2012 AMA Husqvarna Shenandoah 500 National 2-Day Dual Sport

[Bucho]

It was so easy, Sam almost considered going off into this rock garden just for the challenge.




We had a great day and still got home early Sunday afternoon. Cant wait for next year's event with MY sidecar.

[Bumble]

That was an awesome ride. Thanks for the tips and the help. You guys were awesome. I had a ton of fun and I sure learned a lot this weekend.

I'm going to take off the cans and the rack and practice some more. To get the rack on, I had to move the rear indicators 6 inches back and wire it through a piece of the rack. So I'll have to cut the wires to get the rack off. This time I'll get electrical clips that I can snap open/shut, or maybe find a different route to wire it to get it off/on easier. And maybe get a dirt helmet. That road helmet was anoying.

But hey - home, dry, and warm, is great too!

Kathy - sorry I didn't stop by the next morning. Cold/rainy -wanted to get going. Another time.

By the way... was that rocky section an option or was it the "easy route"?

[Bucho]

By the way... was that rocky section an option or was it the "easy route"?

An option that most people skip. After another year of punishing dirt rides you will be doing it too.

[Longboardr]

Until a minor disaster struck. I was leading the group and blasting down a fireroad. Not sure how fast I was going, but fast enough that I was jumping these little bumps in the trail. Then one of the little bumps wasn't hardpack but loose mud. It slid my front wheel off to the right, while myself and the rest of the bike kept going straight. When the bike hit the ground and I didn't instantly wreck, I remember thinking to myself "holy crap, maybe I can save this".
The bike swapped from the right side over to the left side of the trail. I just barely kept it out of the trees, "oh man, I'm somehow gonna save this". However that extreme side of the trail, had some huge rocks. I smacked a couple of those and went down.
I took some hard hits to my right shoulder and arm. I firmly believe that my pressure suit was the only thing keeping me from broken bones. I slowly got up amazed that nothing was broken. Ron was nice enough to pick my bike up and move it to the side of the trail for me. The bike suffered some damage though. The throttle housing on the bar was totally smashed.
I was able to limp it 2 miles or so out to the road by pulling on the cable. The trail marshall at the hard road was able to do an amazing roadside fix w/ bale wire. He by passed the throttle housing and attached it straight to the twist grip! I finished the day w/ it like that.

FFS Ron's going to end up with a rock complex at this rate. Glad your gear dealt with the rocks!

[Rut Row]

By the way... was that rocky section an option or was it the "easy route"?

That was the easy route. but you can do it. We made great progress after you started riding standing up. Your speed picked up and you looked a whole lot more stable. You had some great "saves" too!

btw, those rocks get a whole lot easier to ride with more speed. But we've all been there - I hate to tell you about my first time out. I'm still amazed the DAMN guys let me come back.

Watch for rides at Green Ridge or Michaux. You can get some good practice there (nice rocky sections at Green Ridge) and work on getting comfortable with more speed.

[ReardenSteel]

Had a great time. First, the important stuff... Thanks to Kathy & Ken for cooking dinner Friday night. Bucho's brats, bonehead's chili, pound cake -- it was all so very good!

Saturday was definitely a day -- awesome time. Sunday was definitely more rideable than the weather forecasts made it out to be. It turned out to be not as cold nor as rainy as they called for; at first. Toward the late afternoon, it definitely turned colder. I made it to mile 239 on the roll charts before the rain picked up in earnest, the mud got thick and the chill got to me. It didn't help that I finally put the bike down around mile 232 and knocked my front wheel out of alignment and I had problems picking my lines afterwards.

Fantastic trip... Great ride.

Some photos:

Friday night registration and tech inspection


Saturday morning


Kyler/Ken, Bumble/Vanessa, bonehead/Matt


Gary


Sam


Gary


Phoo/Patrick & his Pop/Bill


Action shot


Both groups of DAMN Riders gather at the site of Bucho's spill




Phil's Damage


Phil getting fixed up with a compromise throttle solution


Day 2: Sunday Morning brought cold, rain & gray


...and fog. This is the last segment coming off Reddish Knob


Checkpoint


Things got substantially better in the late morning.


Sunday lunch at Bergton, Virginia

[Junior]

DAMN!!!! looks like i missed a good ride! Glad everyone made it home safe.

[phoo]

Yeah, so I was in a hit-n-run Thursday afternoon in a parking lot. Some asshole in a white van tried to cut through the parking lot of the Gaithersburg Tool Rental and nailed me, then sped off. No one got the tags. It bruised my knee pretty good and cut my shin, but I'll heal. Stay safe guys - looks like tomorrow will be wet and cold.

DAMN! Sorry to hear that! I hope you heal well. You were asked about by several people including some random person at a stop in the woods.


~Patrick

[phoo]

My dad, Brian, and I had a great time. He did really well and got a lot more confident, too! I'm glad we did Michaux on Thursday for the practice because it definitely helped.

Some photos:

Fixing Phil's bike:


Initial fix for the throttle -- pull the cable to get gas:


Final fix for the throttle -- it actually works by twisting the grip! (So well, it did it automatically if you turned the bars too far to the side.):


A picture of the Natural Chimneys, with my Dad (6'2" tall) for scale:



~Patrick

[Bucho]

Thanks for the additional pics guys. Always fun to see them afterwards.

Again Cory, nice job manning up and riding for most Sunday. Sam and I were doing our little ride in the late morning and finished by noon. Up until then at least, the weather conditions weren't great but were very ridable.