire and it seems to be hold pressure fine. So we goof off for the evening and eventually call it a day. Tomorrow the plan is to head somewhere to the Northeast to see what kind of trouble we can get into...
 
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Thanks for citing all the roads....I'll have to go back and write them down!
 
Great ride report! X2 on citing the route numbers. Makes planning for the next ride much more fun.
 
:tab And so Saturday morning arrives... hot... steamy... sunny... The sky is that hazy blue from all the moisture in the air. The horizon is lost in the fuzziness of the haze. Today, we head Northeast to ride some roads on both sides of Hwy 123. Looking at the map, it just looks like a ball of spaghetti noodles splattered on the pages. This should be fun! :rider:

:tab We head out about 9:30am and run out of town on Hwy 164 past the airport and pick up Hwy 123 just outside of town. 164 and 123 are the same road at this point. Just beyond the intersection where 292 ties in, we head North into the mountains on Strawberry Loop Rd., (CR 145). It starts out pretty tame, wide and smooth, following Little Minnow Creek. Soon though it begins to climb slightly and hits FR 1402. Now the fun begins.

:tab FS 1402 begins snaking back and forth up the side of the mountain. It is obvious that the rain from the other evening sent a lot of water rushing down this road. There are large loose rocks, ruts, broken branches, and some puddles collected behind the erosion berms that cross the road. The sound of crunching rocks mixes with the thumping of the motor as I steadily make my way through the woods. In some places, I have to ride the very edge of the road, getting hit by branches from nearby trees, so that I can get around some of the rougher washed out sections. We finally reach the ridge which is only about 1700 feet in elevation, running in a generally West/East direction.

:tab At the top of the ridge, we intersect CR 38. This is the West/East running road. However, if you look, you might notice a FR 1424 running off to the North from this intersection. This road runs out along a narrow ridge line and then drops down to connect to CR 133, the road where we decided to call it quits the first night. Had I found the turn before it got dark, where we are now is ideally where we would have come out. At the time, I did not realize it, but I have run 1424 before on another trip, but we approached from the South. It did not go through, at least not that we could find. What we did find was a VERY narrow "road" and a LOT of red mud... I mean the kind of mud that just fills up the spokes on the bike, collects between the rear wheel and shock, clings to your boots like it has super glue in it... you know, the fun stuff! I have the urge to try again to see if we can make the roads connect, but I shrug it off and we head East on CR 38.

:tab CR 38 is a well traveled and well maintained road. It is wide with sweeping turns. The views are nice, even if they are a bit hazy. Just before we reach Hwy 123, the road starts about a 1000 foot drop down off the ridge. Then we hit pavement and head North. At the Little Piney Creek crossing, we turn to the Southeast on FR 1813. We get stuck behind a few super clean mid sized SUV's. Even in first gear I am having to slip the clutch and coast some because they are going so slow... The road is barely as wide as the cages so there is no place to pass. Nothing to do but hang back and hope they will be turning off somewhere soon. After about a half mile, we cross a little creek and there is a house sitting on the other side. There is a nice lush looking lawn and the cars pull off to one side. There are already some other folks there. Looks like they are having a family picnic day. The house does not look like it has been lived in for a LONG time! As they pull of, we motor on around them and continue on our way.

:tab Just beyond the house, the road starts following a pasture fence line at the base of the hillside. It is narrow and has a ton of little yellow flowers growing everywhere, even in the middle of the road. It is apparent that this road sees next to no traffic. I am so busy enjoying the scenery and the road that I don't notice the GPS track showing us moving away from my intended route. However, once the road makes a turn away from the hills to head across the high grassed pasture, it dawns on me to look down at the GPS. Sure enough, we are headed the wrong way. No problem though, we spin around and I take a moment to grab a few flower shots.

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The old house - in a great location!
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:tab We head back down the road toward the house. As we approach, I notice that the GPS and reality have once again diverged. I had intended to find the turn off for FR 1826 and head in a more Northerly direction, then to loop back down to the South. I never saw the turn off for this. Being slightly confused I pull up next to one of the parked cars and ask a woman if she is familiar with the roads in the area, to which she replies, "Very." So I get her to lean in and take a look at the GPS, explain where I am trying to go, and she says the road is on the other side of the creek just before we came over the bridge. However, that is the continuation of 1813 and not 1826. "It's the only road out here," she tells me. So we cross back over the creek and find the continuation of 1813. For the first half mile or so, I look carefully for 1826 to branch off on the left, but never see it. No matter, the best plan is one that can be modified on the fly, so we just keep going on 1813 and I start working on a new route in my head...

:tab If you want to ride technical roads, which I do, then generally speaking, the North/South roads are the ones to ride. These are the ones that tend to go up and down the sides of the numerous ridges and the East/West roads generally either run along the top of the ridges or along the bottoms of them and are faster and more open. So I notice that where 1813 meets 1814, there is a road heading North, right up the side of the mountain. We round a few corners once we reach the intersection, but I don't see the road :scratch: I stop to double check the GPS and it shows we just passed it. So I backtrack a bit and sure enough, up under the tree cover is what looks like a creek bed and there is a FR road marker over in the weeds. So off we go...

:tab The first portion of this road is pretty rough, with large round rocks littering the way. Like I said, it looks like a dry creek bed. However, it soon starts climbing and rocks give way to more dirt. This is an ATV trail and it is quite narrow. There are small trees down in some places and we have to get over these, but they pose no problems. Then the trail starts getting steep. I drop into first gear, set the RPM's a bit above lugging speed, and start grinding my way to the top. The surface begins getting pretty rough. In several places there are rock steps that we have to get over. All the while we are dodging very low hanging branches. About mid way up, we come to a level open meadow. The trail is barely visible as it goes off through the tall grass. I follow it to the far side and it starts climbing again, even steeper now... I am really working, leaning up over the bars to keep the front end down when I have to gas it over the erosion berms. The KLR keeps right on chugging. Then I come to this...

A bit too big to move and to wide to go around...
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Looking back down the trail
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That trail just doesn't look very steep in the pictures, does it?
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:tab When I stopped the bike, I immediately started sliding backward because the front tire could not get enough grip. I killed the engine, left the bike in gear and had a rock behind the back tire so the bike would stay put after I got off to have a look around. This is when I notice that Steven and John are not behind me... :-? I am HOT, so regardless of what may be going on down the hill, I have to stop and take a break. Off comes the helmet and jacket. In moments I am being swarmed by gnats intent on exploring every possible opening in my head... :eek2: They are flying into my eyes, ears, and up my nose. A few times I forget and happen to open my mouth only to have them fly in there as well :puke: I can hear Steve and John talking somewhere down below. I try yelling at them to let them know not to bother coming up the trail. No good, I soon hear their engines and moments later John is hauling up the trail right at me. I'm blocking the trail while trying to get my bike turned around. John grinds to a halt as I motion for him to stop and turn around. It takes some serious pushing and grunting, but I get the bike turned around and pointed back down the hill. I like climbing hills. I am not so wild about going down them because it is much harder to control the speed of the bike when gravity is in the driver's seat... Getting the helmet and goggles back on is a great relief even though they are hot. Moments later I start the controlled crash back to the bottom of the mountain...

:tab We get back to the main road and I decide to keep heading East. Eventually, I want to get North because I want to cross Hwy 123 and head up to the small town of Deer for lunch at a little cafe. Looking at the GPS, I notice another little road running North (FR 1814) and scoot down the road to check it out. While I am sitting at the intersection of the second road, Steve and John pull up next to me. I look at the road, look at John, look at Steve, look at the road, look back at Steve, and Steve has that doubtful look in his eyes. "You wanna give this one a shot?" I ask... He looks back at me like my mental faculties are suffering from the heat. "How about we take the easy way around so we can get up some speed and cool off?" I'm cooking so I readily agree. We'll keep running 1813, also called Jakes Creek Rd., a little further to the East before trying to head North again on what looks like a better traveled road, FR 1800.

:tab At FR 1800, we turn North and start another of the many 1000 foot climbs so common in this area. As hoped for, this road is wide and well maintained. I stand up on the bike for a while and cruise at about 30-35 mph, letting the wind come through me mesh gear and cool me off. It feels GREAT! At the top of the ridge, the road turns to the West and follows the ridge line. I notice something in the trees to my left and then suddenly there are multiple deer coming across the road in front of me!! I slow down without any problem, but there are more waiting in the woods. Deer don't like being separated from each other and can do some crazy things when trying to stay with their pack. Sure enough, another comes across, but the remaining run back into the woods a bit. We pass by them without incident, but it is a good reminder not to take a clear road for granted, as if the ATV's aren't reminder enough... :doh:

:tab We soon reach FR 1802 and head North along a long slender finger of the ridge. I come over a small rise and notice an ATV on the trail up ahead and a woman walking along the trail further up from the ATV. A man is on the ATV yakking on his cell phone. When he sees us coming, he starts the ATV and tries to get over to the side of the trail to make room for us to get by him. I slow and wave as we go by them. A minute or two later, I crest another small rise and there is a guy on what looks like a DRZ400 coming up the trail toward me. We exchange waves and he zooms on past me. Next comes a white pickup truck that is taking up pretty much the entire road. I manage to squeeze by him and continue on my way. THEN comes a long line of ATV's. After seeing almost no one out here for the last few hours, this is a lot at once! We reach the end of the ridge outcropping and start a rocky descent into the valley below. Once at the bottom, the road becomes nothing but smooth rounded river bed rocks. We've reached Big Piney Creek.

Did I mention it was rocky?
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Steve tests the water... it is warm. This is what we have to cross...
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We decide to take a short break in the shade and have a snack
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Looking back up the "road"
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Yeah... it really is freaking hot and muggy out here :cool2:
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:tab After a short break, I take the lead in crossing the creek. I tell the others to let me get to the other side so I can set up to take pics. Then I fire up the KLR and get a run on the crossing. As I near the water, I already have a basic line picked out. However, upon entering the water, I find out that the rocks under the water are considerably larger than those on the shore and they are covered in slick algae! The bike starts bouncing all over the place and I hang on for dear life. I am standing up so the bike can move around. I stay on the gas as much as I can, fearing to lose momentum. Things are going pretty good until I am about two thirds of the way across. I can't tell if it is from hitting a big rock or just the loss of traction at the back tire, but I come to a precarious stop. I tip one way and stab a leg down to keep the bike upright only to slip and find out that bottom is further than I can reach!! I slide off the seat to get a better reach and push with all my might to keep the bike upright. Apparently though, in my adrenaline induced Hulk madness, I shove a bit too hard and the bike starts going the other way!! :doh: I manage to jump from one side of the bike to the other to get my left leg stabbed down into the water, now both feet are soaked, and keep the bike upright. The motor is still running, but now I have no momentum or the gyroscopic benefit of spinning wheels to help keep me up while I try to get going again. This is not the time for meekness. I grab a fist full of throttle, stand up and go for it! The bike lurches and teeters on the brink of falling, but I manage to splash my way to the far shore and find a place to pull over.

:tab No sooner than I stop the bike and look behind me, John is almost half way across and now he has come to a stop. I can't get the camera out fast enough to get a shot as his bike goes over. It does not go under because he is able to catch it. He quickly has it righted but now he is off the bike, stopped in the middle of the river...

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:tab John remounts and starts his bouncing ride out of the river. While watching I notice a bunch of loose zip ties flopping around on the front of his engine guard where he tool tube should be...:shock: John doesn't have real good luck with tool tubes. In Big Bend last February, he crushed one end of it with a big rock while we were riding in the National Park. I quickly scan downstream and spot it floating just under the surface of the water, moving slowly between the rocks. Realizing there is no way John can do anything about it, I plunge into the water and start chasing after it.

:tab Going after the tool tube is one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time... It is almost impossible to keep my footing while trying to move fast enough to catch up to the tool tube. I slip and slide, almost falling in completely several times. A few times I have to put my hands down into the water to keep myself from going all the way down. The weight of the tools keeps the tube from just floating along the surface like a cork, which is good because it would already be long gone. As it is, it catches on rocks and moves pretty slowly, allowing me to eventually catch it. By the time I get back to the bank and climb my way back through the dense woods to the road, my heart is POUNDING! I can see my pulse in my field of vision as my eyes thump from the pressure generated by the protests of my straining heart. I am breathing REALLY hard. Potatoes were not meant to exert themselves like this!! It is all I can do to just lean up against a tree by the river and focus on not passing out :-|

:tab After seeing both of us struggle across, and watching my crazy sprint through the water, Steve decides to try a different line. He moves down stream just a short ways and then tentatively starts into the water. Almost immediately he loses his momentum and the bike starts to go over. Somehow... he manages to keep the bike upright, but now he is stopped and has a longgg way to go. He waits a moment, considering his line, and then starts going again. The engine is revving and he is bouncing along pretty good. Things are looking great until he reaches a point just beyond the spot where John stopped...

:tab Now I have been riding dual sport with Steve for maybe five years. In that time we have ridden some pretty whacked stuff, stuff where almost every rider in the group has dropped his bike at least once, if not more. Yet in all that time, I have never seen Steve drop his bike. Of course, my bike is gravitationally challenged... :oops: The night we got here, John asked Steve something about his riding experiences and Steve replied, "I don't drop my bike." We gave him some ribbing over it, assuring him that he was tempting fate, but he was nonplussed. "I've said it before and been fine..." Well...

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I got pics, so it happened!! :nana: :lol2:

(I also have video but it is in AVI format and the file size is HUGE. I don't know how to convert it to MPEG so I can put up a link to it.)

:tab Okay, so by the time Steve and John get Steve's bike out of the river and parked in some shade, we are ALL practically having a stroke. Did I mention it is HOT and MUGGY! Down in this little valley under the trees, there is no breeze. The ground is still damp from the rain a few nights ago. I feel like I have a wet wool blanket draped over my head. It is not pleasant... I have to say, if this crossing had been any deeper or wider, it would have presented a serious challenge! I don't think I would want to try it after a period of any significant rainfall...

:tab Steve's bike went totally under. The engine won't fire. When he kicks, water shoots out the exhaust pipe. After a few more minutes of catching our breath, we decide to get the front of the bike elevated to help drain the water.

Quite a bit of water comes out, but the engine refuses to fire
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:tab After fiddling with the bike for a bit, I start hearing distant motor sounds, sounds like an ATV makes. Realizing we are blocking the road and remembering all the traffic we had encountered before, I suggest we move up the road a bit to a wider spot that has some good shade. It would appear that we are going to have to do some disassembling to get the XR refired. It turns out that it was a good thing I went after John's tools. You see, Steve has had some tool tube issues of his own. On that same Big Bend trip last February, I was riding sweep and came upon a tool tube laying in the road. I stopped and picked it up. Upon catching the group at a stop later, I found it was Steve's. Well, that tube is at home... So Steve has no tools with him :doh: So John's tools came in real handy.

Our path if we can get going again...
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John and Steve tear down the XR
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Hmmm...? How to get the spark plug out when we don't have a spark plug wrench that fits... :ponder:
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:tab Without a spark plug wrench we have no way to get the plug out of Steve's engine so we can dry it. This means we could be here a while... I keep hearing the sounds of ATV motors, but never see anyone. Of course, even if they show up, I am not sure how they could help other than to give Steve a ride out to the main road and then we'd see what could be done about retrieving the bike. There is no way in the world I could get the truck and trailer down into this area! Then as we are starting to realize that this could be a real pickle, we hear the sounds of an ATV getting closer. I walk back toward the river to see the couple we passed up on the ridge. They are making their way across the river and stop to check on us when they arrive.

They live in Dover and have several ATV's. All they do in their spare time is ride around in the woods.
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:tab We stand around talking for a bit and then it hits me... The ATV is a Honda! Maybe they have a plug tool that will fit Steve's bike. They happily dig out their tool kit and we get really lucky! It fits!! Steve gets the plug pulled, gets it dry, sprays some carb cleaner fluid down into the cylinder to help get out any remaining moisture and then sets to putting things back together. A short while later and after some serious kicking, the bike sputters and fires back to life!! :dude: We thank the helpful couple and they are on their way.

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:tab Now, we have two ways out of here. Given how tired we are now and how hot we are, we are looking for the quickest and easiest way back to pavement. It is late in the afternoon and we have not eaten. At this point, I think we're all ready to just head back to town and call it a day. Before they left, I spoke with the couple on the ATV about the two roads leading out of here. One requires a pretty technical climb up onto another ridge, but then levels out for the remaining run back to Hwy 123. This is FR 1802, and it is the longer of the two routes. The shorter route just follows the river back to the highway and is not technical at all. This is FR 1002. However, it requires that we cross the river again... If one of us goes under, we could be out here a lot longer... :huh2:

:tab While Steve gets the XR put back together, I go on ahead to scout out the water crossing route. The couple said it was longer, but that it was smoother. So I head up the road, find the turn off for FR 1002, and it becomes a narrow rocky trail, sloping downward with lots of tight turns. When I reach the bottom, it is the same rocky river bottom as before. I have to ride a few hundred yards through the big round rocks before I reach the water's edge. To the left, the water is shallow and moving fast. To the right, the water is wide and deep, but moving slow. I figure all the ATV's came this way, so I should be able to make it across.

:tab I stand up and motor on into the water. The current is noticeable, but not a problem. The bottom is indeed MUCH smoother than the previous crossing. There are still a few large rocks, but they can be avoided if you can see them. The water is just deep enough that it is not always possible to see them though. About two thirds of the way across, the water is almost over my front tire. I keep the engine revved and chug my way across. I have to dodge a few low hanging branches as I near the exit on the far side. I pull over and park the bike to wait for Steve and John. This crossing was pretty simple so I think we'll stick with FR 1002 back to the main highway.

The road is that bit of gravel up and to the left going back into the trees
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:tab After about five minutes or so, I hear the sounds of thumpers approaching. Soon I see John and Steve arrive on the far side. I motion for them to just come straight across at me. Steve pulls up to ponder his line and John drives around him into the water... He looks good until about half way across. Suddenly he veers hard to his right, as if his front wheel just bounced off a rock. He does not go down, but now he has moved into deeper water! It looks like the water is almost up to his seat! He manages to keep moving and soon splashes out next to me. Next comes Steve. He looks like he is being extra cautious this time. He stays well to the shallow side and gets across with no problems. From here, John takes the lead and we start the run North to Hwy 123. There are a lot of places where people have pulled off and are swimming in the river or camping. As I round one corner in particular, I am a little wide, but still on my side and I encounter an ATV coming right at me... AGAIN! I see their eyes bulge as they pull hard back to their side of the road and I suppress the panic reaction so I can pull the KLR over to the right side. We miss and I feel my heart pounding in my chest. You just can't ever let your guard down out here! The rest of the run is uneventful and it feels good to be riding faster now.

:tab When we reach Hwy 123, I convince Steve and John to run up the highway to Hankins Country Store. It is only a few miles away and they have cold drinks, ice cream, and sandwiches. It would be a shame to be this close to the best part of 123 and not ride it. Since it is easy paved riding, they agree and we are soon tearing down the road. I love 123. It just rocks! The curves just come one after another and flow together really nice. Soon though we are stuck behind a cruiser riding two up and looking wobbly in the corners. So I back off and wait. Then when I get a nice straight section, Steve and I pull around them to resume our fun...

:tab About the time we reach the point where FR 1802 would have dropped out onto the highway, we are leaned over pretty good in a long tight right hand corner. Suddenly I feel the back of the KLR stepping out!? The pavement is dry and the traction excellent. The D606's have NEVER done this, even when pushing harder than I am now. I lift the bike up and the rear comes back in line. I lay it back over to complete the turn and it immediately steps out again... Okay... Something is wrong. The tire has to be toast... I finish the corner and pull over the shoulder. Steve stops behind me. As soon as he walks up, he sees a huge nail sticking out of the center of the tire :doh: We are out in the middle of nowhere and there is no shade to be had. This is not going to be fun... Worse, I don't have the little adapter chord that plug into the BMW style outlet on my dash so I can plug in the cigarette lighter plug for my air pump. I discovered last night while messing with John's rear tire that it was not in my bag as it should be :argh: But wait! That's not all! I am also missing the 6-7 CO2 canisters I normally have in my bag!! I guess I should have checked or these things before leaving town but I don't recall ever taking them out of the bags which I leave packed all the time. Oh well... I put the bike in first gear, stand up on the pegs and lean forward, then start crawling ever so slowly down the road in search of shade.

:tab I don't have to go far before spotting a house with big trees on the right side of the road. Steve is stopped in their driveway out by the road, but I go ahead and pull on into the driveway out in front of the house. While Steve watches from a distance, I go up to the front door and knock. I explain my predicament and ask if they have a compressor I can use. They don't. But they are more than happy to let us use the cigarette lighter in their truck!! :clap: I motion for Steve and John to come on over so we can get started. The homeowner, a father and his son, come out to keep us company and even provide cold drinks!

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We get the tire off, the tube out, and find the whole
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:tab We decide to try to patch it. One of my rubber cement tubes is empty, the contents apparently having evaporated away. The other tube still has cement in it, but it is the consistency of a sticky booger that doesn't want to spread around on the tube or patch. We abandon the patch and instead install a spare tube. Everything seems to be going smoothly and we get the tire inflated and remounted. As I am putting all the tools away, Steve says, "The tire is flat..." WHAT!? Thinking he is just teasing I check the tire. It's flat... :twitch: No doubt, we pinched the tube :doh: Fortunately, John also has a spare tube. We take everything back apart and start over. About this time, we start hearing the rumble of distant thunder to the East of us. This time we go slow and make darn sure we don't pinch the tube. We get everything back together and check the tire to make sure it is holding pressure. It seems fine so we finish packing up the tools, say good bye to our benefactors, and hit the road. The rest of the run up to Hwy 7 is a hoot.

:tab At the Country store we find a fellow adventure rider that goes by the name of Hooterville on Advrider. He's on a big KTM. I don't notice whether it is the 950 or 990. He's just been out riding alone and having fun. I grab a double scoop of ice cream with chocolate syrup and a gatorade :trust: Then we hang out on the front porch visiting and cooling off. Storm clouds are brewing to the Southeast and a pair of riders pulls up soaking wet, having just ridden through a downpour. Now we are worried about getting nailed by rain before we can scoot back to Clarksville.

Danielle is the new owner/manager of the store. She's very nice and loads on the chocolate syrup!
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:tab I check the radar on Danielle's computer and it shows the rain is coming this way. Seeking to beat the rain, we mount up and head back down Hwy 123. About half way back to Clarksville, it starts to look like we won't make it. The temperature starts to drop fast. This feels incredible!! However, the clouds are coming in low from the South and hitting the mountains. As I round a corner and drop down into a low lying area, thick clouds are drifting across the fields toward the road. I can't tell if it is just clouds or also heavy rain. As I cross the low area, the clouds hit the road. There are some sprinkles, but nothing bad yet. As I start to climb over another hill, I come out of the clouds and the road is clear and dry. I think we made it. Now it is time to just have fun with the run back to town!! :rider:

:tab We get back to town around 5:00pm, having ridden a whopping 102 miles. I'm hot, tired and hungry. Back at the hotel I take a long cool shower. Even after that I can still feel heat just pouring from my head. I drink a few more gatorades. Then we head over to Larry's Pizza for dinner. It turns out to actually be really good pizza! :eat: After dinner, we load up the bikes and call it a day, retiring to watch TV for a while before heading to bed.

:tab While we were sitting out there trying to get Steve's bike refired, I think I lost quite a few pounds from sweating. I don't think I could have been any wetter even if I had gone and dunked myself in the river. I did go over to the river and splash quite a bit of water on me in an attempt to cool off. However, the water was so warm it did not really help. I carry a three liter Camel-Bak and by the time we reached the Country Store, it was almost empty. That hour or so that it took to get going again was a LONG hour. The heat and humidity combined with the level of exertion made me feel pretty bad and totally zapped any energy I might have had. However, I did notice when we got back to the hotel that my tush was feeling pretty good. While the tights do tend to make me feel hotter just because they cover the whole leg, they do seem to do a great job of getting the moisture away from the skin. Also, when the air comes through the mesh gear and hits them, the cooling effect is much stronger than it is on my sweaty cotton shirt. I definitely think I will be ordering another pair of these for future rides.

:tab Sunday morning we get up and hit the road about 8:00am. The drive back is boring, but the AC feels great. After the riding from the trip up here in May, my shoulders and arms were pretty stiff and sore. The riding on this trip was actually more physical in several places, yet I am feeling pretty good this time. I just need to do it more often... and NOT at the end of June! :doh: Still... it was a ton of fun :trust:
 
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Note to self: You need to learn how to ride a dirt bike.

2nd note to self: Hold off on riding with Tourmeister for a little while after learning.

Enjoying the ride report, but it looks intimidating as heck.
 
Okay, that's it, I'm ready to go back. Even with the heat... The heat sucked, but hanging out in the creek during my down-time made it worth the suffering...
 
:tab I thought about a dip in the river. If it had been as cold as that one we stopped at in Arizona, I would have gone in for a longggg soak in a heart beat. As it was, it was lukewarm and even soaking my head did not really feel all that refreshing. Of course, by the time I got done chasing down John's wayward tool tube, there wasn't much of me left that was dry... :doh: The spot where we made our second crossing would have been ideal for a swim. The earliest I might be able to go back would be September. PigTrail is already organizing a ride in the same area for early September. The problem is that I have a BAD itch to do a road trip out West for 8-10 days. If I manage to pull that off, then pretty much everything else will go out the window. There is also Richard's trip down to Galeana. I've missed that two years in a row and I REALLY want to do it. That will be in the middle of October... :ponder:
 
:tab I thought about a dip in the river. If it had been as cold as that one we stopped at in Arizona, I would have gone in for a longggg soak in a heart beat. As it was, it was lukewarm and even soaking my head did not really feel all that refreshing. Of course, by the time I got done chasing down John's wayward tool tube, there wasn't much of me left that was dry... :doh: The spot where we made our second crossing would have been ideal for a swim. The earliest I might be able to go back would be September. PigTrail is already organizing a ride in the same area for early September. The problem is that I have a BAD itch to do a road trip out West for 8-10 days. If I manage to pull that off, then pretty much everything else will go out the window. There is also Richard's trip down to Galeana. I've missed that two years in a row and I REALLY want to do it. That will be in the middle of October... :ponder:
The creek we camped on (Haw Creek) was well shaded and quite cool, enough that we kept our water etc in it to keep it cool.

I probably won't be able to get back this year anyway, between $, PTO and the kids... The only reason I went this time was due to Wes' situation. Seth took me leaving really hard this time tough, couldn't understand why he couldn't come with... he's getting that age. What would be cool would be to take the families up there; the kids could play, swim, etc, wives sit and talk and do whatever wives do... and we can ride while they're doing it :rider: I know we could get John et al to go...
 
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Have ya'll considered taking a small chain saw along with you as standard DS equipment? ;-)
 
Have ya'll considered taking a small chain saw along with you as standard DS equipment? ;-)

:tab Actually, a good hand saw would be nice to have. I used to have one that could cut through a good sized green log pretty quick. It was a bit big to carry on the bike, but I have seen some with similar blades that were a little smaller and would fit on the bike just fine. However, that one big tree that blocked the trail had a trunk of about 18-20" diameter and would have been a lot of work, especially with gnats flying up my nose and in my eyes!! Maybe I should pack some dynamite... :trust:
 
Great trip and ride report, Scott. Even though it was hot and steamy, this will go down as one of my most memorable rides. What do the say, the adventure starts when things stop going as planned?

:tab Now I have been riding dual sport with Steve for maybe five years. In that time we have ridden some pretty whacked stuff, stuff where almost every rider in the group has dropped his bike at least once, if not more. Yet in all that time, I have never seen Steve drop his bike. Of course, my bike is gravitationally challenged... :oops: The night we got here, John asked Steve something about his riding experiences and Steve replied, "I don't drop my bike." We gave him some ribbing over it, assuring him that he was tempting fate, but he was nonplussed. "I've said it before and been fine..." Well...
I got pics, so it happened!! :nana: :lol2:

(I also have video but it is in AVI format and the file size is HUGE. I don't know how to convert it to MPEG so I can put up a link to it.)

I think I need a ruling on this one. If only the bottoms of your boots contact the ground, does it still count as a fall?

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it!

Steve
 
Great report. I love that area myself. I'm thinking about gettine a GPS.(finally) You mentioned that the other guys had Zumos. Do you know the model numbers? What GPS are you using? If you mentioned it, I missed it- sorta like you missing several trails. Ha Ha.
 
Great report. I love that area myself. I'm thinking about gettine a GPS.(finally) You mentioned that the other guys had Zumos. Do you know the model numbers? What GPS are you using? If you mentioned it, I missed it- sorta like you missing several trails. Ha Ha.

Mine is the Garmin 276CS. I don't know which model Zumo John and Steve have. I like mine because I don't care for the touch screen. However, I do get quite annoyed with the Unlock Code thing when using the maps with the unit. The base map sucks so you basically have to purchase their other map software. The problem is, you can only use two GPS units with the software unless you purchase additional unlock codes. I think that is pretty lame.
 
By the way, John and Steve, I know I saw you guys taking pictures during this ride... Post them up! :-P
 
Scott,

Do a google search for GPS File Depot. On that site you will find several series of maps that work well for Dual Sport applications. Best of all, they are free. I load three different mapsets for Texas. Garmins Topo. Texas topo, and Ibycys. There are Topos for most states that are as good or better than the Garmin series. You cant have all three displayed at the same time but you can swap back and forth easily in the map setup menu. I use a Garmin 76cx.
 
Scott,

Do a google search for GPS File Depot. On that site you will find several series of maps that work well for Dual Sport applications. Best of all, they are free. I load three different mapsets for Texas. Garmins Topo. Texas topo, and Ibycys. There are Topos for most states that are as good or better than the Garmin series. You cant have all three displayed at the same time but you can swap back and forth easily in the map setup menu. I use a Garmin 76cx.

Cool, thanks for the info. I will check it out!
 
@Desmo @jredford

I need to get my KTM back to ready to ride status. Maybe a spring trip to revisit some of this might serve as a good incentive :ponder: I wonder if I can even find the GPS tracks or just recreate it from my descriptions above.
 
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