New England Classic Charity Trail Ride June 8-10, 2012

[nhbubba]

Naturally, I'm feeling like total ass today. Just in time for the weekend.

Don't be surprised if I don't make it to this.

[ZX-12R]

Booooo!

I just spooned on a new front tire and I'm about to go buy a set of front brake pads to swap in while I have the wheel off.

I'll be up at the track signing up in a few hours!

[tls25rs]

Sadly I was unable to get my registered dirtbike a running motor in time so I will not be able to join. Enjoy the ride and the cause.

Bill ZX-12R try to find Bill yknot on Saturday morning. he has the black trailblazer SS and is riding a KTM250 2 smoke. Pretty sure he is still doing the ride and everyone I know he was going to ride with isn't going anymore.

[ZX-12R]

That's a bummer Joel. I take it Hop-ev is still doable with the other bike? I'll keep my eye out for the other Bill, Greg, Colin, and Chip.

I have a black Mountaineer with a Harbor Freight trailer. I'm shooting to be up there about 0700.

[tls25rs]

That's a bummer Joel. I take it Hop-ev is still doable with the other bike?

Hop-Ev definitely doable on the YZ

[nhbubba]

I bailed. I'm in no condition to be in the woods. This sucks.

If you guys happen to read this, look for another Bill (qwack) as well. I can't remember what the hell he's riding..

Have fun. Rip it up. Be safe.

[ZX-12R]

What an awesome two days of riding. The rain mostly held off for Saturday but I got soaked anyway due to some deep water crossings and puddles. Couldn't have asked for better weather today (Sunday). While I didn't crash on Saturday, the universe put me back in my place twice on Sunday. I know said it last summer after hurting myself that I needed hip and fore arm/elbow protection but I didn't heed my own advice and now I have a purple hip and road (rock) rash on my forearm after doing a sideways Superman on wet rocks.

On Saturday it was Greg (gregp), his brother Pete, and myself. After the riders meeting I couldn't find Bill (Yknot) before we left.

On Sunday Kale (TripleTaco) joined Greg, Pete, and me.

[nhbubba]

Word in the ADVRider thread is that someone flipped off one of the directors from NHMS and now the future of this event is in jeopardy.

[ZX-12R]

In my view rational adults don't think that way. I think it was a lot of hyperbole to scare people into behaving as they should.

[Chippertheripper]

Ummm, have you met Napoleon? I could easily see him shutting down an event like this because he had a hair across his ass.
That said, I wasn't there, so it wasn't me, nor am I encouraging this type of behavior.

[ZX-12R]

I've only met him once a while ago and he was pleasant to me. I didn't know where I was going in the facility and he stopped to help me out. I guess I haven't seen his true colors.

[Yknot]

Awesome ride this year. It wasn't as wet as previous years and the weather was perfect, just cool enough to not be completely stifling. I didn't get to ride with any NESRs but did see some to say hi. The northern loop heros were awesome, my fav being the climb up Whiteface with that amazing view. Sat hero section at the McGrath single track was bizarre, the interlaced sections felt you were running the same corner 100 times over and bridges were like ice. I can't wait until next year!!

Too bad that some idiot felt the need to provoke the track personnel. 95% of the people at this event are very appreciative of what the track offers at no cost. I will take the next opportunity I have to apologize to Tommy for that behavior and try to convey the sentiments of everyone I was in contact with this weekend that deemed that an unacceptable action under any circumstance. The amount of difficulties and challenges the club has to secure permissions to make this ride possible, this is just another example of how one person can undo months of hard work. Hopefully this can all be smoothed over. I can't believe the stupidity of someone to do that no matter what they felt warranted that response.

[gregp]

This was a great event for the 3 - 4 of us. Yes, on Sunday's Rider's Meeting, we were informed that 2 guys rode through the "Camper World" section, looking for the showers. Security stopped them, and turned them around. When those two riders found there way around Camper World, one of them turned around and flipped off the Security Guard. The Trail Boss's were very upset that someone would behave like that. Personally, I just do not understand that kind of behavior - particularly at a Charity Event.
At the riders meeting on the first day (Saturday), we were told that something similar happened last year, off of the track grounds, when a rider flipped off a woman on the side of the trail.
Then we were told of a rider who blitzed a puddle, and splashed a woman who was walking her dog on the trail. Another rider stopped to help her, and smooth things over.
So, it is no wonder that Off Road riding is going downhill so quickly. The sport is especially vulnerable to having "One Bad Apple Spoil The Bunch".
Anyway,.... Day 1 (Saturday) was *Wet*. It was not raining, but is was wet. Here is some video of Pete, Bill, and I getting to 1st Gas on Day 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vam...&feature=share

I have more video of Day 1, but none of day 2. Day 2 was much drier, and dust was starting to become an issue on some of the dirt roads. I do not recall anybody falling on Day 1, but oddly, as things dried out, people started falling down. Personally, I tipped over once, when both Bill and Kale missed a turn on Day 2. I chased Kale down and caught him, and as I was just executing a quick 180, I rolled off the trail edge into a ditch and fell over gently. That was it for me. Pete, Bill, and Kale had more exciting turf encounters.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this event, and I always enjoy meeting folks from this Forum.
More Pics and Video to come.
Greg

[ZX-12R]

Awesome ride this year.

How's your knee holding up?

[Yknot]

A bit sore but not too bad. It felt a lot better than I thought it was going to on Sunday. We kept a pretty good pace. Knee brace was shattered, have to get a new one of those.

[ZX-12R]

I was bad about taking pictures this year but here is Greg and his brother Pete at the lunch stop on Saturday:

[nhbubba]

So many orange things..

[ZX-12R]

KTM pretty much owns the enduro market in New England.

[Yknot]

I heard orange is the new black

[gregp]

Day 1, Hero 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0EB...ature=youtu.be

BTW - Everything people have been saying about trials tires, or trails "copies", proved to be pretty much true for me. I was worried about the rain on Friday, but the MT-43 was really just fine. Sure, it was not great in the mud, but there were several times where I was sure that the tire would spin, but it just hooked up and propelled me forward out of whatever jam I was in at the moment. I am not an aggressive "Point and Shoot" rider anymore - and this probably makes a big difference. The tall sidewall, combined with the relatively low pressures makes a noticeable difference in ride quality over the small rocks and roots. I am sold.

[ZX-12R]

We left at the right time on Saturday. Only a handful of people in front of us and no one on our tail for most of the day.

Do you have any footage of us booking through Bear Brook?

[gregp]

I have 6 more clips to upload. Unfortunately, I cannot tell Bear Brook from any of the other trails we rode. Give me a little more time, and I will put up what I have.
In case you didn't notice, my brother and I usually always try to leave early at these events for several reasons. If you wait, it gets crowded, and that often leads to bottle necks in the tough spots. It also gets very dusty, if conditions are conducive to it. Besides, sometimes the food runs low at lunch if everybody has arrived before you!
Leaving early means that it can sometimes be difficult to find your way (minimal tracks!), but that just makes you a better navigator, over time. Plus, if you get hurt, or break down, you know that there will be plenty of people coming by to help.
If possible, we try to have our route sheets loaded, be gassed up, and geared up before the riders meeting. Then it's just helmet, goggles, and gloves, and we're off!

[SVRACER01]

Wirelessly posted (GS3)

What percentage of these trails are open to ride all the time. Most appear to be class 6 roads.

[ZX-12R]

That's a tough one to estimate since I don't know the status of all the Class IV roads. Some are clearly marked as Class IV or subject to gates and bars which means they are legal. Some start out as a paved road with a "no outlet" sign instead of a "dead end" sign which usually indicates that the road becomes unmaintained Class IV. Other roads probably were Class IV at some point but were permanently closed which makes them private property. We also did a good amount of power line riding on Saturday which is all on private land. I would have to sit down with the route sheet correlate them all to the state's DOT maps to know for sure and even then there could be mistakes. Fortunately if you have decent evidence that a road is Class IV, it is up to the person complaining to prove that it isn't.

[gregp]

I found some Sunday video's here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lUXo49L4xo