Sunday 8/28 afternoon ride

[Sportfaller]

Yeti and I are talking about riding sunday, the 28th, I'm tied up till noon but am free after that.  Who is in?

[Bogus Jim]

I can probably join you Sunday... let me know where you guys are meeting.

[JoniJo]

I wanna move to the Hills! You guys are sooooooooooooo lucky!!!!!!!!!!!      Joni

[Sportfaller]

Ok, lets meet at exxon at the corner of deerfield and main in hill city at noon for a ride around the lake, and some exploring, all are welcome.

[The Yeti]

I can't gaurantee it, but I'll try to be there.  If I'm not there at noon, don't wait for me!

[Bogus Jim]

I'll be there at noon, unless I have a bad crash on the way down to Hill City.

I can't gaurantee it, but I'll try to be there.  If I'm not there at noon, don't wait for me!

Jeez you can't get out of bed by 11am? 

[jacin theis]

yeti, are you riding the GS or hte WR?  i am not sure what Josh will get us into.... or if i can get out of town in time.

[The Yeti]

I'm not gonna make it guys, too much stuff to get done around the house today. Maybe next weekend will work out better for me.

[Bogus Jim]

Well it was a fun ride. About a 70 mile loop, a few miles of pavement, some gravel, mostly logging trails and ATV trails. Here's the track log; Deerfield Lake is to the north and Hill City to the East. Very close to the campground for the Fall Rally.



Josh suggested we ride up Hat Mountain. I've heard ATV riders talk about this, but never ridden it. Sitting at the bottom, the trail looked pretty rocky... and steep... and long. Josh hit the gas and made it about halfway up on his 800GS. We weren't sure if it was going to get tougher, or easier, so Josh turned around. I looked back down the trail, and damned if Jacin wasn't following us on his 1200GS, with street tires no less. He made it about 1/2 way through the toughest section before turning around. Jacin and Josh just don't seem to understand that they're not riding 230lb. dirt bikes... or maybe they don't care. 

I made it to the top on my little 250. I'm going to ride this again, it's a good practice hill and hill climbs are one of my weak points. But trying to ride it on a 1200GS with street tires... I don't think most riders would even attempt that. Except Jacin. 

Around 2:30, Jacin decided he'd had enough of riding enduro B trails on a GS so he headed home. Josh and I rode a few more ATV trails and there were a couple sections that were quite challenging. It was like riding the Nemo ATV trails, really.

I think this would be a great loop for the fall rally. There are a couple sections that might be too difficult for big bikes but those can be bypassed, or have a couple other riders help push the bike through.

And here's a track log just to show I did make the top of Hat Mountain... fun stuff. I think it's doable for most on 250-450 bikes, but a bit of a challenge on the bigger bikes for sure.



Thanks to Josh for another great ride.

[Lonesome Dave]

Well, this is as good a time as any to tell everyone about Hat Mountain.  Two weeks ago I was riding with my rather large family group (4 generations, 9 atvs and me) in the Deerfield area near Ditchcreek campground.  Towards the end of the day we had found our way to Hat Mountain and were going to ride to the top before heading back to camp.  The Hat Mountain climb consists of three phases.  All nine atvs had completed the first phase and I was the last to go up, when I had a minor "get off" at the top.  Unfortunately, it was a rather major fall / landing.  No, I wasn't hot-dogging, probably about 5mph, but my trusty steed reared up on the 1st phase of the hill climb and I eventually fell off, hit face first in a deep rocky rut, and of course the damn thing landed on me.  I was done for the day.  In fact, I'm done for 8 weeks or so. 

Damage-  broken shoulder. screwed up left knee, and damaged right ankle.  Good news- no surgery, they said these kind of breaks usually heal best by themselves, as long as you keep it immobile.  Oh by the way, the TW left the woods w/o a scratch and under its own power.  I, however, did not and that's another story in itself - but no helicopters.

If it wasn't for the above, I would have loved to have gone with you guys yesterday.  And I would have damn sure followed you, Bogus Jim, up to the top!  I've been up there numerous times over the years on an atv.  Although I probably won't make it back to Hat Mountain before winter, I will damn sure be there early next year!

I'm planning on being at the fall rally at least Friday night (on four wheels!) tending bar or something.  See you all soon.  Lonesome Dave
     

[Sportfaller]

Here is a good view of some of the really fun ATV trail we ran, it was good higher speed stuff, with a few moderate hill climbs

[Bogus Jim]

Sorry to hear about your fall Lonesome Dave. I guess it is a reminder to us all that a guy can definitely get hurt on these rocky trails, even riding a sure-footed mountain goat like the TW.

[greatbuffalo]

LD, sorry to hear about your off and subsequent injuries. I feel your pain.

Really looking forward to riding some of these trails in a couple weeks.

Thanks for the recon work you guys do.

[Hank]

Heal up fast LD!