KDXRIDER.NET

Do you ride solo in the back country?

I've skiied solo in the backcountry but then I'm a better skiier than dirtbike rider. After seeing what can happen when Marty had his wreck this past weekend, I doubt I'll take that risk, ever again on snow or dirt.

Well I went solo again today. And it just reinforced my opinion that I need, NEED a dampener. Also, I found out that KDX may have U-Boat heritage as I made it through a sipi hole that was well over the front tire and 30 feet long with no way around. There were two YZ's on the other side, dead, flooded, very very quietly leaning against some trees. I see why you need buddies in the woods when yer riding a YZ.

Unfortunately, I would hardly get to ride in the back country if I didn't go out occasionally on my own. Too many bailers and parking lot poser riding buddies. Fastest riders on the planet don't need to venture over 30 yards from their trucks I guess. I always let someone know exactly where I'm going and when I'll be home. I don't really feel safe doing it, and find myself riding slower than I usually do, but it's probably not too smart of me. I never snow machine alone. Too many things can go wrong, and hypothermia isn't something I want to experience.

It's just plain dangerous... It's easy to bounce off a tree or rock and break something... and to have to try to drag yourself out of the woods is not smart.

I am actually going riding by myself this weekend but it's only 60 acres and there will be plenty of others around. Would rather Fuzzy pack up and come down so we could ride at Taylorville...

I worry a little to much about some of the back woods, pot growin, meth cookin, mountain men in these parts whose hunting/growing land I may be riding across or near!

I would rather not, but some of my buds tend to get tired a little early for me, so I might go out for another ride while they're socializing at the trucks. Of course, I did this last season and broke some ribs and had to ride about 5 miles over very rough terrain. Realistically though, even if they were with me I would have ridden out. It is very dangerous though, and I could have been hurt a lot worse. When I do it now I go very slow and am just kind of "touring".

I don't have buddies that ride dirt so I do ride alone. I take it pretty easy to (hopefully) limit injuries. The places I do ride are known riding areas so if the worst were to happen, somebody'd hopefully find me. I do make sure that people know where I'm going. I have found a riding club with 30,000 acres that may just do the trick.

-G

If you ever do ride alone, be sure it is in a regular riding area with the chance someone might stumble on your carcass. Also, let someone know when to expect you back AND leave a note in your vehicle who you are and which direction you headed out in.

Now, with all that said, I suggest you join a club. Most clubs that sponser enduros would LOVE to have you as a memeber. If you don't ride enduros, even better!! Then you are ripe for working a check point, doing sign-up, running a sweep at the end, etc. I'm in two clubs. They each have a day ride once a month and an overnight trip once a month. I pick and choose which rides I go on and there's always someone who can break away in the middle of the week if you just can't take the stupidity at work for even a day more.

To find a club, go to your district AMA website. Mine is http://www.ama-d36.org from there you can usually find a link to sponsoring clubs and their website addresses. Otherwise, look for the forum area and post a thread there. Some clubs are laid back and easy going about riding, others require attendance at all meetings and they are every week, as well as require entering at least 5 or more events a season.

Hope this helps keep someone safe and make it home after a day's ride. As they say where I work, "There's only one way you get to go home tonight alive, and that's if you do everything right today and don't make a mistake." I guess they figure working around voltages up to 230KV is dangerous or somptin

While I never ever snowmachine alone I dirt bike by myself more than I like to admit maybe 60% of my riding. I tend to be more careful about what I drop into and where I go than if I have grown friends to ride with. When I ride with my boys I have to still limit my riding areas basis upon their abilities.

I ride alone(most of the times) in the evenigs weeks days and I like to ride with buddies in the weekends...I like to ride alone in the backyads(more unobtrusive......!!.) I have a direct trail access from home.
A 15 miles woods single track after work is awesome(with a 10 lbs fanny pack!)...and a cell phone.

I feel safer in groups.but i can not wait to buddies to ride!
:eek:

I guess my whole thing is to advance... being that is is my goal... I want to ride with someone to achieve that goal. Fuzzy pushes me to be a better rider every time we go out. We push each other..... I love it... makes it all worth it...

I ride alone quite a bit during the week after work. Hopefully nothing will ever happen while I am out. I actually enjoy the solitude after a long day at work.

Davekdx - you mentioned enjoying solitude when riding alone. I have to agree that while I enjoy company I also find solitude fits my needs at times. When I really feel good and the trail is good and its mid-week with no trail traffic it is nice not to have dust to fight, people to be concerned about and just focus on riding my bike. It is during these times though that I find myself turning up the wick on the bike. I do hope that they don't find my body stuck between some trees one day though.

Thhis weekend is the first time I've road solo. I'm mixed as to riding alone or with buddies. I guess they both have thier own attributes. If your alone and you get hurt theres only you to count on, but at the same time you don't have a slower rider slowing you down. On the other hand it's fun to have good riding buddies with you and pushing each other to get better and laugh at each other when you do something stupid and hopefuly don't get hurt much. I'd have to say no matter how hard I tried when alone, I just could'nt get up to normal speed throught the woods. I guess running with someone tends to make me ride faster. If I ran a race, I think if I was good enough to run second, I would'nt want to run first through most of the race until the end. I like to pressure my buddies riding behind them. They pressure me. So I guess I'like to ride with someone to have alittle competition.

Jon.

solo is no fun,theres no-one to egg on through the trails.I have gone solo just a handful of times and I really don't like doing this nor would I suggest it,hell you might as well fly through the woods without your helmet either way something is going to happen,usually something not good.

I did it once.. I approached a mud hole. I went one way, the bike went the other and I landed on my left side and felt a pop.. Needless to say, it was all I could do to get the bike up and started and back to my cabin.. End result, One broken rib, One cracked and a bruised lung to go along with it all.

I am lucky I am not still laying in the woods ! I won't ride alone again.

I ride alone alot, mostly just at the local "practice quarry" which is within walking distance of my house (albeit a long walk) so even if I break myself or the machine, I could hoof it home. Good thing KDX's never break though!

I ride by myself all the time. It is very rare that I actually have the opportunity to ride with someone and, yes, I am a club member. Sometimes I might get lucky and a club member wants to ride my area. On rare occasions I can hook up and ride with someone I meet at my riding area. Rare but it is nice when I can.

It seems my problem is that I have no way to transport my bike and no one wants to come ride my area. I dualsported my KDX just so I could get to riding areas within 15-20 miles of my home. Unfortnately, most of the popular spots are way further than that.

I always ride fully protected, have cell phone, water, basic first aid, etc. when I do ride solo. I broke my right hand (third metatarsal), three ribs, and various scrapes and bruises while riding solo and had to ride it out. Was it fun? No, but what choice do I have? It is either ride alone or not ride at all or very seldom. The latter two are just not an option IMO.

I work on offroad vehicles for a living and have a network of thirty miles worth of trails witch begin across the street from my shop. Naturally I ride just about every day, just not always the same vehicle. Although I am not a fan of atv's, I spend a lot of time in the woods test driving them, but much prefer to be on my kdx.