berkshire BIG bike 2010

[theothersean]

They call it the "BIG bike" ride but there sure were a lot of us on little BIKES.
We had wanted to do this event for the last several years but something always came up , or it was raining and we wussed out .
Not wanting to tent it we opted for a slightly higher level of comfort .So
the wife and I trailered it out to the White pines campground on sat, got the early check in , and set up camp .




yes those are a couple of folding tables with mattress on top for a bed,

it folds flat and straps against the wall when not in use so we can load in the bikes


I didn;t have a gps mount set up on the wr like I do for the KLR so we had to rough it, I am not very familiar with the area but had a rough idea which way to head in search of some "dual sporting "



we did have a few U turns to make but it was still good riding.

we ended up on tolland state Forest on the dirt roads , we didn;t really have the intentions of doing any real trail riding , just wanted some dirt roads and a few jeep roads .
We saw a stock looking jeep coming out of the woods in the state forest despite the big sign that said no vehicles over 1000 lbs.
I figured if a stock jeep just came that way, how hard could it be?

it started off tame



and quickly turned into the boney new england woods that we are oh so familiar with , good thing we brough the 250ies and not the KLRs




which says a lot about a stock JEEP
though jeeps are not victim to gravity like the 2 wheelers are

and you can only bend steel back and forth so many times before it breaks


but nothing a few handy zip ties wouldn't take care of.

it sure was hot in the woods with all those street layers on
we took a break at the top of the hill



we had 90 miles on the afternoon and headed back to camp to get ready for , dinner .

Once again I met more people than I can remember names , add that to trying to put screen names to real names .

We were set up in the field and went over to chat with Beez, Huck , dave from NY, Ohad, and a few others, had a beer or 2 , then headed to the Cabins where the rest of the crowd was .
Kurt , and gary were busy laying out the spread for dinner while the rest of us had a few beers around the fire .
Thanks guys, that was good eating.


Sunday morning we went up to tuckers for the start of the ride.

took the advice of some of the route planners to skip the first boulder (hero section )

we started out behind Gary's crew but split from them at the 2nd hero section as they stuck to the main route.

we stopped for a break after one of the heros rejoined the main rt again

then back to some nice country dirt



back at the heros again
wifey got passed on the down hill , but she is motoring up the rear


we came up to the day spa where some decided to go for the organic mud bath with a facial scrub, and a bit of aroma thearpy



oh wait thats scott



at the bottom where we got back onto the main route we met back up with Gary , Tim, Joe, and a few others. we tagged along with them and headed into town for some lunch
SUBWAY, eat fresh .



After lunch we followed in behind Gary, I was still paying attention to the route sheet and thought this can;t be our turn , the mileage is all wrong. turns out he had a pinch flat


we tried to get it up on the stump


but it wasn't tall enough and we headed for the log across the street



who needs soapy water to lube up the tire when you have blood sweat and tears

A little help over the log and we were back on our way


, though I lost track of how many other riders thought that was the turn , we waved many on down the road .

we skipped the last hero and headed back to camp to pack up and head home . couple hundred miles for the weekend

Big thanks to the organizers of the event, it had a little something for everyone.

Nice to meet some new faces and hang out/ ride with some familiar ones .
I guess we got lucky that the first one we attended had good weather .

Hope to make it to the next one .

[PackMule]

Hey, Sean, was great to meet you. I thought the same thing about the mileage being wrong as you guys waved us past. Didn't see the tire change going on or we would have offered some help. Sorry. BTW, the cider was excellent.




I looked at that go around and didn't think horsing the 800 around it was going to be much fun. Turned out to be no drama going right through it (even with a Stinko on the rear). As Vince says, hey diddle diddle, right up the middle.

[theothersean]

no need for extra help, there were already too many of us doing nothing while gary dripped sweat into his front wheel .

Glad you liked the cider it does sneak up on you if you have too much of it though.


I was supprised myself that the rut to the right actually had some traction to it .

[PackMule]

Originally Posted by theothersean

no need for extra help, there were already too many of us doing nothing while gary dripped sweat into his front wheel .

Adding to the crowd is the least we could have done to repay some of his campsite hospitality.


Your WR must be a perfect little playbike for that area.

[theothersean]

Originally Posted by PackMule

Adding to the crowd is the least we could have done to repay some of his campsite hospitality.


Your WR must be a perfect little playbike for that area.

while granted the WR is some what under powered for the highway it is perfect for just about everything else, and compared to the KLR off road , it feels like a mountain bike . I had fun in the "her sections " with it , and our little trail exploring on saturday .

I think it would be cool if they make this a 2 day event next year. Like the thrill n chill .

[PackMule]

Two of those cylinders lumped together would make a grand little 500cc adventure bike.