SpodeFest trails report
in [ATVs]
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From: IdaSpode on 21 Jun 2010 14:19 On Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:55:38 +0200, Volker Bartheld <dr_versaeg(a)freenet.de> wrote: >Hi! > >T O T A L L Y A W E S O M E ! ! ! >Whoa! Way to go dude! Reminds me of last year's trip to Antalya (Turkey): > >This was fun: >http://www.bartheld.net/antalya/slide021.html > >Later, it got a bit more serious: >http://www.bartheld.net/antalya/slide022.html That is a RIVER, compared to that, what I went down in can only be described as a creek, only about 25' wide, 18" deep in the middle, flowing pretty well, slippery round rock bottom. Fortunately the water is crystal clear, no grit going through my engine. I've averaged one swimming trip per year for the last few years, it's mostly the easy ones that get me. Last year was the same creek, a few miles downstream, late in the year, low flow, almost made it to the bank, bobbled, put a foot down, slipped, gurgle, gurgle. DJ
From: Volker Bartheld on 22 Jun 2010 02:05 Hi! >>This was fun: >>http://www.bartheld.net/antalya/slide021.html >>Later, it got a bit more serious: >>http://www.bartheld.net/antalya/slide022.html > That is a RIVER, compared to that, Well, it might have been as wide as a river but over all, it was quite shallow (not more than ~10" I'd guess) with some gravel banks - at least where I was riding most of the time. But, as usual, I had to push it - and at the narrower bends, naturally the current was stronger and it had excavated the river bed a lot more. The result was that I could barely hold the bike in the middle (where I stalled), only if I pointed its head directly upwards into the stream. This had to be done pretty quickly, because I reached 45� in basically no time and with more tilt, I would have flooded the airbox & carb. Unfortunately, this is a pretty bad starting point if you want to make it to the other side... Since I was riding in a group, fixing a drowned bike for an hour or more in the middle of nowhere with only the few KTM standard tools would surely have helped in making a bunch of friends, if you know what I mean... > what I went down in can only be > described as a creek, only about 25' wide, 18" deep in the middle, > flowing pretty well, slippery round rock bottom. Jup, I was guessing that from the pics. But those kind of crossings can be pretty vicious, especially if you lose traction and get caught by the current. I always try to keep at a pretty steep angle there (if possible, that is), about 45�, so the water pressure doesn't force me to spill the bike. In therory. From real life, it's always me who choses the wrong line and has to drain the bike. That's why I'm a little "water phobic", especially when large rocks are involved (as it was the case in Turkey). I'll never forget the goat trail that our tour guide selected for the "fast group" (which I considered myself to be a member of in an acute case of megalomania). I had my camera rucksack on with about 1500$s worth of mirror reflex equipment inside and was going down a rock field with most of the obstacles having the size of a spiky soccer ball or bigger. In some sections, the descent was so steep that you had to anticipate a destination for reducing your speed well in advance since this was your only chance if you didn't want to crash. So I hurtled down from turn to turn, standing in the pegs with locked rear and front wheel, forearms cramping and a fat brown stripe building up in my underwear. Imagine that kind of track in an enduro race and 100 "pros" in your back chasing you. > Fortunately the water > is crystal clear, no grit going through my engine. Lucky you! My friend and riding buddy Peter lost his XR600's engine in such a situation. Seems that he got water into the crankcase, it foamed up creating some kind of "majonaise" which clogged the little metal oil pipe leading to the cylinder head. And as all XR600s are a little hot blooded when it comes to their valvetrain, it happend what had to happen. His complete RFVC hardware was trashed, rocker arms worn out and one valve stuck which took out the piston as well. I perhaps should mention that Peter is the guy who broke off both footpegs during a pretty hard landing when we went to Italy for some MX. He wasn't able to use his CR250R he brought as well since he blew the front fork the day before, spilling oil like this pretty average BP platform if I remember correctly. > I've averaged one > swimming trip per year for the last few years, it's mostly the easy > ones that get me. OK, I understand. So that means that I should drown my bike right now (since it has been raining im Munich for weeks with close to no stop, even an ordinary pothole would probably do) so the statistics will be clean for an untainted ride in Boise...? Actually no bad idea... ;-) > Last year was the same creek, a few miles downstream, late in the year, > low flow, almost made it to the bank, bobbled, put a foot down, slipped, > gurgle, gurgle. Ups. Could you put up a sign there, like "Volker-Dude, beware! Bike drowning spot approaching!"? Or at least send me the GPS-coordinates so I can configure a proximity alert? ;-) Might be that there's some gravitation anomaly, an X-File etc... Cheers, Volker -- @: I N F O at B A R T H E L D dot N E T 3W: www.bartheld.net
From: IdaSpode on 22 Jun 2010 17:01 On Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:18:42 -0500, Wudsracer <babbaloo(a)Lucy.com> wrote: >David, > Will John get to attend Spudfest? He's a nice guy (former >customer), and I think I'd like to ride with him. > >Jim Yes, John will be there, he's looking forward to meeting you. He's fun to ride with, not real fast, but capable and will go anywhere. DJ
From: SloCalSpode on 22 Jun 2010 19:39 DJ wrote: With edit.....by me > Yes, (insert name here) will be there, he's looking forward to meeting you. He's fun > to ride with, not real fast, but capable and will go anywhere. > > DJ -------------------------------- This sentence pretty much describes 90% of the SpodeFest attendees. With a few (fast'er) exceptions. -------------- Not-called-a-Slo-CalSpode for nothin..... Jeff
From: sturd on 22 Jun 2010 22:19
IdaSpode reports: > Yes, John will be there, he's looking forward to meeting you. He's fun > to ride with, not real fast, but capable and will go anywhere. Sounds like that's sort of a common thread. I like competent people. Go fast. Take chances. Mike S. |