Finally my first real ride

Yesterday I wrote a story about finally getting the engine running properly and the suspension working a bit better. I was also pining about not having a place close by to go for a ride. When I woke this morning and did some further editing on that story, it drove me over the edge. Maybe I should have gone into work. The marina is very busy on the May long-weekend and I am sure they would appreciate my help but I worked Sunday, so I decided to claim holiday Monday as my own.

The decision was made, it was time to go for a real ride... but where? I know the suspension is too soft for Motocross, especially Sand-del-lee. It is a track that is now part of the Canadian Nationals circuit so the jumps are big and the ramps are steep and I think I would have a lot more fun doing single-track. I have to admit though, it would be fun to show the bike off a bit, but that will come soon enough. A couple of years ago a neighbour gave me directions to some trails near Calabogie and I took Rose with me to ride for the day. We mostly did dirt-road riding but I did spy some nice single-track that day so I decided that was the place for today.

I got my gear from the basement and did an inventory to make sure I had enough protection. I loaded up the bike on my horrible and not road-legal trailer and filled the gas-tank. I filled the camel-back with some water and was ready to go. I spent a few minutes with Mrs. Vintage Moto to let her know where I would be riding and when she should expect to hear from me. I am not sure if there is cell service out there, so leaving some sort of a flight-plan is only good sense.

This is where I parked for the ride. It took about an hour to get there.

I was hoping I might run into other riders and maybe join up for little while and get to know the area. There was not a soul to be found so this was definitely a solo ride.

I need to get an action cam, but until that day arrives, I will just use my phone and iMovie.

I have to tell a little story about my gear. I bought a matching pants and jersey about 15 years ago from Johnny Grant. He switched from Suzuki to Yamaha so he needed Yamaha coloured gear. I had a Honda at the time and really didn't care if my gear matched my bike so long as it fit me. The price was right and I bought Johnny's Suzuki coloured gear. I later bought a Yamaha and kept the gear. Last summer at Sand-del-lee Johnny commented that I was still wearing that same old gear I bought from him. It is still in good shape so why not? I now have a Suzuki to match the gear although the Suzuki is about 15 years older than the gear.

Along with the pants and jersey, I have boots that my brother Pat gave to me. I have pink Scott goggles that I bought for the kids, I have knee pads that I bought in B.C. the year I got hurt and I have a kidney belt that no longer fits... or does it? You see since reaching an all-time high weight in excess of 240 pounds at Christmas, I am now down to 221 pounds. I thought I was going to need to visit Johnny again and buy more of his old gear but it all fits again. It fits good- just like it did when I bought it 15 years ago. I am a big guy, I could carry 240 alright, but I feel a lot better losing that 20 pounds.

I finally have gear that matches my bike and it fits again too.

Alright, enough rambling... how did the ride go? Well, the ride went really well! I packed a few tools in my camel-back just in case. I noticed right away that I had too much rear brake pedal so I stopped and tightened the adjuster nut. The old bike has drum brakes front and rear and I must say, they work just fine. They are a lot different than the new bikes, but they do the job.

I got into the single-track immediately. It is a sandy pine-tree forest and the ground is covered with pine needles. The tracks are easy to follow and it is tight, a lot of turns. Mostly first-gear stuff and when there is a straight stretch, it doesn't last long. I wound my way through the trees, along some swamps, up and down some small hills. I was taking it slow getting to know the bike and area. I came to a bigger hill that was covered in big boulders and I lugged right up it. This engine will lug surprisingly well. At the top of the hill is a turn and then down the other side. I applied the brakes and to my great surprise, the rear brakes were gone.

I pulled over and had a look, the brake cable snapped right at the adjuster. I pulled out some tools and removed broken parts and put them in my bag. I was feeling congested. I get asthma in the spring and I didn't bring an inhaler. So now I am fifteen minutes into my ride, I have no back-brakes, I am alone and I am asthmatic. I figured this might be the end of the ride, I might just go home, but again, you just never know.

Another fuzzy Blackberry Passport shot showing the missing brake cable.

I kept on riding and after a while I my lungs were fine and I got used to riding without the rear brake. It is a good thing I was riding alone, I could go at a safe pace without being tempted to do something I should not. All the trails seemed to end right where I parked and time after time I got back to the car and just turned around again and did a few more circuits. There was much more to see, but I was having a blast in the tight trails. I will explore next time.

Bike Impressions

For this kind of riding, the bike worked really well.

• The suspension is very soft which is great in the woods although it will be tough on the motocross track.
• The motor could not be better. It ran really good at low-speed, I could lug it when I needed to and the power was always there no matter how tight the trails or open the roads. When coming into the power band there is a huge hit, it really rips and seems to have great power everywhere. Does it compare favourably to the 2016 KTM 300XC I drove a month ago? Yes, it holds it own!
• Perhaps for single-track riding I should put a larger rear sprocket just to slow it down a bit and help on the big hills.
• I like the big wide soft seat. I was sitting most of the time and my butt is not sore. 10-minutes on the 300XC and I was sore for a week.
• Brakes worked fine. I would have no problem locking up the front brakes if I had to and the rear brakes were great until the cable let go. Of course I would rather have disk brakes, but these are fine.
• Handling was superb. At first I felt the front end to be a bit hard to manage, but within 15 minutes of riding, I never had that feeling again. The bike is very light especially the front end and it turned on a dime in that very tight sandy terrain.
• It is loud. If I am going to race it, I doubt it will pass sound-check.
  

This is what it looks like when riding here. I loved the trails.

Riding Area Impressions

I loved the area. I stayed quite close to the car but it was hard to tell because the trails were winding every direction. The area I rode felt a lot bigger than it actually was. At first I was worried I would get too far away and have a hard time finding my way back but that was not the case at all. There are a lot more places to explore so I am definitely coming back.

I turned on my tracker. I rode 25 KM. Total running time was 1hr-25min. I hardly ever got out of first gear. I did quite a few loops.

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