The weather reports for last weekend were, to say the least, a duck hunters dream come true. Problem is, I weren’t going hunting for ducks. The skys ALL the way up were dark , REAL dark! I have learned over the years of being an avid trail rider NOT to let the weather man have final say of the day. To many possible good rides have “gone south” due to following the “weather” to closely. So, disregarding ALL odds (including a reported possibility of tornadoes – we (that’s right, I actually have people left that will ride with me) went anyway!
For this section of the MCCCT I was joined by 2 local riding buds – Larry and Randy, ridin tight stuff is ALWAYS more fun when it involves others! We started our North bound east side route where my friend Randy and I left off last week. Going North out of Roscommons on M-18, Old 144 comes in from the east. We turned east on Old 144, found the MCCCT crossing and started to unload. We had “out ran” the storms and actually go our gear on and bikes unloaded before the ominous darkness appeared in the sky. I talked the guys (I am crazy but not stupid!) into holding off our start until we could see what this one was going to do. 10 minutes later, 4 quads (on the quad trail) and 5 bikes went by. My buddies were getting REAL emotional (whining) and then it hit! A DILUGE (sp)! Short lived, but none the less, LOTS of mud producing water!! 15 minutes and we were on our way!
There is something about the smell of the woods (even on a dirtbike) that makes ridin after the rain a real pleasure. The trees are finally getting their leaves, the “tightness”of the MCCCT single track made this section of trail seem a lot like riding inside of a tunnel! A REAL SLIPPERY ONE!
I had spent part of Saturday prepping the K5. Larry had loaned me his flywheel weight and I had installed it. I had to make the choice (time management) between the weight or installing a new back tire, I choose the weight cause I really wanted to see what it would be like. Man, does that extra 14 oz on the crank make a HUGE difference in delivery! I “trials” rode for MILES on the big 5! I used to have to practice “throttle control” in the real tight stuff – keeping the throttle just above idle or I would stall occasionally. That was then and this is now! “Trialsing” the 5 is now a NO stall issue! The weight also took out a lot of vibration, makes much easier starting – not that starting was ever an issue (hey – I rode CR500’s for years – 3 pair of boots a year is what they cost me!), can “crawl” over logs now instead of jumping them and it smoother!
The only problem with all this was that I was riding on a half bald Michilin and was it MUDDY! Oh well, it added to the adventure!
As we progressed north I noticed a real change in the trail. ROCKS became a real issue. I like to run 7 pounds in the front tire and I was just beginning be concerned with the possibility of a pinched tube when we stopped for a break. We were standing around talking and I noticed something laying in the trail ahead. Sure enough, someones torn inner tube laying beside the trail. Yep folks, if your gonna ride this area, it’s a good idea to think about tire pressure (more on this later).
We continued on and came out into a staging area. I rode over to the “map house” and looked t the area map. I yelled, it’s the notorious “MIO” loop – COOL. I had heard a lot about the area but NEVER been here! It is ALWAYS fun seeing and being somewhere new on a dirtbike! I cant vouch for the “quad trail” in this area (I aint much on that stuff other then it makes great escape routes in the winter) but I can tell you that the single track is GREAT!! Especially if you like round rocks and all the thrills they offer! Those things were rolling around like bowling balls! My DG skid plate and I had a lot of fun!
Continuing North, we broke into a parking area and noticed a couple of riders. As soon as I pulled in I immediately notice one (a rider) that looked REAL familiar. I rode up, took my hat off and went over to chat. I went to the guy that looked familiar and said “did yo by any chance ride this spring with a group of guys in Gladwin?”. He said yes and then he smiled like he remembered me. He started to tell me his name and stopped him. I said, let me think, ahhhh TOBIGFORAKDX? He said “you got it!!”. Come to find out he (Neal) and KTMMIKE were out an about too! Talk about a small world!! We exchanged some “war” stories, got invited to Mikes for burgs (sorry Mike, we were going to do it but Larrys bike seized - THANK YOU ANYWAY!!) and got some GREAT directions from 2 VERY knowledgeable riders about where to find gas!! All in all, WHAT A RIOT!
We left our “new” old friends and headed in for gas (Hey Mike/Neal – help me out here well you, we got gas at the BP station you sent us to, is that a town?). We got to the station and the cashier there said that a tornado had been spotted just west of us. Shoot, we hadn’t even gotten rained on and now we were going to get into a real wet one – LOL!
We sat in the Subway, drove each other crazy with “crash and burn” stories and just became general “pests” while we waited for the storm to resoak the trail.
Some kid (under 30) came in and started telling us about his KX500 in his truck. Said he had 14000 dollars into it. I looked at it later and it looked like a stock 91 KX500 to me, of course what do I know…. I told Larry that and he said, “well, maybe its worth that to him”. Larry is odd like that, always on the positive side – drives me crazy!
I aired up my front tire cause I didn’t want a flat (hey Neal, did I tell you that I had a Bridgeton tire do EXACTLY what yours did!) and away we went. I was reminded right away why I had been running 7 pounds in my front tires all these year - it was like riding riding on a ball bearing! We had a bike failure so we didn’t get to camp out in the ol tent again (Randy was really bummed but I reminded him that the tent didn’t have a door, only a screen going over the area where the door was suppose to be). That dummy wanted to camp anyway (now theres a guy after my own heart). I suggested that we sleep under the bed of my snowmobile trailer if we were going to stay. The thunder in the distance and the knowledge that we couldn’t ride in the a.m. anyway encouraged us to head for home.
More to come in the future!
Carpe diem, not the bike!
Woodsy
I don't know if I can do this or not but I am going to attempt to attach a picture of me (my brother is on the back) on my first bike!
Oh the memories!
For this section of the MCCCT I was joined by 2 local riding buds – Larry and Randy, ridin tight stuff is ALWAYS more fun when it involves others! We started our North bound east side route where my friend Randy and I left off last week. Going North out of Roscommons on M-18, Old 144 comes in from the east. We turned east on Old 144, found the MCCCT crossing and started to unload. We had “out ran” the storms and actually go our gear on and bikes unloaded before the ominous darkness appeared in the sky. I talked the guys (I am crazy but not stupid!) into holding off our start until we could see what this one was going to do. 10 minutes later, 4 quads (on the quad trail) and 5 bikes went by. My buddies were getting REAL emotional (whining) and then it hit! A DILUGE (sp)! Short lived, but none the less, LOTS of mud producing water!! 15 minutes and we were on our way!
There is something about the smell of the woods (even on a dirtbike) that makes ridin after the rain a real pleasure. The trees are finally getting their leaves, the “tightness”of the MCCCT single track made this section of trail seem a lot like riding inside of a tunnel! A REAL SLIPPERY ONE!
I had spent part of Saturday prepping the K5. Larry had loaned me his flywheel weight and I had installed it. I had to make the choice (time management) between the weight or installing a new back tire, I choose the weight cause I really wanted to see what it would be like. Man, does that extra 14 oz on the crank make a HUGE difference in delivery! I “trials” rode for MILES on the big 5! I used to have to practice “throttle control” in the real tight stuff – keeping the throttle just above idle or I would stall occasionally. That was then and this is now! “Trialsing” the 5 is now a NO stall issue! The weight also took out a lot of vibration, makes much easier starting – not that starting was ever an issue (hey – I rode CR500’s for years – 3 pair of boots a year is what they cost me!), can “crawl” over logs now instead of jumping them and it smoother!
The only problem with all this was that I was riding on a half bald Michilin and was it MUDDY! Oh well, it added to the adventure!
As we progressed north I noticed a real change in the trail. ROCKS became a real issue. I like to run 7 pounds in the front tire and I was just beginning be concerned with the possibility of a pinched tube when we stopped for a break. We were standing around talking and I noticed something laying in the trail ahead. Sure enough, someones torn inner tube laying beside the trail. Yep folks, if your gonna ride this area, it’s a good idea to think about tire pressure (more on this later).
We continued on and came out into a staging area. I rode over to the “map house” and looked t the area map. I yelled, it’s the notorious “MIO” loop – COOL. I had heard a lot about the area but NEVER been here! It is ALWAYS fun seeing and being somewhere new on a dirtbike! I cant vouch for the “quad trail” in this area (I aint much on that stuff other then it makes great escape routes in the winter) but I can tell you that the single track is GREAT!! Especially if you like round rocks and all the thrills they offer! Those things were rolling around like bowling balls! My DG skid plate and I had a lot of fun!
Continuing North, we broke into a parking area and noticed a couple of riders. As soon as I pulled in I immediately notice one (a rider) that looked REAL familiar. I rode up, took my hat off and went over to chat. I went to the guy that looked familiar and said “did yo by any chance ride this spring with a group of guys in Gladwin?”. He said yes and then he smiled like he remembered me. He started to tell me his name and stopped him. I said, let me think, ahhhh TOBIGFORAKDX? He said “you got it!!”. Come to find out he (Neal) and KTMMIKE were out an about too! Talk about a small world!! We exchanged some “war” stories, got invited to Mikes for burgs (sorry Mike, we were going to do it but Larrys bike seized - THANK YOU ANYWAY!!) and got some GREAT directions from 2 VERY knowledgeable riders about where to find gas!! All in all, WHAT A RIOT!
We left our “new” old friends and headed in for gas (Hey Mike/Neal – help me out here well you, we got gas at the BP station you sent us to, is that a town?). We got to the station and the cashier there said that a tornado had been spotted just west of us. Shoot, we hadn’t even gotten rained on and now we were going to get into a real wet one – LOL!
We sat in the Subway, drove each other crazy with “crash and burn” stories and just became general “pests” while we waited for the storm to resoak the trail.
Some kid (under 30) came in and started telling us about his KX500 in his truck. Said he had 14000 dollars into it. I looked at it later and it looked like a stock 91 KX500 to me, of course what do I know…. I told Larry that and he said, “well, maybe its worth that to him”. Larry is odd like that, always on the positive side – drives me crazy!
I aired up my front tire cause I didn’t want a flat (hey Neal, did I tell you that I had a Bridgeton tire do EXACTLY what yours did!) and away we went. I was reminded right away why I had been running 7 pounds in my front tires all these year - it was like riding riding on a ball bearing! We had a bike failure so we didn’t get to camp out in the ol tent again (Randy was really bummed but I reminded him that the tent didn’t have a door, only a screen going over the area where the door was suppose to be). That dummy wanted to camp anyway (now theres a guy after my own heart). I suggested that we sleep under the bed of my snowmobile trailer if we were going to stay. The thunder in the distance and the knowledge that we couldn’t ride in the a.m. anyway encouraged us to head for home.
More to come in the future!
Carpe diem, not the bike!
Woodsy
I don't know if I can do this or not but I am going to attempt to attach a picture of me (my brother is on the back) on my first bike!
Oh the memories!
