Re: RR - Highland Park Resort - GA 6-16-07 ....Long
- From: dsc-ky <Dudley.Cornman@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 05:51:24 -0700
On Jun 22, 12:07 am, "KW" <keith_warrennospamatallteldotnet> wrote:
What an awesome day! To say that I appreciate the folks that I've *met*
on-line @ r.m.d. and GOR would be an understatement, but things took a
decidedly different turn on June 16 when I had the opportunity to not only
meet some of the folks behind the screen monikers, but ride with them as
well. Scrape, we missed you man.....maybe we can hook up for a ride before
the summer is out.
The setup:
Talk had been bantered around for weeks about an East Coast ride that may or
may not include a certain off-shore sand dwelling spode. Scrape was the
instigator of most of the talk and when he mentioned Highland Park Resort as
a possible destination spot, Wudsracer (AKA Jim Cook) and I piped in our
me-too's pretty quick. Nothing really firmed up until Jim announced that he
would be bringing his Grandson east after a visit in mid-June and thus the
Father's Day East-Coast SpodeFest was born. Somewhere along the final days
Scrape had to bow out (I think it had something to do with the lottery
bastids not cooperating) and Jim began cc:ing somebody named Dudley Cornman
on our correspondence. The name didn't click for me until we slapped palms
in Cedartown...I'm slow at more than just my riding ability it appears :-)
Erik from GOR (AKA Orange Juice) also had to cancel for Saturday, but I
understand he and family made it out Sunday for the Father's Day Relay Race.http://www.highlandparkresort.com/Events.htm
The cast
Team Arkansas - Jim Cook (AKA Wudsracer) and the Mighty Esteban - 7 (Fresh
off a second place finish at his first ever race WooHoo!)
Team Kentucky (Brought to you by KTM Motorcycles) - Dudley Cornman (AKA
dsc-ky), John Friend and his son Derek
Team Georgia - Keith Warren - Me (AKA KW-r.m.d. or DirtBikeDad-GOR), Sons
Wilson - 12 and Travis - 10
The location
Highland Park Resort located a few miles south of Cedartown, GA in the NW
part of the state boasting 60+ miles of fun for the entire family and trails
for all abilities. See more @http://www.highlandparkresort.com/index.htm
To go, or not to go.........
To be honest, I was seriously considering bowing out of this trip myself at
the last minute. I had traveled over 3K miles this week on business (1/2
driving 1/2 in the air) and just returned from my last leg which was a drive
to Raleigh and back on Wed& Thurs. with a full day's worth of client
meetings thrown in to boot. Both of my boys were leaving on Sunday for camp
and it was dad's job to see that they had everything packed and ready to go
so time was running out. Then Jim sends this note over that his Grandson
would be joining us so I switched gears and decided to not only go, but to
bring my boys along for the ride and meet one of the folks that played a big
role in helping me decide what bikes they should start out on last year.
For those who have met Jim, Esteban, Dudley, John or Derek .....I need say
no more. For the rest of you who, like me, only know of them through their
on-line persona's, let me just say that you couldn't ask for a better group
of folks with which to spend a day burning up dead dinosaurs.
Before I forget, props go to John for being both parts department *and*
mechanic in fixing Travis' fashion statement. (Lost a visor screw somewhere
along the trail and it flipped up and to the side on the ride home..then the
other screw falls out in camp and is lost as well) As well, many thanks to
Dudley and Jim for sharing their vast knowledge on all things bike-related
to a guy who has hasn't kept on top of bike technology since the 70's model
2-smokes, so this 4-stroke thing has been a bit of a learning
experience...Glad I started with something easy to crank like a Suzi DR :-)
The ride:
As dsc-ky mentioned in an earlier post, the park is bounded by 2 loops
stacked on top of one another with the middle road joining them like an 8 or
B. All the trails and even the perimeter roads are one-way which not only
provide a great degree of safety, but make it almost impossible to get lost
cause you'll eventually end up where you started....if you are paying
attention....more to come. The trail rating system reads as follows:
1 Diamond = Moderate
2 Diamonds = Intermediate
3 Diamonds = Advanced
4 Diamonds = Expert Only
5 Diamonds = Superman
Fresh tires only on 4 & 5 Diamonds
Wet conditions add 2 Diamonds
The terrain has a good bit of elevation changes with the soil ranging from
typical Georgia red clay to rich soft loam in the heavily wooded areas and
everything in between that this part of the country has to offer. There are
numerous water bars strategically placed to curb erosion and a few wet spots
that hadn't dried up from the recent rains. Overall ground conditions were
about perfect as it wasn't wet and slippery (with exceptions) but still had
enough moisture in the ground that dust wasn't a problem at all.
We decided to split up with Jim and I taking the younger guys out to see
what they could do and Team KTM heading out to the more challenging terrain.
Jim takes the lead and I'm running sweep. For the first loop, we had decided
to run up to lower outer loop with stops at the PeeWee Trail, Trail #5&6
(2D), Devils Hollow Overlook and Trail 9 (1D). We hit the PeeWee Trail first
and Esteban takes the lead. After several enthusiastic loops we decide to
head on. Jim gets to the first large intersection and asks if any of us have
seen the entrance to #5. After consulting the map, it appears we blew right
by both 5 and 6, so we instead head up to 16 and the spur that takes us over
to Devil's Hollow Overlook. Wow what a view! They've built an observation
platform and have you looking right down this loooooong valley, really cool.
We take a few shots of the boys (will be up on a.b.p.m. soon) and then head
back out the loop to our first test of the day at #9. I had left the DR350
running the whole time we were there because she tends to be a mite finicky
on restarts when hot. The plan worked great for almost 10 minutes until as
I'm helping Wilson turn his bike around for a better angle for him to start
off, it dies. Kick, Kick.....3 kicks later, I'm off....Whew, got off lucky
that time. This is a MC-ATV 2-track trail with very fairly gentle turns and
nothing very steep at all. As we dropped off the road, I laid back with
plans to spread the group out a bit. As I came around the first big downhill
turn, I see Esteban's bike laid over and find out that when he stopped,
Travis was following a tad too close and couldn't get her whoa'ed in time to
prevent a little bump action causing the aforementioned topple. We had a
brief lesson in trail etiquette and spread things out a little more then
were once more on our way. I believe we made it the rest of the way through
9 without further mishaps. (Jim will have to help me with some of the color
commentary as we swapped duty back and forth a time or 3 on picking up a
downed rider.)
We make it to the intersection where the upper and lower loop join on the (I
think) NE corner and Jim has his phone out to call Esteban's mom and arrange
a meeting time/place, meanwhile, I point the boys in the direction of camp
and they take off. They get themselves a tad strung out with Esteban in the
lead when we come around a curve and the CRF 70 is once again horizontal
with the little man standing beside it saying (not for the last time that
day) "I'm alright...I'm alright!" Seems he got a little intimidated leading
in to a downhill section and decided to stop and scope the situation
out....only problem was....he forgot to put a foot down once stopped <G>.
You have to understand that he had just recently moved up from a CRF50 to
the CRF70 and while he had no control issues at all while riding, he is a
wee bit vertically challenged when it comes time to stop and is forced to
slide off the seat far enough that one leg is on the ground while the other
knee is hooked on the top of his seat. The kid can ride like nobody's
business and truly enjoys every minute! Back at camp, the other crew had
just come in from their first loop and were in the process of re-hydrating.
I break out the cooler and it's Gatorade for our gang. I ask if anyone wants
a PB&J and Esteban says "I just like peanut butter, don't like jelly on my
sandwich" but then he sees that they are the pre-made *Crustables* and the
hunger pangs kick in so he says "but I like those". We clean out the entire
box (everybody had 2 or 3) just in time for Jim to arrive. By now, John had
fired up the grill and that group had the pleasure of musical accompaniment
for their dining pleasure provided by Travis and Esteban practicing their
kickstart and revving skills on each other's bikes.
About 1:30PM urged by the not infrequent angry buzzing sounds, we get the
message that the boys are ready to ride again, so we refill the camelbacks
(Did I mention it is hot as *&^%l?) and head out with plans to hit the
Peewee trail, Upper loop, Northern Overlook and Trail #18 (2D) MC/ATV. This
time out, the boys are in the lead and really getting the hang of the *wait
for the group at all intersections* gig. We make it around to #18 without
any major mishaps and then they hit a big waterhole right before the first
real climbing challenge of the day. By the time I got there, Wilson had
stalled right in the middle of the mudhole and Jim was assisting with a
restart. This is where my luck runs out. As I'm assisting the extraction,
the DR stalls out for the second time and now I'm sitting at the bottom of a
bowl, on a 3 inch wide lip of a large mudhole with no flat ground in sight.
After about 30 kicks, I tell them to go ahead and I take off helmet & gloves
and look for a little shade (hot..remember....93-95-ish and humid to boot).
5 minutes of cool down time for me and the bike and she starts up on the 9th
kick. At least they are far enough ahead of me that I can pick up the pace
and get a little breeze going, hey this is fun again! Big smiles!
When we get to the Northern Overlook there are ripe blackberries everywhere!
Score/Bonus/Yum. We eat, ...
read more »
KW - I wasn't aware of your DR hard start problems. Have you tried
holding it wfo when this happens. Don't pump it... just open it up. I
had to do this most of the time on my XR when it was hot... especially
after a little horizontal time.
I have to tell everyone that these were 3 of the best behaved little
boys I've seen in quite a while.
The way they got along together was amazing. Usually when there are 3
it endes up being 2 on 1. I didnt' see any of that at all. As for thir
little 4-stroke concert during lunch... it was music to my ears... and
no bother at all. But next time add a little Klots to the gas so we
can get some aroma therapy at the same time. :)
I really think the multi-visor helmet is a good business
opportunity... :) The Mullishia (sp?) would be all over it.
KW - Did I meet you with Evertt Marple @Trainrobbers a couple years
ago? We were on our way out to beat the ice storm and I think you and
Everett had just gotten there?
.
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