First time running the trails in SHNF - 12/17/11

[Tourmeister]

So I rode down to Kelly's Pond to meet up with Rsquared, JQueen and Jar675 to ride some trails in the Sam Houston National Forest. This is to be my first time actually riding any serious single track. I'm riding the 2010 KTM 530 EXC I picked up about 6 weeks ago, so I am not real sure what to expect... Anyway, here are my thoughts on the day...

It was REALLY cold getting down there despite me being pretty well bundled up. When I arrived, my nose and hands were numb. Met up with Roger "Rsquared" and Justin "JQueen". Also saw Captain Jack who was there to ride with some other folks. Jamie "Jar675" said he might be late and not to wait. We waited until maybe 9:45 and them took off for the trails.

I could have done without the branch up my nose... literally Not sure how it got past the helmet and goggles, but I had visions of it going all the way up to my brain... Talk about whacked way to get whacked...

I hurt all over... a lot...Thank God for better living through chemistry! Some ibuprofen, a muscle relaxer and I'm sorta able to walk around the house without making noises that scare the kids

I could go a LONG time without seeing TONS of close spaced whoops... Those things were just wearing me down hard. My neck and shoulders are screaming at me over that stuff.

I can't wait to get the 13/52 sprockets on the bike. I was rapping out first but second was just TOO fast for me and I would end up really lugging it. All in all, for my first time really riding single track trails, I'm pretty happy. Five minutes after Roger mentioned that you could probably clip a tree with the bar and be fine but if you hit it square on the hand guard you are probably gonna go down... I hit a tree right square on the hand guard and went down, hehe. Jqueen got the bike off me because I couldn't stop laughing. Thank God for good dirt boots though because the toes on the left foot were pointed into the ground and the heel took the full weight of the bike. I had another real slow get off, more of a tip over and I just stepped off, but the bike hit a tree perfectly right over the front fender and at the base of the head light. No damage though. I just picked it up and kept going. I was good for the first loop, but about half way through that second loop I was out of steam and getting really sloppy. It was frustrating watching Roger because he is just so smooth and I was back there flopping all over the place and working way harder than I should have been, hehe.

After the first loop we found Jamie at the trail head. After some visiting, we took off for a second loop. It was a lot of fun, but I was really wearing out near the end of the second loop and was ready to call it a day!

The fall colors are some of the best I can remember in 17 years of living in this area. The Sweet Gum trees are bright yellow and red! Even the Oaks are a beautiful fiery orange.

Did I mention I hurt all over...

Here's a few pics...

Heading from Stubble Field Lake to Kelly's Pond

At the trail head

JQueen's DR 650, that he rides like a 250

I froze to death riding down this morning, but it got hot on the trails FAST, so we stopped so I could shed some layers and wait for my heart rate to come back down out of the stratosphere... (Justin on left, Roger on right)

Roger's weapon of choice, 350 SX?

This I liked... wide and no whoops, and the trees are further away than two inches! I'm still a bit wigged about trees being so close to me as I go careening through the woods...

Justin and the DR 650

A trail head... somewhere... I had no clue as I was just trying to keep up!

Another view of Roger's ride

The DR

We picked up Jamie at the trail head for the second loop, he missed the first loop - KTM 450 EXC

Sand I like... It makes for a soft landing

Taking a break on the second loop

Heading home toward Stubble Field Lake