Ralley in the Valley III

[klaviator]

My envy gland is plum swolled up.  Wish I was there.  More pics please!

[griff]

I had a lot of fun riding and hanging out despite the 'adversity' goings on. Thanks again Johnny for hosting this.

[lugnut]

KDTRULL,

Once my phone charges back up, I'll send you some photos of the Dual Sport ride to post in your ride report. You are such the word-smith!

I'm so sore right now I can't spit straight!

[Chitza]

I'm so sore right now I can't spit straight!

I can still spit straight. Just too tired to sit up to do it. Not a pretty out come 8)

[Beck]

Just got home from work.  Get to live vicariously through the pics and stories.

[kdtrull]

I got some story coming soon...just trying to chop some of the long-windedness out of it.

[kdtrull]

First things first:
Griff and Dirty Diesel did a really good job planning out an enjoyable ride.  Thanks fellers...it was a blast and had all the best elements of a good dual sport ride (in my mind).
Had I not gotten in over my head a bit, we would have had a whole 'nuther hour or more of fine riding.
Which takes us to the adversity part of the story.  I really like that phrase someone coined on here, "Adventure is adversity in retrospect."  And it is quite true.
So let's get to some adversity:



There was a downhill off-shoot from the main trail we were on.  We stopped to talk about it a minute before Griff and I decided to give it a go.  He had previously been part way down but turned around before seeing the two ends at the bottom.  The downhill was tricky and taxing for me but uneventful.  But, I knew by the time we got to the bottom, I was gonna' have problems getting back.  My arms were spent and I was down to my last half liter of water out of 4 liters I started out with. 

Point "A" in the picture: where I got stuck the first time.  After a break, and some help, I got free and made it to point "B".
Point"B",  stalled hard and fell over.  I didn't immediately realize it but I was done at that point.  We waited together while I rested but I was really in bad shape and could not get my pulse down.  Then some nausea set in. 

Griff offered to ride to the top and come back for me.  I thought, "man...this is gonna' be OK and we'll be back on the fun track soon.  By the time he rode up and walked back down, I was ready, and grateful, to walk it out in all the shame that comes with it while he rode my bike back up.  Really, I did not care.  I was in trouble and thrilled to have the help. 

Points "C" through "E" are all the approximate locations I had to sit down and rest.
Point "F", thinking "hmmm....maybe I should'a tried the bike one more time.  ;D 
Point "G" is where the guys walked back down to make sure I was not laid out on the trail.  Fatboy out of danger!!!

Still a long-winded story but hang in there.  We'll pick up the pace in the next session....in a few minutes.

[kdtrull]

Lugnut (Dave) snapped this sad-sack image at point "G" but was then kind enough to help tote my gear up the hill.
Either John or Ryan was with him and toted stuff too....but I was so out of it, I don't remember which:



I do remember that Ryan offered up some Gatorade that I was thrilled to receive.

[kdtrull]

We all had various manifestations of moderate adversity.  I will defer the details of those events to their owners, if they choose to do so.

At the bottom of the cursed hill, toward the right side path in the image, we found this nifty waterfall / sinkhole.  We could not see any pool of water at the bottom so we speculated that there may be a nice cave to explore (some other time!!!):





Back on track,  we did several more miles of nice faster paced riding in the forest and had some nice stops:





After a couple more notable events and many miles, we made it back to Johnny's just in time to eat a fine meal and build a small fire  :o:





It's hard to beat the social environment something like this creates where folks you know well, folks you know a little, and folks you've never met before can all hang out and comfortably talk to each other on the same level.

Thank you Johnny and Sandy for making it happen.

[kdtrull]

Just a few more pics from exploring the local area on Friday before the ride.

This is the WTF Radio Observatory and RV Park  ???





A pretty old Alabama Tag-O-Rama tag site....if there's a home there, it must be embedded in the mountain:



A very nifty road that I wish I would have explored further:





Just one more shot of the loaded XT before I left home Friday morning...too much crap on a tiny bike:



OK...your turn.

[griff]

My 'adversity' was getting sick to my stomach. I apparently ate something for lunch that didn't sit well. On our way back I ended up pulling over on a side road and puking my guts out in the ditch. I also found out on the way home my headlight had apparently come loose and was now pointed at the sky. It wasn't worth much to start with but this really didn't help. My bike also decided it didn't want to keep all of it's oil inside the motor. I'm going to have to fix the leak before I ride it again.

[dirty-diesel]

My story is that you can successfully navigate many miles of trail and even get a GS to fly but if you let you guard down pulling of the road onto peegravel you can find yourself on the ground with the quickness. Nothing but my pride hurt and it still didn't hamper my spirits. This trip reminded me that if you plan everything out you kind of already finished your journey before you started. The fact that everyone of us had something happen kind of made me feel like we earned the adventure. Its been awhile since I showed up hours late with a big old smile. The icing on the cake was the great food waiting on us and the story telling around the fire. I'm sure ever year this trip will be retold better and better. Thanks again Johnny for the incredible hospitality and to your wife. Anyone who miss's this event is truly there loss.  ;)

[lugnut]

Well, I guess I better fess up! The old man was the first one down that day......not sure how or what happened, but I think it went something like this....oh yeah, I remember now.....I fell.
We were puttin' along pretty good and then we decided we were going to challenge the power line trail. We met our first issue when we hit this big mud hole. The slick kind of mud. The kind your mama told you to never play in....and we didn't listen. Griff shot through it and up the other side, only to find another huge mud hole waiting for him. Being the young agile rider he is, he shifted around the obstacle. I was third in line, and probably should have waited before I followed Ken. Ken hit the mud, and veered left, I took the right side. When I saw the second mud monster sitting there waiting for me, I thought I would lay down a second and rest, unfortunately, the KLR had decided the same thing and that big old bike laid down, right on top of me. Not a good situation to be in, especially when I realized I was slowly sliding back into the first mud hole. Quick responses from the fellow riders saved the day. My thought was to start the bike up and while I was off of it, we'd get it up to the top of the hill, but my foot was stuck so far into the mud, and it was not letting up, I could not move. After a brief struggle, we got the bike and rider up to some dry ground. I turned around to check for the last rider and he was gone....only to find him on top of the power break near the tower looking down on us in the valley. The trail going up to the tower looked like a brick wall. As Ken always says, my glands started swelling, things started to get blurry, I was losing my mind. The only way out was either up the power break "wall", or back through the mud monster. Griff saved the day by volunteering to go up the power break trail and check it out. When we saw that he made it, the helmets went on, the gloves were tightened up, and up the trail we went. All three of us made it. I had no idea that an old man my age, on a big heavy KLR with a street tire on it could ever make it up something like that. My hats off to Griff for his patience and understanding. I guess I was still shook up from the bike falling on me, or the mud monster trying to eat me, or hey, maybe it was the swolled up glands, who knows? (Swolled up is a southern term). Anyway, we all hit that adversity spot at one time or another during the day, and it's only fair that the rest of the riders share their own stories if they decide that's what they want to do. Although we were missing several of the usual riders this year, the quality of people that showed up was incredible. I learned a lot about the different bikes, recent events, cool places to visit, tips on motorcycle camping and gear, and pepperoni soup! Hats off to Johnny and Sandy for hosting such a great event and tying all of us together via the one love we all share....motorcycles and riding!!!!

[jrobinson]

shout out to Dave, first time in several years he has camped.

Dave, aren't you glad you didn't skip the dirt ride and go on the boring ole street ride??

[lugnut]

I'm converting from dual sport to ADVENTURE riding.  My old bones won't take the dirt rides very well. Loved the camping part!!!!! Great time, great food, great people! I'll be ready for it next year!


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