LisaS & shoein's Maine adventures

[LisaS]

After the technical section, we hit the rail trail, which felt like a super highway!
Stopped in Dexter for a couple of minutes- here are some pics of Lake Wassookeag:




Then home..... the KTM is definitely a verrrrry dirty, happy bike now..... which means a very happy shoein!




Next think I need to figure out, is a way to attach my camera to the bars on the couch-tank so I can get more pics of shoein dancing with the KTM in the dirt.

disclaimer: I take no responsibility for any harm that may have come to any members of this forum who may have directly viewed the couch-tank- you were warned!

For anybody interested in experiencing these trails for themselves, shoein is putting on a ride next weekend:
http://advrider.com/forums/showthrea...695496&page=36 (post 534)
(there will be no couch-tanks allowed on this ride- although it will be on couch-tank trails so I cannot guarantee you will not see any couch-tanks)

[Laconic]

Hey Lisa, I just stumbled onto your "blog" this morning and read the whole thing.

Thanks for the pictures of the Sunrise Trail; My brother rides it frequently and is always telling me about some adventure they had up there (on couches, not bikes ), but I never get to see any pictures.

I was born and raised in Blue Hill, but moved away after high school. I usually get up there once a year, but it looks like this year the CroMag rally is as close as I'll get.

Ride safe!

[LisaS]

Originally Posted by Laconic

Hey Lisa, I just stumbled onto your "blog" this morning and read the whole thing.

Thanks for the pictures of the Sunrise Trail; My brother rides it frequently and is always telling me about some adventure they had up there (on couches, not bikes ), but I never get to see any pictures.

I was born and raised in Blue Hill, but moved away after high school. I usually get up there once a year, but it looks like this year the CroMag rally is as close as I'll get.

Ride safe!

HI Laconic, glad you enjoyed the pics. I know what you mean about not getting to see pics- if I send shoein out with a camera I just get back blurred images, or pics of oil dripping off the bike, or from a recent trip he did a jump ramp with no bikes in the pics- he missed every single one It's just better not to send him with a camera at all- just better to hear about it!
Have fun at CroMag!

[Nag'em]

Lisa--these pictures are terrific! And congrats on the couch tank:) Looks like lots of fun.

(and Shoein, thanks for letting me try that KTM the other weekend. That's making me think about what I want for Christmas already!)

[LisaS]

Originally Posted by Nag'em

Lisa--these pictures are terrific! And congrats on the couch tank:) Looks like lots of fun.

(and Shoein, thanks for letting me try that KTM the other weekend. That's making me think about what I want for Christmas already!)

Thanks Nag'em!
Gotta get you and Sheri down this way soon for a ride, and I think she & shoein had cooked up some changes for her bike. That would give you another chance to try out the KTM again as well!

[LisaS]

Originally Posted by uralrob

Hi Lisa,
Just came across your thread. Great pics, really enjoy them. I'm in N.S. and ride N.B. and Maine quite a bit. We sure live in great riding country and a beautiful part of the world.
Keep the pics coming.
Thanks,
Rob.

just saw your post. Glad you enjoyed the pics. We definitely want to make it over your way to do some more riding. I take it from your screen name you have a ural? I thought about one, but decided the couch-tank would probably handle better following the KTM through the tuff stuff. Would definitely like to have a hack someday though.

[devo2002]

First off great thread, I read it the other morning when it was all rainy here outside NYC, excellent pics!

I'm planning on riding a route put together by a fellow inmate the last week of September/first week of October that goes through the top half of Maine. I don't want to hijack this thread but it appears you know quite a bit so would you mind telling me the typical weather I can expect around that time? Granted with weather being wacky the last few years I'm going to contemplate all possibilities but are we talking snow that early or 20's at night?

Wanna do the route as well http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=769424

Thanks and I look forward to more pics to help me through!

[LisaS]

Originally Posted by devo2002

First off great thread, I read it the other morning when it was all rainy here outside NYC, excellent pics!

I'm planning on riding a route put together by a fellow inmate the last week of September/first week of October that goes through the top half of Maine. I don't want to hijack this thread but it appears you know quite a bit so would you mind telling me the typical weather I can expect around that time? Granted with weather being wacky the last few years I'm going to contemplate all possibilities but are we talking snow that early or 20's at night?

Wanna do the route as well http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=769424

Thanks and I look forward to more pics to help me through!

Hi Devo,
Looks like you have a fun trip planned!
As for weather- we are in the central part of the state- have never seen snow before Halloween, and while it may get a bit nippy at nights that time of year it would be pretty unusual for it to go as low as 20s.
I see you are passing through Dover-Foxcroft- we are about 1/2 hour south of there, let me know if you need a place to stay:
http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13603185

[LisaS]

We got together with a friend of ours Friday for 100 miles of dirt. We'll call her machine the Vampire because it does not seem to like to work properly in direct sunlight The plan was to take the rail trail from Abbot to Greenville for lunch, then plan a route home.

Shoein, ready to ride:


Our friend on The vampire:

(note: I think we finally convinced her that a helmet would be a great idea)

Took a small diversion to this spot because it is too pretty to miss:






Interesting wear pattern on this rock:

[LisaS]

Back on the rail trail- shoein took a little side trip to explore and ended up behind us:






I think he may have been having fun




The trail was diverted do to some logging and the trail marker signs were a little unclear so shoein rode ahead to scout it out- one of the Major advantages of a dual sport over a couch tank is that all pavement is legal (however, a little later in the day, not so sure the dual sport was so legal in a few of the places we rode- but only aware when we looked at a trail map AFTER the ride, none were marked no motorcycles so Or maybe we just have selective vision)


(Turns out, this was the route- ~2 miles of pavement)

[LisaS]

Stopped at Shirley pond:






View off the trail getting close to Greenville:

[LisaS]

At Kelly's Landing for lunch- sat out on the deck- gorgeous day!






Portabello mushroom cap burger:




Then we a fun little trail to downtown Greenville (woody, rocky, rutted, some mud and a raised railroad crossing (kind of stinky though as it routed around the sewage treament plant). Clear spot on the trail:




One last view of Moosehead while getting gas:

[uralrob]

Hi Lisa,

Yup, I had a Ural but sold it. Great rig, but once I learned to ride it and got over the novelty of flying the chair I realized that I am really a 2 wheel type of guy, especially on the corners. Also, when I first got it I thought it would be a great 'Chick magnet', but the attention I got was nearly all from old geezers who wanted to talk about getting shot up by a couple of Germans in one of those %$#@ rigs in Europe in 1943 etcetcetcetc, lol.

That said, a Ural is the only kind of sidecar rig that makes any sense to me at all. A sidecar without reverse and 2wd is just another millstone.

Cheers,

Uralrob/with 650 Versys and KLR.

[LisaS]

We decided to take a different route back, but of course did not have the GPS or Atlas with us, so figured we would just follow the ATV trail signs towards Moxie and Bingham (this is the part where it is unclear if Shoein was legal. We were routing of the trail signs, so we were looking at them closely- never saw one that said "no motorcycles"

We weren't quite sure where we were for most of this section of the ride, and didn't get a lot of pics, but we did come upon:


AND:


Finally came out at the Shirley Tote road (not far from Lake Moxie- but we missed the turn for Moxie). Last year with me on the WR this section of road was 2 hours of hike & bike- way over my head- on the couch-tank, however, a super fun section of road (the couch-tank is cheating I know- but it is allowing me to see a lot more of the dirt than I am capable of on my dual sport- and more dirt makes shoein a verrrry happy boy!). I don't know the name of this pond that is on the Shirley side of the Shirley tote road, but it sure is pretty:
















We rode quite a bit more after this, but no more pics as it was getting late in the day and we did not stop as much after this, although there was still a lot of pretty scenery. When we got home, brown Santa had come, and Shoein surprised me with a new off road helmet and a flight vest which will hold my camera for easier access on rides so hopefully I can get more action and scenic shots without having to dig for the camera and holding us up. Planning to take a little local ride this afternoon to test it out.

[LisaS]

Originally Posted by uralrob

Hi Lisa,

Yup, I had a Ural but sold it. Great rig, but once I learned to ride it and got over the novelty of flying the chair I realized that I am really a 2 wheel type of guy, especially on the corners. Also, when I first got it I thought it would be a great 'Chick magnet', but the attention I got was nearly all from old geezers who wanted to talk about getting shot up by a couple of Germans in one of those %$#@ rigs in Europe in 1943 etcetcetcetc, lol.

That said, a Ural is the only kind of sidecar rig that makes any sense to me at all. A sidecar without reverse and 2wd is just another millstone.

Cheers,

Uralrob/with 650 Versys and KLR.

I see what you are saying about reverse- missed a turn on the couch-tank yesterday and the reverse made it a total non issue. On the other hand, I was thinking an enduro or moto-cross side car on Shoeins DR650 would be a blast- would want to try one out though before committing to something like that- not a lot of that type of sidecar in the US though. But it does look fun- http://www.smcagb.com/