April 14th Good Friday Boon Run

[YZMAN400]

We continued along taking the southern loop around Little Manistee. As we got closer to Lincoln bridge the ground starts getting tackier and the passing opertunities seem to increas. People are starting to pick up the pace. The log crossings / bypass seem to be prime spots to get around people.

You can sure tell the enduro riders from the casual trail riders. The enduro guys are out front and gone. The rest of us are hanging out in the back taking it all in.

At Lincoln Bridge the 2 guys from TT on the YZf's decided that they had enough and headed back. The rest soldered on.

Past Lincoln Bridge and on the Boon trail. We soon make a stop to check out some of the local scenery.

 

[YZMAN400]

We continue on up to 55. Stoped there to top off Sndms sons bike with some gas he had stashed there. I remember a few coments about some thinking that funny yellow stuff in the bottle was a place for certain body fluids.

Mike decided he had better get heading back to spend some quality time with the his family. Counting the 2 guys we lost at Lincoln Bridge we were now down to 11riders.

The rest of us pushed forward onto Boon. It was in this section of trail that I seen something that brought a smile to my face.....SNOW.....can you believe it. There is still snow out there. Not much just a spattering here and there but there was snow. Unfortunately none of it was on the trail...Bummer.

We made it up to the 32nd street/boon turnoff. As we were waiting for everyone to show up, I must of been channeling Huby because I noticed that Trevors tire was flat. Trevor and I headed to the gas station to start breaking his tire down while the rest of the riders trickled in. As usual the gas station attendents were like Holly S**t as we assended on there little store.

I had the tire irons and preglued tire patches. One of the other KTM guys had the axle wrench and Ted pulls out a tire pump. We are good to go. Coments a-plenty about wanting to see a ISDE 3 minute tire change. Well it wasn't 3 minutes but they got it all fixed up while the rest of us sat in the shade and armchair quarterbacked.

Once were about ready to go Cmore and I announced that we were going to contunue north up to 115 and beyond to check out some new single track. I was trying my best to channel Woodsy and keep pushing everyone north. To my supprise most of them agreed. At the trail crossing at 32nd street Bob and 2 of the KTM riders broke ranks and headed south. the rest of us headed north.

I started to notice something in this section of woods. All those endure riders that were blazing fast were starting to settle into a pace. Either that or I was picking up the speed (which I doubt) I was actually able to keep a few of them in my sights for a while and even pass a few here and there when a tree blockage presented itself.

 

[YZMAN400]

Once north of the Non platted section of trail we made good time on the 2-tracks. I started to see this strange flat black stuff on the trail. It was ice. Ice and snow. Like 50ft sections of it. The 1st time I seen someone spin a tire on it and make a looong white streak thru the middle of it brought a big smile to my face.

We just hit 115 when I started to notice something strange with my bike. I looked down and the rear tire was flat. Drats.

So out come the tools again and another tube gets patched. This time the leak is at a previous patch that I had done to get out and ride with the kid. The tube was actually starting to tear. Only solution was to patch over the patch and hope it holds. And for a while it did. Just long enough for me to get the tire mounted back onto the bike. Flat again. So that was the end of my day with the group.

I was more disapointed that I couldn't continue with the group than I was about the tire. But what could I do. I turned around and started heading south. Between my map and GPS I devised a route to follow as I went. worked out prety well. I was only able to run about 25mph on the shoulder of the roads. My biggest concern was keeping the tire on the rim. If the tire came off my ride was over.

At the caberfae road and 55 crossing I gave the tire a once over and noticed that the sidewall was starting to tear out at the rim lock. Now that I think of it I should of loosened up that rim lock and rotated the tire 90deg to get the tear away from the rimlock. Oh well Hindsite ya know.

As I was geting ready to push on I cought a glance of 2 bikes crossing 55 to the east of me. They looked like KTM's. Pretty sure they were on the snowmoblie trail. Not being able to get there attention or catch them I continued on my way. Took that road next to the Caberfae road south onto Hoxyville or something like that. I managed to snake my way down to State street and Lincoln Bridge. As I am slowly riding down the side of the road all kinds of things start to cross your mind.

1. Should I take that straighter route thru the woods on the 2-track or stay on the road. If I break down in the woods it will be hard to get out. I am more likely to be found on the roads. So the roads won out.

2. Flat tires handle bad. Road crown is not your friend. The back tire was constantly drifting to the rh side towards the ditch draging the bike with it. Not a fun ride :whoa:

3. I started to look for placed to stop that may be offroad friendly and possibly be able to drive me and skippy back to the truck. An atv in that yard. That looks promising. A quad and a truck in that yard that looks even better :ride:

4. The rim lock makes for a really bumpy ride. :bang:

5. Damn I left my woodsy survival kit in the trailer :(

At the state st / lincoln Bridge turn off I stoped to consult the map and devise the best way back to the truck. I really didn't want to go down the soft ATV trail as any amount of throttle may just tear the rest of the sidewall out.

As I am contemplating this I hear a bike. I look up and Bob pops outta the woods. We determined that getting across the bridge here would be best. And seeing as I now had someone with me that knew where I was I was feeling beter. We managed to get onto some dirt roads and found our way all the way back. The last section we were following a set of bike tracks down Twin Creek road and then onto 7 mile road. I am thinking that they were out 2 KTM riders.

So finially I am happly back at the trailer around 6:00pm. I had just over 80 miles on the odometer. At least 35 of that was with a flat tire. Not a performance I want to repeat any time soon. The destroyed tire dosn't bother me at all. It was prety warn out anyways. I have 4 more waiting in the shed to take its place.

I got everything loaded up and was going to wait around for the rest of the crew to show up. But I had a feeling that they would be a while. Plus I had an overwhelming desire for a few frosty beverages. So I headed to Branch to spend the night at the cabin. Ted I was going to offer you to stay at the cabin with me last night but I didn't feel like waiting around there for an hour + soo.....

As I was sitting around the campfire enjoying the quiet evening a funny thing happened. Remember that red Blazer full of..um..drunk teens that we seen at the Boon store then latter on the 2-track back to the trail. Well guess who drove my by trailer woopin and hollerin hanging out the windows. The same group of teens. They sure got around. If only they knew I was one of the group that they seen earlier. I saluted them with my beer as they drove by and went back to reading my 2 year old transworld motocross Magazine I found in the trailer.

Got up in the morning. Made some coffie and hit the road. Hit powers to get a new tube and a o-ring 530 masterlink (for the streetbike). Got home around 10:30 this morning.

Well thats about it. Thanks to everyone that showed up. It was a great day for a ride with a great bunch of guys to ride with. We have got to do that again sometime. Too much fun.

Till then

 

[TCTrailrider]

Don, sounds like a good ride, to bad about the tire. We had a late arriving group at Lincoln Hills. Don Marsh, Paul North Dwayne Deusendang, Trevor Bristol, and myself. Just did a 30 mile loop. Trail was in great condition except for about 5 miles of nasty whoops. No stories. Paul and I had some bad gas and both bikes blew pressure from the gas tank all day. It was like Alkaselzer in the tank, strange, never seen that before. It was a great day to ride.

 

[YZMAN400]

Don, sounds like a good ride, to bad about the tire. We had a late arriving group at Lincoln Hills. Don Marsh, Paul North Dwayne Deusendang, Trevor Bristol, and myself. Just did a 30 mile loop. Trail was in great condition except for about 5 miles of nasty whoops. No stories. Paul and I had some bad gas and both bikes blew pressure from the gas tank all day. It was like Alkaselzer in the tank, strange, never seen that before. It was a great day to ride.

I was going to comment about maybe it was the breakfast burreto from Mc'ds but it would be too easy.

We had the same thing happen to at least one of the KTMs in our group yesterday too. Strange. Take that one way valve outta the vent hose. Should cure it.

Just got word that Sndmn's sons bike siezed north of 115 also. Ted had to tow him back. Yesterday was just full of adventure :laugh:

 

[SNDMN2]

Good ride guys until the end. I want to thank Ted and Cmore for the tow back and waiting for me after the crank seized in the yzf. :( I don"t know. Evilbay the parts or rebuild. I have the motor out now. I don"t think I have the tools for the crank removel. :(
See you guys next week.

 

[INCA]

14 to 3 is not 2:46

A few additions and beyond what Don experienced. Trees surround the parking lot and that means you are in the woods. By adding a ‘y’ you come up with someone who couldn’t be there and also someone to talk about. At an informal, no one preaching, gathering of riders, it was heard – “I’ve never met Woodsy”. A few more comments and the laughs to go with them can’t be beat for a better way to start a day of riding. Thank you for the inspiration Woodsy, even though you were far away and forgot your lunch. Don, to draw so many riders with a simple post is better than being told you’re so bad you can’t even draw flies.
At an early rest/catch up stop, Don informed me that I had roosted him on a section of two track. Although I knew he was somewhere behind me, it was news to me that it had occurred and when do I use that much throttle so suddenly. Let’s just say a request was fulfilled.
After crossing the Pine River and getting on Woodsy’s Beloved Boon Trail, it is a different world for as many reasons as you care to think of. There is an aura of sorts for now it is single track headed north, no loop present. The choice is to retrace your tracks or have an adventure returning as best you know how. This is the polite way of saying – getting lost.
Bob headed south from Boon with Matt and Daryl, as he wanted to do some Go Park Somewhere work. It would be in the Caberfee area to chase down some two tracks. They can fill in their own account as the majority of eight went north to experience the BS – Boon Syndrome.
North of M-115 the now majority of seven enjoyed the new trail that is established but far from worn out. It didn’t take long for me to get hung up or go down three times in rather short order. Rick was behind me and gave a welcome helping hand. At a two track stop, the decision to head back was made but which way took a little discussion. Rick and Jim had helped put in that new trail so knew something about what went where. Rick volunteered he knew how to get us lost and left in the lead, with his right shoulder to the sun. This system came to a halt at a gate, fence and dire warnings. It was time to put the left shoulder to the sun and even out the sunburn. After a few more turns here and there, we did get out to a gravel road. Now Trevor’s tire was low again, so after pumping it up, he took off to get as far as possible and not stop any more. He’ll have to explain his part; we were now the majority of six.
When we got back to M-115, Rick switched bikes with his son Richie and we picked up snowmobile trail 37 heading south. At the junction to Boon, Rick and Ward decided to go in for gas, so I went on to tell the others what was going on. At the next stop sign the four of us simply waited until the two returned. Once again, we’re off and running. That should be just the 975 combination of Ward and Dave’s bikes, as they went out of sight in a hurry. How much of a hurry? Missed a left turn completely. All we could see were tire tracks moving out on a mission – in the wrong direction. While waiting to see if they would come back, Jim in essence asked if this was a normal Boon ride. The simple answer is, yes. Little did any of us know what was coming. If my sucker was as rotten as thought by some, I would put – to be continued – and go play elsewhere. Since Rick had the most gas, in the bikes tank, he went to see if they might be waiting up ahead somewhere. Not so. The majority of four made the decision to keep going on trail 37 and make the best of it. After a while I noticed four tracks ahead of Jim, who was leading. My guess is that two of them had to be the 975 duo. I’ll take another guess while I’m at it. I spotted where two bike tracks had made a quick stop on the right side of the road and a four-wheeled vehicle had stopped and backed up on the opposite side. If two riders have to ask for verification or directions, it is synonymous with lost.
We were doing OK, making good time and in familiar territory south of M-55. The riding order was Jim, Richie, myself and Rick. At the jog crossing 10 Mile Rd. things are in order but when I get to State Rd. and look back for Rick, he doesn’t show up. Richie and Jim stop up ahead and after a minute goes by I know something is wrong, make a 180 and go back. I find him walking the Yamaha with the motor locked tight. Out comes the towrope and we’re under way. We meet Richie who had to wonder why neither of us had shown up. At State Rd. Richie gets to stay with the bike while the majority of three heads for the lot. It takes us about half an hour flying down the route and we pull in at 8 PM.
Had it not been for a parental decision, Richie would have been one of the majority of three. But it was also the bike he started on that didn’t make it. As such, I say Jim, Rick and I are the majority that finished the ride. Are there any additions or corrections?
So the day ends after ten hours out on the trails covering 102.5 miles in 6 hours of ride time. Rick heads east to State Rd., Jim heads north to color Easter eggs and I head for the Dream Catcher.

Special to Don Marsh - Leaving your card makes it a business call, which makes the trip costs a deduction. If you need help with this, contact Judge MWeissen. He knows how to work bribes very well.

Young Ted

 

[Don Marsh]

Sound like an interesting ride, great day to be in the woods. Glad you had fun sounds like an advertisement for Moose tubes. :)

Ted they all are business calls aren't they? Hey, anybody want to buy a tank truck?

Hey, now even the cost of the internet is a business deduction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cool:
Don

 

[(over) 50]

It was a great ride, no other way to say it! That trail was in the best condition I've rode it in a long time. Lots of down trees kept you on your toes,some water holes and even a little snow and ice. After leaving the group with two other riders from Boon , I took a little jog over to the Caberfae parking area looking for a route to the corner of 55 and 37.Got within a short distance and a steel gate with Keep Out sign spoils the ride. Headed back south toward the parking lot and noticed other bike tracks on the trails, maybe some of the riders from our group? Came upon Don just before the bridge and rode back keeping an eye on his tire incase it wants go a different direction. Glad everyone made it back safely. Look forward to doing another ride.

 

[mjbike]

Great ride guys. Nice to meet all of you. Sorry I had to cut it short, looks like I missed out on the adventure and repair parts of the trip.
Enjoyed riding with all of you hope to do it again.(especially when I have more time LOL)
Mike

 

[woodsy]

:ride: WOW - does it sound like I needed to be there or what!!! Glad you guys had a fantabulous ride - and that aint no BS Ted!!! THANK YOU El-loco for fulfilling my hopes and dreams about the trip - Don, hope you enjoyed the roost :rotfl:
Hey Jim - yeppers - that IS/WAS a "normal" Boon ride!! Tracks goin here and there, people getting lost, bikes breakin down, snow and ice remaining on the trail, watching people fix their bikes (were you able to detect a hint of panic in anything - thats when you REALLY know your on the right track) - why I tell you what - if that aint NORMAL I dont know what is!!!
Don - you DID IT - you managed to scuttle the whole trip, led the unsuspecting into oblivion and leave them there.. I would announce you a full fledged ROTTEN SUCKER MAGNA NO-WANTA, BUT, you failed on one account.. No one ran out of gas!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although, I almost capitualted that decision because I read that the guy with the blown YZF did push it a ways BY HIMSELF so that made it a hard decision!! Also, forgetting your Emergency Kit is totally unconsionable!! Soooo,, while your a scuttle-butt and a true blue louse of a friend, I will have to pass on giving you the Magn No-Wanta status - maybe next time YZMAN!!
Oh yea,, hope all that chatter/picking on someone who wasnt there to defend himself helped you low-blow tossing rotten suckers enjoy your day!!! Someday I will repay all of you and I will run out of gas on the BOON trail and force feed everyone burnt squirrel!!!
Glad you guys had FUN and I really enjoyed the Trail Tale!! Excellent job - you guys make me PROUD!!!
To the guy that has never met me....... For now, your luck is holding out........ :nener:
Leave with 14 and come home alone Don.... THAT IS AWESOME!! OK OK OK,,,,, I changed my mind... You have graduated to Magna No-Wanta!! CONGRATS!!!! Now,,, that was worth the flat wasnt it?
And Ted,, leave with 14 and come home with 3?? Thats not like you..... You must have REALLY missed me!! I hope so cause I thought about you guys ALL day!!
Oh yea, BOB - BOB MY MAN.. We gotta get you a GLS system so you stop hanging around with that GPS... You gotta be weaned brother!! That thing will mess up your whole outlook on life if your not careful.. Tell you what, next ride we take up North as a group we will try the Cold Turkey Approach and we will leave your GPS/Cell Phone and Compass in the truck.. Then all you have to do is follow the leader and not worry about a thing..... Sound good??? snicker snicker :rotfl:
Woodsy :ride:

 

[INCA]

We haven't heard the Trevor or Dave and Ward account yet. Could be interesting.

Woodsy - Depending on how you look at it, we missed you or we didn't. The main point is you still provided some laughs even in absentia.

Young Ted

 

[woodsracer369]

Today is the first chance I've had to read and post since the ride. It was a fantastic day - the Single track North of Boon is some of the best trail in the state and well worth the troubles I had during the day. I have a very nice Black, Blue, yellow and green souviner from a fall taken south of 55 while heading North. After the fall (before the first flat) my tank vent started acting up and spitting gas. Thanks to Don, Ted and Ward for the use of the tools @ Boon, and thanks to everyone else for the "encouragement" while patching the tube. After making it to the end of the Boon trail north of 115 and trying to find our way back my rear tire went flat again, with Don having already left I decided my best option was to ride back or as far as I could get on the flat. I managed to put a few more miles on my flat rear tire than Don. After making it to the snowmobile trail heading south at 115 I thought it best if I continued on ahead of the group to try to keep the pace of the entire group up. Yeah, you end up thinking up some odd scenarios while riding alone on a hobelled bike through the woods trying to make it home eh Don? With no maps or real idea on exactly where I was at I knew I had to keep the sun in my face so I stayed on 37-35 snowmobile trails until the bridge over the pine river and then on to the ORV route back to the staging. I actually found the soft sand sections of trail alot eaiser on the bike as I could wick up the speed and the centrifgule (sp) force helped keep the rim off the ground. The increased speed did increase the pucker factor though. made it back to the truck by 6:45 loaded up and stayed long enough to see that Dave (525DSK) and Ward made it back. I have a lot of maintenance to do and can't wait for the next ride. Great ride guys - see you next time.

 

[525 DSK]

Wow Guys, sounds like the adventure just kept coming. Yep Ward? I think his name was, the guy from St Clair Shores and I just kept going. We never notice we missed a turn and found our selves on trail 37 the whole way, or so we thought and made it to the cross roads at 35. We then followed 35 to the trucks. We pulled in at about 7:00, just in time to see Trevor off. I had a great time with everyone and for my first ride of the season its one I know I wont soon forget. The trails were fun and those who missed the short section after 115 really missed out on some great trail. That section looked like it was just cut in yesterday and somewhat a challenge to find and follow. The decision to take two tracks back was a good one as it was already 5:00 by then, but we probably would have save time by taking the single track back to 115. Hey, what’s a ride without getting lost at least once? Sorry to hear about the YZ sizing up and feel bad that the last of the group waited for us to come back to the miss turn, we never knew we missed.
One last thing, Ted, YOU ARE THE MAN!

 

[Ward]

Hey guys thanks for a great ride. That was some amazing trail and it was in awesome shape after the evenings rain. Dave's account is correct. The sixth gear on the KTM needed some use. We just followed trails 37and 35 back. A couple times we stopped to make sure we were going the right way but pretty much followed Trevor's tracks. Unfortunetly I had to bolt home as I had a 3 1/2 hour trip back and a family holiday weekend to prepare for. It was great meeting everyone. I hope we get to ride again soon.

 

[3KDXXR2]

Great write up guys ! Wish I could have been there with you.

 

[INCA]

Great write up guys ! Wish I could have been there with you.

Nothing wrong with that, except there were no bikes available for test rides.

Dave - Guess I'd better not address you -" thay fella".

Young Ted

 

[woodsracer369]

The Bike is torn down - Tires and EXTRA HEAVY DUTY tubes ordered. I should be back in business - ready to ride 04/29/06.

 

[YZMAN400]

New rimlock and 18" tube sitting in my truck. new D752 hanging in the shed. Just need to get some black tape to replace the mangled rim strip and I am back in business. Hope to have it spooned on and back on the bike tonight.

 

[INCA]

Have used 18" tube ready to go with pump on the next ride.