Dreaming of Dakar

I lost count of how many times I crashed, rode most of the route with bent handlebars and am extremely sore today..... in other words it was a successful ride!  What follows here is a very long rambling story of a very long day.  I only wish I had some more pictures to share.  I will have to find pics that other riders took of the course to post here later on.

My wonderful wife and I (more later on just how wonderful) got up at 5am Sunday to drive down to Conneticut for the "Hoot Owl 100 Turkey Run".  For those who don't know, a turkey run is a big trail ride event.  It isn't a race, there are no prizes for finishing, just show up, follow the course and have a good time.  The route was 100 miles with 60% of it on trails and the other 40% on the roads connecting the various trails.  This was my first big trail ride on the new DRZ400, actually my first big trail ride at all since I did some riding of the local trails last summer on the little IT200 but nothing nearly this long or hard.

We got to the start area around 7:30 just as registration was starting.  I took my time getting my gear on to make sure I was mentally and physically ready and was ready to roll at 8:30.  You can start any time you like between 8:00 and 11:00 but I figured I really needed to get going early so I could take my time as needed.

The first 1.7 miles was pretty much what I expected, just some nice easy trail.  Mostly dry, a few rocks but nothing tricky.  Then the route takes the public roads for a couple miles, into a driveway and back into the woods.  This was obviously freshly cut trail and was a little slick in places since most of the soil was really just several years worth of pine needles which was a little spongy.  I think it was bout 4.1 miles in when I had my first fall, an off-camber left turn and the front wheel just slide right out under me.  Then at probably 4.2 miles in nearly an identical situation it happened again.  There was a bit of a rut to ride in which I thought should keep me up but later (after it almost happening a 3rd time) I realized I was riding too far into the inside of the rut and sliding back down.  Essentially, as is often the case with me, if I had just gone faster I probably wouldn't have had an issue.  It is amazing how being too careful leads to a lot more falls.

Things went fairly smoothly for another mile or so then BAM the bike shoots to the right and I fall off and tumble to the left.  The culprit?  A log.... ok really more of a stick.  It was lying in the trail at about a 20 degree angle to my path and was covered with slick wet mud.  The front wheel slid along it veering the bike.  I was fine but once I picked up the bike I noticed the handlebars didn't quite point in the direction of the front wheel.  I tried to muscle it into position but no luck.  I decided to ride a bit to see how it felt and other than it feeling a bit awkward it rode OK.  So, here I am 5 miles into a 100 mile ride and I have been down 3 times and have bent handlebars.  Going to be a long day.

Things actually got a bit better for a while then.  I got out of the mud and was on a rocky unmaintained road which was a lot of fun to ride.  I made it to the first check point and they said "It's all easy from here, we took out all the rocks" quite obviously joking of course!  Still the trail for the next few miles was pretty good and fun to ride..... until the evil hills at mile 13.

On rides like this they have what they call "hero sections" which are more challenging but are optional.  The problem is I wasn't sure how these would be marked since this was my first turkey run.  I remember going through a tricky part and catching a glipse of a paper plate stuck to a tree but was concentrating on the trail too much to really notice.  I then rode through some stuff that was noticably harder than I had been through and surprised myself for making it through.  The nice thing is while it was tricky it was dry and had good traction.

Then a bit later I came up on a big steep hill.  I hit the gas knowing that I need momentum if I am going to have a shot at it and just at the last second after it is too late I notice another paper plate, this one I see has the word "Hero" and an arrow pointing forward, and another one that says "Zero" pointing left along another trail.  "Ahh!!! this is a hero section, well I have momentum just go for it" I tell myself.  I made it about half way up the hill, hit a rock which bounces me just enough to loose traction and I fall.  Of course I fall on the downhill side of the bike so the bike is laying the wrong side down on a steep hill, gas is spilling out the vent hose and I can't manage to pick the bike up.

This was the first of 3 times during the day when I needed help.  Another rider flies up the hill past me (with ease it appeared, even with me in the way) stops at the top and climbs down to help me.  I can't thank guys like this enough, great thing about rides like this is there are always people quick to lend a hand to another rider.  I got back down the hill and took the more appropriate "Zero" trail that bypassed the hill.

Then just a little farther down the trail there was another hill, this one wasn't even a "Hero" section, I stalled the bike part way up but managed to keep it upright.  Of course with no momentum I wasn't able to get moving again, tried to turn it around to get back down the hill for another try and of course THEN I dropped it.  As I got down there were some other riders coming up so I moved out of the way to watch how they rode it.  I felt somewhat vindicated when nearly everybody dropped on the first attempt up the hill.  At this point some expert riders had stopped to coach the guys having trouble and I made another couple attempts with no luck.  I just couldn't get any traction and there wasn't much area to get a run on the hill.  Luckilly they came up with another line that cut accross the hill which I managed to do without much more drama.

I made it out of this sectoin which according to the route sheet was 14.1 miles in.  I think it was about 11:00 so it had already take me 2.5 hours to go this far.  The full 100 mile route was looking somewhat doubtfull but I still felt good and was having fun so I pushed on.

I don't have detailed memory of much of the middle of the day (nor would I want to bore you with TOO much detail!) but I rode, had some easy drops, keept riding.  I was never actually caught anybody on the trail but I did often pass riders taking a break.  I had to move to the side from time to time for faster riders but everyone was spaced out enough so that wasn't much of an issue.  I do recall one nasty drop where I hit another log sitting sideways accross my path and it dumped me in a nasty muddy section.  I was already a bit winded at this point and it took me a while before I could muster the strength to pick up the bike but I did manage to get going again on my own.

I made it to the first refuel/rest stop a little after 12:00.  This was at 38.9 miles so obviously I was riding faster than I had been earlier (however there was a good bit of road in there too).  I took probably a 15 minute break and chatted with some other riders and off I went.

The next section all I can say is it really tired me out.  I think at this point since I was getting tired, my form was starting to slip which made me ride sloppily.... which made me more tired!  The biggest problem is I was needing to sit more which of course is not the right way to ride a dirt bike on rough terrain.  This was getting into the middle of the day and it was getting hot, I hear it was over 90 degrees.  The surprising thing is the heat didn't actually bother me that much.  Tthose of you who know me probably know I really don't deal well with heat.  I think I am dealing with it better than I used to as I am getting into shape and have lost quite a bit of weight.

Now, I was dealing well with the heat but the bike is another story.  All of this slow first gear slogging through the mud was taking it's toll on the bike.  The high temp light came on several times during the day.  I couldn't keep enough speed to get enough air through the radiator and it appears I broke the electric fan on one of my drops (it was making a nasty noise when it would come on).  All I could do is shut off the bike and take a break.  Typically I needed a break myself as well but I would have made much better time without the bike overheating.

Somewhere around 25 miles into the second section (60 some miles total into the ride) I had my third situation where I needed some help.  I had hit another huge mud hole and thought I would be smart and try to follow some tracks around the side of it.  This went OK for a while but near the end there was a very deep rut that was just wide enough for the tires.  It was NOT wide enough for my foot pegs however and was deep enough that the pegs wedged into the sides of the rut.  I tried to power out but that just made it worse.  I tried to lift, pull, jerk, kick.... the bike wasn't moving.  This is when another rider stopped to help me, we lifted the rear straight up and over to the side of the rut, then the same for the front.  Serously, I cannot thank guys like this enough.

At this point my camelbak had run dry about an hour before and I just wanted to get to the next rest stop where I knew they would have water.  According to my odometer I should be there at this point, I came across a couple guys with CRF450Xs taking a break and chatted with them.  I asked how much farther to the fuel and they also seemed a little annoyed cause according to their odometers it should be right there.  I felt pretty good when they said they thought this was the hardest turkey run they had done (and they weren't newbies like me) and were considering bailing at the check point and taking the roads back to the start.

The headed off and I followed for a bit but the bike stalled.  I was having quite a bit of trouble with it stalling from time to time, I think it might have been vapor lock?  I don't know but it just would not idle on occastion.  Either way I lost sight of them and was on my own again.

Another 100 yards or so later I could see a clearing and some trucks up on the hill.  Was glad to see I was almost to the rest stop where I could get water and take a break.  I must have relaxed a bit too much cause that is when I had by far the hardest fall of the day.

Remember how I said you really need to stand up when riding off road?  Well, if anybody had been watching I demonstrated exactly why.  I was carrying some momemtum through a rough bit (which is good) but was tired so I was sitting (which is bad).  I hit a rock which the front end absorbed fairly well but when the rear hit it catapulted me over the bars.  I landed in front of the bike and hit the back of my head rather solidly on the ground.  Luckily it was dirt and not a rock that I hit.  I am seriously glad I invested some serious cash in safety gear.  I will need do do another posting just showing what I wear when I ride.

I sat there for a bit, partly wondering if I had injured myself.  I felt OK but often in a case like this it takes a second to realize just what happened.  I got up and was very happy to find that there wasn't anything obviously wrong with me or the bike.  I actually thought it was kind of funny how I managed to hit literally the last rock on the trail before the open field where the rest stop was!

I took a LONG rest at this stop.  Since my camelbak had been dry for a while I knew I needed to re-hydrate and eat something.  Several guys were asking for directions back to the start via roads, they were done.  The people working there said they had around 90 bikes (I think there were close to 300 total on the ride but not sure) that still had not made it this far.  They heard that a lot of them bailed much earlier and didn't expect to see many more riding in at this point.  Via the trails it was another 26 miles, the "bail route" from here via the roads was about 10.  I talked to one of the local club members who knew the trails well and was asking him what it was like up ahead.  He said there was another couple miles of stuff with some mud but nothing like what I had just been through.  Then the rest was along the power lines and was dry and rocky (which I tend to do much better on).

I called Jane and let her know where I was, told her about my acrobatic flip over the bars but that I was OK and was going to try to continue on.

After the rest stop I found I just could not ride properly anymore.  I would come up on obstacles that were no harder than I had been flying through all day and would just stop and stare.  I knew all I needed was some momentum and I would make it through.  It is amazing what the bike can do if the rider doesn't get in the way of it doing its job!  But I was tired and I just could not convince myself of this.  I rode very slowly, stopped a lot, overheated the bike some more and about a mile in I decided that the smart thing to do was call it a day.

Of course I am in the middle of the woods at this point.  When I left the last stop there were no other riders there and it looked like I might have been the last one.  Several guys came in to that stop after me but most had already left on the bail route or were ahead of me on the trail.  I knew if I hurt myself nobody was going to find me until the sweep riders came through and that might be quite a while later.  According to the route sheet it was 1 mile if I back tracked to the last road or 0.9 miles if I went forward to the next one.  Forward I went... slowly.... carefully.... overheating.... tired.... the funny thing is at this point even when I dropped the bike I actually was able to pick it up quickly and easily.  I guess I just got good at picking it up.  Lord knows I had enough practice picking it up through the day!

I found a road and was glad to be on pavement again.  I managed to do 65 miles of the course, closer to 80 on my odometer but that was due to me getting lost at one point (which I now realize I glossed over, I was lost on public roads so it wasn't that interesting or difficult).  I was really glad I had my GPS with me so I could navigate a route back to the start.  I rode very carefully and slowly, I don't know if it was me being so tired or the bent handlebars but the bike just didn't feel safe going any faster than 40MPH max.

I rolled back into the start area at nearly 6:00, 9.5 hours after I stated out.  I was covered in mud, tired, and a little sore but not injured.  I pulled up to some guys near the driveway under a canopy asking where the check in was.  They asked how my day went and I chatted with them for a while.  One guy asked how the "dual sport" route was (the dual sport route was an easier ride along back roads and easy trails for heavier bikes).  I told him "I don't know, I was on the turkey run".  He said "on THAT bike!?".  I actually heard this several times during the day.  The DRZ400 really is heavy for a trail bike.

Ok... been rambling on for far too long.  I will save my final thoughts for the day and the after pics for another post.

Oh, but before I do the most important part.  In the beginning of this long ramble I mentioned how I have the most wonderful wife ever.  The start line was at a rock quarry, it was dusty, hot and boring for her.  The fact that she will go with me on an event like this and drive me home (no way I could have managed the 2 hour drive after that) shows just how lucky I was when I found her.

Thanks Jane, I do love you.

Tonight I put the wheels back on, installed the new chain and wired up a cigarette lighter plug to power my GPS.  Nice to see the bike back on its own wheels again.  Tomorrow I am going to wash the bike while it is still apart then I should be able to re-assemble everything and take it for a short test ride.

Took some time tonight to mount up a fresh set of Dunlop D606 tires tonight and installed rim locks in the wheels.  I am looking forward to how much better the off-road traction is with these.  I took a shot of the rear next to the old tire I pulled off.

Tomorrow night I plan on installing the new brake pads and re-installing the wheels so I can roll the bike around again.  I should have it running again before the weekend so I can do a test ride before the Hoot Owl 100 on Sunday.

Next weekend I am planning on going down to Conneticut and entering the Hoot Owl 100 turkey run.  This is not a race but is a non-competitive trail ride that follows a lot of the same trails they use for enduro races.  It is 100+ miles of 40% back roads and 60% trails.  This will be probably the most trail riding I have ever done in a single day so should be a good workout for me.  So, I decided to finally do some overdue maintenance and upgrades on the DRZ.

After my trail ride a couple weeks ago I decided that I really needed to lower the gearing.  The bike came with a 15 tooth front and 44 tooth rear sprocket.  I am switching it to a 13/47 which should give me much better slow speed control on the technical trails.  It will reduce the top end speed but that isn't much of a concern right now.  Also I have never really dug into the bike to really check things over like you really should always do on a used bike.

I quickly had the bike stripped down so I could access everything.

When I pulled the front sprocket I was a little shocked to see the condition.

Notice how not only are most of the teeth really worn but 3 of the teeth are essentially gone!  The bike is long overdue for this to be replaced even if I wasn't changing the gearing.  So the bike will have this replaced as well as the rear sprocket and of course a new chain.

Also I added some radiator guards:

I also replaced the throttle cable which had been sticking a bit and unmounted the old tires and cleaned up the wheels a bit and installed a fresh spark plug.  That was all I got done on Sunday but I have a few things left on the list to do:

• wire up a cigarette lighter plug to power my GPS
• install rim locks in the wheels
• new tires
• replace the clutch+brake levers
• new front brake pads
• cut the new chain to length and install it

Hopefully that should about do it and I should be all set for next weekend.

I just got back from my first ride with the local club today.  I recently joined the MVTR (Merrimack Valley Trail Riders) club and last week I saw an email saying they were looking for some volunteers to help clear some trails.  I figured it would be a great way to meet some other riders and do a little riding while helping clear trees and logs which were blocking some of the trails.

It was pretty chilly this morning (I think around 35deg F.) and a little drizzly so I put on several layers and headed out at around 8:00.  I almost loaded the bike up in the truck for the ride up to Loudon but felt like riding.  Being bundled up it wasn't too bad but a little chilly on the highway.  I met up with a couple other guys with bikes and one guy with a 4-wheeler as planned in Loudon and the morning was pretty much what I expected.  We would ride for a while until we found a downed tree, grab the chainsaw to cut it up and clear the trail.  Then ride until the next one.  The trails were not to terribly tricky but I did manage to drop the bike once on some wet slick leaves.  My tires are pretty much worn out and I am planning on replacing them next week but the DRZ handled those trails fairly well.

Of course this was just the morning ride.  The afternoon would turn out to be MUCH more interesting!

After clearing the first trail we moved over to meet up with another group of guys who were working over in Gilford.  They mentioned something about those trails being a little more difficult but didn't seem to be too concerned about the new guy and his bald tires.

I wish I had pictures but I was way to busy just trying to ride to even think about it.  This was by far the most difficult trail riding I have done.  The fact that I was on a heavy bike which is geared more for highway speeds than technical trails didn't help matters either.  If I had known how hard the trail was I would have probably not gone however I am very glad I did.  You never really know what you can do until you try it.

Actually most of it wasn't that difficult.  But then we went up a very steep climb with a lot of loose rocks and steep ledges.  I would be going along fairly well then fall in to the old "target fixation" (this is where you can't help but look at that big rock that you don't want to hit and of course since you tend to go where you look you hit it head on).  I lost count of how many times I dropped the bike but it had to be 7 or 8 times.  The embarasing thing however is about half of those drops were when I stopped.  I wouldn't realize how steep of an incline I was on and when I put my foot down it wouldn't hit the ground so over I would go.

I did a little damage to the bike.  Most guys remove the mirrors for rides like this.  This is why.....

And also I noticed I actually dropped the bike hard enough to bend my hand guards.  The right one actually is pushing on the brake lever.

It was still ridable but later on I found that it was pushing on the lever just enough so my brake light was on all the way home.  I don't think the brake was dragging however.  I should still consider new front brake pads anyway.

On the left side it is bent as well but not quite as bad.

Otherwise the bike (and rider) survived just fine.  I am glad I was wearing all my gear as I am sure one of the drops on the rocks would have hurt pretty badly.  I most certainly will be sore tomorrow, mostly from picking the bike up over and over.

As much as I like the DRZ400 I am beginning to question if it is the right bike for this kind of riding..... ok there really isn't a question, it is not the right bike for this.  I am trying to decide if it will force me to be a better rider or if I would actually learn better trail riding skills using a lighter bike.  I have been keeping my eyes open for a good deal on a used KTM.  I would really like to find a good used KTM450EXC but I have not seen any of those.  As much as I would love to go buy a new one I really can't justify $8k on a new bike.  The other bike I have considered and actually have seen a few used ones for sale is the 2-stroke KTM250 or 300.  A couple of the guys today had the KTM250 and it looks like a very nice bike.  Believe it or not those are 100 pounds lighter than my DRZ (just over 200 pounds vs. my 300 pound DRZ).

Anyway, I am putting new tires on this week and I think I will buy a new set of sprockets to gear it down for better trail riding speeds.  I will see how that works before spending another big lump of cash on yet another bike.

Oh, the guy with the 4-wheeler shot a bunch of video on his i-Phone.  I will see if I can get my hands on that and post it here.