Twenty Years Ago

Much hiking but little biking lately. Snow on the trails has made them muddy and treacherous. Wrenching on the Triumph when I can gather enough enthusiasm and patience to attack the wiring problem has been my main moto activity.

To be fair, I think I may have been my own worst enemy with this one. I tried to change too many things at once instead of taking it step-by-step. George Lucas can rest easy this time.

I ran across this old message to a friend that you might find amusing. Enjoy.

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Sorry to hear about your crash Milt. You sound as if you are unhurt which is 

the main thing.

I'm not sure what you mean by my  "death march". We've christened that puddle 

(pond?) you decided not to cross as Lake Milt.

If it will make you feel any better let me tell you my story of woe. The 

weekend before last I and my nephew were supposed to meet Dave at Whitcomb 

Summit for a ride to route sheet the rally loops. As usual I was late and 

Dave had given up on me and gone home.

Owen and I unloaded the bikes, the TA for me and my MT250 for him. You may 

remember it because of its strawberry injector oil. I didn't bring the maps 

because Dave said he had some new routes and would bring his. 

Owen and I did the first loop from memory without problem. We refilled the 

250 and took off on the 2nd loop. It went well but we had extra time before 

getting back to WS to meet Beth so I suggested we go exploring.

Off down this road we went and didn't worry as it kept getting smaller and 

rougher. Finally we were down to single track when we came upon a couple of 

hikers. Since I was on the Transalp and Owen is a new rider I decided to get 

advice about what was ahead. After some discussion I decided to keep going. I 

was assured that the trail came out to a road at the bottom of a steep hill. 

The hikers seemed to think that we could make it down without too much 

difficulty. And they were right. It was steep but by being careful we got to 

the bottom with no problems. 

But that's were our problems began. We lost the trail and it was too steep to 

go back up. After half an hour of mucking about we found the hiking trail and 

began to follow it. Problem #2 - the river. I was trying to decide how best 

to ford it since it was only about 20" deep and about 30' across but Owen 

wanted to try the foot bridge. Good idea but the end of the bridge was 30" in 

the air. So we lifted the 250 pound MT up and onto it with only minimal 

grunting and took it across. Then came the 400 pound TA. With much huffing 

and puffing we finally got it up and across.

Problem #3 - We are now on a hiking trail that has steep inclines with roots 

and sharp turns. Nothing you can get a run at and no traction. More huffing 

and puffing.

And it's getting late, and dark. Finally we just left the bikes in the woods 

and walked out by flashlight. We must have walked a couple of miles before we 

got to the road and it all looked nasty. When we got to the road we flipped a 

coin as we had no idea where we were.

A mile and a half later we came to a village and knocked on the first door we 

came to. A 75 year old woman came to the door and answered our plea for water 

and a phone. I called Beth on her cel phone and found out that she had called 

out the State Police since we were 2 1/2 hours overdue. The woman said that 

it would be easier for her to drive us to WS than to give Beth directions and 

have her get lost. What a kind soul.

When we got to WS there were two cruisers waiting. I went to tell them we 

were OK but Beth got me first and started giving me hell. The cops just stood 

there trying not to laugh at the shit I was getting. They probably thought 

that anything they were going to say was easy compared to what I was getting. 

Believe me, it was a very cold and silent ride home to CT.

-- Aftermath --

I called Dave the next morning and asked if he would come help me get the 

bikes out of the woods. I knew where the trail ended and so we hiked in from 

there. Where it seemed like a mile or two at night it was less than half a 

mile in the morning. It must have been because it was pitch black and we were 

so exhausted.

The bikes started ok and we pushed them up the first incline and got going. 

We go stuck a couple of times but nothing that was a show stopper. The big 

deal was that the trail was 6" wide next to a 25' drop into the river in a 

couple of places. Not a good place to slip or slide.

Then we got to a spot where the TA was just not going to go. A slick slope 

with roots sticking out and a tree to go around. No amount of pushing a 

shoving was getting it up and over. Luckily I had brought a block and tackle 

so we put a tie down around a tree and then hooked onto the TA's frame. It 

finally budged.

Just as we were getting going again a group of young (18-20's) hikers came 

by. The first informed us that motorized vehicles were prohibited on this 

trail. I explained that I had gotten lost and certainly had no intention on 

being here. She repeated that I wasn't supposed to be there and I tried to 

be reasonable. Finally, she led her merry band ahead but each one of the 

little tree huggers had to repeat that motorized vehicles were prohibited. 

Not one of them offered to help us and I was ready to wipe the smirk of the 

face of the last one with a tire iron. I can only hope that when one of them 

needs rescuing that I'm there to proclaim that motorized helicopters are 

prohibited and they can limp out with their broken leg.

Dave and I finally got out from there without further incident and got the 

bikes loaded on my trailer. Dave got his map out and we checked it for the 

route Owen and I had taken. It started out as a double dashed line and then 

just ended. No single dashes or dotted lines, nothing until we got to the 

trail along the river.

But we got through it in one piece. Beth calmed down after a few days of 

reminding me that this wasn't the first  "adventure" I'd ever had. I must 

admit that I didn't know there were so many synonyms for  "stupid" and  "dumb". 

Owen wasn't too put off by it all and wants to try it again in the spring but 

probably with a map next time. I'm going to be working out with weights this 

winter so that I can pick up a Transalp single handed. 

Lastly, I'd still be there pushing the TA if it weren't for Dave's help. 

Thanks!

I only wish I'd taken some pictures. ;)

J.

31 Oct 2004

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