322 Miles of Riding to Do One More Show

I went out with the WR-250FY on the ol' Pachaug rock pile this past weekend.
Both days this time, too, as the weather was good for Saturday and Sunday.
For a change.

Also for a change, prior to the weekend's riding, I'd reviewed the NETRA route sheet and decided to incorporate some sections of trail I hadn't ridden in a long time.

On Saturday, I added a couple of miles to my loop with a section of trail that I'd been riding right past all this time.
It's an official part of the Pachaug Enduro Loop, but since I don't use the official NETRA route sheet whenever I ride out there (since I have my loop memorized), I simply never realized the turn off the paved road onto this trail was right there.
I am glad I found it, though, as it comes after that neat pine-needled section that I like, the same section where I stopped to clear a couple of trees the previous weekend put down by some low-life punk coward enviro-retard who thinks he owns the place and feels that he has divine right to set booby traps for other people to get hurt by.

Since this new section of trail is just after the pine-needled section, it, too has good dirt (compared to most of the rock pile trail sections), whoops, tree roots exposed, neat turns, uphills, downhills, and more than a couple of natural jumps where, if you hit them fast enough, you can catch some decent air.

All-in-all, I will certainly keep this section of trail in my rides out in Pachaug.
The ride on Saturday was good, and even though I felt a bit tired and lacking my usual sense of coordination and balance at the start, by the time it was finished, I felt better and had a decent time on the bike.
Saturday's milage was 57.

Sunday, I added yet another section of trail, and this one was about 10miles in total.
Like the section I added on Saturday, I probably hadn't ridden on it since around 1992.
Yup, nearly 20 years ago.
Since considerable time has passed since my last ride on the section, I remembered nearly none of it, with one short part about a hundred feet long ringing a bell in my memory.
This section was more like the typical Pachaug rock pile terrain:
Rocks all over the place, with some occasional brown dirt and more than a couple of water holes to cross, thanks to the heavy rains we got on the previous Sunday and Monday.

As it turns out, I spent a bit of time back-tracking after making a wrong turn or two, as well as having to lift the stuck rear wheel of the bike out of one of those muddy water crossings.
For most of my off-road riding career, I never cared much for getting the bike slimy and filthy with that brown sewage called mud.
The kind of mud that means you may get your bike good and stuck if you make a wrong move.
Well, after getting the bike unstuck, I suddenly felt very tired, to the point that I seriously considered bailing out of the rest of the loop early and riding the road all the way back to the ol' clammy Ranger.
I mean, I hadn't felt that tired in years, and I now wonder if I were perhaps being effected by some kind of 24-hour bug that was trying to manifest itself into fruition.

Well, I decided to dig deep, get with the program, and I finished the loop, with a total of 65 miles, a new high.
I'm glad that I decided to stick with it as I eventually regained a decent amount of energy and strength as I rode along.
Not up to normal standards, but enough to work with.
I backed the pace down about 15% as a safety measure and just plugged away at it.

All-in-all, Sunday's ride wasn't as enjoyable as Saturdays, mainly because of getting so tired and exhausted-feeling after lifting the rear of the bike out of the mud hole.
As long as there is water out on the trails (like after heavy rains), I'd probably be skipping that new section of trail.
When I got home and immediately washed the bike, I could easily see it was probably the muddiest I'd ever gotten it, yet.
It ain't that way as I write this, I'm happy to say. ;)

-John

321 Environmentalists Run Over by a Bus

Here's what people who REALLY appreciate and respect the outdoors use to get around.


Here's what the typical environmentalist feels like on the inside:
All giddy with themselves because their puny brains think they're actually doing something good, where in reality, they're asking for a crowbar across the forehead.
In this case, a crowbar would vastly improve the looks of this particular example.

Another weekend has come and gone, and just as with last weekend, I rode the WR-250FY out in the Pachaug rock pile on Saturday, and Sunday (today) was a rainer all day long.
So, good thing I've been riding both Saturdays and Sundays, no?
Well, riding the Sundays when we actually see the sun.

Saturday's ride was a good one.
I rode the long 57 mile version of my loop, and, in fact, since it's been a while since I've ridden the shorter version (about 28 miles), I may as well from here on out refer to the longer version as the usual one.
In fact, last night after I'd washed the bike all squeaky-clean and had supper, I thought about reviewing the official Pachaug Enduro Loop route sheet I bought from NETRA in an effort to add some more mileage as I know my current loop is omitting some trail around the area of one of my favorite pine-needled sections.
I believe other guys who ride Pachaug call this area the "southern loop", probably because on a map of Connecticut, it's the part of the loop that dips most southward.
Hmmmmm.
Makes sense to me, Leroy. :)

So, anyway, during the week sometime after jerk, I should drive the ol' clammy Ranger out to the spot where I believe I'm turning right when I really need to make a left in order to incorporate this additional mileage.
I should get this part of the route a bit more solid and confirmed before the weekend comes.

Also on Saturday's ride, I had to negotiate a nice little booby trap that was blocking the trail.
It was a couple of decent-sized trees dropped across the way, and they were a good 12 - 18 inches above the ground.
The thing that really sucked about their placement is that is was at the start of that favorite pine-needled section with the whoops I mentioned, and it was a surprise laying there waiting over the crest of a hill.
So, just as I got on the gas to pick the speed up and enjoy some good terrain and good riding, I had to suddenly negotiate this shit laying across the trail without getting hurt.
Thank God, I know how to ride a dirt bike and I didn't crash.
I could easily see somebody not being so lucky and going ass over tea kettle and getting hurt.
After I jumped over it, I stopped and moved that bullshit out of the way.

I highly doubt that stuff just fell across the trail naturally and all by itself.
No, it was put there by some scum-sucking environmentalist idiot who should have a couple dozen Pachaug rock pile riders do a good-sized burnout on their silly face.
The trees blocking the trail were bulldogged down (where you climb your enviro-faggot ass up there and have your skinny homo body weight pull the tree down over the trail) on purpose, and it's really comforting to know that some asshole who is asking for a serious punch in the face is out there "protecting" the wilderness from those really bad dirt bike riders (like me) in the way that he or she (or, maybe it's a combination of the two) sees fit.

Well, in case that asshole is reading this:
Fuck you and the boat you came over on, you skinny, anorexic, granola-munching, Al Gore worshiping, selfish and utterly brainwashed silly little piece of homosexual environmentalist shit.
If I catch you out there doing that little bit of trail terrorism, you'd better run and be carrying a weapon of some sort because I'll make you eat some of those trees that you feel are sooooooooooooooooo fragile and need your protection from me.
In truth, you should drop dead because the great outdoors would be better off without you out there screwing things up, you dickhead.
You are the one who bulldogged the trees down, not me.
You asshole.

On top of that, I'd bet your silly little men-loving pimply ass that I have a MUCH greater appreciation for the outdoors and the environment we live in than you do.
Because, you see, enviro-fags like you believe that only you can appreciate and protect the woods where I ride and that man only hurts things.
The truth is that man is part of the environment to start with, you fucking coward, and if anything should be changed, maybe you should exit the planet and sign-up for whatever space program NASA has in store to take the place of the Space Shuttle.
I firmly believe the Earth would breathe a huge sigh or relief if you were to take up residence on Pluto.
I hear they need a Guardian of the Trees out there, and it sounds like the perfect job for you, you slime ball.

And, if it's because I'm out there "spoiling the serenity of the woods" riding a motorized vehicle that you don't like, I ask you how you transport your weakling ass to and fro while you go about your extremely important day.
Of course, a real big man like you wouldn't be such a hypocrite where you'd actually operate something with an internal combustion engine, now, would you?
No, I'd expect you to walk where you need to go, like the weekly Gay Pride meeting in your town of Fagsville.

You faggot.
Any questions, dickhead?

-John

Rain, Rian, Go Away. F Off and Die, Even

It's Sunday morning, and this is what we've got right now.


I'm glad I rode my WR-250FY yesterday because the way the weather looks so far at 6:55am Sunday morning, I may or may not be going out onto the Pachaug rock pile today.
Right now, it's raining steadily, and I'm not looking forward to riding with thoroughly soaked clothes to go along with keeping an eye on the trail for all of that wet and slippery goodness just waiting to take my front wheel out from under me. :)

If, by a stroke of luck, the rain subsides to the occasional shower, I'll go.
At least there's still plenty o' time left in the day (since the sun rose only an hour ago) for things to improve, so, we'll see.

-John

319 Moth Balls in the Closet

Over the past couple of days, I've decided it's time to sell Old Betsy, my WR-250XX. :)

Even though I've had my WR-250XX since just this past December, I feel like I've had my fun with it and it's time to sell it while the weather is still warm and ridable for most people.
It's a fun bike to ride, and from March until one month ago, I rode it every weekend.
It seems that that 3-and-a-half months of riding (about 3,000 miles worth) was enough for me on the little motard, a fun bike for sure.

Also, since I'm now concentrating on riding the WR-250FY Firebreather in the Pachaug rock-n'-roll pile every weekend, now, I simply don't want to see the WR-250XX just sitting there doing nothing, collecting dust and spider webs.
No, I've ridden it, enjoyed it, and now feel like letting her go to someone else.
Someone will get themselves a fun little street bike, too. :)

Last weekend on the WR-250FY in Pachaug was a mixed bag as far as results and enjoyment went.
While the weather was good and I felt decent, I experimented with the fork oil level in the forks.
I lowered the oil level, wondering if I'd be able to make the fork a bit softer toward the bottom of their stroke since I never seem to reach full travel while out there on the trails.
Well, lowering the oil level did achieve this for the most part, but, as I should have known, the setup of the bike is a compromise, and lowering the oil level looking for a more soft fork action also means the front end will be riding a bit lower at all times.

Gee.

So, I reminded myself of what I'm sure I already knew in the back of my mind somewhere and felt the trade-off of softer fork feel in exchange for a lower front end ride height was not a good one for me.
I've always preferred the front of the bike have a firm feel for off-road riding, as having one that feels soft robs straight line stability for me.
This was once again the case on the WR-250FY, and although the softer and easier-to-compress front end helped with tight cornering, the lost stability was sorely missed out on the rough sections of trail, and there are plenty of rough sections of trail.
So, since I wanted the old stability back, come Monday morning, I reset the fork oil level to where it was before I messed with it:
110mm from the top of the tube.
There it stays.

During the work week, I also installed two new Bridgestone M22/M23 tires, the same tires I always use off-road.
Awesome stuff, these. :)

We'll see how it goes out in Pachaug this weekend.
For now, it's off to jerk for another Saturday morning freebee.

-John

Edit:

Well, I went for my Saturday Pachaug rock pile loop ride today, and the WR-250FY setup with the ol' 110mm fork oil level had the bike feeling like it's old self, again.
Stability over the rough stuff was good, and I was happy.

The ride was a good one.
No crashes, although I did have a couple of semi-clumsy bobbles from hitting rocks I didn't see coming.
Oh, well.
With the half-trillion of them out there, I'm bound to miss a few once in a while. :)

On the positive side of things, there were a few key spots where I felt I rode well and the bike felt very good, indeed.
The trails though the Green Falls part of the loop felt good and I rode fairly well.
After that, the pine needled section with the whoops was another good one.
And, of course, the new tires worked like magic, as they always have in the past.

The ride today was 59 miles, a few more than usual because I took a trail, which is part of the loop, that leads to a stupidly deep water crossing (mushy willy swamp is more like it).
I rode to the willy swamp crossing, turned around, and rode the trail back and carried on.
I have crossed that mushy willy swamp in the past, but now, I'd rather just skip it because it's not fun to me.
More like throwing your $6,000 dirt bike into a willy swamp.
No thanks, Homer. ;)

-John