I feel a new itch...

[Pittsdriverwes]

looks like fun, did u work up a sweat

Bill, I felt like I'd just had a ass whoopin' by mid-afternoon. It was a combination of standing all day and the icy cold conditions just kicked my ass in the most pleasurable way.

My observations so far about this small community of trials riders is that they act like they don't want to be discovered but when you break the ice they all treat you like family. And rarely have I ever been around people that had so much fun laughing at each other's antics. I've zeroed in on the bike I think I'm going to get this week and go ahead and dive in. Either this thing will get me in shape or kill me.

[Bmorganjr]

[Pittsdriverwes]

There's a couple of riding buddies here whose wives are telling me that I'm being a bad influence on their husbands. One of them is already going behind me to look at the trials bikes I found for sale and the other is putting his KTM 250 SX up for sale so he can get something like this as well.

[Bmorganjr]

going behind is not a buddy, if you told him about it.....???lol

[Loggiebone]

[justjoe]

[802Mike]

I believe !!!

[Pittsdriverwes]

Hilarious!!

[Pittsdriverwes]

I guess the trials bug nibbling at me took a bigger bite than I thought. This Beta EVO 200 followed me home last night:



I guess I've initially joined the slow ride club and I think you can expect a lot of foul language from me as I spend the rest of the winter in the garage working on my static balance. This is the first smoker I've ever owned and initial impressions are that it's got a nice kick to get it off the ground.

[Loggiebone]

[Pittsdriverwes]

Filed under the heading of "Things I never thought I'd say..."

I rode for 5 hours yesterday and never got over 5 mph - and loved every minute of it.







That's the 4T 300 in the foreground and my EVO 200 2T in the back:


Before this sport got me, I'd have to be on a church group ride with all Harleys to spend the day going that slow.

[Flyboy]

[aviator]

PM me. Ill give you my cell number, just in case you need help. ??

[Flyboy]

[Pittsdriverwes]

I've passed through the SW US.a few times but I still feel like it's on my bucket list to spend a week or two roaming around on a dual-sport with my camping gear. Looking forward to seeing your photos from your ride Flyboy.

[Pittsdriverwes]

Without a good place to practice near home, I've been building little obstacles around my back yard. I finally got out yesterday with an invite from a friend that has a big really beautiful piece of property on the Mason Dixon line between Maryland and PA near Emmitsburg. It was a combination trail ride, trials skills challenge, and some free riding through the woods and trying not to fall off some granite cliffs. There's a creek running through the middle of it with some waterfalls and we spent the day rambling up and down the hills and ridge lines and crossing the creek a few times. Lots of rocks, logs, and ditches and such - the kind of stuff I'd dread on my dual sport or ADV bike - that makes a great playground for the trials bike.





Here's a short video I shot of the other guy riding up the rocks and crossing a log a couple of times:

https://youtu.be/tHUykcMt1kM

The weather was perfect and the place was amazing to ride. My cup was full by the end of the day.

[Pete_Tallahassee]

Wes, Why not ride around in the house.

[Pittsdriverwes]

That guy is otherworldly and I'll never understand how he gets a trials bike to do the things he can do. .

[Pittsdriverwes]

Well, I guess I'm no longer a virgin trials rider. I rode my first trials event yesterday in the woods of PA. It was 8 sections times 4 loops through them, over 4 hours, I can now definitively say that I stink at this. After the first loop I was buried in an avalanche of penalty points (more than the other 4 line riders had in total). There were only 4 riders in the 4 line group (the easiest lines) and the only reason I came in 3rd was because one rider DNF'd. Yeah, it was bad...

Now, I don't mean any of that in a depressing defeatist way at all. I had an awesome time embarrassing myself and if there's a punch line coming it's that I'm hooked. All the people there were very welcoming and helpful and I'm very impressed with the level of preparation and smooth organization of the event. I can't imagine how much effort went in to creating one section for 5 different skill levels much less 8 sections offering up varying levels of difficulty from section to section.

Through the 8 different sections on the 4 line, there was a variety from relatively easy to quite challenging (for me). There were two sections that I think I put up either a 3 or a 5 (the max) on the first three attempts before I would clean them on my last attempt. But then there was one section that I cleaned 3 times before putting up a 5 on my last time through. But like golf, it's that one good shot that brings you back again and I had a few of those moments.

Off-road I'm rarely the fastest guy in the group but apparently I suck at going slow too. Today all my core muscles are locked up in painful protest but I guess I'll be back to try it again.

[justjoe]

That is so friggin' awesome, Wes! Good on ya!

[McFly]

Sounds like a lot of fun to me Wes. I like your golf analogy too... very fitting.

[aviator]

Awesome! Way to go Wes.

[802Mike]

[Loggiebone]

Back in Ohio I had a bunch of land that I set up a trials course to ride my crappy Kawa trials turd. Just wanted something to screw around on and ended up entering several trials that were local. A friend ended up loaning me (more or less permanently) his Montessa to compete on...far better than the Kawa. I wasn't very good at it but it was a hoot and met another bunch of great people...different from my normal dirt dudes. If you get one, you won't regret it!!

[Pittsdriverwes]

It'll kick your ass into shape (if you're not already). It doesn't take long before I'm ready to park it for a break.

[Loggiebone]

Anything for a cold Blue Moon!?

[Pete_Tallahassee]

Congratulations Wes. Looks like you jumped all the way in.

[Pittsdriverwes]

One very interesting take-away from the event was that there were several national pro-level riders there riding the zero line (the gravity defying insane stuff). It's amazing what these guys can do on a trials bike. Of course, they were all teen or twenty something flat bellies. I haven't looked like that in 40+ years.

[DYL-Jim]

Congrats on the new trials bike. The experts make it look easy to ride. I rode Ed Benson's trials bike a few times and was not good at riding and I burned my leg on the exhaust. Not my cup of tea but there would be plenty of places to ride here it it was. Best of luck with the new bike and time to start a new workout routine.

[Pittsdriverwes]

Thanks Jim. It's definitely a core muscle workout to ride this thing. The other think I stink at is having a regular exercise program. Murphy Mike said he'd seen you a while back. I don't think I'll recognize his house the next time I'm down there.

[Pittsdriverwes]

There were a couple of cute young ladies following me around taking photos at the event. Usually, when I have young ladies following me around they are asking me for money and they have the same last name as me (4 daughters).

I felt like this photo needed a caption. Remember those times when you were a kid and you had acted up in public and embarrassed your parents? So the caption of this photo, taken after my first trials competition last weekend, would be:



"I can't believe how badly you behaved in front of all those people today. You totally embarrassed me. Have you learned nothing? Get in the truck right now! We're going home!" said the Beta trials bike to me.

[Pete_Tallahassee]

"No wonder I'm tired, someone stole the seat"

[Capnrip]

That's some funny shit there Wes! That kind of stuff keeps you coming back.

[802Mike]

"When I get better, I won't need these silly ramps!"

[MattB]

Well, I guess I'm no longer a virgin trials rider. I rode my first trials event yesterday in the woods of PA.

Wes, where was it held, Michaux?

[Pittsdriverwes]

Dover PA on some private land.

[MattB]

Aha, you were less than 30 miles away from me grasshopper. Had I known, I may have gotten out to watch. Any chance you met a guy there named Kevin Willis? He would have been one of the dudes that performed magic. He's a local.

[Pittsdriverwes]

I'll let you know the next time it's happening. The schedule this year has been significantly cut back due to the cooties going around. I'm thinking about heading up to Acme PA next weekend for a trials practice day.