Wilsons Sandbox

Hey Gang! What a weekend... For those of use that attended the WDSRC Dual-Sport Ride (The Seminole Wind) Saturday in Florida's beautiful Ocala National Forest, we owe Swampy a big round of applause for putting on one heck of a event. When I returned home Saturday night a friend of mine asked me to tell him about the ride. Well I was very tired and sore so I summed it up like this "Sand, sand, sand, sand, Tree (more on this latter), and more sand!". After mounting up my new Pirelli MT21s Friday afternoon I headed out to meet up with Bill Whalen (SandShark). We arrived at the camp site simultaneously, around 7PM Friday night. We didn't waste to much time setting up camp and filling our bellies with some grub 'cause we wanted to hit the trails for some night riding. I really enjoy riding at night, especially on a night like this one with the cool clear skies filled with millions of stars. After about 1-1/2 hours of trying to get lost in the dark forest we realized that we need to head back, to get a good night sleep in preparation for tomorrow's ride. Saturday morning... Awake at the crack of dawn. While having breakfast we watched as trailer load after trailer load of bikes roll into the camp ground. Everything from a '74 Yamaha 250 to brand new KTM 640. We were surprised to be the only KLR 650s there. ??? After a brief riders meeting we were off. I think Swampy looked for every sand trap he could find in the forest then laid out the route so that we would hit everyone of them twice. Just joking, yet there was a lot of sand. Ocala is a lot of SAND! I don't remember how long the first loop was, I only remember them saying that it was about 80 miles to the lunch stop so this was my first goal. After lunch I'll set my next goal. I don't think anyone went away hungry after having a heapin' of Skeeter's Bar-B-Que Yard Bird (Chicken fer ya city folk). At this point I felt more like napping than riding, but loaded up on the KLR and hit the trail again. This time Bill and I paired up with a couple of DRZ400s. Less than an hour into the second loop I started getting muscle spasms in my fingers so I stopped for just a moment to stretch my fingers. Even though I'd stopped for a very short time I knew I would have to push a little harder to catch back up with the guys. Riding hard for a few minutes I could see the dust not quite settled ahead so I knew I wasn't far from catching up. Running on the high end of 3rd gear now, down the sandy narrow forest trail, I seen a fast approaching right hand curve. I quickly tap the rear brake, down shifted to 2nd and get hard on the throttle again to keep the front tire floating atop the sand. Just as I enter the turn I see my riding partner (Bill) off to the right of the turn. I instinctively let off the throttle causing the front tire immediately to dig into the sand from the weight transfer which quickly caused the bike and me to switch from a committed right hand lean into the turn to a instant hard left hand lean (I believe in road racing they call that high-siding?). Of course this sent me and my bike in the wrong direction, directly towards a BIG, FAT, HARD, %@#&! PINE TREE!!! I think I remember getting the words "OH SHHHH" out before SMASH!!! The bike stopped, I didn't. I hit everything in front of me on that bike before being launched like a human torpedo into the leaves and sand, face down, arms at my sides, staring at the ground. Even though it still hurts to laugh, I can laugh about it now. Bill was a great sport. He helped get my bike working and nursed me back to camp. Everyone was great, I really enjoyed the ride and would do it again. Although I did learn some valuable lessons on this trip... I'm not a Moto-Cross Racer and my KLR is not a DRZ400. I've convinced myself of this, but my bike is still arguing the fact. Dual Star is going to supply me with the plastic I need for the repairs. Do any of you know where I can get the Head Light assembly and brackets cheap? P.S. The Tree was not injured. Henry Simpson Jacksonville, Florida

Hi Henry. Dual Star has the bracket you need, as far as the actual headlight, I think you're gonna have to take a bubble bath at the dealers. Next time, try running into a fellow lister instead of a tree. Share the love ! CA Stu

> Do any of you know where I can get the Head Light assembly and > brackets cheap? > >

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

True enough. When we parked, there was a sh*t load of people in the parking lot. I thought we'd be running into people all day. Out on the trails though, didn't come upon a single atv, trails were too small, and only passed a couple of other riders the whole day.

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., klrbill@y... wrote: > > Most the main "diamond" trails are more or less freeways, fun to go > fast but not enduro type gnarly challenge. There are some bootleg > trails and areas that are more of a challenge, the wheelers can't fit > through so the trails haven't gone wide. Did you find some of the UB > (user built) marked trails,? we marked some of the bootleggers out > of toonerville with ribbons last year. Some of the best riding is off > the map so keep exploring. There used to be some good loamy > hillclimbs out of the creekbeds but the DNR pretty much blocked them > off. Just like any area you need to get away from the masses to find > the good stuff. If you see more than a few people in a day, your > riding the wrong area. cheers > > > - In DSN_klr650@y..., "rob atomic" wrote: > > heyall: > > > > tahuya forest...*yawn* i didnt find a single challenging trail out > there. i > > must have missed the good ones....cause everything i saw was great > for kids, > > and ideal for my gramma on a honda 90!! whatever Ed was riding last > weekend, > > i missed that part of it. it was mostly flat ground...very little > change in > > elevation. a few ups n downs, roots, etc...but none of the oh-my- > god, > > fast-altitude-gaining technical rides ive come to love. > > > > I went up the tahuya trail, all around the elfindall trailhead > area, and > > came up zip for adrenalin rushes. in fact, i had my lil' sister and > one of > > first-time-riding friends on the back of my KLR and had zero probs > anywhere > > we went. one note, though: this place rocks for riding mountain > bikes. take > > the kids and enjoy! > > > > can anyone tell me the places i might have missed? i might go back > for a > > second expedition if someone can confirm that i totally missed the > best > > areas. > > > > -rob atomic > > seattle hard trance/goa live PA > > www.evergo.net/~atomic > > > "In your own mind, you can create anything, do anything, be > anything. That's > > a god-like power you posess within your own realm of > imagination....use it > > to create an inner landscape of beauty and peace, and give yourself > what you > > truly desire. From there it's only a matter of time until it starts > > manifesting in your life."