Following's my ride report from the WDSRC sponsored Seminole Wind dual sport
ride of a few weekends ago. It was a two up KLR adventure for sure, with some
relatively technical routes. (not too technical for say..a CR250, but plenty
of challenge for a KLR both solo, and especially two up)
Bill "Sandshark" Whalen did the KLR community proud, as a fearless pre rider
of the most technical loop. I represented our brand as the guy to attempt the
nasty, deep, sandy whoops of Ocala while riding two up with the better other.
All of this took place in the Ocala National Forest in Florida. Attempted to
capture the whole experience, more than just blow by blow jumped this,
roosted that kinda thing. All best.
*The ride out to the staging point for the Seminole Wind ride was a nice one.
Even without a lot of twisty roads, the good weather and relaxed ride down 19
thru the Ocala National Forest brought a smile. "This is why I bought this
bike" I thought to myself, as I pulled the KLR into position to put a pass on
Lori. With all of the shortcomings that it has when the trails turn real
hairy, it always reasserts its hold on me with that versatility angle.
Zooming down an empty 19, I pull up along side the "team two up" support
truck, I get Lori's attention and give her the big nanana nana na - thumb to
nose "I'm ridin and yer not" sign.
Remembering that her bringing the truck along is allowing us to bring maximum
amount of camping junk, I decide it's best to tuck back in behind her and
quit teasing.
We finally arrive at the campground. That 100+ mile ride on the KLR had me
wishing for more street friendly knobs, this wish happens on occasion, but
always goes away as soon as the D606's hook up when leaving the pavement.
After signing in with the campground folks, we find Swampy & Sandshark.
They'd found a nice shady spot, and were kicking back after much pre riding
earlier in the day. Swampy's got this summer tent camping thing solved..bring
a big fan! Yup, summer camping fan is now on the list.
Bill actually packed All of his camp gear on his KLR & rode every trail he
could en route to the campground. (including the (KLR650 eating) Florida
Dakar section of the gas pipeline) Unreal, Kawasaki should be paying that guy.
Once Lori and I settled down some, I handed over the dealer sponsor prize
pack to Swampy. I get a real kick out of doing this, even though I'm not the
one actually doing the donating. Cycle Riders Suzuki of Longwood came through
again, with a generous prize pack donation for a WDSRC ride. They've been
great in showing support for the WDSRC, and dual sporting in Central Florida.
A lot of the folks at Cycle Riders, as well as our other dealer sponsors,
enjoy dual sporting and dirt riding in Florida...we're real fortunate to have
dealers showing this kind of support, for our sport.
Man, it was Hot that afternoon. Setting up camp (mostly in setting up the
screen tent from hell) rated up there with doing a 40 minute moto on a July
afternoon.
Once we had camp set up, we pretty much hit cool down mode for the rest of
the afternoon.
On Saturday night while our neighbors dined out, Lori & I pan fried some
steaks on the coleman as I wondered what the Wind would bring. I'd not done a
Seminole Wind ride before, tho had helped Swampster do ribbon take down last
year. Ribbon take down's just not the same as Doing the ride...especially
doing the ride two up with better other. I still do get butterflies, but the
beauty of these DS rides is that there's no real pressure. (except to keep my
streak of no off road endos with Lori on board, in tact)
After dinner we broke out the radio and kicked back. Soon after, our
neighbors returned from their BBQ feast. Gathered in the screen tent from
hell, citronella candles blazing...Sandshark, Jed, Lori, Swampy and I shared
some stories and beers. Was cool meeting Jed. Last time I saw him, he was on
a DR650 at last years Devils Creek weekend. Turned out that he made the (200+
mile) ride to the Wind on his V-Star, just to help out with sign up/sound
check. Get another dual sport Jed!
Next morning...up at 6:30am to get ready for sign up! Helping out with sign
up was fun, I got a chance to place some faces with names I've seen only on
the WDSRC list..pretty sure that Lori got a kick out of it too, she was all
smiles.
After sign up...most everyone had already taken off, this was fine as we
didn't plan on setting any new land speed records. Finally time to ride!
We'd agreed to do the easy route, & be guide for anyone in need. We ended up
meeting Bruce on his new KLR650. He'd not ridden dirt in years, and hadn't
had his KLR for very long. He did have a roll chart holder & actually ended
up helping navigate during the course of the route.
Everything started out fine and spirits were high. We hit the road section
enjoying the lack of traffic and great weather en route to the first dirt
road.
We hit the first dirt road...nice hardpack with a little sand on top..fun
stuff, nothing but forest to be seen. Nearly hit an Indigo, he sped up, I was
glad..neat snakes they are.
Eventually we hit pavement again then started looking for the first jeep
trail. Following the roll chart was a breeze, found the trail exactly where
it was supposed to be. This trail was a little more sandy, but nothing we'd
not done before.
Then the sandy whoops started...Scott starts swearing like a drunken
sailor...Lori knows swearing means hold on tighter...Bruce doesn't seem to
mind this whole slowing down in the whoops thing, as he's still trying to get
his dirt legs back. Scott figures that these whoops must end eventually so he
quits swearing. Four or so miles later the whoops haven't ended, we haven't
seen the landmark for our turn..we decide to take a breather and pull off the
trail. Soon thereafter the sweepers (Paul & David?) caught up with us. Turned
out that they were guiding a support truck to a broken collar bone just up
the trail a bit. So we mounted back up and made our way to the scene. The
poor guy was flat on his back and in obvious pain. (note to self..ditch the
aspirin & stock good pain killers in the KLR first aid kit) With much concern
and assist, WDSRC members helped the injured fellow into the support truck &
loaded up his XR.
At this point, I'd somehow gotten backwards with the rollchart. I still
hadn't found the landmark I was looking for, and was pretty sure I'd overshot
where it was supposed to be.
Asked (sweeper) Paul what lay ahead and he told me that the whoops pretty
much continued for days from the point that we were at.
So...Lori, Bruce, and I had a conference deciding that if we turned back now,
we could make the campground in time for lunch!
This was ok by me as I can't stand up in the whoops two up..and I was
hungry!
The route was doable (with some sweat) on a KLR650, Sandshark sliced thru the
pre rides on his.
This DNF did go against my grain some. But it was like the best/safest thing
to do at the time. Two up's tricky stuff...it's not just me I'd be hurting
now. The only time I'd not finished an organized ride/race before, was from
either concussion or seized piston.
Next year, the plan's to have Lori piloting her own ride, & ready for the
whoops of Ocala.
Until then...there's always the Devils Creek DS ride in July! A two up blast
for sure.
So here's to dual sporting...Sharing that spirit of adventure, and going for
rides with no particular destination or limitations.
Big thanks to all that made this ride possible. The fearless preriders, and
sweepers (if there's an Iron Man award for this ride, it should go to them),
the shops that donated stuff, Mrs. Swampy for making the Long drive to come
to our rescue with the food, my dad, anyone else I missed...and of course
Swampy.
Here's hoping that there are many more Swampy's scattered across the
U.S..that dual sporting will continue to grow. -Scott