happy trails?

Thursday couldn't arrive soon enough! Weather was forecast to be 70s and sunny. Perfect! The bikes were ready and almost immediately after our eyes were open, we set out without a clue as to where we were headed or when (if?) we were going to make it home.

I recalled this area that looked like it had possibilites and it was only about 20 miles away, so we figured we would try it. It turned to gravel rather quickly and there were other gravel roads branching off it. We explored a few but most just kind of ended or were gated off.

We passed a waterfall and then I realized I had left the camera at home -- dammit! Since we weren't really finding much more than gravel dead ends we headed back to the asphalt in search of something more interesting to explore.

It was funny though as we came to our first turnaround point Skip stopped and through his helmet yelled "YAAAAYYYY MOTORCYCLES!!" and relayed to me that while he was at American Supercamp the previous weekend that when they came to a stop he would be laughing in his helmet and screaming "YAAAAYYYY MOTORCYCLES!!" -- well that became the recurrent catch phrase for the weekend!  ; )

I spied a road to a firetower and since I had the lead, took it. We went back that way a couple miles and then off to the right was a single horse  trail rolling off into the woods. I asked him what he thought and he said "I will follow you".

There would've been no discussion but there was a sign there that might have said no motorcycles but it was too small for me to see for sure. I was glad I removed the side bags. It wouldn't have fit in some of the places we were (including the entrance).

A few hundred yards into the trail a crest of the hill turned downwards .... STEEEEEPPP. I stopped, looked at it and put the kickstand down -- my balls shriveled up just looking at how menacing it was. Skip shut his off and looked at the grade. It was nothing but 4"-6" rock "boulders" and looked to have better than a 50* slope relative to the horizon.

Holy Crap! I keep staring at it ... I don't want to go! Going down intimidates me. Skip took the helm and descended down it on his little KLX near effortlessly. However, it still didn't look any more inviting to me.

I sat there another minute trying to convince myself to do this. I *finally* started down it.

Fear is not what you need in this situation. Not sure it was fear, as much as a COMPLETE lack of confidence. This is only my *second* time trail riding. This angle and terrain is not beginner's stuff. Add to that the KLR is not light and it's a recipe for disaster.

I dumped it -- almost immediately. Not a hard fall as I was mostly duck-walking it down and taking it easy, but one of the times I put my foot down, the rock gave, my foot slipped, and the center of gravity tipped far enough over I just quit fighting it and eased it down. Shut off the bike, position myself to pick it up, set on kickstand, get back on and again fight to convince myself to forge on.

However, in process of that I noticed a bolt missing out of the handguard. I look around for it but never did find it. No biggie, NAPA is on the way home.

I mounted the bike and made it down it, but I am already SOAKED from sweat and out of breath! This is quite the workout!   ; )   The first mile of the trail was like this -- steep, large, loose rock downhills and me babying it all the way down. I like the trail riding thing but this was getting old and if it was going to be nothing but rock I wouldn't mind aborting this trail.

At one point, the slope took a 90* turn halfway down and is still a steep grade of bigass rock! Each "chute" was probably 20' long.

I stopped and again looked at it. That was it! At this point I am exhausted and this shows no signs of getting any more navigable. I am thinking, 'y'know if this goes nowhere we have to come back out going UP all this!'

I parked the bike and came down to talk to Skip only to hear him say "You BETTER have that bike with you!" Heh! he had already been waiting a bit on me for a bit. Since I was walking down it would be even longer.

After I got chastised for being a pussy (not really but it was almost necessary), I caught a couple breaths and  ambled back up to the bike hoping to tackle this descent. I managed to dump it here too, but this one was significantly tougher than the first hill that intimidated me. Ah well this learning curve will be steep!

Skip helped me right it and this section *was* the worst of it. We hit some more downhills but that one was the toughest stretch to be sure. Those downhills were crazy with that bed of large rocks as a base to ride on.

I got the bike to where he had been (im?)patiently waiting for me all this time. It was time for a hydration break. I was soaked and out of breath! and basically just wanted to look back at that slope for a couple minutes.

It was nice though, as it was just ... soo ... quiet! Serenity!

After a few minutes in the shade enjoying the quiet, it was time to get going again. We geared up and Skip took off, then stopped. Started it up, and stopped. RuhRoh! When he let out the clutch, it would stall.

Luckily, his cell had service and he called a buddy of his for some hints as he is familiar with the bike and could google for us as well. He suggested bypassing the kickstand switch. Skip cut the wires, twisted them together, taped them up, and off we go.

YAAAAYY! That was a bit tense as we had no idea how we would get the bike out of there if it didn't work.

I had little issue navigating the rest of the trail with one exception. There was a  half-buried branch oriented so that you had to cross it but the angle was off. I pointed the wheel at the angle I wanted and was looking where I wanted to go and probably not paying as close attention to where I was and when the front wheel hit, it drifted across the wet log, causing the wheel to quickly turn to the left and I was thrown down ... HARD!

It was probably only a 10 mph drop, but it hurt! my knee was slammed between the tank and the ground and where the tank hit is where it hurts. It's still tender as I type this. This drop also put a crack in the lower front fairing .

This was my third, and FINAL, drop of the day. I got it picked up and caught up to where Skip was waiting for me. He said when he didn't see me coming he KNEW where I was because he nearly lost it on that spot, too.

The rest of the trail was pretty tame and mostly just single track through the woods. There were more "whew" moments of course, but no more drops. Some muddy areas, but the rest was pretty simple to navigate. That was fine, though. My wore out little butt was ready for a little easier terrain.  ; )

The part of the trail we were on ended up on a public road with no signs there indicating it was illegal to use it. So maybe where we had entered that sign didn't say "no motorcycles" after all.   ; )

This road dropped us onto US 321 north of Newport about 15 miles so I knew where we were. Skip was hungry by now and so was I. We got a reuben at a coffee shop in town and compared stories of near misses and of course my misses -- that were more than near.

Heh. We did about 75 miles and it took us over 8 hours - about 55 miles of it were asphalt. I would guess the various trails we were on accounted for 5 miles or so and the rest gravel.

After that, we headed back home. We made a beer run and figured we would just grab something for dinner while out, so we hit the Food City. Skip offered to buy and cook dinner. .

Sweet! this would free up some time so I could pack for Tellico so I didn't argue none. I packed a couple cases worth of homebrew and some clothes and personal items and found room in Skip's vehicle for them and I was all set.

After dinner we loaded the bikes on the trailer and spent the rest of the evening drinking and socializing. I went to bed dreaming of the fact that more happy trails awaited us.