sped66 wrote:Which system Varmint? Did you scope out the Rockhouse singletrack?
We rode Bear Wallow, Rockhouse, and Buffalo Mt. Then we drove to North Carolina to hit Brushy Mountain, which is a must ride.
We rode as much single track as possible, except for 199. We wanted to come back in one piece.
We even rode 98? in Bear Wallow (extreme red and black). Throw-the-bike-up-hill-back-wheel-burning-radiator-spewing-bar-bending hill climb. It felt good to make it to the top of that one.
We rode 199 at Rockhouse in the DOWN direction, which was pretty doable. Up? Well, we didn't even consider that. Maybe with a trials bike. Another piece of nice single track is 188 at Rockhouse, but don't ride up it. Only down.
I wish I'd been able to ride Bear Wallow with the guys, but I left early. I heard there are some crazy loose shale hill climbs that had even their CR500s begging for mercy!
188 has a lot of side hilling with some tight switchbacks, but the really tight switchbacks have spots where you can hop off the bike and get turned around without danger. The most memorable iffy spots were where runoff has washed out some of the trail, and you have pick a line and commit to riding across, because there is not really a good spot to plant your foot. There are maybe two of those. The only other semi hairy spot is a natural gas pipeline that you have to slither over. It is only a foot in diameter, but it runs downhill across the trail, and you have to immediately turn after you cross it. there are some remnants of a wood ramp that used to get you over it easily, but it is all busted up and unusable. I cleaned it on the hybrid, but my buddy did the skid plate skater grind on it, making him work a lot harder to get back on the trail. Fun trail. Just take your time on it, and don't go up it.
151 was a fun trail, but if you start it from it's junction with 199, there is a pretty tough climb that I didn't make. I only tried it once, and I could probably have made it with a couple more tries, but it is tricky. Coming the other direction, there is another really tough climb that has two pipes on either side, sort of defining the edges of the trail. Didn't make that one either. We were able to drag the bikes over the right side pipe about halfway up and finish most of the climb on smooth dirt instead of washed out boulders. Definitely got the heart rate elevated on that one.
Take these harrowing stories with a grain of salt--we are a group of South Jersey sand fleas, who prefer their trails tight, flat, and rockless. The closest thing we have to a hill climb is riding up the ramp into the truck at the end of the ride, so you might plonk right up those hills with no trouble. But I doubt it!
2001kdx wrote:Does anyone know if the yearly trail permits are required? Last year I bought one but never saw anyone checking for them.
Yes they are required and yes you should have one.
The rangers are out there and will ticket you if you don't
have one.
Plus 50 bucks for a permit is cheap for what you get in return
and it's well deserved money for up keep and so on for the
trail system.........
Ron, people DO get busted on the trail without a sticker, not worth the risk. $50 is cheap for a 4-day weekend. And it's good till Jan 1
IT175 - We've got six stayin' in our cabin currently, that includes Tom and his friend, Ron (2001kdx), and three of us from Cincy. Add the four yankees from CT, the three Virginians (sped66) and that's 13 + whoever is in your group . . .
this is the biggest group in the four years we've been doing this!!
This is exciting because there will be both familiar and new faces.
Wish Kirk and Austin were going but they're going to race a GNCC in Indiana that same weekend.
If you can believe the weatherman two weeks away I see some sunny days and cloudy days.
"No farmer ever plowed a field by turning it over in his mind" -George E. Woodbury
I'll be buying a sticker, just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one or anything like that. Looking forward to the ride and hoping for good weather!
KDX Butterfly wrote:There better be lots of pictures!!! :)
and VIDEO would be nice too...
I hope to have plenty of video of the KDX crew via my helmet cam on Satuday the 14th. Should get plenty of footage of the C class riders anyway...
The faster guys might have to let me set up in a nice spot to get them whizzing by, showing off their mad skillz.
My buddy Keith will be carrying a compact camera on the trails that takes nice photos. I'll be a bit of a shutterbug around camp as well.
In the stable: '00 KDX220R, '02 XR250R
Gone but not forgotten: '80 XR80, '87 XR200R, '94 KDX250, '01 YZ426F, '86 XR220R
KDX Butterfly wrote:There better be lots of pictures!!! :)
and VIDEO would be nice too...
I hope to have plenty of video of the KDX crew via my helmet cam on Satuday the 14th. Should get plenty of footage of the C class riders anyway...
The faster guys might have to let me set up in a nice spot to get them whizzing by, showing off their mad skillz.
My buddy Keith will be carrying a compact camera on the trails that takes nice photos. I'll be a bit of a shutterbug around camp as well.
There will be plenty of C riders . . .
"No farmer ever plowed a field by turning it over in his mind" -George E. Woodbury
I hope to have plenty of video of the KDX crew via my helmet cam on Satuday the 14th. Should get plenty of footage of the C class riders anyway...
The faster guys might have to let me set up in a nice spot to get them whizzing by, showing off their mad skillz.
My buddy Keith will be carrying a compact camera on the trails that takes nice photos. I'll be a bit of a shutterbug around camp as well.
There will be plenty of C riders . . .
Not so sure how much "Camp" there will actually be.
I think just a stone parking lot and a place to sleep.
Might not be a bad idea for everyone to bring a lawn
chair and of course a drink kozy.
I expect you will be driving, Tom?
