I'm a new KLR rider in Tallahassee and am looking for some decent intro-level trails to get off-road experience. My last bike was a Honda Shadow eight years ago so sand and dirt are pretty new to me. I was coming up from 319 yesterday, north of Leon Sinks and decided to jump onto a dirt road for some quick practice before heading home. I turned onto L.L. Wallace and felt like I'd ridden into a sandbox. I made it to Springhill in one piece but found the ride very, very challenging. Obviously I need a lot of practice but do you have any suggestions on good spots for a beginner to get some experience on? If any of you ride down around there, is L.L. Wallace really that bad right now or is that pretty tame in the grand scheme?
Hello, and welcome to the forum! L.L. Wallace is usually a pretty sandy road. Don't get discouraged. There IS a learning curve to riding sand, and it's pretty steep on a KLR. If a KLR offroad adventure is what you crave I'm sure some of us will be more than happy to accommodate you! Also check out this thread. We'll be camping in the NE corner of the ANF in a few weeks- come out and join in! Most of the FS roads South of 267 are packed dirt/sand/limestone with some soft stuff mixed in. Be careful riding solo until you get some sand legs. A slow tour at a tourists pace with some stop and smell the flowers time is some of the best time I've spent in the woods. Post up in advance here if you want to ride, and often someone will join you.
I'm always down for a ride. I too have an overweight big bike so would be happy to join. Sand is all about getting momentum and just letting that front wheel dance around. If you fight it, you're arms will fall off after a mile. Sit back and let the rear wheel do all the hard work.
I don't think I'll be able to get away for Pre-Fest this year but I'll be looking forward to meeting up with you guys on the trail one of these days. I'm going to keep tooling around the outskirts of ANF when I have time until I get some more experience. I'll be lurking around on a green and black KLR and practicing staying upright.
I'm thinking I'll do some scouting routes in the coming weekends. If you're free on Saturday you're welcome to follow along. It'll be big bike friendly. Maybe we can get Scott, Hal, mike, and anyone else that wants to hit the Family Coastal for a saturday lunch
There's a rather nice ride around Bradwell Wilderness area. Very little sand and easily accessable from FR13. Well south of 267. too, with some notable exceptions, numbered forest roads are usually KLR navigable. Other than that, the ANF is another word for deep, powder sand from which Wallace road provides an occasional, welcome relief.
Thanks, Buzz! I have a ride planned for this weekend and then some maintenance and heading out for some vacation the weekend after. I'll have to catch up with you guys when I get back.
I was kind of starting to get that sense... I look forward to feeling like going down Wallace is the easy stuff
Funny thing, if you ride a six hundred pound bike through the sand and it gives you a work out, some people might tell you that if it is work then that would take the fun out of riding. Strange, but apparently the lighter the bike and the harder trails or passages those same people riding on lighter bike working to the point of exhaustion is ok. L.L. Wallace will be ok one day for you, maybe not so much for me. If you want to test the forest and do a little exploring , call me at 597-1069 Ride your own ride and enjoy.
New tars fo the dually. Most meat I could run on stock wheels Pretty close- check out them chicken strips! I need to hit some on ramps and get them leaned over some
This truck is now famous and potentially legendary: it mostly-successfully hauled the world's most expensive Harbor Freight greenhouse
And a cult bikeTM I'll have to keep the DR forever as the snatch and grab ops sent my cost of ownership through the roof! Hell a charter flight for fly and ride would have been cheaper! I coulda had it UPS'd overnight for a fraction