imported post
imported post
sparklr wrote:
Have fun today! Need to get at least one pic of a DR with Dirt/Mud on it!:mb:
You got it
Read below .........
You should have been there. It was a great trip, well, I can say that now from the comfort of my couch
We started off with trying to find a through route on the "bottom" end of the Suskwa, basically trying to continue on with the old road as far as we could go. No sparklr, there was no phone booth antics. This is a "G" rated forum. :mb: We did not make it very far as it was really overgrown, but the trail is there. Who knows where it will go ????? 2T was mentioning taking his trials bike in there and I thought I could follow with a quad to carry the saws and brushing instruments, so a mental note for a future ride was made.
So it was back out to the main drag and on with Plan B. I logged some GPS coordinates into my GPS just incase we needed them, but that was for naught as it was pretty easy tracking.
We moseyed our way up the logging road and we come across a tree that is across it with a sign that says "No Motor Vehicle Access". No prob, a bike is not a motor vehicle now is it. They can go anywhere. So we continue on and start to hit some deactivations. At this point I will interject that I have never crossed a deactivation with a bike, so they looked down right DAUNTING. And they were. Come up to the top, look almost straight down, water either flowing or pooling in the bottom, then straight up the other side. And this went on, and on, and on, and on. I dumped the DR numerous times and stalled it out even more. I was working up a huge sweat. Again, the thought crossed my head, what the F*$# am I doing here following this skilled man????? But as my wife says, I am stubborn so on I plod. Up to the top, swallow stomach, down to bottom, cross the Red Sea, up the other side, stall out, dump bike, pick up bike, curse myself, start bike, try to extricate myself. And no, my boots are not waterproof.
Just when I was picking up my bike and thinking of hawking it down the bank and telling the insurance company that the Forest Fairies stole it and go and get myself some fancy light KTM, 2T comes to the rescue and says that the logging road is just around the corner. Wubba, Wubba, I can do this, so off I go. We hit the logging road, and head towards the Blunt FSR. We made it through to my surprise. I did not think that there was a through road, but here is proof. 2T on the Blunt FSR:
We make our way to Motown for lunch and snacks:
So now after a little relax (for me anyways) it is time to head back. There are two ways, the slab or the deactivations from hell. I give the choice to 2T after putting my two bits in (slab, slab, slab, slab) and he says the back road. Well, I guess I did need the practice in picking my DR up at the bottom of a deactivation. Before we head down the deactivated part I wanted to take a picture of the "No Vehicle" sign. When I looked at my photos at home I noticed I captured the elusive bush monkey on film:
So off we go, and guess what, I stall out again and dump the Doc. Now I am starting to get a little pissed. I am not sure about others, but when my Italian blood starts boil, I learn things. I learned that the easy way to move the DR on a hill is leave it in gear, pull the front wheel in the air and pivot it on the rear. I also learned that I was getting sick and tired of picking up the bike. All of a sudden a little voice went off in my simple brain "Well dummy, if you are sick of picking up your bike, don't drop it. Suck it up buttercup and get er done".
Well between being called buttercup and having boiling Italian blood pulsing I focused and hit the deactivations hard. Head up, eyes up, look at the crest, lean back then forward, stay vertical on the pegs.
And do you know what, it started to click. As I was just about out of the deactivation stretch I thought "this is actually fun when it all works out". We then rode out before the rain, stopped at the phone booth (get your mind out of the gutter sparklr) and parted ways. On the 15 clicks back to the truck, I really appreciated the DR again. When it is upright and on two wheels, it is quite agile.
Well, that was our ride. There is now a great route that we can do, Hazelton to Smithers on gravel.
Hope you guys have some good rides this week.
