Showing posts with label GPS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GPS. Show all posts

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Tahuya... Happy New Year

The Dirty Crew got together for another fabulous day of riding dirt bikes in the dirt at Tahuya State Forest on January 1, 2012. They wanted to start the year off right.

Special Guest Star Ruthie went along for her second outing. Again, she rode the TDC Honda XR250R. Ghostface KLR had spent an entire day doing maintenance on it the day prior. With a broken decompression cable and a throttle cable operating with only three strands remaining, Ruthie once again proved that riding dirt bikes is the most fun one can have while still wearing pants. She crashed only once while navigating a slippery rock/root/gravel/corner situation while practicing her proper Shane-Watts-style of using the twistgrip like a doorknob. It didn't work.

E-rock hadn't ridden in a while. His arms instantly went to jello for the first 15 minutes of the ride. Then, miraculously, were fine. His WR250F stalled out in deep water twice. The first time he was able to roll through to dry ground. The second one was due to ATV riders blocking the high-ground, leaving E-rock little choice but to take to deep water. What is up with ATV riders anyway?

MotoBum got off line on one section of trail and got his left leg pinned between an embankment and his trusty WR250F. He was laughing too hard to flag-down Swamp Monster for help, but was able to free himself once the laughing subsided. Later, he got the wind knocked out of him as he clipped a fallen tree sticking out into the trial with his chest. Feeling a bit beat up, he attempted to self-medicate by consuming two fish-bowl margaritas at dinner. It worked. But E-rock had to help him with the second one, which was probably a good thing for the interior of Ghostface KLR's truck as it ended-up not getting barfed on.

Ghostface KLR continues to love his Gas Gas EC300. It's been detuned enough now to be fun and "ridable." MotoBum rode it for a minute and swore it off for life. It still has way too much power. Swamp Monster rode it and loved it. Now he's obsessed with getting one of his own. The low weight and low seat height just work well for some people. Ghostface KLR loves his bike so much that he launched off his favorite jump without spotting the landing, landed in a large puddle, and rode the second half of the ride soaking wet. He couldn't wait to get his pants off.

Swamp Monster captured some video with his helmet-mounted GoPro camera... after his CRF250X started, that is. It actually started on the second long push this time (exhausting MotoBum in the process). It won't initially start from the kickstarter or the push-button anymore. Swamp Monster thinks it might be time to check the valves and rebuild the carburetor... shortly before putting it on craigslist in order to fund-raise for his own Gas Gas.

The 24.4 mile short route taken:
Download this track (.gpx format)

2012: The First Ride video

Ruthie Contemplates "The Ravine"

MotoBum Eats a Cookie

Door On Speed

Monday, December 19, 2011

Tahuya... with Special Guest Star

Swamp Monster and Ghostface KLR rode dirt bikes on Sunday with TDC Special Guest Star Ruthie. She did well. So did the dudes.

Special Guest Star Ruthie had the distinct pleasure of riding the unstoppable TDC XR250R. Ghostface KLR is quoted stating "I was damn impressed with how well she did for her first dirt bike ride ever. We took her down some fairly tough trails and she kept making it over everything. She was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. Never once did she not make it over any nasty roots. It was impressive."

In addition to the usual extremely sick, tight, and twisty single track that is usually ridden on a hardcore TDC Tahuya ride, a dirt road straight section was encountered. Swamp Monster's CRF250X actually hit a GPS-verified 63 mph -- a first for that Honda.

Here are the tracks that got laid.


Download this track (.gpx format)

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Tahuya... More GPS Tracks

On December 4, 2011, Swamp Monster, Ghostface KLR, and MotoBum hit the trails of Tahuya State Forest for more dirt bike riding fun.

Ghostface KLR's Gas Gas EC300 proved once again to have as much power on the trails as a Honda CBR900RR with a pipe, carb mods, and a big-bore kit. His ride was supposedly easier to control with the freshly installed G2 Throttle Cam System 400. It wasn't. MotoBum test rode the bike down Randy's Water Stop. After 30 feet he stopped, handed the machine back, and said "yeah, that's awesome."

Swamp Monster sat out the last bit of the ride after getting a bit banged-up on the leg during a near-crash. He was resting in the truck when The Man (law enforcement official) showed up to issue the $99 fine for not having a Washington State Discovery Pass displayed. He tried to sweet-talk The Man out of issuing the mandatory enforcement fine. It didn't work.

MotoBum almost became Swamp Monster II during the final leg. A piece of lumber floating in a deep, long, puddle washed out the front end of his WR250F, throwing him down to the left. The piece of lumber had been ridden over no less than three times on this ride. Having taken him by surprise, he fell down... but only onto an embankment and not under water. He got up. He backed out of the deep water. He started the thing. He rode.

Here are the GPS tracks from the first leg of this ride.


Download this track (.gpx format)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Tahuya... Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...

Swamp Monster, Ghostface KLR, and MotoBum hit the trails of Tahuya on Sunday, November 6, 2011. We all discovered how blazingly fast GFKLR's Gas Gas EC300 is and how easy it is to push-start Swampy's Honda CFR250X after kicking it for half an hour in attempt to light its very cold fuse. It turned out to be a bad fuel screw setting, but we had a good time.



Download this track (.gpx format)