| Author | Message | ||
     Xb12xmike |
Hello all,... I apologize for taking so long to post my adventure but here it goes. I decided to go for a quick ride on sunday before the big EAGLES/Vikings game and before i need to be home for a once a week on-line poker tournament i entered. it was a decent day. (allways wear my gear, olympia commado jacket, neon yellow high-viz vest and airglide pants) i feel naked without them besides they help keep me warm in the cold too. temps were in the low 40's. So,.. i find this road:     So far looks like just an open area for vehicles to turn around, there is a huge field in 3rd pic beyond the trees on left and a nice soccer field on the right. (Message edited by xb12xmike on January 10, 2009) | ||
| Xb12xmike |
Hey,..what this?? a trail??? Hmmm...wonder where THAT goes?? Lets go see huh?  Looks cool so far....  2 possible lefts and a right turn... decisions decisions.... I make a right >  a nice looking trail to ride  It was cool,..turns out,...this is a place where people go for nature walks and take their dogs for walks. I come up to an scottish/english woman, walking with her large Lab,..... she told me about the "LEFT TURN" just after the trail I took,.. explaining that the trail I was on was just a loop leading back to the main trail and this other trail would be slightly more "adventurous" than the flat/plain trial i was on, I said thank you and followed this trail back around to the main trail. She was a delightful person to speak with. | ||
| Xb12xmike |
It must be up here somewhere on the left.....lets see,...  This looks like an old trail .....on the left, I know my Uly can make thru that but...lets find the real trail..... oh...just after that is another trail on the left..  OH THIS MUST BE IT!!!(little do I know...the English woman meant to "stay" on the main trail that looks like it veers off to the right) But I keep thinking GO LEFT!!  So,.. I am more excited to be cruising back here in the woods,.. this new secret place I found to go exploring... pretty freaking cool. (it seems all the trails are decent at this point huh??) (Message edited by xb12xmike on January 10, 2009) | ||
| Xb12xmike |
This happened just around the bend in that last pic (previous post)    At this point, I wasn't too worried,.. but..i never been stuck like this before...as I took these pics i thought... "this is gonna be good"! I spent about 45 min trying to get her out,.. crushing the ice and mixing the mud and water with the underlying clay with my feet into a smelly dirty thick milkshake. And it was sinking more. But at same time...i was still thinking... "this is gonna be good!! (Message edited by xb12xmike on January 10, 2009) | ||
| Xb12xmike |
So I am exhausted by now... trying to catch my breath i figure out... HEY... why not try to "push" her back the way she came in?? I press my chest on the front windscreen, grab the grips and spread my legs till i get a good footing with my feet and use my weight with pushing and she starts moving backwards!! IT IS WORKING!! I do this 4-5 times and move her about 6ft before she falls over to her right.....  (note to self: get taller Waterproof boots)  Oh crap, when she fell over,.she fell right into a stickerbush!! just my luck?!?!?!  The taste of success!!  Phew..i am exhausted now!! But also energized!! WOW...it was only that 6-8 ft of crap that got me stuck? and i would be trail riding on the other side... i can get thru that..it was a simple mistake to get stuck...it CAN'T happen again....right? besides...my ULY is a TANK!!   LETS DO IT!!! | ||
| Xb12xmike |
OOPS!!! I DID IT AGAIN!!!  I tried to avoid the rutts I made previously, my inexperience shows here bigtime, as I should have just rode straight thru the thicket on the left or right of this waterpit (or just went home). As the rear tire slid.. i was like...no way...not again... then i tried to throttle/push it out but the front tire was on an incline and the rear was dug in deep. gotta go foward now...too tired to push her back.    Sticks seem to be helping.....   now i am tired AND cold, if I can just dig out under the front tire, it wont have to make a climb, so i dig 3ft long trench for the front tire to ride thru when she starts moving. Water is filling it up and the clay under the mud stinks. Now I wanna get out of here, go home and get clean clothes on and something to eat...its been about 3 hrs since i left my home,.. i have been stuck for about 2 hours now. (total) Exhausted would be an understatement. | ||
| Xb12xmike |
Ok... finally out!!! Brings back my childhood days of playing in the mud!! (sorta)      Phew!!  Ok, it's about 4 p.m. now,...getting colder out and gonna be dark so i gotta find my way out of here! | ||
| Xb12xmike |
PHEW!! ALMOST DID IT AGAIN!! (i actually was stuck here but i pushed myself out quickly)  Trail looks pretty good now,... i come to an intersection...i continue straight...  it dead ends,.. more like vanishes. I turn around and go back down to intersection and turn left,...  I'M LOST!!! Unbe-freakin-leavable!!! Now I am guessing there is no other way out except the way I came in!!! I don't wanna go thru that again!!! But I think I am gonna have to.  just around that bend ahead,... and then a few hundred yards and i will be back to the known entrance and the PIT OF HELL.... (Message edited by xb12xmike on January 10, 2009) | ||
| Xb12xmike |
I come around the bend and there are these vines hanging in the middle if the trail... I only veered over slightly and ducked my head down and to the left.... and the rear end slid out from under me.   Ok... been here almost 3 hours now,.. exhausted, cold, hungry and just got a call back from my GF, (whom I just asked 10 min prior to this call to go ahead and start my poker tournament for me, and to play safe till I got back) that she lost within 5 min. (usually lasts 4-5 hours) I was freaking pissed. Not that big of a deal,,...Now I just wanted to get home. OH NO!!! I don't have the energy to pick up my bike!! I try and try and even try methods I found on the net ... seeing how easy it is (even for women).... NOPE! Still can't do it. So, I walk up the trail in disgust...looking for something to help me lift or get leverage. Then I find a 2x4 about 4ft long... walk back to the bike (still extremely exhausted of course) Every time I lift,..her rear tire slides in the mud which is under all the leaves, I can't get it stable enough to make a good lift. I keep trying... the bike moves about 8" every time... I am going in a circle, but this is good...but i cant catch my breath now but if I keep going,..the bike will swing all the way around and the rear tire will eventually hit that tree and I can then get the leverage to lift her. And... another 45 min later...she was up again. Great!! Now I can go home.. CRAP!! its dark now (and the reason there is no more pics) I remember which way to go to get back to the PIT OF HELL and Once I get there... I leave the bike headlight on to walk the track that I will be taking the bike thru to memorize it as much as possible. I found a 6 ft area that wasn't too bad,...then I found that I could avoid the PIT OF HELL completely by riding thru some roughage off-trail that wasn't bad and I would be HOME FREE. I was only 10ft from freedom. ...i decided to walk the bike thru, feathering the throttle as needed. To no avail,... she slipped into another rutt and then fell over, (away from me). And I tried in vain to pick her up but could not. I was Beaten. Pitch black out now, I walked back, thru the trail to the road and called my GF to come pick me up. Even though she lost my Poker game, she was still extremely pissed because she has a fractured knee (happened on xmas) and she had to limp her way to the car and come get me. I also called the local police to report where the bike was and why, then they showed up just as my GF got there, asked if I wanted a tow, i said mabye because at that point, i didn't really have anyone to help me. I led them back to where I "thought" the bike was but could not find it. We went back pretty far too. If we did find it,.. they would have got me out. I went home and 2 hours later I went back with my brother and 2 flashlights, took us 30 min to find it. (we went looking down the CORRECT trail i should have taken during the ride, not the old trail I actually took) I saw this paw it added to my worries, it was about 4" wide... big wild dogs?  Got it home finally. Not too much damage. Broken hand guard, the throttle shifted forward, while the starter button and red button shifted backwards (on the handlebars) and...the banjo bolt for the front brake got loosened and i had no front brake for the ride home. also,..my belt...got some damage...I don't know how bad it can get before breakage, i will get it checked out asap. At HOME:      and YES! OF COURSE I WILL BE GOING BACK THERE AGAIN!!! (thanks for reading) (Message edited by xb12xmike on January 10, 2009) | ||
| F_skinner |
Mike, thanks for the read. I am glad you made it home ok. I had a chuckle when you talked about the rear tire sliding every time you tried to pick it up. I had that happen to me in SD one year when I wanted to explore some side roads that turned to dirt and then mud. My Sporty was loaded down and I think I spent a couple of hours trying to get it back up. This summer I was down by four corners Colorado. We got a lot of rain but where we camped was dry. The bad part was in order to get out of the camp ground there was a 100 foot square patch of mud and water we had to get through with three downed Harleys laying in it. Same deal, when you try to pick it up it just slides. I helped slide a couple of those bikes out of there then jumped on the S2T and motored right through it. You should have seen the looks I got when I did it a second time on my GFs Sporty. I got real lucky, did not use the front brake and when the back end started to come loose I would pound the ground with my foot. I guess all those years riding dirt helped out. I doubt I could have done as well on the Uly. It was nothing like what you got into. You inspired me to go find some mud (close to home). Ride safe Mike, Frank | ||
| Vamp07 |
That was a great read!!! | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
and YES! OF COURSE I WILL BE GOING BACK THERE AGAIN!!! great story! | ||
| J2blue |
Thanks for the adventure! And I am sorry but I tried not too laugh too hard as your optimism about your situation waned. It reminds me of the many predicaments we got into as kids, without motorcycles, in forests very similar to that. Stinky, wet, cold, exhausted, scratched up, cursing, but inspired to conquer another day. Now go out and get the Uly winch to help in such situations as they will happen again. And that is "winch" not "wench".  | ||
| Rotorhead |
Been there! I have a shirt I got from a guy that helped me out of my bad situation. My wife calls it my stupid shirt and i have to wear it whenever I ride offroad by myself. BTW if you get some bags it helps in getting it back up right. The bags get you halfway up. kind of like the BMW jugs in this video. this vid has some qiuck lessons of the offroad for beastly motorcycles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpv3R4Nwy0g (Message edited by rotorhead on January 10, 2009) | ||
| Rotorhead |
Oh yeah I do send ALLOT of time picking my bike up.   | ||
| Gs750t |
Good post Mike. I know that exhausted feeling and always think now I'm really fooked!!! | ||
| Ulywife |
What a fun read. I bet you slept good that night! Thanks for sharing. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Awesome story!
Those words bring back some really fond memories of some really miserable moments! For the record, it's all about the tires. Big fresh sharp knobbies make all the difference in the world. If you are using street tires on any bike, you have to make up for what you lack in traction with skill and judgement, and sometimes there just aren't options. Thats great that you took pictures! Once I get in survival mode, I put away the camera, and always regret it later (when it turns out that I did actually survive). | ||
| Michthumper |
I am buying my Blast shortly, but will not be riding until Spring. My bikin' buddies like the dirt roads-anybody have an opinion on my Blast's ability on the back country gravel roads? Of course my Blast will see pavement at times.... | ||
| Rotzaruck |
Hmmm...wonder where THAT goes?? I suffer from that affliction too. Sometimes makes for some great stories though. Thanks for that one! Rotzaruck! | ||
| Xb12xmike |
Better tires would help alot,...i know its not a true "off-road" bike as some say,... but... getting an offroad bike would take the "A" out of these Adventures!! How hard could it be to design a on/off road motorcycle tire?? 1,000's of mud and snow car tires out there. i do wish it was a tad lighter bike for when mishaps happen,... or...mabye...my "motorcycle muscles" will get built up enough so it wont matter...lol | ||
| Iamike |
Mike, Boy do I know that feeling all too well. I like to ride my dirt bike in a huge forest in northern Minnesota. I've been in that bind riding by myself and stuck big time. I say "boy this was really dumb". I finally got smart and now use a hand-held gps, carry water and a survival kit. There is cell phone coverage but can be spotty. I learned real quick the first time up there on the DR650 that the stock tires are pretty worthless in mud. You may need to put knobbies on that Uly. | ||
| J2blue |
Hey Lisa, I've got a Blast and an XB and can tell you the Blast will not be up to the task on most dirt and gravel roads. The XB with good tires can handle most fire roads as long as it is dry. The Blast suffers from very little ground clearance and a suspension that is not suitable to any surface other than relatively smooth pavement. With some modifications you can improve the suspension on the Blast but getting the ground clearance raised is another matter and generally considered impractical. But if you are looking for adventure like Mike describes above the Blast will certainly get you into it! | ||
| Hooper |
Awesome use of photos...I could feel the evening coming on and the temperature dropping. I also started to get chills like the Jersey Devil or perhaps some Pineys (no offense to any actual Pineys) might be lurking. Frankly, I'm amazed the dogwalker wasn't angry at seeing a motorcycle riding on the trail. And heck yeah, I would have gone down that trail too! (Message edited by hooper on January 14, 2009) | ||
| Skyclad |
Gotta love it; another Uly rider that didn't get (or decided to ignore) the "not a dual sport) memo. BTDT, gonna go back for another round. | ||
| Cletusberontwood |
OMGosh thanks for the laugh bro!! haha Looks like you took the whole adventure in good spirits! Good times!  |
